Education Commons^™

Never Going Back: Lessons To Carry Forward In Online Instruction, Howard Pitler, Amanda Lickteig, Seth Lickteig

The Advocate

Research has long demonstrated that students thrive best in an online learning community when some basic tenants are followed. These tenants include establishing a peer community, module supports, studying while balancing life commitments, confidence, and the approach to learning (Farrell & Brunton, 2020; Kahn, Egbue, Palkie, & Madden, 2017; Dixson, 2010). Cultivating active engagement in online communities is a purposeful and deliberate practice that requires educators to bring together an assortment of innovative instructional techniques to foster the establishment of Communities of Practice (COP). Wenger, Trayner, and de Laat (2011) define a CoP as a “learning partnership among people who …

Creating Communities Of Practice Focused On Writing Instruction, Katie Schrodt, Brandi Nunnery, Brian Kissel, Melissa Knapp

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article will share the literacy coaches' experiences of engaging in a literacy community of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991). It will share the writing cohort process, topics discussed, books read, professional developments enacted, and materials generated during their time of study. The writing cohort enacted meaning and identity to the community to create learning and growth. Effective communities of practice promote innovation, spread knowledge, develop social capital, and facilitate existing knowledge (Lave and Wenger, 1991). These communities learn and grow through requesting information, problem solving, and reusing available assets. After a thorough description of the writing community and its …

Growing Together: Utilizing Writing Communities In The Writing Methods Course, Katie Alford

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article shares insights on utilizing small writing communities with a writing methods course. It highlights how preservice teachers try on what it means to be a writing teacher and build their confidence as ELA writing teachers through participation in writing communities. It also demonstrates how ELA preservice teachers consider the needs of future students and contemplate how to provide constructive feedback on writing while honoring student voices in writing from writing community participation. It concludes that small writing communities foster the growth of writing teachers in positive ways.

Active Learning In The Liaison Multiverse, Julie Arendt, Sergio Chaparro, Bettina Peacemaker

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This session details an approach a liaison department used to innovate instruction. It takes time and effort to integrate new teaching practices such as active learning, especially across manifold upper-level courses. The challenge increases with a multitude of librarians teaching a multitude of diverse learners across a multitude of disciplines. Join us to learn how we created a community of practice around active learning and for an activity to build active learning in your work.

Aligning The Curriculums For College Success: High School And College Library Collaborations, Carl R. Andrews, Dickens Saint Hilaire

Publications and Research

In today’s highly competitive global economy, City University of New York (CUNY) graduates need strong critical thinking skills. More New York City students than ever before are applying to college and enrolling into CUNY schools. This is especially the case with high schools throughout the Bronx, a good portion of these schools are feeder schools for Bronx Community College (BCC). Unfortunately, many of the students who matriculate into BCC come un-prepared for college level work, where information literacy skills are essential. A strong body of published scholarly literature discusses the importance of information literacy instruction at the high school level, …

Faculty Perceptions Of Instructional Strategies That Foster Student Engagement In Online Courses, Sharon M. Hope

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Developing online instructional strategies for increasing student engagement and success is significant locally and nationally due to growth in the online field, advances in technology, and the need for colleges to maximize student success. This study stemmed from the desire of administrators at an upstate New York private college to discover additional ways to design and deliver effective online instruction. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to discover faculty perceptions of and experiences with instructional strategies that they used to foster student engagement in online learning. Kearsley and Shneiderman's engagement theory formed the study's conceptual framework. Ten …

The Practice Of Being A Student: Cops And Graduate Student Success, Aimee Dechambeau

Aimée L. deChambeau

Experiences Learning English: A Case Study Of Adult Immigrants In Portland, Maine, Usa, Pamela L. Kasabian

MA TESOL Collection

The paper examines the process of English language acquisition for adult immigrants living in Portland, Maine, USA. The focus is on the process of language acquisition and integration into a new linguistic culture through analysis of personally narrated experiences of adult immigrants living in Portland, Maine. It seeks to expose similarities within highly individualistic linguistic journeys that contribute to investment and engagement in learning. In reviewing the data generated by the interviews, I hope to find situations to more deeply explore that could influence a more reciprocal learning culture for the mutual benefit of the language learner and the community …

Communication Patterns And Strategies In Software Development Communities Of Practice, Shreya Kumar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Some of the greatest challenges in the relatively new field of software development lie in the decidedly old technology of communication between humans. Software projects require sophisticated and varied communication skills because software developers work in a world of incomplete, imperfect information where teams evolve rapidly in response to evolving requirements and changing collaborators. While prescriptive models for software process such as Agile suggest ways of doing, in reality these codified practices must adapt to the complexities of a real workplace. Patterns, rather than rules of behavior within software process are more suitable to the varied and mutable nature of …

Embedding Reflective Practice And Creativity To Link A Modularised Curriculum., Muireann Okeeffe, Roisin Donnelly

Books/Book Chapters

Providing space for students to reflect and integrate their learning is the theme of this chapter, where Muireann has researched ways of integrating ePortfolios into the curriculum to encourage students to develop and reflect on their learning through student-led communities of practice.

Inter-University International Collaboration For An Online Course: A Case Study, John O'Connor, Claudia Igbrude, Dudley Turner

Conference papers

This paper is a practical account of the experience of collaboration between two international partners – one in Europe and the other in the United States. This collaboration experience is a lens through which the authors outline the origin, design and implementation of an inter-university teaching experience. The processes, strengths and difficulties are outlined and the rationale for utilising a virtual world is given, along with the participants’ perspectives of the experience. No institutional changes or formal agreements were needed.

The same course was validated and accredited by each institution and designed to address the requirements of each with the …

The D.B. Weldon Library's Instruction Portfolio: A Grassroots, Team-Based Approach, Kim Mcphee, Melanie Mills, Marg Sloan

Marg Sloan

In an effort to address ever-shifting staffing levels and evolving service demands, staff in the Research & Instructional Services department of The D.B. Weldon Library at Western University developed and implemented a new and strategic approach to structuring their work. The ‘Portfolio Model’ provides a framework for organizing the primary functions of the department - collections, instruction and reference - while at the same time preserving liaison at its core. Through a close examination of this grassroots effort and in particular, the achievements realized and challenges faced by the team of librarians and library assistants who together comprise the ‘Instruction …

The D.B. Weldon Library's Instruction Portfolio: A Grassroots, Team-Based Approach, Kim Mcphee, Melanie Mills, Marg Sloan

Western Libraries Presentations

In an effort to address ever-shifting staffing levels and evolving service demands, staff in the Research & Instructional Services department of The D.B. Weldon Library at Western University developed and implemented a new and strategic approach to structuring their work. The ‘Portfolio Model’ provides a framework for organizing the primary functions of the department - collections, instruction and reference - while at the same time preserving liaison at its core. Through a close examination of this grassroots effort and in particular, the achievements realized and challenges faced by the team of librarians and library assistants who together comprise the ‘Instruction …

Communities Of Practice And Teacher Development – Lessons Learnt From An Educational Innovation In Pakistan, Sajid Ali

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Communities of Practice (CoP) is a novel idea that highlights the importance of informal learning and working groups in an organization. Organizations need to nurture informal spaces of learning so as to enhance overall organizational success. This article builds on this idea and applies it to educational context of Pakistan, particularly towards the issue of teacher training. The paper presents the example of an educational improvement programme in KPK province of Pakistan titled ‘Primary Education Project – Improvement of the Learning Environment (PEP-ILE)’. It is highlighted that PEP-ILE created cluster based training model around subject areas. Such configuration allowed for …