This qualitative narrative study presents the Children's Defense Fund Freedom School as an exemplar of an educational program with a model of spiritual education, which supports the preparation of pre-service teachers by nurturing an ethos of service. The purpose of this study is to examine the potential for a summer experience of…

A study comparing University of Wisconsin-Stout freshmen and senior education majors' computing and Internet technology skills/knowledge and associated learning experiences was conducted. Instruments used in this study included the IC[superscript 3][R] Exam by Certiport, Inc. and the investigator's Computing and Internet Skills Learning…

Technology has enabled students to have greater access to vast array of resources, classes and experts; empowering students to become "Free Agent Learners" who are creating meaningful personalized learning experiences 24/7 outside of the traditional classroom and school structure. In the report "Creating our Future: Students Speak Up about their…

The purpose of this study was to determine if a student's academic success, measured by grade point average (GPA) in mathematics, science, and communication courses, is correlated with student change in achievement during an engineering design challenge. Engineering design challenges have been implemented and researched in K-16 environments where…

The purpose of this study was to explore the learning experiences and teachers' behaviors valued by students who attended southern rural segregated schools during the 1940s-1960s, The qualitative data yielded four themes: (a) memories of caring teachers, (b) memories of teachers as professionally, (c) memories of teachers as participants of the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a student-centered faculty development model on the conceptions of teaching of participating US Arts and Sciences faculty members. "Student-centered learning models are widely accepted as catalysts for improved learning and psychosocial outcomes, and their use is especially important…

In order to gain a better understanding of the ways in which an instructor could enhance an on-line learning experience, we surveyed 96 students enrolled in on-line Health Promotion and Wellness courses. Almost all respondents felt that sending e-mailed reminders and posting announcements on the course was very important or important for enhancing…

This study examined the costs and benefits of using demonstrations in an upper level psychology course. For 6 topics, half of the class read a chapter that explained the concept and theoretical explanations for the described effects, and the other half participated in a demonstration in addition to the reading. Students overwhelmingly reported…

About a year after January 2004 when the author decided to pursue a doctorate through an online program, the author received an e-mail about an online teaching opportunity. This came about as a result of a meeting he attended where the interim dean of City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) discussed the growing demand for quality instructors to teach…

Principles of networked learning, constructivism, and connectivism inform the design of a test case through which secondary students construct personal learning environments for the purpose of independent inquiry. Emerging web applications and open educational resources are integrated to support a "Networked Student Model" that promotes…

This qualitative case study examines the initial implementation of a problem-based version of an undergraduate course in materials science for the purpose of identifying areas of improvement to the curriculum prior to a planned second implementation. The course was designed around problems that students work in small teams to solve under the…

With the strong emphasis of social constructivism, many educators are finding new ways to stimulate and enhance social activities within the classroom. One such method is the use of cooperative learning. A cohort of students worked in small teams cooperatively to complete an assignment while using blogs to document and reflect their work.…

Situational leadership has been noted as one of the most recognizable leadership concepts (Northouse, 2007). Teaching the model to a college student audience may become more of monotony than a learning experience. Using popular media technology to teach situational leadership can appeal to more learning styles than the typical lecture, and make…

University teaching can have a positive impact, a negative impact, or no impact. This article describes indicators of the impact of university teaching at the unit level. Teaching-impact indicators can be organized by the main beneficiary of the teaching: students; others, such as employers and clients, who interact with the students; the…

This qualitative comparative case study examined the differences between the mentoring experiences of 10 beginning teachers--specifically, between 5 who scored high on the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale and 5 who scored low. All the beginning teachers taught in the same school district during their 1st year of teaching, and all participated in…