This process and outcome qualitative study describes and critically assesses the experiences of the faculty who participated in the one-semester FLC addressing CLTs through a content analysis of individual narratives completed at the end and ten months after the FLC ended. The existence and contributions of four prerequisites for successful…

The learning sciences, as an academic community investigating human learning, emerged more than 30 years ago. Since then, graduate learning sciences programs have been established worldwide. Little is currently known, however, about their disciplinary backgrounds and the topics and research methods they address. In this document analysis of the…

Some higher education institutions create online communities to achieve engagement between teachers and learners. Unfortunately, some members seem to prefer sharing feedback via offline means instead of doing so in the online community. From qualitative data collected via flashcards, this article has found that this preference is largely due to…

College and universities evaluate the teaching performance of faculty members in a variety of ways. Benefits to effective faculty evaluation include advancing the scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as improving the functionality and innovation of courses, curriculum, departments, and ultimately the broader community (Boyer, 1990;…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the shared, lived experience of elementary teachers' participation in Edmodo as a community of practice. The theoretical framework guiding this research included Lave and Wenger's (1991) community of practice theory and Bandura's social learning theory (1977, 1984) which explained how…

Purpose: Organizational silos that build on the existing organizational structures are often considered to have negative effects in the form of focus on private narrow objectives and organizational fragmentation. To avoid such harmful outcomes, competence management is called for, and in this, the human resources (HR) function takes a key role.…

This article presents the story of one elementary school teacher's shift in art praxis through her involvement in a research project aimed at facilitating participatory arts-based communities of practice. Qualitative methods and social constructivism informed Professional Learning Interventions (PLIs) involving: (1) a visual arts workshop, (2)…

This study explores the process of Community of Practice (CoP) building for language teachers' professional development through the support of a WeChat group. WeChat is an instant messenger app that provides a multimodal platform for one-on-one and group interactions through text, audio and video. In order to support the implementation of flipped…

Purpose: Although annual performance reviews and feedback are recommended for faculty development, best practices and faculty perceptions have not been documented. The authors sought to evaluate the process in one medical school department that established and has sustained an innovative review tradition for 25 years. Method: Content analysis of…

Facilitators are central for the success of professional learning communities (PLCs). Yet, their specific roles in supporting teacher learning remain still largely underexplored. To address this gap, the current multiple case study examines the roles of 4 university PLC facilitators, the strategies they used to support teacher learning, and the…

Professional learning communities (PLC) have been widely accepted as effective with respect to good atmosphere, adequate leadership practices, and functional working practices. However, the outcomes for school improvement depend on case-specific issues. To identify less culturally and contextually bound issues in 3 PLC settings in Canada, Finland,…

This basic qualitative study, using interviews and document analysis, examined reflections from a Work Based Learning (WBL) program to understand how utilizing digital collaborative communication tools influence the educational experience. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework was used as a theoretical frame promoting the examination of the…

The issue of girls' lack of connection to science has received much attention. Situated approaches such as research apprenticeships offer the chance to engage learners fully in science communities of practice and thus connect girls to science. However, such programs are often designed with lab settings, rather than field settings, in mind. This…

Present study reviews empirical research studies related to learning science in online learning environments as a community. Studies published between 1995 and 2015 were searched by using ERIC and EBSCOhost databases. As a result, fifteen studies were selected for review. Identified studies were analyzed with a qualitative content analysis method…

The aim of the article is to understand practice as negotiation of meaning among novice and internal change agents in school organisations. The research question is as follows: What themes of participation and reification/management occur among the change agents? The study was qualitative in design using the social learning theory of community of…