This article examined online learners' preferences in personalized, relationship-based social awareness information sharing in course management systems. Three hundred seventy-seven online learners' willingness to share social awareness information was measured through a national survey. Results indicated that today's online learners are open…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role and learning outcomes of three types of classroom observations in a teacher education methods course: video-based CD-ROMS, videoconference-supported observations, and traditional face-to-face observations. It was not the goal of this study to compare the effectiveness of each type of observation to…

Peer interactions are a critical component of students' academic success and retention in undergraduate programs. Scholars argue that peer interactions influence students' cognitive development, identity development, self-confidence and self-efficacy, and social and academic integration into the university environment (Pascarella & Terenzini,…

This paper provides qualitative student-centered research from an online Research Methodology course taught partly within the immersive, 3-D environment of Second Life with fifty-eight graduate psychology students for the purpose of suggesting a constructivist-based instruction model for immersive environments. A qualitative method approach was…

As educators, we have two missions. First, we must serve our students--they are both our customer and our product. Second, we aim to provide the market in general with graduates with relevant skills and knowledge for jobs that have not even been created yet. Given that most students graduating and moving into the workplace are not necessarily…

Graduates need to be prepared for working in global organisations that increasingly rely on virtual, culturally diverse teams. This paper reports on a qualitative research study concerned with the perceptions of university business students who collaborated on a virtual and international project to learn about intercultural communication. The…

Web-based discussion forums enable users to share knowledge in straightforward and popular platforms. However, discussion forums have several problems, such as the lack of immediate delivery and response, the heavily text-based medium, inability to hear expressions of voice and the heuristically created discussion topics which can impede the…

As choral directors across the country work to prepare their choirs for concerts, festivals, and contests, it is a common practice for them to invite a guest clinician to attend rehearsals for guidance and assistance. The rationale for this idea is logical and simple--two heads are better than one. However, the actual visit can be anything from a…

In 1995, in "Shifting Paradigms in Student Affairs," this author and her colleagues called for all educators, including those in student affairs, to see their central task as enhancement of student learning. At about the same time, scientists and practitioners began to understand that learning is a contextual process of knowledge acquisition,…

This paper critically examines the outcomes of quality assurance programme reviews on the three campuses of the University of the West Indies (UWI) with an emphasis on the factors that impact upon the quality of students' learning experiences. In establishing the context of the discussion, the authors describe the quality assurance system of the…

This article describes the learning experiences of three pre-service teachers within a university-level course entitled "Aesthetics and Art Criticism for the Classroom." Discussion is focused on the nature of the meaning-making that emerges from aesthetic encounters and its educational value. Specifically, what can pre-service generalist teachers…

This article tells the story of the author's invitation to teach at the Barnes Foundation, and her transformative experience as a teacher in this extraordinary place. The author comes to realize that the Barnes is the physical realization of a philosophical dream, and progresses to an understanding of how Albert C. Barnes collected and assembled…

This article examines the effectiveness of incorporating an applied learning experience in an upper level undergraduate motivation theory class. In this 3-part course requirement, students (a) participated in a 2-hr field experience, (b) completed a homework assignment based on their participation, and (c) worked in groups to develop a deeper…

This study describes a set of institutional indicators that suggest minimum standards for the quality assurance of learning supported by learning management systems in blended contexts. The indicators are evaluated by comparing seven universities that use a common learning management system to support student learning experiences. The responses to…

Pattern language is the lexicon used to express the schema of a field of professional practice (Smethurst, 1997). This lexicon is frequently presumed to exist in communities of practice in educational settings, although the findings derived from the longitudinal study of schools (Elmore, 1996; Goodlad, 1984; Lortie, 1975; McLaughlin & Talbert,…