While research has investigated elementary teachers' understanding of science content, such research is often limited to topics typically not addressed in elementary school curricula. Yet, research has illustrated that many elementary teachers struggle to accurately articulate and teach science concepts and professional development (PD) is needed.…

In an effort to increase visibility of and access to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) work on one campus, a collaboration formed between a faculty developer, a librarian, and a media specialist within a center for teaching and learning (CTL). Building on the frameworks of community of practice, professional learning network, and…

In an age of increased focus on improving the student learning experience and engaging in quality improvement processes within academic programs, higher education institutions need to clearly articulate expectations and criteria for the assessment of students' learning to support academic programs in achieving their goals. Given the need for a…

The subject food and health will potentially help students gain insight into critically choosing and reflecting on food and meals and also help students acquire skills in food preparation. Good food choices and food behavior are established in childhood and adolescence and may have significant impact on food choices in adulthood. Less than half of…

The educator evaluation process can be a compliance task as well as an arduous process causing stress and anxiety for educators and their evaluators. The evaluation process in this suburban district is changing. Educators and evaluators are working together to create a new knowledge base and share it amongst their school community and others.…

Many professional development programs aim to improve student outcomes by enhancing teacher competencies. Effective evaluation of these programs requires a clear delineation of the competencies to be gained. A competency model was developed to evaluate the impact of a teacher professional program that aimed to improve teachers' ability to…

Carefully crafted professional learning has the potential to positively impact teacher perceptions of culturally diverse gifted learners. Case studies provide an opportunity to objectively examine scenarios that teachers of gifted students may encounter in the classroom. Embedding the seven guiding principles of equity-driven professional learning…

Background: Teachers can help students meet physical activity (PA) recommendations by integrating PA into the classroom. Few studies have evaluated student PA after teacher-received professional development. Purpose: This study measured student PA outcomes from an online, 16-week course for teachers on classroom PA integration. Course-enrolled…

Background: Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) are proliferating in education, generating increasing interest and posing many challenges. In this study, we shed light on the challenge of supporting practitioners' leadership and building capacity in an RPP. In the RPP literature, practitioner leadership is often highlighted as both a way to…

As flipped learning continues to become a recognized instructional practice, professional development has become necessary to ensure the practice is implemented based on its research-informed active learning tenets. This study examined how a long-term professional development program influenced the instructional practices and perspectives of…

Aspiring medical educators and their advisors often lack clarity about career paths. To provide guidance to faculty pursuing careers as educators, we sought to explore perceived factors that contributed to the career development of outstanding medical educators. Using a thematic analysis, investigators at two institutions interviewed 39 full or…

This paper reviewed the factors that make up quality assurance including course design, content, delivery, and institutional support, as well as infrastructure in relationship to professional development impact on teaching practice. Building on the assumption identified in literature is the concept of course design being the most critical…

Over the last 100 years since the planetarium was invented and began to spread across the planet, discipline-based planetarium education researchers have worked diligently to catalog what concepts are taught in the planetarium and what audiences learn when attending a planetarium show. What is not clearly known is precisely 'who' it is that are…

The relevance of this paper refers to the importance of Kolb's model in developing future teachers' professional competences and ability to integrate the theoretical and practical segment of their education. The aim of this paper is to examine what theoretical knowledge and practical experience is present in the Science Teaching Methodology…

School-based mentors are essential partners with teacher preparation programs in preparing novice teachers to have the knowledge, skills, and professional commitments they need to be strong teachers from day one. In many ways, the demands of mentoring, such as critical conversations with colleagues and reflecting, mirror the kinds of engagement…