Teacher professional development (TPD) is interesting to examine since its outcomes relate to the teachers' improvement in professional learning. In this small-scale exploratory study, TPD has been linked to teaching integrated English skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and has become a trend in English Language Teaching (ELT).…

Working with peers in small groups is conducive to learning, and collaborative learning has been widely adopted in second language classrooms. Leadership, defined as the initiative taken to influence others in a group, plays a significant role in successful teamwork, but has not received due attention in research on collaborative peer work. To…

This study investigated 11 Taiwanese elementary school English teachers' designs and implementations of design thinking lessons. The analysis of qualitative data (lesson plans, observations, interviews) and quantitative data (questionnaire) reached the following major findings. Firstly, English teachers considered their design thinking instruction…

This paper provides an overview of the "NEST 2014" retreat. The Northeast Scientific Training (NEST) Programs retreat was established with three purposes in mind: (1) to provide underrepresented minority member (URM) trainees with "a community of scholars retreat setting" as an alternative to the formal and highly structured…

Critical language awareness (CLA) has aimed to raise critical consciousness in language education about the social aspects of language use, and especially the relationship between language and power, and is considered to play a significant role in enabling learners to participate effectively in democratic citizenship within and beyond the…

This article reports on an analysis of the effects of a quasinatural experiment in which 16 rural communities participated in public discussion, leadership training, and community visioning as part of an Extension program at Montana State University. Difference-in-differences methods reveal that key U.S. Census socioeconomic indicators either…

Researchers of after-school tutoring primarily focus on educational outcomes with little attention to the social dynamics of such programs. In our qualitative case study, we examined the nature of interactions among tutors in a tutoring program at a homeless shelter for families. Employing Bourdieu's concepts of "social capital" and…

One issue of concern to teachers is the effect of teaching strategies and students' cognitive style on knowledge construction via online discussions in social networks. This study aimed to explore which teaching strategies lead to better learning performance and which cognitive styles affect learning from teaching strategies based on online…

Isolation is often a problem in online courses. In this qualitative study, we used care ethics perspectives to design the social organization of an online course to foster the development of robust collaborative professional relationships. Redesign focused on two areas. First, we centered all assignments on complex real-world problems. Second, we…

We present a method to help faculty assess and visualize conceptual knowledge by applying topic modeling to unstructured student writing from online class discussion forums. To validate the technique against conventional assessment metrics, we evaluated its accuracy in predicting final grades in introductory undergraduate biology and graduate…

Population-level interventions focused on policy, systems, and environmental change strategies are increasingly being used to affect and improve the health of populations. At the same time, emphasis on implementing evidence-based public health practices and programming is increasing, particularly at the federal level. Valuing strategies in the…

The results of an investigative process are reported that centre on the impact that modular curricular organization and its interdisciplinary activity are having on the teaching culture in the Degree in Social Education at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/ EHU). This understanding of the curriculum is a seminal change for teaching staff…

This inquiry into the digital discussion forums tied to two English classes in an urban public high school examines the potential of new media to honor the multicultural composition of classrooms and support teachers to design culturally sustaining pedagogies. Given the increasing significance of digital media as well as the growing diversity of…

With the aim of exploring how science is done in collaborative interactions when children discuss reasons for animal diversity, this paper provides insight into the relationships between acts of doing science and collaborative interactions. Video data from four small-group discussions (N = 14) were analysed using Lemke's (1990) talking science…

This article draws greater attention to the use of language as a pedagogical tool in science teaching and learning. Evidence shows that Alexander's (2020) 'dialogic teaching' approach is significant in promoting learning in science when used interchangeably with authoritative patterns of talk. This article explores dialogic teaching, drawing on…