Purpose: The paper presents a new paradigm for implementing action learning in a key subject area in a program. Design/methodology/approach: An action research-based course evaluation methodology was linked to course design and development at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Involving students via effective communication provided a sense of…

Although the research literature on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) has increased exponentially over the last few decades, it is not at all clear how its findings may or may not contribute to teacher growth or otherwise influence actual classroom praxis. The case study presented here shows one instructor, a native speaker of German, translating…

Notions of competency have dominated the computer education literature, and have underpinned Competency-Based Training (CBT) in information technology at all levels of education and training. The emergence of counter-narratives underpinned by the capability movement, have as yet had minimal impact on practice in computer education. New discourses…

This article deals with some long-standing philosophical issues concerning the nature of educational theory, its relevance to educational practice and its role in the professional development of teachers. Instead of treating these questions as "theoretical", however, it approaches them through a reflective autobiographical account of the role that…

This article describes the design and results of a descriptive and explorative case study into the development of professional knowledge by teachers through action research and the facilitation of this by teacher educators. The theoretical framework of the study links the Anglo-Saxon Action Research tradition and the German "Allgemeine Didaktik."…

This article details the efforts of a department of educational leadership chair and her faculty to reorganize a doctoral program to better meet the changing needs of its students. A modified action research model was used as the conceptual framework to accomplish this undertaking. (Contains 2 figures.)

Practice-as-inquiry refers to the blending of instructional practice with systematic curricular inquiry. College and university teachers, while experts in their disciplines, typically are not specialists in instructional practice. Practice-as-inquiry (also referred to as teacher-as-researcher) may function as a mechanism of continuous teaching…

This paper is a descriptive summary of a research project on blended learning in the Faculty of Arts at the University Complutense Madrid. The project was conducted as action research in 2002-06 by the research group LEETHi. LEETHi's projects focus on the teaching of literature from an intercultural perspective while helping to develop new media…

A pre-service science and mathematics teacher participated in an action research project to reform a chemistry course required of elementary and middle childhood pre-service teachers. Activities to emphasize a hands-on approach to learning chemistry and to model teaching science through inquiry for these pre-service teachers are described. The…

This paper focuses on the challenges to their professional identity encountered by both experienced and beginning teachers in the course of research and development work intended to develop student teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. It reports findings from a collaborative action research project within a well-established initial teacher…

The development of digital information literacy (DIL) has been slow in comparison to changes in information communication technologies, and this remains an issue for the higher education sector. Competency in such skills is essential to full participation in society and work. In addition, these skills are regarded as underpinning the ability to…

The author describes the evolution of a traditional on-campus secondary science methods course into a dynamic field- and campus-based professional development school collaboration. Whereas science teaching methods were taught in an isolated and independent course, they are now integrated within an interdependent experiential semester that…

This paper excerpts a report based on the National Academy of Education's "Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do," which summarizes research on learning, teaching, and teacher education. In this article, the authors discuss how teachers can prepare to become highly qualified and how they can acquire…

This research advances the understanding of how to define, evaluate, and promote e-learning success from an information systems perspective. It introduces the E-Learning Success Model, which posits that the overall success of an e-learning initiative depends on the attainment of success at each of the three stages of e-learning systems…

Action research studies in the United Kingdom with Open University students have shown that students come to distance education courses with variable expectations of the levels of service and support they will receive from their tutors. It has been further suggested that a specific expectations-led quality assurance process that enables the…