The development of sustainability literate teachers has been identified as a key challenge for the implementation of education for sustainability in Australian schools (Skamp, 2010) and elsewhere (Nolet, 2009). This paper reports on the first year of a participatory action research project that investigates the learning of school teachers, teacher…

This document summarizes the findings from the initial round of research on the development and piloting of two types of instructional tools designed to support teachers' integration of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in literacy and math. In this interim report, Research for Action (RFA) presents key findings from the first half of the…

The purpose of this qualitative study, "Professional development for teachers working with culturally and linguistically diverse students: A qualitative study of teacher perceptions," was to investigate general educators' perceptions of existing professional development activities in order to identify program attributes they perceive as likely to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of professional development instruction on teacher perceptions of competence when including students with special needs in music classrooms. Subjects for the study were in-service music educators (N = 43) enrolled in an online graduate-level course specifically created to address the skills and…

Two approaches to professional learning communities, the inquiry-oriented and the results-oriented approaches, both have weaknesses. Neither adequately addresses the overall coherence of a school's efforts to improve teaching and learning. A third model, the Common Priorities approach, combines the strengths of the other two approaches and…

This paper describes the redesign of a faculty development program at a large public university that transitioned from weekly face-to-face meetings to a version that reduced seat time by half. Focus is on course development activities in which individual faculty began designing and developing their online courses. Survey data was collected and…

Research on how the principles of instructional design are taught in faculty training courses for online teaching and how faculty members incorporate these principles into their online courses is limited. This gap in the research literature is especially pronounced when considering the relatively new online learning context of Puerto Rico's higher…

Student demand for online education requires colleges and universities to rapidly expand the number of courses and programs offered online while maintaining high quality. This paper outlines two universities respective processes to assure quality in large-scale online programs that integrate instructional design, eBook custom publishing, Quality…

Experienced e-learning faculty members share strategies for implementing a comprehensive postsecondary faculty development program essential to continuous improvement of instructional skills. The high-impact META Model (centered around Mentoring, Engagement, Technology, and Assessment) promotes information sharing and content creation, and fosters…

The effective integration of current technologies in teaching and research is a high priority for today's universities. To support the technology skills of university faculty, staff, and students, the subject university's office for faculty training and support, provides free, 24/7 access to a collection of online technology tutorials leased from…

As political accountability and economic reality increasingly influence higher education, many leadership preparation programs are seeking cost effective instructional delivery systems that yield highly effective results. Simultaneously, large numbers of graduate students are seeking quality leadership preparation programs that provide both…

In May 2009, the US Department of Education released a meta-analysis of effectiveness studies of online, face-to-face, and blended learning models. The analysis found that online learning produced better student outcomes than face-to-face classes, and that blended learning offered an even "larger advantage" over face-to-face. The hybrid approach…

The development and progress of distance education through online technologies has grown over the past ten years. Though community colleges across the United States have seen the largest increase, are its faculty members prepared to teach online? The following study examines strategies administrators may use to train faculty who teach online…

There are many challenges facing those educators who strive to ensure that their pre-service teachers understand the issues surrounding equity and social justice. In response to these challenges, and in response to the interests, questions, and concerns of the faculty in a School of Education, two professors worked collaboratively with…

Although the idea of using a workshop to educate potential users about a set of materials or techniques is not new, the workshops described here go beyond simple dissemination and create ongoing communities of practice that support widespread and sustained improvement in the biochemistry classroom. The degree to which pedagogical innovations…