Quality civic education is often understood as involving discussions of controversial social and political issues, a task made more difficult for teachers amidst the kind of political polarization that characterizes the current political climate. This study explores high school social studies teachers' thinking and sensemaking related to…

Our first-semester organic chemistry class focused on structured group work to enable active learning in class. When Smith College switched to online learning after spring break, the class was adapted to fit into an online learning model while retaining active learning. Using feedback from students, we implemented two tracks, one focused on…

What is it like to be a gifted adolescent girl in today's world? Situated in the context of a five-session group activity, called Gifted+Grounded, the purpose of this qualitative inquiry study was to better understand how two groups of gifted adolescent girls (Group 1 = 11, Group 2 = 14; Ages 13-16) made meaning of being "gifted." The…

This study combined virtual reality (VR) technology, the 6E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Engineer, Enrich, and Evaluate) model, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education to develop a hands-on activity aimed at helping students to achieve "learning by doing." The participants were 162 tenth-grade students,…

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in distance learning in higher education. Given this, it is extremely important to understand faculty attitudes about distance education, not only because they can vary widely, but also because it is the faculty, through their design and implementation of online courses, that will shape the…

This study sought to determine the impact of blogs on student motivation to discuss literature. The participants were 11 male and 12 female fourth grade students ranging from eight to ten years of age. All of the students were instructed in one classroom located in a suburban school setting. All students had access to computers fitted with high…

Discussion forums are often utilized in the online classroom to build a sense of community, encourage collaboration and exchange, and measure time on task. A review of the literature revealed that there is little research that examines the role of the online discussion forum as a mechanism for knowledge transfer. Researchers reviewed 21 course…

Imagining what it was like to live in the past may help secondary school students to understand historical developments and situations. In this case study, the opportunities of a drama task are explored by using a mixed-method approach. In small groups, Dutch 14-15-year-old students examined historical sources and produced a short film clip on…

Racial disparities must be addressed in every sector in the United States (e.g., healthcare, education, incarceration, etc.) (Skiba et al., 2001). Mary, a middle school principal, created a series of conversations designed to help a small group of students begin to have more productive conversations about race. The purpose of the current study was…

Addressing students' mental health needs has become a growing concern amongst educators and school leaders, as 25% of adolescents are known to be diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Moreover, students in urban contexts are more likely to experience mental health challenges as they face environmental stressors in their communities that stem…

This study explores the complexities that are involved in the development of intercultural competence in music teacher education by examining the accounts of two music teacher educators from Finland and Israel who work extensively in culturally diverse contexts. A semi-structured interview method was used in conducting the interviews. Deardorff's…

Purpose: The growth of online social network sites and their conceptualization as affinity spaces makes them well suited for exploring how individuals share knowledge and practices around specific interests or affinities. The purpose of this study is to extend what is known about highly active/key actors in online affinity spaces, especially the…

Online community college instructors' failure to effectively utilize asynchronous discussion boards negatively impacts student course outcomes. However, it is unclear exactly what practices instructors use in their discussion boards. The purpose of this qualitative content analysis study was to investigate community college instructors' practices…

Online discussion forums represent "online collaborative learning spaces in which communities become engaged in the discourse on a topic about which they share common interests or goals" (Montero, Watts & Garcia-Carbonell, 2007, p. 568). This digital communication modality has been claimed to enhance second/foreign language (L2)…

This paper is part of a research study undertaken with Portuguese teachers. The main objective is to understand the impact of recent educational legislation on the quality of teaching and the professional development of teachers. In this context the following research questions were formulated: "Do the education policies of the government…