Despite the professional learning benefits that may be realised through participation in research, many institutions and teachers are reluctant to get involved. They (correctly) anticipate that it will require some time, effort, and commitment. They may understand that research is important for improving education practices but more direct and…

Engineering students entering the workforce often struggle to meet the competency expectations of their employers. Guided by constructivist theory, the purpose of this case study was to understand engineers' experiences of engineering education, deficiencies in practical skills, and the self-learning methods they employed to advance their…

There is growing interest in the role Communities of Practice (CoPs) play in continuing professional development of academics. However, very little research has explored how CoP theory is applied in practice in academic settings. Using the concepts of resonance and micro-mobilisation from social movement theory, we explore academic engagement (and…

This paper explores one implementation of an extended, structured, collaborative professional experience program. Its context is a new partnership between a university and a professional experience school. The program draws on elements of Instructional Rounds and Lesson Study, framed around a learning community model of professional experience for…

This study investigated changes made to the Childhood Studies placement journey of one post-1992 University in England. The Childhood Studies degree includes "practitioner options" that requires students to complete 200 h placement experience, including 50 h in year one. In 2014, the participant university responded to this expectation…

Student teaching supervisors can play an integral role in teacher candidates' ability to understand and enact culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP). However, supervisors may lack the awareness, knowledge, skill, or willingness to serve as culturally responsive supervisors. This paper reports the findings from a qualitative study to find out how…

How teachers make sense of new academic standards significantly shapes the implementation of those standards. Professional development organized around the analysis of mathematical tasks has potential to prepare teachers for standards implementation by helping them develop common understandings of standards and how to help students meet ambitious…

This is a study of teachers' authentic professional learning at a public school in Poudre School District in northern Colorado. At Polaris Expeditionary Learning School, teachers and administrators have developed a form of school-based instructional rounds referred to herein as PLC rounds (professional learning community rounds). In PLC rounds,…

This article illustrates how findings from a study of teachers' and students' uses of laptop computers in a secondary school in Singapore informed the development of an Innovation Configuration (IC) Map--a tool for identifying and describing alternative ways of implementing innovations based on teachers' unique feelings, preoccupations, thoughts…

Recent research has begun to conceptualise the professional learning of practising teachers who take on leadership roles in schools. In this vein, this article draws on a qualitative interview-based study designed to investigate case writing as a professional learning approach. It focuses on the way in which writing of a published case encouraged…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to make better connections between what is professed in instructional design degree programs and what happens in the workplace. Findings from the study of how three corporate instructional designers navigated and made sense of their daily practice included the factors that mostly influence their…

Conceptualizations of teacher knowledge have shifted to focusing on the role of experiential rather than theoretical knowledge. There are different approaches to this, but the idea of an image that guides practice is widespread. One approach to images that has not been frequently investigated in studies of second language teachers is through…

Service-learning is, by nature, continually evolving. Seifer (1996) stressed the importance of partnerships between communities and schools, and stated that reflection should facilitate the connection between practice and theory, and lead to critical thinking. Before these reflective activities occur, however, much can be done to maximize…

Darin Stockdill was a secondary school English and social studies teacher in Detroit. His early research with classroom instruction and professional development motivated him to begin doctoral study to explore how schools serving as research sites can become sites for professional development and collaboration. He finds an epistemic perspective on…

With the ever-changing healthcare systems, nursing students need to think at a high level by applying their knowledge from theory to the clinical setting by prioritizing, delegating, and problem solving to provide safe, competent, quality nursing care. Using action research, nursing students participated in R.A.V.E. (Reflective Thinking Allows…