This multi-case study explored the learning and collaboration of six Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers in two different types of professional development experiences: (a) a course on integrating reading, writing, and mathematics skills into CTE curricula, delivered by a master teacher; and (b) a small teacher study group that met…

Medical students state the need for a clinically oriented anatomy class so to maximize their learning experience. We hypothesize that the first-year medical students, who take the Surgical Clinical Correlates in Anatomy program, will perform better than their peers in their anatomy course, their surgical clerkships and ultimately choose surgical…

Teachers are significant curriculum decision makers in their classrooms. How does teachers' thinking about curriculum develop in the context of teacher education coursework, and how might an analysis of a novice teacher's learning to think more complexly inform teacher education pedagogy? This article presents a case study of a 2nd-year teacher…

Documentation is sparse regarding outcomes associated with teacher education portfolios and the quality of the reflections contained within the portfolios. This collective case study of six teacher candidates enrolled in an elementary teacher education program at a large midwestern university explores the outcomes of developing a portfolio based…

This article reflects on an effort to incorporate constructivist pedagogies (learner-centered, inquiry-guided, problem-based models of teaching) into an introductory class on Christian Ethics in an M.Div. curriculum. Although some students preferred more traditional pedagogies, the majority found that constructivist pedagogies better accommodated…

Currently colleges and universities are facing a number of problems, including ill designed curricula that do not address demands from the job market. There is also tremendous pressure from society on academic institutions to provide an education that results in guaranteed employment, especially given the soaring price of higher education.…

There has been a wide variety of works and views on the issue of teaching and learning online. But much of the work focused on the types of instructional methods used when teaching online. This focus is problematic due to the fact that some faculty members are suspicious of online courses, have significant reservation about the loss of…

The Alphabetic Braille and Contracted Braille Study examined the reading and writing skills of young braille-reading students. Students who were introduced to more contractions earlier in instruction performed better on reading measures, such as vocabulary, decoding, and comprehension, but all students did well in spelling. Thus, the authors…

A formative computer-based assessment (CBA) was one of three instruments used for assessment in a Bachelor of Education course at Queen's University (Ontario, Canada) with an enrolment of approximately 700 students. The formative framework fostered a self-regulated learning environment whereby feedback on the CBA was used to support rather than…

This paper introduces the background to the JISC work within the e-portfolio domain in the UK and presents an overview of past and current activities and the drivers for these developments. This is followed by a review of JISC's approach to drawing out the learning and implications for e-portfolio practice from this extensive collection of work…

The article examines a group format for promoting Hispanic students' transition from community colleges to university colleges of education. Students were exposed to Hispanic role models, did extensive writing, and participated in reflective discourse within large and small groups during the six-week summer program. All students successfully…

One innovative practice in higher education arising from advances in computer technology is the use of ePortfolio for learning and assessment. Although in theory ePortfolios are believed to yield benefits for learning, in practice ePortfolio use often leads to confusion and frustration. In this paper we ask: what is the relationship between…

This study investigated the effects and experiences of a mutual assessment framework (CoPf) in an online graduate course at a mid-west university. CoPf was integrated into the course structure as an innovative application of the standard e-portfolio assessment tool. Using a mixed method, the study first explored the effects of CoPf compared to the…

While research on portfolio assessment (PA) has focused largely on the summative aspects of writing assessment, not much has been done to find out its formative potential. Drawing upon student questionnaires and student and teacher interview data, this paper aims to explore the formative functions of PA and, specifically, how the formative…

An applied Information Technology (IT) course that is assessed using pen and paper may sound incongruous but it is symptomatic of the state of high-stakes assessment in jurisdictions such as Western Australia. Whereas technology has permeated most aspects of modern life, including schooling, and more has been demanded of education systems in terms…