Two trends have increased the importance of cross-boundary teaming in schools. School educators face more interdisciplinary tasks and problems. They are also further required to include diverse voices derived from students' greater demographic diversity toward creating culturally inclusive school education. In light of this, cross-boundary…

School improvement depends, fundamentally, upon collective agency--a group capability to work productively together and solve problems. Unfortunately, many schools operate in contexts of adversity that can pose considerable challenges with developing collective agency. Schools serving high-poverty communities of color often face chronic resource…

New challenges in today's world have contributed to increased attention toward evaluating individuals' collaborative problem solving (CPS) skills. One difficulty with this work is identifying evidence of individuals' CPS capabilities, particularly when interacting in digital spaces. Often human-driven approaches are used but are limited in scale.…

Communication skills and dialogue are key competencies of the 21st century and a condition for successful implementation and personal development in general. This requires their formation to be the subject of purposeful educational activity. At the same time, their implementation in the learning process is a complex and difficult task, requiring a…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the affordances of participatory simulations by comparing students' models of engagement and science learning outcomes in a multi-team participatory simulated game (MPSG) and a single-team participatory simulated game (SPSG). Two versions of a mobile-based game about marine fishery management were…

Integrated approaches to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are increasingly being implemented in elementary and middle school classrooms, and despite a variety of conceptions of integrated STEM, researchers agree that small group activities and teamwork play a central role in STEM learning. However, little is known…

Psychological Safety is one of the most important conditions for team learning and has also been tied to improved organizational outcomes. The present study is an attempt to explore the influence of school leadership's task and relations-oriented behavior, leadership styles, and the schools' organizational culture on teachers' psychological…

Background/Context: While current research provides key insights about successful collaboration in which teachers experience deep learning and practice change, few studies analyze the content of teachers' collaborative conversations about instruction. Even fewer explore how the content of collaborative conversations evolves over time, making it…

Educational systems are now focusing on skills enhancement, such as creative thinking skills (CTS), as a means of long-lasting, significant learning. To this end, some universities and higher education institutions incentivize active learning (AL) strategies as CTS developers. Indeed, a positive link among creative results, time availability, and…

Classroom activities using an inquiry approach often feature students working in small groups to reduce teacher-centeredness and maximize student autonomy. Within science classrooms, group work may mirror modern scientific research: successful interaction among team members (social/relational) that engages probing questioning and creativity…

Teaching and learning chemistry or science, in general, could be described as building upon learners' existing conceptions. In order to support individual conceptual development, teachers should create opportunities for students to become aware of their thoughts. As this is very demanding in chemistry classroom practice with twenty-five or more…

The call for a more collective approach to school leadership motivated the present study. The proposed model examined the mediating role of school management team (SMT) effectiveness in the relationship of SMT characteristics of goal interdependence (the extent to which a shared goal requiring cooperation is present) and functional heterogeneity…

The purpose of this study is to explore how participating in professional learning communities influenced teachers' curriculum design skills during the recent curriculum reform in Taiwan. A cohort of high school teachers in suburban areas participated in a semester-long professional learning community, strictly based on a well-planned agenda as…

Improving conditions of learning is a priority for schools, communities, states, and the federal government. Students are the stakeholders with the most to gain or lose and should be consulted about their classroom experiences as a basis for continuous school improvement planning. The population of 461 students from a rural public high school in…

Many students enter career and technical education (CTE) programs to pursue the attainment of job-specific skills. K-12 career and technical education program educators help prepare students for careers after high school by offering students a way to establish and improve upon industry-based skills (Treschan & Mehrotra, 2014). Through CTE…