This qualitative study aims to explore teachers' opinions on traditional professional development (PD) courses and their experiences from an online course. 10 teachers from a private school participated in an online professional development (PD) course. After completing the course, they evaluated their PD experience. A focus group discussion and…

This article reports the results of a project that examined student perceptions of the psychosocial learning environment in a distance education classroom. The study utilized a survey instrument, Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (DELES) that was distributed as a pre-test/post-test to three sections of the same course taught in three…

Low-test scores in literacy and mathematics have resulted in increased accountability for educators, as evidenced by statewide "high stakes: testing. The push by federal and state mandates, such as the "No Child Left Behind" Act and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) have increased the amount of teaching and…

This study sought to determine if different personality types express more or less satisfaction with courses delivered online versus those delivered in the classroom. The methodology employed two online surveys--the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS) and a course satisfaction instrument. The participants were 146 college students taking online and…

The traditional form of collaborative learning has been via face-to-face groups working together. The online forum can provide a different collaborative learning environment, due to its student-centric, asynchronous, written form. As a result of an investigation into the differences between face-to-face and online asynchronous communication,…

Teachers participating in an educational interactive video program were surveyed each year for four semesters. The survey instrument contained 31 five-point Likert-type questions, with questions concerning specific comparisons between interactive video and traditional teaching methods, and open-ended questions. A total of 74 teachers responded…

Appalachian State University (ASU) is a participating institution in the North Carolina Consortium for Distance Education in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). This Consortium initiated a successful distance education masters program in 1997. The distance education program at ASU is actually a hybrid program, providing the opportunity for…

Drama can be influential when combined with some subjects in the classroom. Social studies can be hard for students because it asks students to learn abstract subjects. It was felt that students would gain more understanding of the discipline of social studies if they interacted with the content. When students take an active role in learning, they…

A recent study at California State University at Northridge reported that students in a virtual classroom score 20% higher than students in a traditional classroom. The primary purpose of the study presented in this paper was to replicate these results and to investigate advantages and disadvantages of a World Wide Web-based class. Major…

A case study of the type of educational experience provided in a seminar for student teachers is discussed. Inspired by a humanistic philosophy, the seminar did, at times, play a liberalizing and creative role. Most discussions, however, focused on utilitarian problems encountered in the students' teaching. (PP)

Tests 191 elementary school teachers in northern Israel for the relationships among locus of control, traditional and progressive educational attitudes, and related teaching behaviors. Finds external and internal locus of control explain the variance in traditional and progressive attitudes, respectively, and teaching behaviors. (Author/LC)

A mature understanding of the natural world requires experiential learning. Significant experience provides a constant source of values and understanding. Experiential learning is a holistic process, where conceptual, linguistic and perceptual elements are blended with direct impressions of the environment. Experiential knowing is not fixed but is…

The theories of progressive educators are compared to those of liberal-rationalist reformers such as R. S. Peters, P. H. Hirst, and R. F. Dearden. Particular attention is given to differences in their views on personal autonomy of students, the value of child-centered versus subject-centered curriculum, and the importance of authority in the…

This paper, presented at a conference on pedagogy at Chichester, England, argues that overemphasis on expository verbal learning in teacher education is deleterious to student learning. Instead, teacher educators should develop conceptual learning and problem-solving abilities, drawing on educational psychology for an inquiry-oriented approach,…