Asynchronous discussions have been widely used in education to support learning. Exploring the reasons why threads in asynchronous discussion forums die may help us improve our understanding of asynchronous discussions and lead to a more effective learning process. This study explored why threads in asynchronous discussion forums shut down. Two…

This report presents the compilation of interaction analysis of a month long online discussion that supplemented regular FAIMER fellowship programme for health professional teachers. Online discussion forums are considered as an effective means and if conducted using appropriate protocols and activities will help learners to share and gain…

This qualitative research investigates the practice of lurking among English as a second language (ESL) learners in a Facebook group discussion. Lurking is a term used to describe the activity of following and observing any online discussions or activities without contributing to the discussions. Lurkers are often accused of being invisible and…

Using multiple representations and argumentation are two fundamental processes in science. With the advancements of information communication technologies, these two processes are blended more so than ever before. However, little is known about how these two processes interact with each other in student learning. Hence, we conducted a design-based…

The school systems of many countries have been pervaded by student-centred pedagogy making students' small group discussion a common feature of the classroom practice.However, there is a lack of studies focussing different modes of discussion for the purpose of finding out whether some modes are more beneficial than others. Hence, the aim of this…

This paper reports on the design and enactment of an instructional strategy aimed to support students in constructing scientific explanations. Informed by the philosophy of science and linguistic studies of science, a new instructional framework called premise--reasoning--outcome (PRO) was conceptualized, developed, and tested over two years in…

The current study explored the interaction patterns of a cohort of international students in a Professional Doctorate of Higher Education program (EdD) in order to establish the extent to which (if at all) the cohort evolved into an authentic online learning community. Phase 1 of the study consisted of a retrospective audit of three out of the…

Bullying prevention starts with helping young children understand and accept diversity--the earlier the better. That's why your school team needs this ready-to-use resource, a simple, fun, and effective way to promote social acceptance in the critical early years of attitude development. Perfect for K-2 classrooms, this book presents the…

This study uses WhatsApp to facilitate online discussions in developing content idea for ESL writing. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 33 pre-university students participating in online discussions on WhatsApp for five weeks to support face-to-face instructions. Pre-test, post-test, and five weekly writing tests were administered,…

Purpose: Little is known about the use of think tanks in higher education to support faculty growth and organizational culture. The purpose of this study is to explore potential benefits of think tanks within a health sciences department at a large regional university. Methods: Seven qualitative interviews of faculty that participated in at least…

Online discussion board activities have traditionally been a primary method of providing student-to-student interaction, especially in asynchronous online classes. This study examines the impact of an alternate online discussion tool on student participation in online discussion assignments. Three identical discussion assignments were examined…

Project-based learning (PjBL) engages students in knowledge acquisition, application, and construction through artefact development. Based on the Community of Inquiry framework, this study characterized college students' social and cognitive presences in online PjBL and examined how presence was related to their academic performance. Twenty-four…

We describe a philosophy and process by which cultural awareness and traditional ways of knowing were incorporated into courses on communicating ocean sciences for college and graduate students in Hawai'i. The result is a culturally relevant framework that contextualizes the course for Hawai'i audiences while also enabling students to better…

Research has shown that teaching gender theories tends to be an educational challenge and elicits student resistance. However, little is known about students' learning processes in social science. This study aims to explore these learning processes by drawing on feminist pedagogy and conceptual change theory. The results show that when students…

We investigated how prospective teachers used physics content knowledge when analyzing the talk of elementary children during special activities in an undergraduate physics content course designed for prospective teachers. We found that prospective teachers used content knowledge to reflect on their own learning and to identify students'…