Recent research has suggested that building personal relationships with students and establishing "learning communities" may be one way to encourage students to persist in their studies beyond the first year. Because many institutions require students to complete one or more writing courses early in their careers, first-year composition instructors have the opportunity to interact with students as they first attempt to assimilate into the academic culture. Response activities--one of the key ways writing instructors interact with their students and ask their students to engage with one another--can be a be a way to both facilitate effective revision and foster a sense of community among students. Group conferencing, defined in this study as a meeting between an instructor and a small group of students in which the participants receive feedback on drafts from their group members and instructor simultaneously, is a promising strategy for achieving those goals effectively and efficiently. The purpose of this study was to use a teacher research/participant-observer methodology to examine group conferencing more expansively and thoroughly than previous researchers and depicting a broader range of the behaviors that characterized the conferences and including the students' perception of the activity. In order to achieve these aims, a group of eighteen first-year composition students participated in individual conferences, in-class peer response, and group conferences and completed reflective assignments about each activity's effectiveness. Recordings of the group conferences were reviewed for significant behavioral patterns and the students' written responses were analyzed for indications of positive and negative reactions to group conferencing. The results included many behaviors described by previous researchers as well as several additional behavioral patterns that indicated the activity could be an effective and unique feedback experience. Most notably, working side-by-side with the instructor seemed to enhance the quality of feedback the students were able to offer one another because the instructor was able to demonstrate appropriate response techniques, prompt for more detailed responses from the students, and reinforce the students' helpful contributions. The students' written responses indicated that they saw value in group conferencing and, in some cases, came to prefer it over other feedback activities. Further, the findings of this study suggest that group conferencing may provide opportunities for community-building not afforded by other response strategies.

abstract: In this dissertation I employed a culminating cycle of action research following two earlier ones to facilitate the creation of a professional learning community (PLC). My research took place at an elementary school in an urban area of the American southwest. As principal of this school I had initiated the policies and procedures that were often recommended to create PLCs. However, observations of teachers in PLC meetings indicated that conversations focused on logistical planning issues, rather than on the in-depth pedagogical discussions that characterize high functioning PLCs. To address this problem I introduced a form of peer observation into the PLC meeting. This was achieved by showing short video recordings of teachers in their classrooms. I used a mixed methods approach to investigate how this innovation influenced three constructs associated with PLC meetings: professional learning, the sharing of tacit teaching knowledge, and collaboration in the PLC. Quantitative data consisted of responses to a survey given as a pre-, post-, and retrospective pre-test. Results showed significant gains for all three constructs between the retrospective pre-test and the post-test, but no significant gain between the pre- and post-test. Analysis of qualitative data produced four assertions. First, the process of peer observation during a PLC meeting benefitted the personal learning of teachers. Second, peer observation benefitted teacher teams' abilities to demonstrate the critical behaviors of a true PLC. Third, the process of facilitating peer observation through video recordings evoked negative emotions. Fourth, the degree to which teachers were able to learn from a video was influenced by their perceptions of the video's authenticity and similarity to their own classrooms. In the discussion, complementarity of the quantitative and qualitative data was described and results were explained in terms of previous research and established theory. Additionally, practical lessons that were learned, limitations, and research implications were described. In a concluding section, I discussed my personal learning regarding leadership, innovation, and action research; the purpose of the doctorate in education; and strengthening connections between research and practitioners. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2015

Die Nutzung von Social Media ist für Mitarbeiter längst zur Alltagsroutine geworden und drängt immer stärker in die Unternehmen und ihre Personalentwicklungsmaßnahmen (Gori & Robes, 2015). Aktuelle Forschungen von Franken & Franken (2015) zeigen deutlich, dass sich zukunftsorientierte Unternehmen verstärkt auf praxisorientiertes, in Arbeitsprozesse integriertes und computergestütztes Lernen fokussieren, um an die individuellen Bedarfe der Mitarbeiter angepasste Weiterbildungsmaßnahmen direkt am Arbeitsplatz zur Verfügung zu stellen. Dies führt zu einem zunehmenden Verschmelzen von Lern- und Arbeitsprozessen. Dabei sind Unternehmen mit einer ausgeprägten Lernkultur mit einer höheren Wahrscheinlichkeit innovativer, produktiver, liefern eine höhere Qualität und haben eine höhere Wahrscheinlichkeit, zu Marktführern in ihrer Branche zu gehören (Mallon, 2010). Wesentlicher Bestandteil dieser Lernkultur sind florierende, virtuelle, hochvernetzte unternehmensinterne Lern- und Wissenscommunities, in denen Kollaboration und Kooperation dominierende Arbeitsprinzipien sind. [... Einleitung]

nÃo hà / CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Na Ãltima dÃcada, em relaÃÃo à educaÃÃo superior, o surgimento de ambientes de aprendizagem, acessÃveis atravÃs da grande rede, deu suporte para a formaÃÃo de comunidades virtuais. Estas comunidades que se formam em instituiÃÃes sÃo formaÃÃes sociais que necessitam ser pesquisadas e compreendidas dentro da acepÃÃo da ideia que representam para a educaÃÃo e para o social. Este trabalho tem como objetivo propor um modelo para avaliaÃÃo da coesÃo interna de uma comunidade virtual de aprendizagem e, desta forma, estabelecer o nÃvel de integraÃÃo na comunidade e proporcionar um caminho para intervenÃÃes que melhorem a qualidade da comunidade de aprendizagem. A partir do estudo do referencial teÃrico foi desenvolvido um modelo de avaliaÃÃo denominado MCICA que foi testado em um ambiente virtual de aprendizagem em uma instituiÃÃo do ensino superior. O modelo MCICA foi inspirado na teoria de fluxo de Czikszentmihalyi e desenvolvido com base em extensos estudos dos teÃricos que abordam as comunidades presenciais e virtuais. Assim, ainda que o modelo tenha sido desenvolvido, inicialmente, para avaliar comunidades virtuais de aprendizagem, ele pode ser usado para avaliar comunidades presenciais. Quanto à testagem do modelo, se trabalhou com base em abordagem etnometodolÃgica e os dados foram tratados quanti-qualitativamente. A aplicaÃÃo do modelo possibilitou diagnosticar o nÃvel de coesÃo nas possÃveis comunidades avaliadas e delinear a necessidade propostas de intervenÃÃo para favorecer a melhoria da qualidade de coesÃo das potenciais comunidades. AlÃm disso, a partir da aplicaÃÃo do modelo surgiram novas necessidades e ideias que podem incentivar a utilizaÃÃo de comunidades de aprendizagem como alternativa para a melhoria da educaÃÃo superior, a possibilidade de integrar o modelo em espaÃo virtual para facilitar o acesso e integraÃÃo de aÃÃes avaliativas institucionais das comunidades de aprendizagem. A proposta do modelo MCICA pode ser utilizada como um caminho para resolver uma parte das necessidades de avaliaÃÃo das instituiÃÃes que atuam atravÃs do meio virtual e que fomentam a formaÃÃo de comunidades virtuais de aprendizagem, proporcionando uma leitura das interaÃÃes interpessoais e a busca da melhoria da qualidade dentro destes espaÃos digitais e presenciais. / This paper aims to propose a model to evaluate the internal cohesion of virtual learning communities and provide a way for interventions to improve the quality of the learning community. Based on the study of the theoretical model was developed evaluation model called "ACICVA" which was tested in a virtual learning environment in an institution of higher education. The application of the model allowed to diagnose the level of community cohesion, assessed the need and outline proposals for action to foster greater cohesion quality of potential communities. Moreover, from the application of the model came new needs and ideas that may encourage the use of learning communities as an alternative to the improvement of higher education, the possibility of integrating the model in virtual space for easy access and integration of actions evaluative institutions of learning communities.

The problem was that there is a shortage of nurses who possess the leadership practices required to fill current and impending nursing leadership vacancies. Hospital-based nurse educators are in a prime position to foster a leadership mindset within nurses, and seek out potential nurse leaders; however, nurse educators first need to develop their own leadership practices and feel empowered to take on the role of mentoring future nurse leaders. The goal was to develop an online learning community where hospital-based nurse educators could develop their own nursing leadership practices through storytelling within an environment that included the elements of teaching presence, cognitive presence, and social presence. The online learning community would be considered an empowering environment, and nurse educators would improve their own feelings of empowerment. A wiki was used as the computer-user interface for the online learning community, and was designed based on the principles of human-computer interaction, learning theory, and instructional design. The wiki was separated into two learning communities, namely, the facilitated community and the self-organizing community. Some of the wiki pages were viewable by both communities, some were community specific, and other pages were private and viewable only to the nurse educator and the facilitator. The researcher/facilitator was the leader of the facilitated community, while self-organizing community members were responsible for leading their own community. The facilitator intervened in the self-organizing community when necessary, mostly to address technical issues. Through direct instruction via narrated presentations available to both communities, and leadership stories written and posted by the community members themselves, nurse educators learned about exemplary practices of leadership. Nurse educators in both communities significantly increased their own perceived leadership practices and perceived levels of empowerment. Educators in both learning communities identified that their communities included the elements of teaching, cognitive, and social presence. There were no differences between the communities, except on the teaching presence subscale of direct instruction, where the facilitated community was rated significantly higher. Given increases in empowerment levels, it was determined that both online learning communities could be considered empowering environments.

Leadership capacity may be enhanced when school staff members work together as a professional learning community (PLC). Leadership style may impact how well a school staff work as a professional learning community. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between principal leadership style and the level of PLC on 18 campuses across the US that were working on becoming PLCs. Staff members answered questions from two surveys which measured the level of leadership capacity, leadership style of the principal, and level of professional learning community within the schools. Questions regarding leadership capacity and leadership style were taken from the Leadership Capacity School Survey. Questions designed to measure the level of PLC on a campus were taken from the Professional Learning Community Assessment. The product-moment correlation coefficient or Pearson r was calculated between the answers from the questions from both surveys. The results indicated that when a capacity building principal is working with staff members to create a PLC, a higher level of PLC development is evidenced. When principals used collaboration with their staff, their schools operated at a lower level as a PLC. These results encourage principals to consider building capacity among their staff members if they want to create professional learning communities on their campus.

This essay reports on an investigation of an integrative solution to facilitating cooperative learning for net generation learners in a technology-rich environment. Of specific interest is the changing roles of learners and educators as well as the enabling role of technology. The case study investigated and utilised to compile this dissertation is the Earthly Aliens Theme Day. Data obtained by interviewing and observing Theme Day participants is utilised to support the answers of the research questions. The research results of this study have shown that St Alban's College successfully managed to implement computer-integrated Theme Days. The College broke the barriers between subjects; learners participated in a learning experience that is closer to reality than just another 'thumb suck' educational experience. The concept of group work has been introduced to learners, and they are allowed to be creative, lateral thinkers and problem solvers. A small committee of learners gained managerial skills, while College graduates who are entering the job market are equipped with the necessary cross-curricular life skills to cope in today's technological advanced world / Thesis (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Curriculum Studies / MEd / Unrestricted

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OFNdeye Helene Oumou Diack, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Curriculum & Instruction, presented on October 23rd, 2019, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.TITLE: ADDRESSING THE CRITICAL STEPS OF BUILDING A CULTURE OF COLLABORATION IN A PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY (PLC): A CASE STUDYMAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. John McIntyre This case study examined PLC leaders and team members during their first year setting up their PLC collaborative process. It investigated the PLC design and activities, the team members lived experiences during the setting up of the PLC, and its impact on members’ interpersonal relationships and also their personal and professional growth. I collected the data by means of observations of team meetings, PLC documents analysis, an interview of an administrator, and a focus group of a team of three Caucasian American female experienced elementary teachers. The research took place in a school district at a semi-rural Midwestern town in the USA during the 2018-2019 school year. DuFour et al. (2016) model of a PLC provided the main framework for the study that took into account Situated Learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and Social Constructivism (Vygotsky, 1978). The findings showed that despite hindrances due to the design process, accountability measures of school improvement reporting weights, and the individual PLC members’ personalities, the team members I studied, unlike some other teams in the building, were doing a great collaborative work. They were driven by collective commitment to the PLC mission, values, visions and goals. They showed resiliency that is strengthened by mutual trust, mutual support, mutual respect, and protection for each other. They had a high level of dedication to improve their students’ achievements by means of common formative assessment of their academic and behavioral issues, intervention plans to address issues, and a very rigorous benchmarking of collectively designed instructional units. Vulnerability of both administrators and team members were evidenced, and the limitations of the study, recommendations for improvement, and implication for Policy Makers, as well as directions for future research are provided.

Thesis advisor: Ana M. Martínez-Alemán / Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (BSN) programs need to increase the retention and graduation rates of students of color to create a diverse nursing workforce that meets the needs of the United States. Living and learning communities (LLCs) are an emerging method for residential colleges to improve the experiences and retention of undergraduate students. This dissertation used a critical race theory lens to investigate the impact of a nursing-focused living and learning community on the first-year experiences of women of color. A qualitative comparative case study methodology was appropriate to explore the differences of sense of belonging of women of color in the LLC compared to women of color not enrolled in the LLC. The research questions that guided this study were, How does a nursing living and learning community impact the sense of belonging for first-year women of color who attend a BSN program within a predominantly White institution? and How different is the sense of belonging of the women of color who participated in the nursing-focused LLC compared to the first-year BSN women of color who did not participate in the nursing-focused LLC? Thirteen women of color from a predominantly White BSN program, River Stone University, participated in a survey, journal entries, individual interviews, and focus groups. The findings suggest that the nursing-focused LLC positively impacted the sense of belonging of women of color in the BSN program. The nursing-focused LLC was an institutional counterspace for women of color, which mitigated the adverse effects of the BSN program’s hostile racial climate and competitive culture. The women of color who did not participate in the nursing-focused LLC had a lower sense of belonging and perceived the BSN program to be more racially hostile and unwelcoming. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

abstract: As higher education embraces innovative educational models, support for the faculty members who must carry them out remains a vital ingredient for success. Despite this need, many institutions adopt innovations such as blended learning for all of the benefits afforded, with minimal consideration to meaningfully equip professors teaching these courses. “Faculty Learning Communities” (FLC’s) provide a powerful model of supporting and equipping faculty in their teaching practice. Nevertheless, ongoing and collaborative faculty development was historically unavailable to professors teaching undergraduate blended courses at Lancaster Bible College. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative action research study was to examine the ways that faculty perceived an FLC during the design and facilitation of a blended course. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework guided the design and facilitation of the FLC in fall 2018, as well as providing insight into measuring how learning communities formed during the FLC and while participants taught their courses. This FLC model blended learning for participants by occurring four times on campus, with online sessions following each in-person meeting. The faculty developer provided resources and support as faculty collaborated in designing their blended courses for the spring 2019 semester. Faculty perceptions of support were gathered in a focus group at the end of fall semester. During the spring 2019 semester, the faculty developer observed both on-campus and online sessions of the blended courses and led a second focus group about faculty perceptions of effectiveness and support. Qualitative data sets included video recordings of the FLC, focus groups, and class observations, field notes, and screenshots of online environments during the FLC and courses. Findings demonstrated substantial evidence of CoI measures of social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence were present in both the FLC and participants’ courses. These results affirmed the CoI framework provided a meaningful platform for faculty development. Additionally, participants perceived the FLC as supportive for their blended teaching practices, making direct mentions of support and indicating belief that broader institutional change be implemented toward this end to enhance faculty development opportunities. Limitations and implications of the study, as well as desired future research were explored. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2019