Despite its value in higher education, academic rigor is a challenging construct to define for instructor and students alike. How do students perceive academic rigor in their biology course work? Using qualitative surveys, we asked students to identify "easy" or "hard" courses and define which aspects of these learning…

English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers, as the backbone of language teaching system, are expected to raise the awareness level of students' intercultural communication competence by helping them relate their own culture to foreign cultures, empathise with foreign cultures' perspectives and tolerate the ambiguities or differences. This study…

Summer learning loss contributes significantly to the achievement gap between low income students and their more affluent peers. That makes high quality summer learning programs a smart investment for school districts concerned about success for all students. Such investments have become easier thanks to the flexibility built into the Local…

The purpose of this study is to investigate science teacher identity development as climate change educators. In applying the theoretical construct of identity as narrative to investigate the climate change related instructional experiences, I posed the overarching question: How do teachers' lived experiences shape their science teacher identity…

This study was conducted to examine the predictors of willingness to communicate (WTC) inside and outside the classroom and to examine the effect of vision/imagery capacity on willingness to communicate. The study was designed via a quantitative approach in which a composite instrument was used to examine the relationships of different variables…

Short-term service-learning experiences such as alternative breaks are increasing in popularity due to the focus on service in higher education and the institution's responsibility to ensure students are graduating with the skills needed to succeed in an increasingly competitive, global economy and contribute to a democratic society as citizens…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) provides professional development to teachers in the instructional strategies of the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and the Mathematics Design Collaborative (MDC). This professional development provides time for teachers to receive out-of-class guided instruction in planning assignments that engage…

Kate Queeney, a professor of chemistry at Smith College, turned to a former student to receive one-on-one instruction in swimming. The student, who had been unsure and scared in chemistry class, seemed like an entirely different person when teaching the teacher. This article describes how the author learned that there is something undeniably…

In late 2006, the Columbus Museum of Art education department adopted a new framework that established creativity as the lens for learning and visitor experiences. But what does creativity look like in a gallery experience? What are visitor attitudes toward creativity? This article explores how the drop-in visitor experience was reimagined at the…

Critical reflection allows students to synthesize their learning and deepen their understanding of an experience (Ash & Clayton, 2009). A recommended reflection method is for students to write essays about their experiences. However, on a large scale, such reflection essays become difficult to analyze in a meaningful way. At Roanoke College,…

The purpose of this study was to examine faculty accounts of the nature and incorporation of Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) learning experiences for preservice physical education teachers (PPETs) in undergraduate physical education teacher education (PETE). Nine individuals employed as faculty members in different PETE…

This past winter, the third student-run homeless shelter in the United States came into being. Two recent Harvard graduates, Sam Greenberg and Sarah Rosenkrantz, who had volunteered at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter as college students, saw a need within the Boston and Cambridge communities for a homeless shelter serving young adults. Drawing…

We utilized data from a multi-institutional longitudinal study to investigate the association between diversity-related coursework and moral development among students over 4 years of college. Our findings parallel the prior research, which support the positive effects of diversity on college students, by offering new evidence that diversity…

In a research-based course, undergraduate third year students were asked to submit their reflections on their research experience in the zine medium. While the literature shows that the medium can encourage students to reflect meaningfully about their experiences, evaluating the medium, which is a mix of text and visuals, can be challenging for…

This study investigated the aspects of learning and teaching that pre-service teachers examined at distinct time periods while taking on different roles. Participants reported on what they noticed from their past learning experiences as students, as well as their current field experiences as student teachers. Their reflective critique was created…