Today's marketing instructors are faced with the challenge of improving their students' soft skills to prepare them for today's business environment. Numerous authors have noted that client-based/-sponsored projects help students improve the soft skills they need to succeed in the business community. This article provides detailed guidelines on…

The Chinese National Quality Course Plan is a large-scale project by the Ministry of Education, which has led to the production of more than 12,000 courses from some 700 universities since 2003. This paper describes in detail the purpose of the project and how it is organized at all levels, including how individual courses get selected at…

Within the current accountability context of education in the United States and Canada, there is a clear need to educate teachers on effectively using assessments to support, measure, and communicate student learning. Despite this need, assessment has historically been a neglected area in teacher education programs with comparatively little…

As political accountability and economic reality increasingly influence higher education, many leadership preparation programs are seeking cost effective instructional delivery systems that yield highly effective results. Simultaneously, large numbers of graduate students are seeking quality leadership preparation programs that provide both…

In May 2009, the US Department of Education released a meta-analysis of effectiveness studies of online, face-to-face, and blended learning models. The analysis found that online learning produced better student outcomes than face-to-face classes, and that blended learning offered an even "larger advantage" over face-to-face. The hybrid approach…

It is evident that the more people believe, the more they can conquer. This is true especially in moving instructors and students into the world of online and blended learning environments. There are a number of things to consider when moving courses to an online learning format. In this article, the author writes about the lessons learned at…

This article presents a four-stage model for mentoring faculty in higher education to deliver high quality online instruction. It provides a timeline that shows the stages of program implementation. Known as the Distance Education Mentoring Program, its major outcomes include certified instructors, student achievement, and the attainment of a…

The development of online learning materials is a complex and expensive process that can benefit from the application of consistent and organized principles of instructional design. This article discusses the development at Brigham Young University of the online portion of a one-semester course in Swahili using the ADDIE Model (Analysis, Design,…

Videotape and participant observation were used to document an American high school teacher workgroup's experience with collaborative teacher inquiry and to monitor changes in practice through two cycles of instructional planning, classroom implementation, and reflective analysis. Detectable changes in practice were observed, including a…

Technological tools challenge teachers' pedagogical activities. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in education should help teachers integrate new pedagogical methods into their work. This study explores macro-level computer-supported collaborative learning scripts as a pedagogical method to facilitate collaboration.…

The authors introduce the concept of design support tools and situate them in the pedagogic context of professional development for technology-enhanced learning (TEL) and the research field of learning design. Through focusing on the development and evaluation of one such tool, Phoebe, they discuss their value to lecturers in post-compulsory…

Through growing formative research, lesson study has emerged as a powerful practice that affects teachers' practical analysis of learning and teaching. Such research, however, also recognizes challenges to its implementation. In a methods course, lesson study has the potential to provide valuable links between teacher education and practice. In…

This research study examined how a multinational company determined what the critical success factors (CSFs) were for developing global e-learning. The study analyzed how these CSFs were grouped together to make their management more efficient. There were 21 participants in the study who were key stakeholders from the United States, Europe, Latin…

Several studies have shown the complexities that teachers faced when planning for instruction in technology enhanced learning environments (TELE). Although classroom-oriented instructional development (ID) models have the potential to help teachers think and plan for effective instruction with technology, teachers are often reluctant to use these…

This article describes a unique approach to developing and delivering the curriculum for an experimental program that prepares STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) graduates for teaching in high-needs secondary schools. The context for the collaborative design--including the charge, personnel, and purpose of the program--is…