<p> As online courses become more established, there has been a clear impetus to build interactivity, personalization, and real-time feedback into courses. Faculty and course designers have cast envious eyes at video and online games that engage and enthrall players for hours and some are experimenting with gamification&mdash;a blanket term that covers all manner of attempts to build student intrinsic motivation into online courses. In this study I analyze four cases of gamified online courses at accredited institutions of higher education. I've looked at game elements the course builders are including and whether this might be a means of progress toward educational and societal goals. My conclusion is that there is potential significantly to increase student engagement in the concept of gamifying online courses. I outline areas for future study by suggesting frameworks within which gamification might be further analyzed and assessed.</p>

<p> Employers highly value college graduates who have strong teamwork and interpersonal skills. In studies focused on employer priorities for college learning sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities in 2008, 2010, and 2013, employers have stated that colleges should do more to prepare graduates to work effectively in a team-based work environment. Equally important is the empirical research which has demonstrated that cooperative learning has the ability to significantly enhance student learning. These benefits include higher academic achievement, better longterm retention of what is learned, enhanced ability to transfer learning from one situation to another and a more positive attitude toward the academic subject being studied. Lastly, the study of teamwork is important to the study of leadership, without a team of followers there is no leadership. Many college and university faculty have students work in cooperative groups and assign team projects in their courses. Unfortunately, most faculty do not realize that the development of effective teamwork knowledge, skills, and abilities takes time, education and training. Students need to be taught how to work cooperatively in teams; these skills do not naturally develop on their own. </p><p> The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the differences between what the research literature identifies as cooperative learning and teamwork instructional &ldquo;best practices&rdquo; and what postsecondary faculty in a variety of academic disciplines actually do when employing groups or teams in their courses. An additional research objective was to gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to any differences discovered. In order to take a first step toward answering these questions a web-based survey of full-time faculty, both liberal arts and professional, employed at ten different Maryland colleges and universities was conducted.</p><p> An analysis of the data collected revealed that a preponderance of the faculty assigned cooperative work and team assignments for student centered reasons; they want their students to learn teamwork skills and course content. Yet the majority of the faculty implement very few of the cooperative learning and teamwork instructional &ldquo;best practices&rdquo; discussed in the academic literature. In other words, students were assigned to course teams with little forethought, preparation, or guidance from faculty and many of the assignments utilized were not properly designed for student group/team learning. The research suggests a majority of faculty harbor misconceptions about how students learn teamwork skills and do not realize that their own knowledge of cooperative learning and teamwork as well as of the best instructional practices was very limited. Lastly, the research uncovered several statistically significant relationships among the use of cooperative groups, team projects and instructional &ldquo;best practices&rdquo; and with faculty teamwork self-efficacy, collectivism values, motivation, attitude and to a lesser degree with faculty teamwork KSAs and demographics.</p><p> By gaining a better understanding of faculty confidence and competence to teach and coach effective cooperative learning and teamwork within their classrooms, colleges and universities will be able to develop meaningful instructional aids, mentoring programs and professional development opportunities which support faculty in the effective facilitation of meaningful group exercises and team projects in their courses. In so doing, the college student&rsquo;s attitude toward future team opportunities will be more positive and the likelihood increased that effective teamwork skills will be developed and more likely transferred to future professional situations.</p>

<p>The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences of 8 North Carolina secondary teachers who received professional development and implemented concept-based instruction (CBI). Guided by adult learning theories including andragogy, transformational learning, and constructivist theory, interview questions addressed adults as self-directed learners who integrate learning as needed in daily situations, adults who reflect on personal perspectives to overcome misconceptions and institutional change as a result of a shift in beliefs, and adults who gain knowledge by making sense of new learning through individual experiences. The study reveals (a) teachers&rsquo; perceptions of the adequacy of professional development, (b) teachers&rsquo; self-assessments of progress in implementing CBI, (c) teachers&rsquo; perceptions of consistency in implementation across classrooms, and (d) supports and barriers that influenced the implementation of CBI. Study participants recognized CBI as the basis for the organization and structure of the units and lessons used to promote student engagement and understanding around concepts. The study findings indicate the degree of implementation of CBI depends on individual understanding and the level of priority to use CBI recognized by school leadership. Recommendations directed toward educational leaders encourage the organization of a comprehensive professional development design to include administrative support of teacher implementation of new instructional strategies. </p>

<p> Faculty-designers (educational professionals untrained in instructional design) have emerged as critical components in development of online courses and a need has arisen to ensure that faculty-designers possess appropriate skills and competencies to maintain quality of online courses.</p>

<p> Passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of combat-experienced veterans enrolling in institutions of higher learning. While these student-veterans bring unique perspectives to the classroom, they also face many challenges to their educational pursuits. Few educators are aware of how the effects of trauma or recalling combat experiences might support or hinder adult learning in the cognition, emotion, and social dimensions of learning. This qualitative multiple case study explored how combat experiences supported or hindered learning by graduate-level student-veterans within the content of the curriculum, as an incentive to learn the content of the curriculum, and for facilitating social interactions within the learning environment. Semi-structured interviews described how student-veterans perceived the use of their combat experiences within these three dimensions of learning. Ten purposefully drawn participants from graduate-level student-veteran volunteers attending the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas described a variety of military and educational experiences. Data were analyzed and coded using qualitative data analysis software to reveal themes within the perceptions of the participants and across participant cases. All participants described how their combat experiences supported their learning; eight of 10 described how their combat experiences hindered their learning. Themes supported the theoretical proposition that combat experiences could support student learning through the cognitive, emotional, and social interactions of student-veterans with the curriculum and other students. Participants also described how combat experiences and the military lifestyle could hinder learning in all three dimensions suggesting educators should consider adjusting instructional approaches for some student-veterans. Negative cases to the themes were reported. The study added to an understanding of Illeris' learning theory and the application of contemporary adult education models with graduate-level student-veterans. Recommendations for use of the findings in the classroom were made. Proposals for further research included case studies of student-veterans who have experienced flashbacks during instruction, student-veterans at the graduate and undergraduate level for further comparison, and other traumatized student groups such as law enforcement, medical, and first responders.</p>

<p> Because the field of educational development (also known as faculty development, academic development, and staff development) is relatively new, very little is known about the competencies required for those who work in the field. Additionally, there are no formal pathways or means of formal preparation for educational developers. This study utilized a mixed-methods research design to explore the competencies required for a leadership role in the field of educational development. </p><p> The first part of the study sought to identify these competencies by using the Delphi technique to survey experts in the field. The second part explored whether these competencies were currently represented through content analysis of job postings for educational development leaders. Twenty-two (22) experts from the field of educational development in the United States were selected using purposive sampling and snowball technique. Participants engaged in four rounds of questionnaires during the Delphi survey and generated 66 knowledge, skills, abilities and values required for an educational development leadership position. The expert panel did not agree that 7 of these items belonged on the competency list. An analysis of job postings for educational development leaders revealed an additional 8 competencies not identified in the Delphi study. </p><p> Analysis and further refinement of these competencies generated during the Delphi survey and content analysis of job postings resulted in 10 areas of knowledge, grouped into four categories: classroom or disciplinary-based knowledge, educational and instructional knowledge, organizational knowledge, and higher education system knowledge. Nineteen (19) skills or abilities were also identified and grouped into five categories: administrative duties, educational development services, enhancing organizational culture around teaching and learning, professional and scholarly development, and individual and soft skills. Eleven (11) values also emerged. </p><p> The research from this study indicates that there is indeed, a formal body of knowledge attributable to the field of educational development, as well as a distinct set of skills and abilities required for successful developers. Better understanding these will help further professionalize the field of educational development and create a formal pathway or means of preparation for those seeking to enter the field.</p>

<p> This work is a case study focused on the practices of a comprehensive college access program that serves students in south Los Angeles that has maintained a high school graduation rate of 100% and a college matriculation rate of 98% since 1997. This study sought to utilize the voice and experience of students of color to discern the factors that are most effective in helping urban students of color and in turn, inform the future work of the college access community. The study was driven by the following research questions: a) which practices of a south Los Angeles college access program most impact a student's ability to matriculate to college? and b) How can the epistemology of urban students inform the work of college access programs? Through observations, interviews, journal exercises and document review, this study ranked the practices in order of importance according to the participants, and identified that structure and accountability are essential to the success of this college access program. In addition, the study revealed that the students of this program succeed academically because the program, provides students with structure, access and guidance; because it immerses its students in a college-going culture; because it offers access to academic and cultural resources; because it sets high academic expectations; because it engages the family of origin and creates a family within the program; and because it enhances the self-concept of its students: college access programs see students as scholars. </p><p> Using funds of knowledge as a framework, this study also introduced the original term, "masked epistemologies" which refers to the shared experiences of college access students once they enter college. The concept of masked epistemologies refers to the experience of students who enter college via a college access program, who go on to feel like her ways of knowing, shaped by the unique experience of being a high achieving student participant of a college access program from an urban setting, are disregarded in the new, unknown terrain of college, and must be masked or concealed, only to be revealed in environments considered safe. The students' epistemologies go from being highly praised and admired, to being ignored to the point of invisibility. This study found that students of this college access program struggle with adapting to the social realm of college because they have not been exposed to class differences throughout their tenure in the program.</p>

<p> As discussed in past literature, high school students often lack motivation towards learning (Crow, 2007; Lumsden, 1995). This lack of motivation interferes with student learning (Lumsden,1995; Vansteenkiste, Simons, Lens, Soenens, &amp; Matos, 2005). At the middle school and collegiate level, Socratic Seminar is seen to provide motivation towards learning in students (Copeland, 2005; Mee, 2000; Strong, 1996); however, there is a need for research on student motivation as a result of Socratic Seminar at the high school level. </p><p> The purpose of this study is to identify the extent to which, if any, differences exist in student motivation towards learning among students receiving English instruction via Socratic Seminar versus traditional lecture at the high school level. It was hypothesized that Socratic Seminar provides a better opportunity for students to experience the IV pillars of motivation as described by John Keller (1987a)--attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction--than traditional lecture does. </p><p> A quantitative correlational design was implemented with a cross-sectional data collection administered post-implementation of traditional lecture 3 times and post-implementation of Socratic Seminar 3 times over an 8-week period with 139 11th grade English students at Lutheran High School of Orange County. The responses were viewed as a group through the application of chi-squares. Next, chi-squares were applied to analyze the group's results for each question from the modified CIS. Then, the results were analyzed via Cramer's V within the individual constructs of motivation as described by the CIS, which include: attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction. </p><p> The results displayed Socratic Seminar as providing a more motivating experience towards learning in certain areas of motivation while lecture was seen to be more motivating for other areas of motivation. It was originally believed the application of Socratic Seminar would provide higher student motivation toward learning. From these results, it was learned that teachers must seek a balanced approach in their teaching by applying both Socratic Seminar and lecture. In a broader sense, the lesson learned is that different teaching strategies motivate students in different ways and a wide range of teaching strategies ought to be applied.</p>

<p> The United States currently lags behind globally in the areas of math and science. In order to compete and meet the skills necessary for the future workforce, it has become necessary to seek out instructional strategies that will increase student achievement in those academic areas. With the wide variety of diversity occurring in public schools today, there is a need to identify how to best meet and challenge our students academically in order to close the achievement gap between different genders, ethnicities, socioeconomic status (SES), and ability levels. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of accelerated mathematics instruction on the student achievement of heterogeneous groups of sixth graders as measured on standardized assessments. In addition, this study looked at individual effects on subpopulations including special education, gifted, ethnicities, genders, and low Socio- Economic Status (SES). </p><p> The research design methodology used was quasi experimental non-equivalent groups. The study took place in a suburban school district located in the Southwestern United States comprised of over 32,000 students. Control and experimental groups were compared utilizing quantitative data collected from the mathematics subsection on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS). The study compared heterogeneously grouped sixth grade students at six schools using quantitative data collected for three years, from 2010-2012. The control group presented on-grade level mathematics curriculum to their sixth grade students. The experimental group accelerated the mathematics instruction of their students by one year or equivalent of seventh grade level. </p><p> The findings indicated there was a statistically significant difference between the control and experimental groups for the areas of SES, special education, gifted, gender and ethnicity. These data suggest that students taught a year ahead of their grade level, benefitted from this treatment rather than receiving the standard sixth grade mathematics instruction. </p><p> As a result of this study, teachers may be able to determine whether to include more students of varying ability in higher level mathematics courses rather than isolating advanced instruction to high ability students only. The study findings will also assist in identifying whether the acceleration method of instruction has any effect in order to be considered an option to the traditional method of remediation for low achieving students.</p>

<p> Since being introduced into classrooms in the late 1990s, online instruction has grown substantially both in student enrollment and the number of programs offered at state, district, and multi-district levels. Although having been applied liberally to all core subjects and many supplemental subjects, online instruction has yet to be utilized extensively in the musical arts. Courses in music performance present a unique set of technological and logistical challenges when adapted to an online setting. Nevertheless, private music teachers have utilized Internet resources extensively. Similar techniques applied to public school music programs, however, have yet to be explored thoroughly. Utilizing a combination of asynchronous instruction and synchronous instruction for teaching online music performance courses offers a potential for study and development. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to establish the feasibility of an online music performance course that included both asynchronous and synchronous instruction. An approach that utilized both a multimedia blog format and real-time video instruction was developed, implemented, and delivered to a limited group of trombone students as a pilot study. Nine students participated in online trombone lessons that focused primarily upon the development of performance fundamentals. The delivery of content was assessed to determine a feasible format for music performance instruction in an online setting. Although typical technological shortcomings were experienced during instructional settings, students were able to identify, explain, and apply concepts gleaned from the blog and real-time video lessons. </p><p> Internet-based resources have been applied to independent and collegiate music performance instruction; pedagogical approaches, however, have not been developed for use in secondary level online learning programs. Consequently, online music performance instruction has not evolved as rapidly as online instruction of core academic subjects. As technological advances become available, the possibility for delivering online instruction in areas of the performing arts, and especially in music performance, becomes more feasible and likely will be integrated into the curricula of many online learning programs. Until such time, the implementation of viable online instructional models is essential for the development of traditional music performance courses.</p>