Reflection is a significant skill in action research, but many practitioners still display unsatisfactory reflective thinking levels, especially among teachers. Pre-service teachers, in particular, have voiced issues concerning their reflections in action research. Although reflections are personal and have infinite forms, research has…

Inclusion of education for sustainable development (ESD) in the curricula of universities, and in many forums, has been promoted for over a decade. Despite this apparent enthusiasm, there is little to show that ESD has been implemented in most universities. In Australia, surveys indicate an interest in ESD but it is rarely a part of the…

Existing spelling assessment tools were not designed to meet the needs of primary preservice teachers learning how to teach spelling. In this action research, I developed a tool to guide planning for spelling instruction for preservice teachers who found it difficult to identify appropriate teaching foci for children's spelling errors. The tool…

I am a doctoral student enrolled in an educational research program. While completing an action research course, I conducted research to improve my academic writing and to develop skills for formulating arguments about educational issues. From this research I developed an appreciation for and an understanding of good writing habits and elements of…

The current study investigated perceived development of pre-service teachers in their Instructional Material Design (IMD) competencies through the course "Instructional Technology and Material Design," which is based on a technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework. A total of 22 Elementary Education pre-service…

This study explores student success courses from the student perspective to answer three questions: What topics do students find the most useful? What teaching methods do the students find most helpful? How can these courses be customized to better serve the students? The purpose of this study is to interview students from a number of community…

In the next decade, community college English departments will expand their developmental course offerings. The students who take these developmental courses generally have higher incidence of diagnosed learning disabilities, bleak economic circumstances that require them to work full time, greater dependence on public transportation, and some…

Background: The project included continuous assessment, group presentation, self-learning, and individual assignment to assess students' learning outcomes. A self-learning system was set up as e-learning for students to monitor their learning progress during the semester, including two online exercises and a checklist of learning outcomes. The…

Purpose: The paper seeks to identify the quality characteristics of critical action research and action research theses compared to traditional research thesis writing. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the literature and the authors' experience with supervising and examining action research theses, the paper identifies key problem areas in…

This project describes a 12-week program developed to improve student spelling of high frequency words for transfer in written work across the curriculum. The targeted population consists of kindergarten, first, and third graders in two public elementary schools in a community located in central Illinois. Following an extensive literature review,…

Although research identifies a plethora of evidence-based instructional practices, classroom teachers find research difficult to access, often not implemented due to perceived lack of relevance to classroom practice. Bridging this gap between research and practice requires continued and mediated support as teachers translate and contextualize…