Development of a theater-based nutrition and physical activity intervention for low-income, urban, African American adolescents.

PubMed

Jackson, Caree J; Mullis, Rebecca M; Hughes, Marilyn

2010-01-01

Childhood overweight is disproportionately worse in minority and low-income populations. Theater is a promising and effective tool for delivering health education to these underserved populations, but no known studies have examined the use of theater to promote both nutrition and physical activity to minority youth. To develop an interactive, theater-based intervention that conveys health messages to low-income, urban, African Americans and engages them in learning ways to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Community partners worked to develop a theater-based nutrition and physical activity intervention. A focus group provided urban adolescents' thoughts about their desires for the intervention. Based on input from all community partners, the group created a theater-based intervention. Researchers used a quasi-experimental (pre-/posttest) design with a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach. Participants learned health messages through theater, dance, and music and gave feedback on the program sessions and materials. The program ended with a dinner theater performance showcasing information that students learned during the intervention. Participants received six theater-based health lessons. Learning objectives for each health education session were achieved. Each participant contributed to and performed in the final performance. All program participants were highly satisfied with the theater-based method of learning health messages. A community-academic partnership succeeded in developing a theater-based nutrition and physical activity intervention that satisfied participating adolescents.

Two-Year Community: Increasing Science Knowledge among High-Risk Student Populations through a Community College Honors/Service-Learning Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellerton, Sharon; Carmona, Naydu; Tsimounis, Areti

2016-01-01

There is an urgent need to increase K-12 science knowledge and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) preparedness for college. State and national data suggest a strong correlation between student performance in STEM subjects and student socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity. Queensborough Community College (QCC) is situated…

What factors determine academic achievement in high achieving undergraduate medical students? A qualitative study.

PubMed

Abdulghani, Hamza M; Al-Drees, Abdulmajeed A; Khalil, Mahmood S; Ahmad, Farah; Ponnamperuma, Gominda G; Amin, Zubair

2014-04-01

Medical students' academic achievement is affected by many factors such as motivational beliefs and emotions. Although students with high intellectual capacity are selected to study medicine, their academic performance varies widely. The aim of this study is to explore the high achieving students' perceptions of factors contributing to academic achievement. Focus group discussions (FGD) were carried out with 10 male and 9 female high achieving (scores more than 85% in all tests) students, from the second, third, fourth and fifth academic years. During the FGDs, the students were encouraged to reflect on their learning strategies and activities. The discussion was audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed qualitatively. Factors influencing high academic achievement include: attendance to lectures, early revision, prioritization of learning needs, deep learning, learning in small groups, mind mapping, learning in skills lab, learning with patients, learning from mistakes, time management, and family support. Internal motivation and expected examination results are important drivers of high academic performance. Management of non-academic issues like sleep deprivation, homesickness, language barriers, and stress is also important for academic success. Addressing these factors, which might be unique for a given student community, in a systematic manner would be helpful to improve students' performance.

AZOrange - High performance open source machine learning for QSAR modeling in a graphical programming environment

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Machine learning has a vast range of applications. In particular, advanced machine learning methods are routinely and increasingly used in quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) modeling. QSAR data sets often encompass tens of thousands of compounds and the size of proprietary, as well as public data sets, is rapidly growing. Hence, there is a demand for computationally efficient machine learning algorithms, easily available to researchers without extensive machine learning knowledge. In granting the scientific principles of transparency and reproducibility, Open Source solutions are increasingly acknowledged by regulatory authorities. Thus, an Open Source state-of-the-art high performance machine learning platform, interfacing multiple, customized machine learning algorithms for both graphical programming and scripting, to be used for large scale development of QSAR models of regulatory quality, is of great value to the QSAR community. Results This paper describes the implementation of the Open Source machine learning package AZOrange. AZOrange is specially developed to support batch generation of QSAR models in providing the full work flow of QSAR modeling, from descriptor calculation to automated model building, validation and selection. The automated work flow relies upon the customization of the machine learning algorithms and a generalized, automated model hyper-parameter selection process. Several high performance machine learning algorithms are interfaced for efficient data set specific selection of the statistical method, promoting model accuracy. Using the high performance machine learning algorithms of AZOrange does not require programming knowledge as flexible applications can be created, not only at a scripting level, but also in a graphical programming environment. Conclusions AZOrange is a step towards meeting the needs for an Open Source high performance machine learning platform, supporting the efficient development of highly accurate QSAR models fulfilling regulatory requirements. PMID:21798025

AZOrange - High performance open source machine learning for QSAR modeling in a graphical programming environment.

PubMed

Stålring, Jonna C; Carlsson, Lars A; Almeida, Pedro; Boyer, Scott

2011-07-28

Machine learning has a vast range of applications. In particular, advanced machine learning methods are routinely and increasingly used in quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) modeling. QSAR data sets often encompass tens of thousands of compounds and the size of proprietary, as well as public data sets, is rapidly growing. Hence, there is a demand for computationally efficient machine learning algorithms, easily available to researchers without extensive machine learning knowledge. In granting the scientific principles of transparency and reproducibility, Open Source solutions are increasingly acknowledged by regulatory authorities. Thus, an Open Source state-of-the-art high performance machine learning platform, interfacing multiple, customized machine learning algorithms for both graphical programming and scripting, to be used for large scale development of QSAR models of regulatory quality, is of great value to the QSAR community. This paper describes the implementation of the Open Source machine learning package AZOrange. AZOrange is specially developed to support batch generation of QSAR models in providing the full work flow of QSAR modeling, from descriptor calculation to automated model building, validation and selection. The automated work flow relies upon the customization of the machine learning algorithms and a generalized, automated model hyper-parameter selection process. Several high performance machine learning algorithms are interfaced for efficient data set specific selection of the statistical method, promoting model accuracy. Using the high performance machine learning algorithms of AZOrange does not require programming knowledge as flexible applications can be created, not only at a scripting level, but also in a graphical programming environment. AZOrange is a step towards meeting the needs for an Open Source high performance machine learning platform, supporting the efficient development of highly accurate QSAR models fulfilling regulatory requirements.

Preceptors’ Self-Assessment of Their Ability to Perform the Learning Objectives of an Experiential Program

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Objective. To evaluate preceptors’ perception of their ability to perform the Structured Practical Experiences in Pharmacy (SPEP) learning objectives through a self-assessment activity. Methods. A self-assessment instrument consisting of 28 learning objectives associated with clinic, community, and hospital pharmacy practice experiences were developed. Preceptors rated their performance ability for each of the learning objectives using a 3-point Likert scale. Results. Of the 116 preceptors, 89 (77%) completed the self-assessment survey instrument. The overall preceptor responses to the items on performance of the 28 SPEP learning objectives ranged from good to excellent. Years of experience, practice experience setting, and involvement as a SPEP or SPEP and PharmD preceptor had no influence on their self-reported capabilities. Conclusion. Most preceptors rated their ability to perform the learning objectives for the structured practical experiences in pharmacy as high. Competency areas requiring further preceptor development were identified. PMID:23193333

Integrated Strategic Planning in a Learning-Centered Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelley, Susan; Kaufman, Roger

2007-01-01

In learning-centered community colleges, planning, like all processes, must measurably improve learning and learner performance. This article shares Valencia Community College's approach to revising its strategic planning process based on the Organizational Elements Model to: 1) focus strategic planning on learning results that add value for…

Is the Learning Community of Economics and Accounting Effective? Empirical Assessment of Class Achievements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stumph, Carolyn Fabian; Kim, Myeong Hwan; Han, Yongseung; Minke, Susan

2017-01-01

Learning communities are increasingly used at colleges and universities, as one of the goals of a learning community is to increase interaction among students and teach them how to apply knowledge. The goal of this research is to assess the learning community of the economics and accounting students in their class performance measured by class…

Failure Is Not an Option (TM). Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in High-Performing Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blankstein, Alan M.

2004-01-01

The author builds upon a foundation which identifies courageous school leadership and the professional learning community as the center of effective school reform. The author offers six guiding principles steps for creating and sustaining a high-performing school: (1) Common mission, vision, values, and goals: (2) Systems for prevention and…

Multilabel user classification using the community structure of online networks

PubMed Central

Papadopoulos, Symeon; Kompatsiaris, Yiannis

2017-01-01

We study the problem of semi-supervised, multi-label user classification of networked data in the online social platform setting. We propose a framework that combines unsupervised community extraction and supervised, community-based feature weighting before training a classifier. We introduce Approximate Regularized Commute-Time Embedding (ARCTE), an algorithm that projects the users of a social graph onto a latent space, but instead of packing the global structure into a matrix of predefined rank, as many spectral and neural representation learning methods do, it extracts local communities for all users in the graph in order to learn a sparse embedding. To this end, we employ an improvement of personalized PageRank algorithms for searching locally in each user’s graph structure. Then, we perform supervised community feature weighting in order to boost the importance of highly predictive communities. We assess our method performance on the problem of user classification by performing an extensive comparative study among various recent methods based on graph embeddings. The comparison shows that ARCTE significantly outperforms the competition in almost all cases, achieving up to 35% relative improvement compared to the second best competing method in terms of F1-score. PMID:28278242

Multilabel user classification using the community structure of online networks.

PubMed

Rizos, Georgios; Papadopoulos, Symeon; Kompatsiaris, Yiannis

2017-01-01

We study the problem of semi-supervised, multi-label user classification of networked data in the online social platform setting. We propose a framework that combines unsupervised community extraction and supervised, community-based feature weighting before training a classifier. We introduce Approximate Regularized Commute-Time Embedding (ARCTE), an algorithm that projects the users of a social graph onto a latent space, but instead of packing the global structure into a matrix of predefined rank, as many spectral and neural representation learning methods do, it extracts local communities for all users in the graph in order to learn a sparse embedding. To this end, we employ an improvement of personalized PageRank algorithms for searching locally in each user's graph structure. Then, we perform supervised community feature weighting in order to boost the importance of highly predictive communities. We assess our method performance on the problem of user classification by performing an extensive comparative study among various recent methods based on graph embeddings. The comparison shows that ARCTE significantly outperforms the competition in almost all cases, achieving up to 35% relative improvement compared to the second best competing method in terms of F1-score.

Social Networks, Communication Styles, and Learning Performance in a CSCL Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Hichang; Gay, Geri; Davidson, Barry; Ingraffea, Anthony

2007-01-01

The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the relationships between communication styles, social networks, and learning performance in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) community. Using social network analysis (SNA) and longitudinal survey data, we analyzed how 31 distributed learners developed collaborative learning…

The iPlant collaborative: cyberinfrastructure for enabling data to discovery for the life sciences

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The iPlant Collaborative provides life science research communities access to comprehensive, scalable, and cohesive computational infrastructure for data management; identify management; collaboration tools; and cloud, high-performance, high-throughput computing. iPlant provides training, learning m...

FODEM: Developing Digital Learning Environments in Widely Dispersed Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suhonen, Jarkko; Sutinen, Erkki

2006-01-01

FODEM (FOrmative DEvelopment Method) is a design method for developing digital learning environments for widely dispersed learning communities. These are communities in which the geographical distribution and density of learners is low when compared to the kind of learning communities in which there is a high distribution and density of learners…

Teacher Education in Schools as Learning Communities: Transforming High-Poverty Schools through Dialogic Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia-Carrion, Rocio; Gomez, Aitor; Molina, Silvia; Ionescu, Vladia

2017-01-01

Teachers' professional development in Schools as Learning Communities may become a key process for the sustainability and transferability of this model worldwide. Learning Communities (LC) is a community-based project that aims to transform schools through dialogic learning and involves research-grounded schools that implement Successful…

Using High Performance Computing to Examine the Processes of Neurogenesis Underlying Pattern Separation/Completion of Episodic Information.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aimone, James Bradley; Betty, Rita

Using High Performance Computing to Examine the Processes of Neurogenesis Underlying Pattern Separation/Completion of Episodic Information - Sandia researchers developed novel methods and metrics for studying the computational function of neurogenesis, thus generating substantial impact to the neuroscience and neural computing communities. This work could benefit applications in machine learning and other analysis activities.

HEPDOOP: High-Energy Physics Analysis using Hadoop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhimji, W.; Bristow, T.; Washbrook, A.

2014-06-01

We perform a LHC data analysis workflow using tools and data formats that are commonly used in the "Big Data" community outside High Energy Physics (HEP). These include Apache Avro for serialisation to binary files, Pig and Hadoop for mass data processing and Python Scikit-Learn for multi-variate analysis. Comparison is made with the same analysis performed with current HEP tools in ROOT.

School Leadership and Professional Learning Community: Case Study of Two Senior High Schools in Northeast China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Ting

2016-01-01

This article presents findings of a qualitative study on school leadership and professional learning community in two high achieving senior high schools in Northeast China. The findings show that teachers participated in school-based communities of professional learning, such as Teaching and Research Groups, Lesson Preparation Groups, and Grade…

Learning in a Physics Classroom Community: Physics Learning Identity Construct Development, Measurement and Validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Sissi L.

At the university level, introductory science courses usually have high student to teacher ratios which increases the challenge to meaningfully connect with students. Various curricula have been developed in physics education to actively engage students in learning through social interactions with peers and instructors in class. This learning environment demands not only conceptual understanding but also learning to be a scientist. However, the success of student learning is typically measured in test performance and course grades while assessment of student development as science learners is largely ignored. This dissertation addresses this issue with the development of an instrument towards a measure of physics learning identity (PLI) which is used to guide and complement case studies through student interviews and in class observations. Using the conceptual framework based on Etienne Wenger's communities of practice (1998), I examine the relationship between science learning and learning identity from a situated perspective in the context of a large enrollment science class as a community of practice. This conceptual framework emphasizes the central role of identity in the practices negotiated in the classroom community and in the way students figure out their trajectory as members. Using this framework, I seek to understand how the changes in student learning identity are supported by active engagement based instruction. In turn, this understanding can better facilitate the building of a productive learning community and provide a measure for achievement of the curricular learning goals in active engagement strategies. Based on the conceptual framework, I developed and validated an instrument for measuring physics learning identity in terms of student learning preferences, self-efficacy for learning physics, and self-image as a physics learner. The instrument was pilot tested with a population of Oregon State University students taking calculus based introductory physics. The responses were analyzed using principal component exploratory factor analysis. The emergent factors were analyzed to create reliable subscales to measure PLI in terms of physics learning self-efficacy and social expectations about learning. Using these subscales, I present a case study of a student who performed well in the course but resisted the identity learning goals of the curriculum. These findings are used to support the factors that emerged from the statistical analysis and suggest a potential model of the relationships between the factors describing science learning and learning identity in large enrollment college science classes. This study offers an instrument with which to measure aspects of physics learning identity and insights on how PLI might develop in a classroom community of practice.

Service Learning and Community Health Nursing: A Natural Fit.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Marilyn P.; Swanson, Elizabeth

2002-01-01

Community health nursing students performed community assessments and proposed and implemented service learning projects that addressed adolescent smoking in middle schools, home safety for elderly persons, industrial worker health, and sexual abuse of teenaged girls. Students learned to apply epidemiological research methods, mobilize resources,…

Head office commitment to quality-related event reporting in community pharmacy

PubMed Central

Scobie, Andrea C.; Boyle, Todd A.; MacKinnon, Neil J.; Mahaffey, Thomas

2012-01-01

Background: This research explores how perceptions of head office commitment to quality-related event (QRE) reporting differ between pharmacy staff type and between pharmacies with high and low QRE reporting and learning performance. QREs include known, alleged or suspected medication errors that reach the patient as well as medication errors that are intercepted prior to dispensing. Methods: A survey questionnaire was mailed in the spring of 2010 to 427 pharmacy managers, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Nova Scotia. Nonparametric statistics were used to determine differences based on pharmacy staff type and pharmacy performance. Content analysis was used to analyze the responses to open-ended survey questions. Results: A total of 210 surveys were returned, for a response rate of 49.2%. However, the current study used only the subgroup of pharmacy staff who self-reported working at a chain pharmacy, for a total of 124 usable questionnaires. The results showed that community pharmacies viewed head office commitment to QRE reporting as an area to improve. In general, high-performing pharmacies ranked head office commitment higher than low-performing pharmacies. Discussion: One possible reason why high-performing pharmacies ranked the variables higher may be that increased levels of head office support for QRE processes have led these pharmacies to adopt and commit to QRE processes and thus increase their performance. Conclusion: Demonstrated commitment to QRE reporting, ongoing encouragement and targeted messages to staff could be important steps for head office to increase QRE reporting and learning in community pharmacies. PMID:23509532

Head office commitment to quality-related event reporting in community pharmacy.

PubMed

Scobie, Andrea C; Boyle, Todd A; Mackinnon, Neil J; Mahaffey, Thomas

2012-05-01

This research explores how perceptions of head office commitment to quality-related event (QRE) reporting differ between pharmacy staff type and between pharmacies with high and low QRE reporting and learning performance. QREs include known, alleged or suspected medication errors that reach the patient as well as medication errors that are intercepted prior to dispensing. A survey questionnaire was mailed in the spring of 2010 to 427 pharmacy managers, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Nova Scotia. Nonparametric statistics were used to determine differences based on pharmacy staff type and pharmacy performance. Content analysis was used to analyze the responses to open-ended survey questions. A total of 210 surveys were returned, for a response rate of 49.2%. However, the current study used only the subgroup of pharmacy staff who self-reported working at a chain pharmacy, for a total of 124 usable questionnaires. The results showed that community pharmacies viewed head office commitment to QRE reporting as an area to improve. In general, high-performing pharmacies ranked head office commitment higher than low-performing pharmacies. One possible reason why high-performing pharmacies ranked the variables higher may be that increased levels of head office support for QRE processes have led these pharmacies to adopt and commit to QRE processes and thus increase their performance. Demonstrated commitment to QRE reporting, ongoing encouragement and targeted messages to staff could be important steps for head office to increase QRE reporting and learning in community pharmacies.

Effects of an Online Learning Community on Active and Reflective Learners' Learning Performance and Attitudes in a Face-to-Face Undergraduate Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhan, Zehui; Xu, Fuyin; Ye, Huiwen

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an Online Learning Community (OLC) on active and reflective learners' learning performance and attitude in a face-to-face undergraduate digital design course. 814 freshmen in an introductory digital design course were randomly assigned to one of two treatments: one offered students an OLC,…

Neurobehavioral Factors Associated with Referral for Learning Problems in a Community Sample: Evidence for an Adaptational Model for Learning Disorders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waber, Deborah P.; Weiler, Michael D.; Forbes, Peter W.; Bernstein, Jane H.; Bellinger, David C.; Rappaport, Leonard

2003-01-01

Comparison of community children referred for learning disability evaluation (CR, n=17) with children not-referred in community general education (CGE, n=161), community special education (CSE, n=30), or from outpatient hospital referrals (HR). CR group performance was equivalent to that of CSE and HR groups. Results suggest conceptualizing…

Approaches to Biology Teaching and Learning: Lesson Study--Building Communities of Learning among Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Deborah; Donham, Richard; Tanner, Kimberly

2004-01-01

For more than 20 years, the American public has grown accustomed to the drumbeat of bad news about their schools. Poor performance on standardized tests, gaps in achievement between minority and white students, and high student drop-out rates have become part of the modern lexicon. Although college- and university-level science educators are not…

The Impact of a Professional Learning Community on Student Academic Achievement in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Eldridge

2013-01-01

The continued failure of a large, suburban, Title I high school to meet adequate yearly performance indicators as defined in the No Child Left Behind Act is a concern for school personnel, district officials, and the school community. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether 9th grade teachers working collaboratively, within…

The pattern of performance management of community service learning empowerment in improving the entrepreneurship on the graduation candidate of Vocational Technology Education Institution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadromi

2017-03-01

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the pattern of performance management of Community Service Empowerment Learning-Universitas Negeri Semarang in improving the entrepreneurship of the graduate candidate of Vocational Technology Education Institution. This evaluation research uses Context Evaluation, Input evaluation, Process evaluation and Product evaluation method (CIPP) to evaluate the performance management of Community Service of Empowerment Learning-Universitas Negeri Semarang. The location of research was in Kandri Subdistrict-Indonesia. The subject of research is the Kandri Subdistrict community, especially the groups of the youth, students, subdistrict organizers, community organization, and culinery and handicraft industry, as well as the students who join the program of Community Service of Empowerment Learning-Universitas Negeri Semarang. The object of research is the pattern of perfomance management of Community Service Empowerment Learning-Universitas Negeri Semarang in improving the entrepreneurship of the graduation candidate of Vocational Technology Education Institution. The research result shows the pattern of Community Service Empowerment Learning-Universitas Negeri Semarang is able to improve the enterpreneurship of graduate candidate of Vocational Technology Education Institution. The pattern of Community Service Empowerment Community-Universitas Negeri Semarang which is Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)in the field of education, training, and assistance continuously can grasp and develop competency and balance mindset of students including triple bottom line which mutually connectedamong the sectors of social, economic, cultural, and environment so that it can increase the entrerpreneurship on the graduates candidate of Vocational Technology Education Institution

Beginning High School Teachers' Perceptions of Involvement in Professional Learning Communities and Its Impact on Teacher Retention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lovett, Helen Tomlinson

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine beginning high school teachers' perceptions of involvement in Professional Learning Communities in southeastern North Carolina and to determine whether beginning teachers' perceptions of involvement in Professional Learning Communities influenced their decisions to move to another location, stay in…

Effects of Leadership Practices on Professional Learning Communities: The Mediating Role of Trust in Colleagues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zheng, Xin; Yin, Hongbiao; Liu, Yuan; Ke, Zheng

2016-01-01

The building of professional learning communities has been widely recognized as an effective strategy for schools wanting to improve student performance and enhance teachers' professional capacity. This study explored the relationship between leadership practices and professional learning communities, with a particular focus on the mediating role…

Not Driven by High-Stakes Tests: Exploring Science Assessment and College Readiness of Students from an Urban Portfolio Community High School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fleshman, Robin Earle

This case study seeks to explore three research questions: (1) What science teaching and learning processes, perspectives, and cultures exist within the science classroom of an urban portfolio community high school? (2) In what ways does the portfolio-based approach prepare high school students of color for college level science coursework, laboratory work, and assessment? (3) Are portfolio community high school students of color college ready? Is there a relationship between students' science and mathematics performance and college readiness? The overarching objectives of the study are to learn, understand, and describe an urban portfolio community high school as it relates to science assessment and college readiness; to understand how the administration, teachers, and alumni perceive the use of portfolios in science learning and assessment; and to understand how alumni view their preparation and readiness for college and college science coursework, laboratory work, and assessments. The theoretical framework of this study encompasses four theories: critical theory, contextual assessment, self-regulated learning, and ethic of care. Because the urban high school studied partnered with a community-based organization (CBO), it identifies as a community school. Therefore, I provide context regarding the concept, culture, and services of community schools. Case study is the research design I used to explore in-depth this urban portfolio community high school, which involved mixed methods for data collection and analysis. In total, six alumni/current college students, five school members (administrators and teachers), and three CBO members (administrators, including myself) participated in the study. In addition to school artefacts and student portfolios collected, classroom and portfolio panel presentation observations and 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand the portfolio-based approach as it pertains to science learning and assessment and college science readiness. Data from the transcripts of two graduating classes were analyzed and the interview transcripts were coded and analyzed as well. Analysis of qualitative data revealed key findings: (1) the school's Habits of Mind, authentic scientific inquiry, self-regulated learning triggers and strategies, and teacher feedback practices driven by an ethic of care supported students' science learning and portfolio assessment; and (2) the cyclical and extensive portfolio processes of writing, revision, and submission well prepared alumni for college science laboratory work and coursework, to a certain extent, but not for the traditional assessments administered in college science courses. Analysis of quantitative data revealed that, if based solely on the City University of New York's Regents score criteria for college readiness, the majority of students from these two graduating classes studied would not have been considered college ready even though all participants, including interviewed alumni, believed the school prepared them for college. The majority of these students, however, were transitioning to college readiness based on their Regents-level science and mathematics coursework. Findings of this study have implications for science assessment, professional development in science, education policy reform, and high school partnerships with CBOs and postsecondary institutions as they pertain to college and college science readiness for students of color in urban portfolio community high schools.

Professional Learning Communities Focusing on Results and Data-Use to Improve Student Learning: The Right Implementation Matters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muñoz, Marco A.; Branham, Karen E.

2016-01-01

Professional Learning Communities are an important means toward the goal of improving schools so that students can learn at high levels. Professional Learning Communities, when well-implemented, have a laser-focus on learning, work collaboratively, and hold themselves accountable for results. In this article, the central concept of…

A Goal for North Carolina's Schools. First in America 2001 Progress Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cunningham, Elizabeth Kolb, Ed.; Thompson, Charles L., Ed.

This second annual report details North Carolina's performance and progress since 2000 in the five goal areas: high student performance; every child ready to learn; safe, orderly, and caring schools; quality teachers and administrators; and strong family, business, and community support. Over the years, North Carolina's education system has…

Multiple Perspectives on the State-Mandated Implementation of a High-Stakes Performance Assessment for Preservice English Teacher Candidates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chandler-Olcott, Kelly; Fleming, Sarah

2017-01-01

Drawing on situated learning and communities of practice, this teacher-research study examined multiple stakeholders' perspectives about the purpose, design, and inaugural implementation of the edTPA, a teacher performance assessment mandated for state certification. Participants included teacher candidates, mentor teachers, a field placement…

High School Physical Education Students and Experiential Learning in the Community: A Classroom Assignment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tapps, Tyler; Passmore, Tim; Lindenmeier, Donna; Kensinger, Weston

2014-01-01

The experiential learning model for students working with community groups was developed for specific experiential learning experiences involving 40 hours of actual experience for high school physical education students working with groups in the community. This article discusses the development and specific segments of the model, as well as how…

A Longitudinal Assessment of an Initial Cohort in a Psychology Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buch, Kim; Spaulding, Sue

2008-01-01

Discipline-based learning communities have become a popular strategy for improving student performance and satisfaction. This article describes the goals and features of a university-based, first-year psychology learning community (PLC) implemented in Fall 2003. We also report the results of a longitudinal assessment of the impact of the PLC on…

Using adapted quality-improvement approaches to strengthen community-based health systems and improve care in high HIV-burden sub-Saharan African countries.

PubMed

Horwood, Christiane M; Youngleson, Michele S; Moses, Edward; Stern, Amy F; Barker, Pierre M

2015-07-01

Achieving long-term retention in HIV care is an important challenge for HIV management and achieving elimination of mother-to-child transmission. Sustainable, affordable strategies are required to achieve this, including strengthening of community-based interventions. Deployment of community-based health workers (CHWs) can improve health outcomes but there is a need to identify systems to support and maintain high-quality performance. Quality-improvement strategies have been successfully implemented to improve quality and coverage of healthcare in facilities and could provide a framework to support community-based interventions. Four community-based quality-improvement projects from South Africa, Malawi and Mozambique are described. Community-based improvement teams linked to the facility-based health system participated in learning networks (modified Breakthrough Series), and used quality-improvement methods to improve process performance. Teams were guided by trained quality mentors who used local data to help nurses and CHWs identify gaps in service provision and test solutions. Learning network participants gathered at intervals to share progress and identify successful strategies for improvement. CHWs demonstrated understanding of quality-improvement concepts, tools and methods, and implemented quality-improvement projects successfully. Challenges of using quality-improvement approaches in community settings included adapting processes, particularly data reporting, to the education level and first language of community members. Quality-improvement techniques can be implemented by CHWs to improve outcomes in community settings but these approaches require adaptation and additional mentoring support to be successful. More research is required to establish the effectiveness of this approach on processes and outcomes of care.

Measuring the Effect of an Online Learning Community on Engineering Cooperative Education Students' Perceived and Measured Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Todd, Anita M.

2013-01-01

This quasi-experimental, static-group comparison study of two non-equivalent groups examined how Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) community participation of at-work, cooperative education students affected student perceived performance, perceived learning, and measured learning with student grade point average (GPA) and work term as covariates. The…

Learning Communities for Students in Developmental Math: Impact Studies at Queensborough and Houston Community Colleges. Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weissman, Evan; Butcher, Kristin F.; Schneider, Emily; Teres, Jedediah; Collado, Herbert; Greenberg, David

2011-01-01

Queensborough Community College and Houston Community College are two large, urban institutions that offer learning communities for their developmental math students, with the goals of accelerating students' progress through the math sequence and of helping them to perform better in college and ultimately earn degrees or certificates. They are…

Learning Communities for Students in Developmental Math: Impact Studies at Queensborough and Houston Community Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weissman, Evan; Butcher, Kristin F.; Schneider, Emily; Teres, Jedediah; Collado, Herbert; Greenberg, David

2011-01-01

Queensborough Community College and Houston Community College are two large, urban institutions that offer learning communities for their developmental math students, with the goals of accelerating students' progress through the math sequence and of helping them to perform better in college and ultimately earn degrees or certificates. They are…

Overcoming barriers to high performance seismic design using lessons learned from the green building industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glezil, Dorothy

NEHRP's Provisions today currently governing conventional seismic resistant design. These provisions, though they ensure the life-safety of building occupants, extensive damage and economic losses may still occur in the structures. This minimum performance can be enhanced using the Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering methodology and passive control systems like base isolation and energy dissipation systems. Even though these technologies and the PBEE methodology are effective reducing economic losses and fatalities during earthquakes, getting them implemented into seismic resistant design has been challenging. One of the many barriers to their implementation has been their upfront costs. The green building community has faced some of the same challenges that the high performance seismic design community currently faces. The goal of this thesis is to draw on the success of the green building industry to provide recommendations that may be used overcome the barriers that high performance seismic design (HPSD) is currently facing.

Service Learning and Multiple Models of Engaged Citizenship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reich, Robert

2005-01-01

American high school and university students perform community service in record numbers. According to the most recent survey of incoming university freshman, more than 80 percent of students undertook volunteer work in high school. While volunteering is on the rise, political interest and engagement among youth is declining. These two trends lead…

Community pharmacy owners' views of star ratings and performance measurement: In-depth interviews.

PubMed

Teeter, Benjamin S; Fox, Brent I; Garza, Kimberly B; Harris, Stanley G; Nau, David P; Owensby, Justin K; Westrick, Salisa C

2016-01-01

The star rating system implemented by Medicare has the potential to positively affect patient health and may have financial implications for community pharmacies. Learning from owners of community pharmacies with high performance on these quality measures may help us to identify and further understand factors contributing to their success. This study described high-performing community pharmacy owners' current awareness and knowledge of star ratings, attitudes toward star ratings and performance measurement, and initiatives being offered in pharmacies that aim to improve the quality of care. Qualitative interviews with owners of independent community pharmacies were conducted in Spring 2015. Fifteen community pharmacies with high performance on the star rating measures were invited to participate. Recruitment did not end until the saturation point had been reached. All interviews were transcribed verbatim. Interview data were analyzed with the use of ATLAS.ti by 2 coders trained in thematic analysis. Krippendorf's alpha was calculated to assess intercoder reliability. Ten high-performing pharmacy owners participated. Analysis identified 8 themes, which were organized into the following categories: 1) current awareness and knowledge (i.e., superficial or advanced knowledge); 2) attitudes toward star ratings (positive perceptions, skeptical of performance rewards, and lack a feeling of control); and 3) pharmacy initiatives (personal patient relationships, collaborative employee relationships, and use of technology). Intercoder reliability was good overall. Interviews with high-performing pharmacies suggested that awareness of the star rating measures, overall positive attitudes toward the star ratings, the relationships that pharmacy owners have with their patients and their employees, and the use of technology as a tool to enhance patient care may contribute to high performance on the star rating measures. Future research is needed to determine if and how these constructs are associated with pharmacy performance in a larger population. Copyright © 2016 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Building Learning Communities: Partnerships, Social Capital and VET Performance. Support Document

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allison, Janelle; Gorringe, Scott; Lacey, Justine

2006-01-01

This document was produced by the authors based on their research for the report "Building Learning Communities: Partnerships, Social Capital and VET Performance." It provides regional summaries and the "facts and flavour" for each of the following areas: (1) Restructuring Rural Landscape (Wide Bay Burnett, Queensland); (2)…

Freshman Learning Communities, College Performance, and Retention. Working Paper 2005-22

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hotchkiss, Julie L.; Moore, Robert E.; Pitts, M. Melinda

2005-01-01

This paper applies a standard treatment effects model to determine that participation in Freshman Learning Communities (FLCs) improves academic performance and retention. Not controlling for individual self-selection into FLC participation leads one to incorrectly conclude that the impact is the same across race and gender groups. Accurately…

C[superscript 4] (C Quad): Development of the Application for Language Learning Based on Social and Cognitive Presences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamada, Masanori; Goda, Yoshiko; Matsukawa, Hideya; Hata, Kojiro; Yasunami, Seisuke

2013-01-01

This research aims to develop collaborative language learning systems based on social and cognitive presence for learning settings out of class, and evaluate their effects on learning attitude and performance. The main purpose of this system is focusing on the building of a learning community, therefore the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework…

Community Schools: Improving Student Learning/Strengthening Schools, Families, and Communities. A Handbook for State Policy Leaders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coalition for Community Schools, Washington, DC.

This handbook is designed to help state leaders form vital connections between schools and communities to improve student learning. It explains that community schools are beneficial because they meet students' basic needs, including safety; offer high quality curriculum and teaching aligned with academic standards; provide learning experiences…

Interdisciplinary Connections and Academic Performance in Psychology-English Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grose-Fifer, Jillian; Helmer, Kimberly A.; Zottoli, Tina M.

2014-01-01

We investigated whether students in psychology-based learning communities (LCs; i.e., cohorts who took introductory psychology and English together) performed better on psychology tests than those in standard classes. There were two types of LC; in one (connected LC), we created links between English and psychology by using English class readings…

Connected Learning Communities: A Toolkit for Reinventing High School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almeida, Cheryl, Ed.; Steinberg, Adria, Ed.

This document presents tools and guidelines to help practitioners transform their high schools into institutions facilitating community-connected learning. The approach underpinning the tools and guidelines is based on the following principles: academic rigor and relevance; personalized learning; self-passage to adulthood; and productive learning…

Becoming "Servants": Experiencing Difference While Forming Community, Servant & Civic Identities in a Service-Learning Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swarts, Gabriel P.

2017-01-01

This qualitative study addressed the formation of student identity (servant and civic) as well as how students formed community through experiencing difference in a service-learning classroom. An interpretive qualitative study of five high school students was conducted in a service-learning program at Willow Falls High School, a public high school…

Building Synergy for High-Impact Educational Initiatives: First-Year Seminars and Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, Lauren Chism, Ed.; Graziano, Janine, Ed.

2016-01-01

Over the years, a number of interventions aimed at increasing student engagement and performance have been implemented in higher education. Some of these, labeled high-impact practices (HIPs), when done well, have led to documented evidence of student success. Two approaches that have been identified as HIPs--first-year seminars and learning…

A Real Community Bridge: Informing Community-Based Learning through a Model of Participatory Public Art

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephens, Pamela Geiger

2006-01-01

Community-based learning has the power to encourage and sustain the intellectual curiosity of learners. By most accounts, community-based learning is a process that creates a collaborative environment of scholarship that holds individual differences, as well as similarities, in high esteem. It is a process, as the phrase suggests, that extends…

Professional Learning Communities in Singapore and Shanghai: Implications for Teacher Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hairon, Salleh; Tan, Charlene

2017-01-01

Professional learning communities (PLCs) have been recognised as having the potential to raise the quality of teachers, teaching and student learning through structured teacher collaboration, and have been featured prominently in Singapore and Shanghai--both considered top-performing Asian societies in the Program for International Student…

Social Networks and Performance in Distributed Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cadima, Rita; Ojeda, Jordi; Monguet, Josep M.

2012-01-01

Social networks play an essential role in learning environments as a key channel for knowledge sharing and students' support. In distributed learning communities, knowledge sharing does not occur as spontaneously as when a working group shares the same physical space; knowledge sharing depends even more on student informal connections. In this…

Reliability of a Computerized Neurocognitive Test in Baseline Concussion Testing of High School Athletes.

PubMed

MacDonald, James; Duerson, Drew

2015-07-01

Baseline assessments using computerized neurocognitive tests are frequently used in the management of sport-related concussions. Such testing is often done on an annual basis in a community setting. Reliability is a fundamental test characteristic that should be established for such tests. Our study examined the test-retest reliability of a computerized neurocognitive test in high school athletes over 1 year. Repeated measures design. Two American high schools. High school athletes (N = 117) participating in American football or soccer during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 academic years. All study participants completed 2 baseline computerized neurocognitive tests taken 1 year apart at their respective schools. The test measures performance on 4 cognitive tasks: identification speed (Attention), detection speed (Processing Speed), one card learning accuracy (Learning), and one back speed (Working Memory). Reliability was assessed by measuring the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the repeated measures of the 4 cognitive tasks. Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated as a secondary outcome measure. The measure for identification speed performed best (ICC = 0.672; 95% confidence interval, 0.559-0.760) and the measure for one card learning accuracy performed worst (ICC = 0.401; 95% confidence interval, 0.237-0.542). All tests had marginal or low reliability. In a population of high school athletes, computerized neurocognitive testing performed in a community setting demonstrated low to marginal test-retest reliability on baseline assessments 1 year apart. Further investigation should focus on (1) improving the reliability of individual tasks tested, (2) controlling for external factors that might affect test performance, and (3) identifying the ideal time interval to repeat baseline testing in high school athletes. Computerized neurocognitive tests are used frequently in high school athletes, often within a model of baseline testing of asymptomatic individuals before the start of a sporting season. This study adds to the evidence that suggests in this population such testing may lack sufficient reliability to support clinical decision making.

Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy: BVP High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

EDUCAUSE, 2015

2015-01-01

This Rhode Island charter high school serves an intentionally diverse population of students from two urban and two suburban communities. The blended learning model is tailored by grade level and emphasizes differentiation, deeper learning in a community, and assessment. The two-page grantee profiles from Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC)…

The Negative Impact of Community Stressors on Learning Time: Examining Inequalities between California High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mirra, Nicole; Rogers, John

2015-01-01

Allocated classroom time is not the same as time available for learning--a host of economic and social stressors undermine learning time in schools serving low-income students. When time is limited, it is hard to meet rigorous learning standards. The challenge is compounded in high-poverty schools where community stressors place additional demands…

Learning by Choosing: Fourth Graders Use of an Online Multimedia Tutoring System for Math Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maloy, Robert W.; Razzaq, Leena; Edwards, Sharon A.

2014-01-01

This study explored the use of an online mathematics tutoring system in eight fourth grade classrooms in two Massachusetts communities--a small rural city with a low 2010 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) math performance rating and a small suburban district with a high 2010 AYP math performance rating. 165 fourth graders completed 11 modules…

Evaluation of a Professional Learning Community at One Elementary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kochenour, Ruth Braddick

2010-01-01

Today's educational reform literature abounds with convincing testimonials of schools operating as professional learning communities. The model is highly sought but often misunderstood and shallowly applied. Although much evidence exists regarding the characteristics of effective learning communities, the literature review reveals a gap in the…

The Relationship of Learning Communities to Engineering Students' Perceptions of the Freshman Year Experience, Academic Performance, and Persistence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tolley, Patricia Ann Separ

2009-01-01

The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the effects of a residential learning community and enrollment in an introductory engineering course to engineering students' perceptions of the freshman year experience, academic performance, and persistence. The sample included students enrolled in a large, urban, public, research university…

Implementation of Professional Learning Communities in Title I Elementary Schools and Student Performance in Reading: A Correlational Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Stephanie A.

2016-01-01

Increasing standardized test scores and identifying factors that impact student performance are always on the minds of educators. Educators are continually challenged by experts to consider professional learning communities (PLCs) as a viable pathway to school reform. This treatise will report on the results of a quantitative research study…

Alberta High School, College Elevate Learning with Rare Joint Venture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pearson, George

2012-01-01

The refusal by a group of parents in Olds, Alberta, in 2003 to accept a provincial grant to renovate their high school set in motion a remarkable collaboration that spawned an innovative learning campus for an entire community and beyond. The new Olds High School, which opened in 2010, is part of a new Community Learning Campus (CLC), a joint…

Investigating Community Problems with Classes of Slow-Learning and Non-Academic Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curtis, Charles K.

A project is described in which slow learning high school students in British Columbia investigated community housing problems. The objective of the project was to show how investigation of contemporary community problems can help slow learning students develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes conducive to responsible citizenship. Methodology…

Statistical Model for Predicting Roles and Effects in Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Chih-Kai; Chen, Gwo-Dong; Wang, Chin-Yeh

2011-01-01

Functional roles may explain the learning performance of groups. Detecting a functional role is critical for promoting group learning performance in computer-supported collaborative learning environments. However, it is not easy for teachers to identify the functional roles played by students in a web-based learning group, or the relationship…

Creating a Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship with Mutual Benefits for an Academic Medical Center and a Community Health System

PubMed Central

Poncelet, Ann Noelle; Mazotti, Lindsay A; Blumberg, Bruce; Wamsley, Maria A; Grennan, Tim; Shore, William B

2014-01-01

The longitudinal integrated clerkship is a model of clinical education driven by tenets of social cognitive theory, situated learning, and workplace learning theories, and built on a foundation of continuity between students, patients, clinicians, and a system of care. Principles and goals of this type of clerkship are aligned with primary care principles, including patient-centered care and systems-based practice. Academic medical centers can partner with community health systems around a longitudinal integrated clerkship to provide mutual benefits for both organizations, creating a sustainable model of clinical training that addresses medical education and community health needs. A successful one-year longitudinal integrated clerkship was created in partnership between an academic medical center and an integrated community health system. Compared with traditional clerkship students, students in this clerkship had better scores on Clinical Performance Examinations, internal medicine examinations, and high perceptions of direct observation of clinical skills. Advantages for the academic medical center include mitigating the resources required to run a longitudinal integrated clerkship while providing primary care training and addressing core competencies such as systems-based practice, practice-based learning, and interprofessional care. Advantages for the community health system include faculty development, academic appointments, professional satisfaction, and recruitment. Success factors include continued support and investment from both organizations’ leadership, high-quality faculty development, incentives for community-based physician educators, and emphasis on the mutually beneficial relationship for both organizations. Development of a longitudinal integrated clerkship in a community health system can serve as a model for developing and expanding these clerkship options for academic medical centers. PMID:24867551

Creating a longitudinal integrated clerkship with mutual benefits for an academic medical center and a community health system.

PubMed

Poncelet, Ann Noelle; Mazotti, Lindsay A; Blumberg, Bruce; Wamsley, Maria A; Grennan, Tim; Shore, William B

2014-01-01

The longitudinal integrated clerkship is a model of clinical education driven by tenets of social cognitive theory, situated learning, and workplace learning theories, and built on a foundation of continuity between students, patients, clinicians, and a system of care. Principles and goals of this type of clerkship are aligned with primary care principles, including patient-centered care and systems-based practice. Academic medical centers can partner with community health systems around a longitudinal integrated clerkship to provide mutual benefits for both organizations, creating a sustainable model of clinical training that addresses medical education and community health needs. A successful one-year longitudinal integrated clerkship was created in partnership between an academic medical center and an integrated community health system. Compared with traditional clerkship students, students in this clerkship had better scores on Clinical Performance Examinations, internal medicine examinations, and high perceptions of direct observation of clinical skills.Advantages for the academic medical center include mitigating the resources required to run a longitudinal integrated clerkship while providing primary care training and addressing core competencies such as systems-based practice, practice-based learning, and interprofessional care. Advantages for the community health system include faculty development, academic appointments, professional satisfaction, and recruitment.Success factors include continued support and investment from both organizations' leadership, high-quality faculty development, incentives for community-based physician educators, and emphasis on the mutually beneficial relationship for both organizations. Development of a longitudinal integrated clerkship in a community health system can serve as a model for developing and expanding these clerkship options for academic medical centers.

Literacy Training in an Urban High School Professional Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross-Norris, Vicki

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the essence of professional learning experiences shared by teachers who participated in a professional learning community (PLC) at a New York City high school in the South Bronx. Guided by Hord's PLC characteristics and Bruner's constructivism theories, this phenomenological study addressed the research…

Teachers' Learning Communities: Catalyst for Change or a New Infrastructure for the Status Quo?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Diane

2007-01-01

Background/Context: In an era of high stakes accountability, public school districts struggle to improve teaching and learning for all students. As a result, effective professional development approaches for teachers are a high priority. Recently, teachers' learning communities (LCs) have been recommended because successful LCs foster teacher…

Institutional Factors for Supporting Electronic Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linton, Jayme N.

2017-01-01

This study was designed to explore how the electronic learning community (eLC) process at an established state virtual high school (SVHS) supported new and veteran online high school teachers through the communities of practice (CoP) framework. Specifically, this study focused on the institutionally-driven nature of the eLC process, using Wenger's…

Editorial Commentary: The Wake of the Dragon: Will the Orthopaedic Community Adopt the Shoulder Arthroscopic Latarjet Procedure as We Adopted the Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair?

PubMed

Boileau, Pascal; Saliken, David

2017-12-01

The Latarjet procedure is a complex and difficult operation when performed both with an open approach and arthroscopically. The difficulties come from the fact that it is a combined intra- and extra-articular procedure, and that working close to the brachial plexus may be frightening for surgeons. Because of the high complication and reoperation rates reported in the literature, this procedure is, at the moment, rejected by a large part of the orthopaedic community, specifically in North America. The Chinese experience shows, after the European one, that arthroscopic Latarjet is an efficient and irreplaceable option for the treatment of recurrent anterior shoulder instability in the context of capsular and/or glenoid deficiency. A recent study shows that the arthroscopic procedure provides accurate bone block positioning and high rates of healing, excellent clinical results (no recurrence of instability at 2-year follow-up), and low rates of complications (no neurovascular injury). Although the arthroscopic Latarjet should be approached with caution, the learning curve should not be thought of as prohibitive. To learn how to perform an arthroscopic Latarjet, surgeons should visit an experienced surgeon and take a course to practice on cadavers first. Although it will take time and effort to learn and perform this operation correctly, we should command our Chinese colleagues to encourage us to follow their path. There is no reason that in the near future the orthopaedic community does not adopt the arthroscopic Latarjet procedure, as we adopted the arthroscopic rotator cuff repair and other complex surgical procedures. Among the strongest reasons to perform the Latarjet procedure arthroscopically are the accuracy of graft placement, the safety for neurovascular structures provided by direct visualization and magnification, and the excellent clinical results allowing young people to go back to sport, including high-risk (contact, overhead) sports. Copyright © 2017 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning Communities, Academic Performance, Attrition, and Retention: A Four-Year Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popiolek, Gene; Fine, Ricka; Eilman, Valerie

2013-01-01

This study extends and makes unique methodological contributions to research on the impact of learning communities (LCs) on community college students. Much of the previous research was short-term, lacked adequate comparison groups, and focused on four-year college students. This four-year study controlled for instructor-related variables by…

Taking a Step to Identify How to Create Professional Learning Communities--Report of a Case Study of a Korean Public High School on How to Create and Sustain a School-Based Teacher Professional Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahn, Joonkil

2017-01-01

This study intends to identify some key factors in creating and sustaining school-based teacher professional learning communities (PLCs) through a case study of a South Korean public high school. To achieve this, the study identified some essential infrastructure, preparation, and necessary social organization for creating PLCs. The ideal unit and…

Elements of a Successful Professional Learning Community for Music Teachers Using Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sindberg, Laura K.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which a professional learning community (PLC) of music teachers sustained growth as they sought to incorporate Comprehensive Musicianship Through Performance (CMP) in their teaching practices. Seven music teachers from a suburban school district in the upper Midwest participated in a PLC as they…

Reframing Practice: High School Mathematics Teachers' Learning through Interactions in Their Workplace Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bannister, Nicole A.

2009-01-01

This dissertation seeks to understand how teachers learn through interactions in newly formed workplace communities by examining how mathematics teachers engaged in equity-oriented reforms frame problems of practice. It examines how teachers' framings develop over time, and how teachers' shifting frames connect to their learning in a community of…

Academic Service Learning in PETE: Service for the Community in the 21st Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konukman, Ferman; Schneider, Robert C.

2012-01-01

Academic Service Learning (ASL) is a non-traditional experiential learning model where students gain experience through community involvement and reflection, and ultimately are able to link community service to academic study. Students understand related course content and civic responsibility via a period of highly structured reflection. This…

Beyond Superheroes and Sidekicks: Empowerment, Efficacy, and Education in Community Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stanlick, Sarah; Sell, Marla

2016-01-01

To support the work of service-learning and community engagement (SLCE) being done in a high-quality, sustainable way, ("Combining Service and Learning: A Resource Book for Community and Public Service"), Kendall offered three Principles of Good Practice: (1) integrating service-learning programs into the central mission and goals of the…

How Do Professional Learning Communities Foster Strong Career and Technical Education Programs of Study in Illinois Public High Schools?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Custable, Wendy

2013-01-01

This research study examines how Illinois public high school Career and Technical Education educational leaders employ best practices in providing all students rigorous, relevant, and equitable learning experiences within a professional learning community structure. This study utilized a mixed method two-tier case study methodology. Tier one…

34 CFR 692.30 - How does a State administer its community service-learning job program?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... for work and not a grant. (b)(1) The community service-learning job program must be administered by... reasonable, based on such factors as type of work performed, geographical region, and proficiency of the...-learning job program? 692.30 Section 692.30 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of...

34 CFR 692.30 - How does a State administer its community service-learning job program?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... for work and not a grant. (b)(1) The community service-learning job program must be administered by... reasonable, based on such factors as type of work performed, geographical region, and proficiency of the...-learning job program? 692.30 Section 692.30 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of...

34 CFR 692.30 - How does a State administer its community service-learning job program?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... for work and not a grant. (b)(1) The community service-learning job program must be administered by... reasonable, based on such factors as type of work performed, geographical region, and proficiency of the...-learning job program? 692.30 Section 692.30 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of...

In-Course Instructor-Guided Service Learning in a Community College General Psychology Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goomas, David T.; Weston, Melissa B.

2012-01-01

Students enrolled in two general psychology classes at El Centro College (ECC) of the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) were offered the opportunity to earn extra credit by performing up to 20 hours of service learning. Benefits of service learning were observed in student development, including exploration of career possibilities,…

Celebrating Science with the Community: An Approach to Science Fairs Intended to Create Learning Celebrations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pittman, Jason

2016-01-01

Learning celebrations are increasingly common in schools looking to put more emphasis on community and efficacy in place formulaic science fair projects. The celebration aspect is in the community's participation and interaction with the learners. Students are the main event, performing as they would in a school play or applying acquired knowledge…

Deep Unsupervised Learning on a Desktop PC: A Primer for Cognitive Scientists.

PubMed

Testolin, Alberto; Stoianov, Ivilin; De Filippo De Grazia, Michele; Zorzi, Marco

2013-01-01

Deep belief networks hold great promise for the simulation of human cognition because they show how structured and abstract representations may emerge from probabilistic unsupervised learning. These networks build a hierarchy of progressively more complex distributed representations of the sensory data by fitting a hierarchical generative model. However, learning in deep networks typically requires big datasets and it can involve millions of connection weights, which implies that simulations on standard computers are unfeasible. Developing realistic, medium-to-large-scale learning models of cognition would therefore seem to require expertise in programing parallel-computing hardware, and this might explain why the use of this promising approach is still largely confined to the machine learning community. Here we show how simulations of deep unsupervised learning can be easily performed on a desktop PC by exploiting the processors of low cost graphic cards (graphic processor units) without any specific programing effort, thanks to the use of high-level programming routines (available in MATLAB or Python). We also show that even an entry-level graphic card can outperform a small high-performance computing cluster in terms of learning time and with no loss of learning quality. We therefore conclude that graphic card implementations pave the way for a widespread use of deep learning among cognitive scientists for modeling cognition and behavior.

Deep Unsupervised Learning on a Desktop PC: A Primer for Cognitive Scientists

PubMed Central

Testolin, Alberto; Stoianov, Ivilin; De Filippo De Grazia, Michele; Zorzi, Marco

2013-01-01

Deep belief networks hold great promise for the simulation of human cognition because they show how structured and abstract representations may emerge from probabilistic unsupervised learning. These networks build a hierarchy of progressively more complex distributed representations of the sensory data by fitting a hierarchical generative model. However, learning in deep networks typically requires big datasets and it can involve millions of connection weights, which implies that simulations on standard computers are unfeasible. Developing realistic, medium-to-large-scale learning models of cognition would therefore seem to require expertise in programing parallel-computing hardware, and this might explain why the use of this promising approach is still largely confined to the machine learning community. Here we show how simulations of deep unsupervised learning can be easily performed on a desktop PC by exploiting the processors of low cost graphic cards (graphic processor units) without any specific programing effort, thanks to the use of high-level programming routines (available in MATLAB or Python). We also show that even an entry-level graphic card can outperform a small high-performance computing cluster in terms of learning time and with no loss of learning quality. We therefore conclude that graphic card implementations pave the way for a widespread use of deep learning among cognitive scientists for modeling cognition and behavior. PMID:23653617

Experience-Based Learning: How to Make the Community Your Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClure, Larry; And Others

Strategies are presented for combining academic study with out-of-school learning opportunities for junior high and secondary students. Experience-based learning should combine four elements: community involvement, individualized instruction, guidance, and new learning leadership roles for teachers. Six chapters explain how to accomplish this.…

Establishing Community Learning and Information Centers (CLICs) in Underserved Malian Communities. Final Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Academy for Educational Development, 2005

2005-01-01

The purpose of the Community Learning and Information Center (CLIC) project was "to accelerate economic, social and political growth by providing residents in twelve underserved Malian communities with access to easily accessible development information and affordable access to information and communication technology (ICT), high-value…

Revenue Generation and Resource Allocation and Deployment Practices in Smaller Learning Communities: Lessons Learned from Three High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Springer, Matthew G.; Houck, Eric A.; Ceperley, Patricia E.; Hange, Jane

2007-01-01

The primary objective of this study was to examine revenue generation and resource allocation and deployment practices associated with the implementation of three smaller learning communities (SLC) project high schools in a single school district. The study used a variation of Levin and McEwan's (2001) ingredients approach. District- and…

Mandatory Community-Based Learning in U.S. Urban High Schools: Fair Equality of Opportunity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bennett, Jeffrey V.; Alsbury, Thomas L.; Fan, Jingjing

2016-01-01

This study explores participant experiences at two contrasting high schools in a large, urban school district in crisis who implemented mandatory community-based learning (CBL) (e.g. community service, work-based internships) as a policy of reform. Rawls' theory of justice as fairness is used to examine capacity of the district formal policy to…

Examining Electronic Learning Communities through the Communities of Practice Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linton, Jayme N.

2015-01-01

This qualitative interpretive case study used Wenger's (1998) communities of practice (CoP) framework to analyze how the electronic learning community (eLC) process at an established state virtual high school operated like a community of practice. Components of the eLC process were analyzed according to elements of the CoP framework, which…

Part-Time Community College Instructors Teaching in Learning Communities: An Exploratory Multiple Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paterson, John W.

2017-01-01

Community colleges have a greater portion of students at-risk for college completion than four-year schools and faculty at these institutions are overwhelmingly and increasingly part-time. Learning communities have been identified as a high-impact practice with numerous benefits documented for community college instructors and students: a primary…

Inequality in Preschool Quality? Community-Level Disparities in Access to High-Quality Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bassok, Daphna; Galdo, Eva

2016-01-01

In recent years, unequal access to high-quality preschool has emerged as a growing public policy concern. Because of data limitations, it is notoriously difficult to measure disparities in access to early learning opportunities across communities and particularly challenging to quantify gaps in access to "high-quality" programs. Research…

Strategic Plan for the Academic Component of the Army National Guard Distance Learning Demonstration.

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-07-01

II - Directed study on Distance Learning Technologies - Action Memorandum. a reserve unit where they perform the same job as they did as full-time...a virtual learning community and provide a classroom without walls. The harnessing of appropriate technology to meet the training needs offers...its force through training, the Distance Learning capabilities also becomes part of community resources that advance the education of local residents

Work-Based Learning and Academic Skills. IEE Working Paper No. 15.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Katherine L.; Moore, David Thornton; Bailey, Thomas R.

The claim that work-based experience improves students' academic performance was examined through a study of the academic progress of 25 high school and community college student interns employed in various health care workplaces. Data were collected from the following activities: (1) review of the literature on academic reinforcement and academic…

Open Introductory Psychology Textbooks: Prose and Qualms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griggs, Richard A.; Jackson, Sherri L.

2017-01-01

Given their high cost, many students no longer buy textbooks for all of their courses, impacting their learning and performance in these courses. This is especially prevalent at community colleges. Open (digitally free) textbooks constitute one solution to this problem, but the latest national survey of college faculty found that 66% were not…

Effective Communication and Creating Professional Learning Communities Is a Valuable Practice for Superintendents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hilliard, Ann Toler; Newsome, Edward, Jr.

2013-01-01

As the chief executive officer, the superintendent must demonstrate high quality performance at every level in order to impact student achievement. In order to be an effective superintendent, the individual must have knowledge and skills in educational leadership and be able to articulate information clearly and precisely about the school…

Professional Learning Community Process in the United States: Conceptualization of the Process and District Support for Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olivier, Dianne F.; Huffman, Jane B.

2016-01-01

As the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process becomes embedded within schools, the level of district support has a direct impact on whether schools have the ability to re-culture and sustain highly effective collaborative practices. The purpose of this article is to share a professional learning community conceptual framework from the US,…

Continuous Inquiry Meets Continued Critique: The Professional Learning Community in Practice and the Resistance of (Un)Willing Participants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elbousty, Youness; Bratt, Kirstin

2010-01-01

The term Professional Learning Community is commonplace, and it holds many meanings and suggestions. For the purpose of this essay, however, we discuss a specific Professional Learning Community (PLC) that was established in a high school, fifteen months prior to the application of a survey instrument to evaluate participants' perceptions on the…

Building Relationships, Sharing Resources, and Opening Opportunities: A STEM Learning Community Builds Social Capital for Students with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitney, Jean; Langley-Turnbaugh, Samantha; Lovewell, Lynn; Moeller, Babette

2012-01-01

This article describes a learning community designed for university students with disabilities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors at the University of Southern Maine. The Learning Community (LC) seminar is a credit-bearing class and part of a pipeline of supports and services for high school and college students with…

An Examination of the Value of Service Learning Hours in Broward County Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baum, Richard G.; Clement, Russell W.

2006-01-01

The present study was conducted to examine the value of service learning hours to the Broward County community and illustrate the benefits of community service to students as well as the community at large. The total number of service learning hours contributed by Broward County high school students was aggregated from the district's data…

Teacher Professional Learning Communities in Innovative Contexts: "Ah Hah Moments," "Passion" and "Making a Difference" for Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owen, Susanne Mary

2015-01-01

Innovative educational approaches for schooling require changes to the traditional teacher role towards operating as co-facilitators and co-learners, and working in teacher teams, with considerable professional learning supporting this. Professional learning communities (PLCs) have been acknowledged as highly effective, with their characteristics…

Teacher Collaboration and Student Learning in a Professional Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaughan, Mary Elaine

2013-01-01

Researchers have endorsed teacher collaboration within a professional learning community (PLC) that is focused on student learning. Despite these research-based endorsements, several Algebra 1 teachers in a southeastern high school implemented components of a PLC with little or no results in student achievement. The purpose of this study was to…

Evaluating the Impacts of Professional Development: A Mixed Method Study of Adult Education Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dilworth, Jessica S.

2010-01-01

Adult education programs providing classes to students preparing for high school equivalency and learning English that demonstrate characteristics of learning organizations may be better able to thrive when confronted with less-than-ideal circumstances. Many of these programs organize adult educators into learning communities as the context for…

Teaching and learning in out-patient clinics.

PubMed

Williamson, James

2012-10-01

Out-patient clinics offer trainees one of the most varied clinical experiences within the hospital setting, but they are often chaotic and over-stretched, with limited time for teaching. An awareness of how to improve this learning environment by both trainers and trainees may enhance learning opportunities. Clinical supervisors need to balance educational and service commitments, while maintaining a high quality of patient care. Supervision features observation and the sharing of clinical and continual feedback, which can improve clinical performance. Trainers must closely monitor the abilities of the trainee and gradually increase their responsibility and clinical load. The application of learning theory to the workplace can improve learning opportunities. Trainers should have some control over the environment, both the physical attributes (room availability, staffing levels and allocated consultation time) and the harder to measure aspects, such as the ethos of the department and attitudes to teaching. The creation of a community of practice within out-patient clinics can strengthen both the collective knowledge of the team and its role in treating patients. The active involvement of trainees within this social environment (for example, by performing independent consultations) validates their role in the care of patients and enhances their learning. To maximise the learning opportunities within out-patient clinics there needs to be a shift in culture to promote learning in a safe and non-threatening environment. The establishment of a community of practice may validate the role of trainees in the management of patients and facilitate social learning by all members of the clinical team. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

Barriers to Implementation of Effective Professional Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kincaid, Eric R

2014-01-01

The implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) in schools has been shown to increase the academic performance of students and develop a beneficial and productive culture of true teacher collaboration. Despite these demonstrated benefits, resistance to PLC implementation has been documented in various forms throughout the…

Implementing Professional Learning Communities in Small High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eichelkraut, Jeff P.

2017-01-01

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are collaborative teacher groups that focus on learning and continual improvement. Establishing PLCs can be a challenging endeavor, especially in smaller schools. Smaller schools employ fewer staff members, limiting opportunities for collaboration. This dissertation examined the implementation of PLCs in…

A Comparison of High School Counselor Roles in Small Learning Communities and Comprehensive High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blankenship, Shaketha

2013-01-01

Small learning communities, an initiative to transform large struggling comprehensive high schools into smaller autonomous schools, are being empirically examined in the field of education to assess if transformation is actually occurring as seen by positive outcomes, such as increased academic achievement. There is an absence of literature on…

A Small Learning Community's Impact on Students' Success Assessed by State Test Scores in Reading and Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Christiana Helen Croson

2013-01-01

Drastic reform measures have taken place at Howard High School of Technology to incorporate a 10th grade small learning community. Due to the costs and resources associated with implementing small learning communities, it is important to examine if the 10th graders' achievement on the state tests in reading and math were significantly different…

Creating a Statewide Educational Data System for Accountability and Improvement: A Comprehensive Information and Assessment System for Making Evidence-Based Change at School, District, and Policy Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felner, Robert D.; Bolton, Natalie; Seitsinger, Anne M.; Brand, Stephen; Burns, Amy

2008-01-01

This article reports on one ongoing statewide effort to create a high-quality data reporting and utilization system (i.e., High-Performance Learning Community [HiPlaces] Assessment) to inform educational accountability and improvement efforts system. This effort has undergoing refinement for more than a decade. The article describes the features…

Building Communities for the Exchange of Learning Objects: Theoretical Foundations and Requirements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koper, Rob; Pannekeet, Kees; Hendriks, Maaike; Hummel, Hans

2004-01-01

In order to reduce overall costs of developing high-quality digital courses (including both the content, and the learning and teaching activities), the exchange of learning objects has been recognized as a promising solution. This article makes an inventory of the issues involved in the exchange of learning objects within a community. It explores…

A Place-Based Learning Community: Klamath Connection at Humboldt State University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Matt; Sprowles, Amy; Overeem, Katlin; Rich, Angela

2013-01-01

A place-based learning community called "Klamath Connection" was designed to improve the academic performance of freshman in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) majors at Humboldt State University, a midsize public institution in a location geographically and culturally unfamiliar to the majority of its students. The…

Measurement Instruments for Assessing the Performance of Professional Learning Communities. REL 2016-144

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blitz, Cynthia L.; Schulman, Rebecca

2016-01-01

For more than a decade education practitioners have promoted the professional learning community (PLC) as an effective way to provide professional development to teachers. As more PLCs are established in schools and districts nationwide, education stakeholders--researchers, practitioners, administrators, and policymakers--are interested in…

Engaging Citizens In Discussions of Coastal Climate ChangeTwo examples of place-based research that engaged community members will be presented. Lessons learned in how to engage community members and working with high school students and hands-on learning across generations can provide insights into social and ecosystem change will be shared.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kruger, L. E.; Johnson, A. C.

2017-12-01

By engaging community members as research partners, people become not just the subject of the story, they become storytellers as well. Participatory community-based research that engages community residents in gathering and sharing their lived experiences is instrumental in connecting people to each other and their forests and forest science and helpful when confronted by change. Two examples of place-based research that engaged community members as researchers will be presented. What factors led to collaborative outcomes that integrated citizen-informed knowledge with scientific knowledge? What lessons were learned in how best to engage community members? How did working with high school students draw even hesitant members of the community to participate? By strengthening bonds between students and their communities, both natural and social environments, we can provide young people with opportunities to better understand how they fit into the greater community and their natural environment. Hands-on learning that explores experiences in nature across generations can benefit communities, especially youth, and can provide insights into social and ecosystem change.

Dialogic Teaching and Moral Learning: Self-Critique, Narrativity, Community and "Blind Spots"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

English, Andrea R.

2016-01-01

In the current climate of high-stakes testing and performance-based accountability measures, there is a pressing need to reconsider the nature of teaching and what capacities one must develop to be a good teacher. Educational policy experts around the world have pointed out that policies focused disproportionately on student test outcomes can…

The iPlant Collaborative: Cyberinfrastructure for Enabling Data to Discovery for the Life Sciences.

PubMed

Merchant, Nirav; Lyons, Eric; Goff, Stephen; Vaughn, Matthew; Ware, Doreen; Micklos, David; Antin, Parker

2016-01-01

The iPlant Collaborative provides life science research communities access to comprehensive, scalable, and cohesive computational infrastructure for data management; identity management; collaboration tools; and cloud, high-performance, high-throughput computing. iPlant provides training, learning material, and best practice resources to help all researchers make the best use of their data, expand their computational skill set, and effectively manage their data and computation when working as distributed teams. iPlant's platform permits researchers to easily deposit and share their data and deploy new computational tools and analysis workflows, allowing the broader community to easily use and reuse those data and computational analyses.

Sustaining Excellence in Experienced Principals? Critique of a Professional Learning Community Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piggot-Irvine, Eileen

2006-01-01

Independent reviewer evaluations of the Ministry of Education (MoE) funded Principal Professional Learning Community (PPLC) programme for experienced principals in New Zealand (NZ) suggest a highly valued and strongly supportive programme. My own critique of the programme, against criteria for "strong" professional learning communities…

Professional Learning Communities and the Degree of Teamness in Riverside County High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Benjamin A.

2013-01-01

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine if a significant difference in the degree of teamness in high school teams whose schools have strong evidence of the five dimensions of a Professional Learning Community, compared to high school teams in schools that do not have strong evidence of the five dimensions of a Professional Learning…

Distance Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orey, Michael; Koenecke, Lynne; Snider, Richard C.; Perkins, Ross A.; Holmes, Glen A.; Lockee, Barbara B.; Moller, Leslie A.; Harvey, Douglas; Downs, Margaret; Godshalk, Veronica M.

2003-01-01

Contains four articles covering trends and issues on distance learning including: the experience of two learners learning via the Internet; a systematic approach to determining the scalability of a distance education program; identifying factors that affect learning community development and performance in asynchronous distance education; and…

Implementing Quality Service-Learning Programs in Community Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaknin, Lauren Weiner; Bresciani, Marilee J.

2013-01-01

This cross-case comparative study at Western Community College and the University of the Coast explored through a constructive lens the characteristics that lead to sustainable, high quality service-learning programs and how they are implemented at institutions of higher education. The researchers determined that both Western Community College and…

Internet Relationships: Building Learning Communities through Friendship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bikowski, Dawn

2007-01-01

The experiences of students in an online learning community were explored in this qualitative case study using social presence theory as an interpretive lens. Participants included five undergraduate students in a certificate program at a large Midwestern university. Students who felt a sense of community online most highly valued the friendship…

Peer-Led Learning Communities: Exploring Integrative High-Impact Educational Practices for Leadership Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Priest, Kerry L.; de Campos Paula, Ana Luiza

2016-01-01

The use of high-impact practices is well documented in higher education literature. This brief describes the integrative practice of undergraduate peer-led leadership learning communities as a model of delivery within a large introductory leadership education course for first-year students. Utilizing open-ended questions embedded within…

The Relationship between Professional Learning Community Implementation and Academic Achievement and Graduation Rates in Georgia High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardinger, Regina Gail

2013-01-01

Many educational administrators in Georgia continue to struggle with low student academic achievement and low high school graduation rates. DuFour's professional learning community (PLC) theory suggests a positive relationship between levels of PLC implementation and academic achievement and between levels of PLC implementation and graduation…

Establishing a Research and Evaluation Capability for the Joint Medical Education and Training Campus.

PubMed

Kirby, Sheila Nataraj; Marsh, Julie A; Thie, Harry J

2011-01-01

In calling for the transformation of military medical education and training, the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended relocating basic and specialty enlisted medical training to a single site to take advantage of economies of scale and the opportunity for joint training. As a result, a joint medical education and training campus (METC) has been established at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Two of METC's primary long-term goals are to become a high-performing learning organization and to seek accreditation as a community college. Such goals require a clear model of organizational improvement with well-defined metrics for measuring its performance and using research and evaluation to assess and improve that performance. Lessons learned from a review of practices at institutions with similar missions-such as community colleges, corporate universities, the UK's Defence Medical Education and Training Agency, and other federal agencies, such as the Veterans Health Administration-establish a clear need for an office of institutional research to help METC attain its organizational goals. They also provide useful recommendations regarding the METC office's structure, scope, and governance.

Establishing a Research and Evaluation Capability for the Joint Medical Education and Training Campus

PubMed Central

Kirby, Sheila Nataraj; Marsh, Julie A.; Thie, Harry J.

2011-01-01

Abstract In calling for the transformation of military medical education and training, the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended relocating basic and specialty enlisted medical training to a single site to take advantage of economies of scale and the opportunity for joint training. As a result, a joint medical education and training campus (METC) has been established at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Two of METC's primary long-term goals are to become a high-performing learning organization and to seek accreditation as a community college. Such goals require a clear model of organizational improvement with well-defined metrics for measuring its performance and using research and evaluation to assess and improve that performance. Lessons learned from a review of practices at institutions with similar missions—such as community colleges, corporate universities, the UK's Defence Medical Education and Training Agency, and other federal agencies, such as the Veterans Health Administration—establish a clear need for an office of institutional research to help METC attain its organizational goals. They also provide useful recommendations regarding the METC office's structure, scope, and governance. PMID:28083182

Investigating Musical Performance: Commonality and Diversity among Classical and Non-Classical Musicians

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Creech, Andrea; Papageorgi, Ioulia; Duffy, Celia; Morton, Frances; Hadden, Elizabeth; Potter, John; De Bezenac, Christophe; Whyton, Tony; Himonides, Evangelos; Welch, Graham

2008-01-01

The research project "Investigating Musical Performance: Comparative Studies in Advanced Musical Learning" was devised to investigate how classical, popular, jazz and Scottish traditional musicians deepen and develop their learning about performance in undergraduate, postgraduate and wider music community contexts. The aim of this paper is to…

Enhancing Intercultural Engagement through Service Learning and Music Making with Indigenous Communities in Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bartleet, Brydie-Leigh; Sunderland, Naomi; Carfoot, Gavin

2016-01-01

This article explores the potential for music making activities such as jamming, song writing, and performance to act as a medium for intercultural connection and relationship building during service learning programs with Indigenous communities in Australia. To set the context, the paper begins with an overview of current international…

Communities of Practice in the Conservatory: Learning with a Professional Musician

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virkkula, Esa

2016-01-01

This article examines the sociocultural learning of popular and jazz music in communities of practice as part of secondary vocational music education in a Finnish conservatory. The research is based on performance workshops which were implemented as a joint effort between professional musicians and music students. These workshops are suggested as…

Professional Learning Communities and Their Impact on Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Story, Zenobia N.

2012-01-01

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact that professional learning communities (PLCs) have on student achievement. Through this study, the statewide performance results of a school district that implemented PLCs were examined. This study of an Illinois school district's statewide assessment results served as a foundation for further…

Beyond the Traditional Retention Data: A Qualitative Study of the Social Benefits of Living Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arensdorf, Jill; Naylor-Tincknell, Janett

2016-01-01

Living Learning Communities (LLCs) have been shown to increase student retention rates and academic performance (Hotchkiss, Moore, & Pitts, 2006), as well as increase overall satisfaction with college (Baker & Pomerantz, 2000) and increase cognitive skills (Walker, 2003). These benefits have been demonstrated in a variety of institutions…

Columbo in the Classroom: An LD [Learning Disability] Experience in the Community College Setting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matuskey, Patricia Varan; Losiewicz, Joan Michele

Guidelines are provided for faculty working with learning disabled (LD) students in the community college. After introductory material, the LD student is described as an individual of average or above average intelligence who demonstrates a significant discrepancy between intelligence and performance level because of problems in taking in,…

Performance and Costs of Ductless Heat Pumps in Marine-Climate High-Performance Homes -- Habitat for Humanity The Woods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lubliner, Michael; Howard, Luke; Hales, David

The Woods is a Habitat for Humanity (HFH) community of ENERGY STAR Homes Northwest (ESHNW)-certified homes located in the marine climate of Tacoma/Pierce County, Washington. This research report builds on an earlier preliminary draft 2014 BA report, and includes significant billing analysis and cost effectiveness research from a collaborative, ongoing Ductless Heat Pump (DHP)research effort for Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). This report focuses on the results of field testing, modeling, and monitoring of ductless mini-split heat pump hybrid heating systems in seven homes built and first occupied at various times between September 2013 and Octobermore » 2014. The report also provides WSU documentation of high-performance home observations, lessons learned, and stakeholder recommendations for builders of affordable high-performance housing such as HFH. Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). This report focuses on the results of field testing, modeling, and monitoring of ductless mini-split heat pump hybrid heating systems in seven homes built and first occupied at various times between September 2013 and October 2014. The report also provides WSU documentation of high-performance home observations, lessons learned, and stakeholder recommendations for builders of affordable high-performance housing such as HFH.« less

Principals' Perspectives on Designing, Implementing, and Sustaining a Professional Learning Community: A Qualitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bozzini, Michelle D.

2017-01-01

This qualitative study explored how elementary school principals design, implement, and sustain high quality professional development through the use of professional learning communities (PLCs) in order to enhance teaching and learning. The researcher revealed the principal's important role in the design, implementation, and sustainability of a…

Assessing the Change Process in Comprehensive High Schools Implementing Professional Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaner, Robert G.

2009-01-01

Professional learning communities (PLC) have been identified as scaffolds that can facilitate, support, and sustain systemic change focused on improving student achievement. PLCs represent the application of the theoretical constructs of the learning organization within the framework of schools and school systems. Little is known about the change…

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Using a Common Read to Transform a Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virtue, Emily; Wells, Gayle; MacKusick, Carol; Murphy-Nugen, Amy; Rose, Amy

2018-01-01

First-year seminars and learning communities (LC) have been used to help increase retention, provide continuity, and support students as they transition to the university setting. Another high impact educational practice--common intellectual experiences (CIE)--includes student activities centered on a theme to help facilitate learning, increase…

Experiential Learning and Workforce Preparedness of Community College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meehan-Klaus, Jenna M.

2016-01-01

A vast body of research exists on experiential learning and workforce preparedness of students at the high school level; however, there is a limited focus on the community college sector. Administrators, who recognize the need for studies that address the potential benefit experiential learning can provide students at two-year institutions, will…

Building Comprehensive High School Guidance Programs through the Smaller Learning Communities Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harper, Geralyn

2013-01-01

Despite many reform initiatives, including the federally funded initiative titled the Smaller Learning Communities' (SLC) Model, many students are still underexposed to comprehensive guidance programs. The purpose of this mixed method project study was to examine which components in a comprehensive guidance program for the learning academies at a…

Creating a Conference and Workshop Attendance Process with Teacher Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hironaka, Janet Hiroko

2009-01-01

This study aimed to build a professional learning community collaboratively among high school teachers for lifelong growth to minimize teacher isolation, discomfort, and fear. The study was driven by a compelling desire to extend personal learning in ways to impact the school learning community. The foundation for this study was the body of…

The Difference in the Academic Achievement of Hispanic High School Students Based on the Theme of the Small Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez, Beate M. Winter

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to describe the difference in the academic achievement of urban Hispanic high school students based on the small learning community theme. The study used a quantitative method of ex post facto research to examine how the academic achievement of Hispanic high school students differs across the themes of small…

Extending Learning Communities: New Technologies, Multiple Literacies, and Culture Blind Pedagogies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knight, Michelle G.; Dixon, Iris R.; Norton, Nadjwa E. L.; Bentley, Courtney

2004-01-01

Technologies such as videoconferencing used for distance education are creating ways for high schools to extend their learning communities to connect youth with professional communities of practice in ways that approximate the face-to-face interactions in traditional classrooms. These technologies are often touted as a way to augment course…

Accelerated Schools as Professional Learning Communities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biddle, Julie K.

The goal of the Accelerated Schools Project (ASP) is to develop schools in which all children achieve at high levels and all members of the school community engage in developing and fulfilling the school's vision. But to fully implement the ASP model, a school must become a learning community that stresses relationships, shared values, and a…

Participating in a Community of Learners enhances resident perceptions of learning in an e-mentoring program: proof of concept

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Community learning and e-mentoring, learning methods used in higher education, are not used to any extent in residency education. Yet both have the potential to enhance resident learning and, in the case of community learning, introduce residents to basic lifelong learning skills. We set out to determine whether residents participating in an Internet based e-mentoring program would, with appropriate facilitation, form a community of learners (CoL) and hold regular community meetings. We also determined resident and faculty perceptions of CoL and Internet sessions as effective learning experiences. Methods A six-month e-mentoring pilot was offered to 10 Radiology residents in the Aga Khan University Postgraduate Medical Education Program in Nairobi, Kenya (AKUHN) with a Professor of Radiology, located at University of Virginia, USA, acting as the e-mentor. Monthly Internet case-based teaching sessions were facilitated by the e-mentor. In addition, residents were coached by a community facilitator to form CoL and collectively work through clinical cases at weekly face-to-face CoL sessions. Event logs described observed resident activity at CoL sessions; exit survey and interviews were used to elicit perceptions of CoL and Internet sessions as effective learning experiences. Results Resident adoption of CoL behaviors was observed, including self-regulation, peer mentoring and collaborative problem solving. Analysis revealed high resident enthusiasm and value for CoL. Surveys and interviews indicated high levels of acceptance of Internet learning experiences, although there was room for improvement in audio-visual transmission technologies. Faculty indicated there was a need for a larger multi-specialty study. Conclusions The pilot demonstrated resident acceptance of community building and collaborative learning as valued learning experiences, addressing one barrier to its formal adoption in residency education curricula. It also highlighted the potential of e-mentoring as a means of expanding faculty and teaching materials in residency programs in developing countries. PMID:21266070

Self-regulated Learning in a Hybrid Science Course at a Community College

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manuelito, Shannon Joy

Community college students are attracted to courses with alternative delivery formats such as hybrid courses because the more flexible delivery associated with such courses provides convenience for busy students. In a hybrid course, face-to-face, structured seat time is exchanged for online components. In such courses, students take more responsibility for their learning because they assume additional responsibility for learning more of the course material on their own. Thus, self-regulated learning (SRL) behaviors have the potential to be useful for students to successfully navigate hybrid courses because the online components require exercise of more personal control over the autonomous learning situations inherent in hybrid courses. Self-regulated learning theory includes three components: metacognition, motivation, and behavioral actions. In the current study, this theoretical framework is used to examine how inducing self-regulated learning activities among students taking a hybrid course influence performance in a community college science course. The intervention for this action research study consisted of a suite of activities that engage students in self-regulated learning behaviors to foster student performance. The specific SRL activities included predicting grades, reflections on coursework and study efforts in course preparation logs, explanation of SRL procedures in response to a vignette, photo ethnography work on their personal use of SRL approaches, and a personalized study plan. A mixed method approach was employed to gather evidence for the study. Results indicate that community college students use a variety of self-regulated learning strategies to support their learning of course material. Further, engaging community college students in learning reflection activities appears to afford some students with opportunities to refine their SRL skills and influence their learning. The discussion focuses on integrating the quantitative and qualitative data and explanation of the findings using the SRL framework. Additionally, lessons learned, limitations, and implications for practice and research are discussed. Specifically, it is suggested that instructors can foster student learning in hybrid courses by teaching students to engage in SRL processes and behaviors rather than merely focusing on delivery of course content. Such SRL behaviors allow students to exercise greater control over the autonomous learning situations inherent in hybrid courses.

University-Urban High School Partnership: Math and Science Professional Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ndunda, mutindi; Van Sickle, Meta; Perry, Lindsay; Capelloni, Alison

2017-01-01

This study focused on science and math professional learning communities (PLCs) that were implemented through a university-urban high school partnership. These PLCs were part of mandated school-wide, content-based PLCs implemented as part of the reform efforts initiated in an urban school to address the school's failure to meet Adequate Yearly…

Impact of Professional Learning Community Practices on Morale of Urban High School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almanzar, Angel

2014-01-01

This applied dissertation was designed to determine the impact a planned intervention, or participants' engagement in lesson study practices, had on teacher morale and professional learning communities within a public high school located in the Southeastern part of the United States. A review of a yearly teacher survey conducted by the district's…

Supporting Public High School Teachers in a Context of Multiple Mandates: A Social Justice Approach to Professional Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harak, Philip J.

2012-01-01

Although public school teaching by its inherent nature presents numerous classroom challenges, the public high school teacher today is faced in addition with multiple external mandates from several outside stakeholders. Given the established track record of professional learning communities (PLCs) to provide teacher support and development, I…

What Research Tells Us about the Impact and Challenges of Smaller Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levine, Thomas H.

2010-01-01

In the United States, considerable financial and human resources have been devoted to breaking some large high schools into smaller learning communities (SLCs). This article reviews research that compares SLCs to comprehensive high schools on a variety of measures. Extant research neither supports nor refutes the promise of SLCs to improve…

Learning from the Youth Opportunity Experience: Building Delivery Capacity in Distressed Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Linda

2006-01-01

In May 2000, the United States Department of Labor awarded sizable Youth Opportunity (YO) Grants to 36 high-poverty urban, rural, and Native American communities. These communities were among the most economically distressed communities in the nation, all characterized by high drop out rates, high youth unemployment rates, greater incidence of…

Conditions That Promote the Academic Performance of College Students in a Remedial Mathematics Course: Academic Competence, Academic Resilience, and the Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foshee, Cecile Mary

2013-01-01

Researchers have postulated that math academic achievement increases student success in college (Lee, 2012; Silverman & Seidman, 2011; Vigdor, 2013), yet 80% of universities and 98% of community colleges require many of their first-year students to be placed in remedial courses (Bettinger & Long, 2009). Many high school graduates are…

The Use of a Mathematics Professional Learning Community Uniting Math 1 and Math Support Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shirley, George R., Jr.

2010-01-01

In an effort to improve its mathematics education, the state of Georgia instituted a performance-based curriculum in the high schools during the 2008 school year. With the implementation of this new curriculum, teachers needed resources and the opportunity to collaborate regularly. The problem this project-based study addressed was how to refine a…

Identifying the Qualities of an Ideal Teacher in Line with the Opinions of Teacher Candidates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kadioglu Ates, Hatice; Kadioglu, Serkan

2018-01-01

Teaching is a sacred profession performed by self-sacrificing individuals with high responsibilities who are aware of their roles, have undertaken the task of raising future generations, make easier individuals' process of becoming citizen in a way to ensure the peace and welfare of the communities, and allow them to learn knowledge, skills,…

The Impact of Participation in Freshman Learning Communities on Student Academic Achievement and Retention at One College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roark, Deborah Jo

2013-01-01

This research study was specifically designed to examine the relationship of a learning communities program, as a standard treatment effect, on the academic performance and retention of college freshmen during the Fall 2008 through Fall 2011 academic semesters, and specifically for a university comprised of higher levels of underrepresented…

Taking a Measure of Impact: 2 Colorado Districts Calibrate the Effects of High Quality Professional Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobson, Linda

2016-01-01

Snapshots of two Colorado districts in the Redesign PD Community of Practice: Denver Public Schools' professional learning partners help subject-matter experts and others provide educators with a high-quality learning experience. In Jefferson County, Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning guide educators to make teacher…

Are Students' Learning Styles Discipline Specific?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Cheryl; Reichard, Carla; Mokhtari, Kouider

2003-01-01

This study examines the extent to which community college students' learning style preferences vary as a function of discipline. Reports significant differences in students' learning style preferences across disciplines, but not by gender. Adds that student learning style preferences varied by academic performance as measured by gender. Discusses…

Othering in Online Learning: An Examination of Social Presence, Identity, and Sense of Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phirangee, Krystle; Malec, Alesia

2017-01-01

Fostering a strong sense of community among students in online courses is the goal of many instructors because it is seen as being essential in supporting students' learning experiences. However, high dropout rates in online learning suggest that students feel disconnected and isolated from their course, feelings which have been attributed to the…

Involving Tutors and Support Staff in the Adult and Community Learning Quality Agenda.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ravenhall, Mark; Ogilvie, Margaret; Ewens, David

This booklet outlines the new policy context facing adult and community learning (ACL) providers in Great Britain in their pursuit of high-quality learning experiences for their customers. It shows how a Total Quality Management (TQM) approach to supporting staff development can be effective in securing quality. TQM components are values,…

Cultivating a Community of Learners in a Distance Learning Postgraduate Course for Language Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konstantinidis, Angelos; Goria, Cecilia

2016-01-01

The purpose of this contribution is to share reflections and practices in cultivating a community of learners in the context of a professional development programme at Master's level for language teachers. The programme implements a highly participatory pedagogical model of online learning which combines the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model…

Tapestry of Tales: Stories of Self, Family, and Community Provide Rich Fabric for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stuczynski, Amy; Linik, Joyce Riha; Novick, Rebecca; Spraker, Jean; Tucci, Patti; Ellis, Debbie

2005-01-01

This resource guide provides information on how teachers from preschool through high school can use personal, family, and community stories to: (1) Bring students' narrative voice into the classroom; (2) Enrich teaching and learning by tapping into students' knowledge, lives, families, culture, and community; (3) Engage and motivate students to…

Technology-Enhanced Physics Programme for Community-Based Science Learning: Innovative Design and Programme Evaluation in a Theme Park

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tho, Siew Wei; Chan, Ka Wing; Yeung, Yau Yuen

2015-10-01

In this study, a new physics education programme is specifically developed for a famous theme park in Hong Kong to provide community-based science learning to her visitors, involving her three newly constructed rides. We make innovative use of digital technologies in this programme and incorporate a rigorous evaluation of the learning effectiveness of the programme. A total of around 200 students from nine local secondary schools participated in both the physics programme and its subsequent evaluation which consists of a combination of research and assessment tools, including pre- and post-multiple-choice tests, a questionnaire survey and an interview as specifically developed for this programme, or adopted from some well-accepted research instruments. Based on the evaluation of students' academic performance, there are two educationally significant findings on enhancing the students' physics learning: (a) traditionally large gender differences in physics performance and interest of learning are mostly eliminated; and (b) a less-exciting ride called the aviator (instead of the most exciting roller-coaster ride) can induce the largest learning effect (or gain in academic performance) amongst teenagers. Besides, findings from the questionnaire survey and interviews of participants are reported to reveal their views, perceptions, positive and negative comments or feedback on this programme which could provide valuable insights for future development of other similar community-based programmes.

The iPlant Collaborative: Cyberinfrastructure for Enabling Data to Discovery for the Life Sciences

PubMed Central

Merchant, Nirav; Lyons, Eric; Goff, Stephen; Vaughn, Matthew; Ware, Doreen; Micklos, David; Antin, Parker

2016-01-01

The iPlant Collaborative provides life science research communities access to comprehensive, scalable, and cohesive computational infrastructure for data management; identity management; collaboration tools; and cloud, high-performance, high-throughput computing. iPlant provides training, learning material, and best practice resources to help all researchers make the best use of their data, expand their computational skill set, and effectively manage their data and computation when working as distributed teams. iPlant’s platform permits researchers to easily deposit and share their data and deploy new computational tools and analysis workflows, allowing the broader community to easily use and reuse those data and computational analyses. PMID:26752627

Learning Transfer and Its Intentionality in Adult and Continuing Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foley, Jeffrey M.; Kaiser, Leann M. R.

2013-01-01

Broad (1997) defined learning transfer as the "effective and continuing application by learners--to their performance of jobs or other individual, organizational, or community responsibilities--of knowledge and skills gained in the learning activities" (p. 2). This chapter offers an introduction to learning transfer and the major concepts related…

An Investigation of the Perceptions of Teachers and Principals on PLC Implementation in the High Schools of a Large Suburban School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Askew, Cheryl Cessna

2012-01-01

This research explored the perceptions of high school principals and teachers on the implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) in their schools. These perceptions were surveyed using the Professional Learning Communities Assessment-Revised (PLCA-R). Data results were examined for areas of agreement and disagreement between the…

The Residential Learning Community as a Platform for High-Impact Educational Practices Aimed at At-Risk Student Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Bryan; O'Neal, Tom

2016-01-01

This paper examines a pilot residential learning community (RLC) project at Indiana University Southeast. The RLC targeted first-generation students who were academically at-risk. The purpose of the project was to see whether the combination of several high-impact educational practices within the context of an RLC would improve 1) student…

Teachers' Perceptions and Implementation of Professional Learning Communities in a Large Suburban High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peppers, Gloria J.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' perceptions prior to the implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) and after the implementation of PLCs in a large suburban high school. The goal was to provide information that focused on (a) retention and achievement of students, (b) retention of teachers, and (c) teachers'…

The Relationship between Professional Learning Communities, Personal Teacher Efficacy, and Student Achievement at the High School Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Sherri L.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this correlational study was to determine if there was a relationship between professional learning community (PLC), personal teacher efficacy (PTE), and student achievement. The study examined teacher perception of PLC implementation and PET as it related to student achievement at the high school level on the Virginia End-of Course…

An Investigation Examining the Perceived Implications of Principal Leadership Changing a Large Comprehensive High School into Smaller Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Raymond J.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceived implications that principal leadership has on transforming a large comprehensive high school into smaller learning communities (SLCs); and to speculate on possible factors that contribute to the change process after the implementation of SLCs. The study explores the roles,…

Deep Learning @15 Petaflops/second: Semi-supervised pattern detection for 15 Terabytes of climate data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collins, W. D.; Wehner, M. F.; Prabhat, M.; Kurth, T.; Satish, N.; Mitliagkas, I.; Zhang, J.; Racah, E.; Patwary, M.; Sundaram, N.; Dubey, P.

2017-12-01

Anthropogenically-forced climate changes in the number and character of extreme storms have the potential to significantly impact human and natural systems. Current high-performance computing enables multidecadal simulations with global climate models at resolutions of 25km or finer. Such high-resolution simulations are demonstrably superior in simulating extreme storms such as tropical cyclones than the coarser simulations available in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) and provide the capability to more credibly project future changes in extreme storm statistics and properties. The identification and tracking of storms in the voluminous model output is very challenging as it is impractical to manually identify storms due to the enormous size of the datasets, and therefore automated procedures are used. Traditionally, these procedures are based on a multi-variate set of physical conditions based on known properties of the class of storms in question. In recent years, we have successfully demonstrated that Deep Learning produces state of the art results for pattern detection in climate data. We have developed supervised and semi-supervised convolutional architectures for detecting and localizing tropical cyclones, extra-tropical cyclones and atmospheric rivers in simulation data. One of the primary challenges in the applicability of Deep Learning to climate data is in the expensive training phase. Typical networks may take days to converge on 10GB-sized datasets, while the climate science community has ready access to O(10 TB)-O(PB) sized datasets. In this work, we present the most scalable implementation of Deep Learning to date. We successfully scale a unified, semi-supervised convolutional architecture on all of the Cori Phase II supercomputer at NERSC. We use IntelCaffe, MKL and MLSL libraries. We have optimized single node MKL libraries to obtain 1-4 TF on single KNL nodes. We have developed a novel hybrid parameter update strategy to improve scaling to 9600 KNL nodes (600,000 cores). We obtain 15PF performance over the course of the training run; setting a new watermark for the HPC and Deep Learning communities. This talk will share insights on how to obtain this extreme level of performance, current gaps/challenges and implications for the climate science community.

Promoting interprofessional learning with medical students in home care settings.

PubMed

Solomon, Patricia; Risdon, Cathy

2011-01-01

The home care setting is ideal for medical students to learn about the importance of interprofessional collaboration in the community. This project examined the impact of a unique program designed to facilitate medical students' knowledge and awareness of the challenges of interprofessional care in the home. In pairs, medical students participated in two community visits with preceptors from different professions. Students completed a structured personal reflection after their first visit. Students and preceptors participated in focus groups or interviews to identify strengths and challenges of the experiences. The structured reflections and the focus group and interview transcripts were analyzed qualitatively. 164 medical students and 36 preceptors participated in 326 visits. There were high ratings of satisfaction from students and preceptors. Students developed unexpected insights into peoples' lives, developed a greater understanding of the patient's perspective and determinants of health, learned about others' scope of practice, and developed an appreciation of the limitations of their own scope of practice. Preceptors had high expectations for student performance and engagement and enjoyed the opportunity to impart their knowledge to future physicians. Although organizationally complex, the program evaluation suggestions that students and preceptors benefit from interprofessional experiences in the home.

How to facilitate freshmen learning and support their transition to a university study environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kangas, Jari; Rantanen, Elisa; Kettunen, Lauri

2017-11-01

Most freshmen enter universities with high expectations and with good motivation, but too many are driven into performing instead of true learning. The issues are not only related to the challenge of comprehending the substance, social and other factors have an impact as well. All these multifaceted needs should be accounted for to facilitate student learning. Learning is an individual process and remarkable improvement in the learning practices is possible, if proper actions are addressed early enough. We motivate and describe a study of the experience obtained from a set of tailor-made courses that were given alongside standard curriculum. The courses aimed to provide a 'safe community' to address the multifaceted needs. Such support was integrated into regular coursework where active learning techniques, e.g. interactive small groups were incorporated. To assess impact of the courses we employ the feedback obtained during the courses and longitudinal statistical data about students' success.

Constructing Temporally Extended Actions through Incremental Community Detection

PubMed Central

Li, Ge

2018-01-01

Hierarchical reinforcement learning works on temporally extended actions or skills to facilitate learning. How to automatically form such abstraction is challenging, and many efforts tackle this issue in the options framework. While various approaches exist to construct options from different perspectives, few of them concentrate on options' adaptability during learning. This paper presents an algorithm to create options and enhance their quality online. Both aspects operate on detected communities of the learning environment's state transition graph. We first construct options from initial samples as the basis of online learning. Then a rule-based community revision algorithm is proposed to update graph partitions, based on which existing options can be continuously tuned. Experimental results in two problems indicate that options from initial samples may perform poorly in more complex environments, and our presented strategy can effectively improve options and get better results compared with flat reinforcement learning. PMID:29849543

Comparison of Final Grades between a Traditional Classroom and Learning Community Classroom at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Beek, Dianne

This study examines courses in the marketing program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College to compare the academic performance of students in traditional and learning community classroom settings. Two sections of students, a traditional 17-week course and a block scheduled 5-week course, served as the sample in the study. The block scheduling…

The Relationship between Latino Students' Learning Styles and Their Academic Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torres, Sonia Maldonado

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between Latino Students' learning styles and their academic performance. Students' academic performance was measured using their overall grade point average (GPA). A group of 229 Latino students who were enrolled at an urban community college in New York City participated in the study. Two…

Community of inquiry model: advancing distance learning in nurse anesthesia education.

PubMed

Pecka, Shannon L; Kotcherlakota, Suhasini; Berger, Ann M

2014-06-01

The number of distance education courses offered by nurse anesthesia programs has increased substantially. Emerging distance learning trends must be researched to ensure high-quality education for student registered nurse anesthetists. However, research to examine distance learning has been hampered by a lack of theoretical models. This article introduces the Community of Inquiry model for use in nurse anesthesia education. This model has been used for more than a decade to guide and research distance learning in higher education. A major strength of this model learning. However, it lacks applicability to the development of higher order thinking for student registered nurse anesthetists. Thus, a new derived Community of Inquiry model was designed to improve these students' higher order thinking in distance learning. The derived model integrates Bloom's revised taxonomy into the original Community of Inquiry model and provides a means to design, evaluate, and research higher order thinking in nurse anesthesia distance education courses.

Establishing a Culture of Learning: A Mixed Methodology Exploration regarding the Phases of Change for Professional Learning Communities and Literacy Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gray, James E.

2010-01-01

This research serves as a mixed methodological study that presents a conceptual framework which focuses on the relationship between professional learning communities, high yield literacy strategies, and their phases of change. As a result, the purpose of this study is threefold. First, a conceptual framework integrating professional learning…

A Study on the Principal's Role in the Development of Professional Learning Communities in Elementary Schools that "Beat the Odds" in Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reimer, Tracy Lynn

2010-01-01

Current federal legislation, such as No Child Left Behind and The Race to the Top, have elicited high levels of accountability for increasing student reading achievement. Professional organizations and researchers encourage educators to organize schools into professional learning communities (PLCs) to improve student learning. Despite the…

A Family Case Study: How Money Might Matter for Academic Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Compton-Lilly, Catherine

2014-01-01

Many children living in low-income communities do not face struggles in school. Many learn quickly and easily. But for some students, living in a high poverty communities and attending underfunded schools has consequences that can make learning difficult. In this paper, Compton-Lilly draws on the words of a parent living in a low-income community…

Turning Difficulties into Possibilities: Engaging Roma Families and Students in School through Dialogic Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flecha, Ramón; Soler, Marta

2013-01-01

Schools and communities may have a key role in reversing the cycle of inequality that the Roma suffer in Europe. Aiming at reducing existing inequalities, dialogic learning aims to ensure high levels of academic learning for all children, by involving the whole community through egalitarian dialogue. Less well known are the implications of this…

The impact of a freshman academy on science performance of first-time ninth-grade students at one Georgia high school

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daniel, Vivian Summerour

The purpose of this within-group experimental study was to find out to what extent ninth-grade students improved their science performance beyond their middle school science performance at one Georgia high school utilizing a freshman academy model. Freshman academies have been recognized as a useful tool for increasing academic performance among ninth-grade students because they address a range of academic support initiatives tailored to improve academic performance among ninth-grade students. The talent development model developed by Legters, Balfanz, Jordan, and McPartland (2002) has served as a foundational standard for many ninth grade academy programs. A cornerstone feature of this model is the creation of small learning communities used to increase ninth-grade student performance. Another recommendation was to offer credit recovery opportunities for ninth graders along with creating parent and community involvement activities to increase academic success among ninth-grade students. While the site's program included some of the initiatives outlined by the talent development model, it did not utilize all of them. The study concluded that the academy did not show a definitive increase in academic performance among ninth-grade students since most students stayed within their original performance category.

Relevance of a neurophysiological marker of attention allocation for children's learning-related behaviors and academic performance.

PubMed

Willner, Cynthia J; Gatzke-Kopp, Lisa M; Bierman, Karen L; Greenberg, Mark T; Segalowitz, Sidney J

2015-08-01

Learning-related behaviors are important for school success. Socioeconomic disadvantage confers risk for less adaptive learning-related behaviors at school entry, yet substantial variability in school readiness exists within socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Investigation of neurophysiological systems associated with learning-related behaviors in high-risk populations could illuminate resilience processes. This study examined the relevance of a neurophysiological measure of controlled attention allocation, amplitude of the P3b event-related potential, for learning-related behaviors and academic performance in a sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged kindergarteners. The sample consisted of 239 children from an urban, low-income community, approximately half of whom exhibited behavior problems at school entry (45% aggressive/oppositional; 64% male; 69% African American, 21% Hispanic). Results revealed that higher P3b amplitudes to target stimuli in a go/no-go task were associated with more adaptive learning-related behaviors in kindergarten. Furthermore, children's learning-related behaviors in kindergarten mediated a positive indirect effect of P3b amplitude on growth in academic performance from kindergarten to 1st grade. Given that P3b amplitude reflects attention allocation processes, these findings build on the scientific justification for interventions targeting young children's attention skills in order to promote effective learning-related behaviors and academic achievement within socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

The Effects of a Preengineering Project-Based Learning Curriculum on Self-Efficacy among Community College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Starobin, Soko S.; Chen, Yu; Kollasch, Aurelia; Baul, Tushi; Laanan, Frankie Santos

2014-01-01

Using statewide survey study data collected from more than 5,000 community college students, this study examined the impact of a preengineering curriculum on students' self-efficacy level after they entered rural community colleges. Project Lead The Way (PLTW), is a project-based learning curriculum for middle and high school students that strives…

Building and strengthening infrastructure for data exchange: lessons from the beacon communities.

PubMed

Torres, Gretchen W; Swietek, Karen; Ubri, Petry S; Singer, Rachel F; Lowell, Kristina H; Miller, Wilhelmine

2014-01-01

The Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program supports interventions, including care-delivery innovations, provider performance measurement and feedback initiatives, and tools for providers and consumers to enhance care. Using a learning health system framework, we examine the Beacon Communities' processes in building and strengthening health IT (HIT) infrastructures, specifically successes and challenges in sharing patient information to improve clinical care. In 2010, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) launched the three-year program, which provided $250 million to 17 Beacon Communities to invest in HIT and health information exchange (HIE) infrastructure. Beacon Communities used this funding to develop and disseminate HIT-enabled quality improvement practices found effective in particular community and practice environments. NORC conducted 7 site visits, November 2012-March 2013, selecting Communities to represent diverse program features. From August-October 2013, NORC held discussions with the remaining 10 Communities. Following each visit or discussion, NORC summarized the information gathered, including transcripts, team observations, and other documents the Community provided, to facilitate a within-Community analysis of context and stakeholders, intervention strategies, enabling factors, and challenges. Although each Community designed and implemented data-sharing strategies in a unique environment, similar challenges and enabling factors emerged across the Beacons. From a learning health system perspective, their strategies to build and strengthen data-sharing infrastructures address the following crosscutting priorities: promoting technical advances and innovations by helping providers adapt EHRs for data exchange and performance measurement with customizable IT and offering technical support to smaller, independent providers; engaging key stakeholders; and fostering transparent governance and stewardship of the infrastructure with neutral conveners. While all the Communities developed or strengthened data-exchange infrastructure, each did this in a unique environment of existing health care market and legal factors. The Communities, however, encountered similar challenges and enabling factors. Organizations undertaking collaborative data sharing, performance measurement and clinical transformation can learn from the Beacon Communities' experience.

Active Learning Improves Student Performance in a Respiratory Physiology Lab

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolf, Alex M.; Liachovitzky, Carlos; Abdullahi, Abass S.

2015-01-01

This study assessed the effectiveness of the introduction of active learning exercises into the anatomy and physiology curriculum in a community college setting. Specifically, the incorporation of a spirometry-based respiratory physiology lab resulted in improved student performance in two concepts (respiratory volumes and the hallmarks of…

Accelerated Application Development: The ORNL Titan Experience

DOE PAGES

Joubert, Wayne; Archibald, Richard K.; Berrill, Mark A.; ...

2015-05-09

The use of computational accelerators such as NVIDIA GPUs and Intel Xeon Phi processors is now widespread in the high performance computing community, with many applications delivering impressive performance gains. However, programming these systems for high performance, performance portability and software maintainability has been a challenge. In this paper we discuss experiences porting applications to the Titan system. Titan, which began planning in 2009 and was deployed for general use in 2013, was the first multi-petaflop system based on accelerator hardware. To ready applications for accelerated computing, a preparedness effort was undertaken prior to delivery of Titan. In this papermore » we report experiences and lessons learned from this process and describe how users are currently making use of computational accelerators on Titan.« less

Accelerated application development: The ORNL Titan experience

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Joubert, Wayne; Archibald, Rick; Berrill, Mark

2015-08-01

The use of computational accelerators such as NVIDIA GPUs and Intel Xeon Phi processors is now widespread in the high performance computing community, with many applications delivering impressive performance gains. However, programming these systems for high performance, performance portability and software maintainability has been a challenge. In this paper we discuss experiences porting applications to the Titan system. Titan, which began planning in 2009 and was deployed for general use in 2013, was the first multi-petaflop system based on accelerator hardware. To ready applications for accelerated computing, a preparedness effort was undertaken prior to delivery of Titan. In this papermore » we report experiences and lessons learned from this process and describe how users are currently making use of computational accelerators on Titan.« less

The Effects of a Professional Learning Community on Teachers and Student Achievement in a High School Serving Predominately Latino Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mendez, Larry

2013-01-01

The research study was an evaluation of a professional learning community (PLC) and its effect on teachers and student achievement in a high school serving predominately Latino students. The study was a mixed research study that consisted of both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data included school-wide and Latino student…

It takes a village: supporting inquiry- and equity-oriented computer science pedagogy through a professional learning community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryoo, Jean; Goode, Joanna; Margolis, Jane

2015-10-01

This article describes the importance that high school computer science teachers place on a teachers' professional learning community designed around an inquiry- and equity-oriented approach for broadening participation in computing. Using grounded theory to analyze four years of teacher surveys and interviews from the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program in the Los Angeles Unified School District, this article describes how participating in professional development activities purposefully aimed at fostering a teachers' professional learning community helps ECS teachers make the transition to an inquiry-based classroom culture and break professional isolation. This professional learning community also provides experiences that challenge prevalent deficit notions and stereotypes about which students can or cannot excel in computer science.

Service Learning Partnership between University and School Students: Experiential Learning Inspired through Community Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nandan, Monica

2010-01-01

This article describes a service learning project implemented jointly by undergraduate and high school students during summer. The service learning project was designed through a Summer Research Institute hosted at a Midwestern University; the institute encouraged faculty to recruit undergraduate students who would partner with area high school…

High-angle-of-attack aerodynamics - Lessons learned

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chambers, J. R.

1986-01-01

Recently, the military and civil technical communities have undertaken numerous studies of the high angle-of-attack aerodynamic characteristics of advanced airplane and missile configurations. The method of approach and the design methodology employed have necessarily been experimental and exploratory in nature, due to the complex nature of separated flows. However, despite the relatively poor definition of many of the key aerodynamic phenomena involved for high-alpha conditions, some generic guidelines for design consideration have been identified. The present paper summarizes some of the more important lessons learned in the area of high angle-of-attack aerodynamics with examples of a number of key concepts and with particular emphasis on high-alpha stability and control characteristics of high performance aircraft. Topics covered in the discussion include the impact of design evolution, forebody flows, control of separated flows, configuration effects, aerodynamic controls, wind-tunnel flight correlation, and recent NASA research activities.

The heirs of Aradia, daughters of Diana: community in the second and third wave.

PubMed

Dickie, Jane R; Cook, Anna; Gazda, Rachel; Martin, Bethany; Sturrus, Elizabeth

2005-01-01

What happens when young third wave feminists learn from second wave feminists what living in community means? This article gives an account of engagement between generations of second and third wave feminists as the younger women began documenting the herstory of Aradia, a radical, separatist and mostly lesbian community and non-profit organization in conservative West Michigan in the 1970s and 1980s. The younger women learned the importance of non-hierarchical political organizing to counter differences of experience and power. They learned that divisions of work and play prevent the development of community and that "high play" is critically important for creative energy and insight. And they learned that mythmaking is more than fantasy; it creates reality. The older women learned that for the third wave identity and sexuality are more fluid. They learned that the younger feminists recognized and valued their contributions, and sought to carry feminist goals forward. Both generations were empowered by the encounter and learned the radical effects of women speaking across generations.

Hypothesis generation using network structures on community health center cancer-screening performance.

PubMed

Carney, Timothy Jay; Morgan, Geoffrey P; Jones, Josette; McDaniel, Anna M; Weaver, Michael T; Weiner, Bryan; Haggstrom, David A

2015-10-01

Nationally sponsored cancer-care quality-improvement efforts have been deployed in community health centers to increase breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer-screening rates among vulnerable populations. Despite several immediate and short-term gains, screening rates remain below national benchmark objectives. Overall improvement has been both difficult to sustain over time in some organizational settings and/or challenging to diffuse to other settings as repeatable best practices. Reasons for this include facility-level changes, which typically occur in dynamic organizational environments that are complex, adaptive, and unpredictable. This study seeks to understand the factors that shape community health center facility-level cancer-screening performance over time. This study applies a computational-modeling approach, combining principles of health-services research, health informatics, network theory, and systems science. To investigate the roles of knowledge acquisition, retention, and sharing within the setting of the community health center and to examine their effects on the relationship between clinical decision support capabilities and improvement in cancer-screening rate improvement, we employed Construct-TM to create simulated community health centers using previously collected point-in-time survey data. Construct-TM is a multi-agent model of network evolution. Because social, knowledge, and belief networks co-evolve, groups and organizations are treated as complex systems to capture the variability of human and organizational factors. In Construct-TM, individuals and groups interact by communicating, learning, and making decisions in a continuous cycle. Data from the survey was used to differentiate high-performing simulated community health centers from low-performing ones based on computer-based decision support usage and self-reported cancer-screening improvement. This virtual experiment revealed that patterns of overall network symmetry, agent cohesion, and connectedness varied by community health center performance level. Visual assessment of both the agent-to-agent knowledge sharing network and agent-to-resource knowledge use network diagrams demonstrated that community health centers labeled as high performers typically showed higher levels of collaboration and cohesiveness among agent classes, faster knowledge-absorption rates, and fewer agents that were unconnected to key knowledge resources. Conclusions and research implications: Using the point-in-time survey data outlining community health center cancer-screening practices, our computational model successfully distinguished between high and low performers. Results indicated that high-performance environments displayed distinctive network characteristics in patterns of interaction among agents, as well as in the access and utilization of key knowledge resources. Our study demonstrated how non-network-specific data obtained from a point-in-time survey can be employed to forecast community health center performance over time, thereby enhancing the sustainability of long-term strategic-improvement efforts. Our results revealed a strategic profile for community health center cancer-screening improvement via simulation over a projected 10-year period. The use of computational modeling allows additional inferential knowledge to be drawn from existing data when examining organizational performance in increasingly complex environments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differentiated Effects of Community Schooling on Cognitive and Social-Emotional Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heers, Marieke; Ghysels, Joris; Groot, Wim; van den Brink, Henriëtte Maassen

2015-01-01

Community schools are becoming increasingly popular. They aim to enhance children's educational performance by offering extended educational and social services. As community schools mainly focus on disadvantaged children, this study evaluates the effects of community schooling on the educational outcomes of these pupils. We focus on care pupils…

Building Learning Communities: Partnerships, Social Capital and VET Performance. A National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation Program Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allison, Janelle; Gorringe, Scott; Lacey, Justine

2006-01-01

This study examines the nature of the impact of vocational education and training (VET), and its project-based activities and partnerships, on the development of sustainable communities in regional Australia. It finds that VET plays a critical role as the entry point to learning and builds considerable social and other forms of capital in regional…

The Effectiveness of Professional Learning Communities in Promoting Educational Learning as Perceived by Texas High School Principals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guajardo-Cantú, Amelia

2017-01-01

Teaching in the 21st century requires the search for new and ongoing innovative practices. Such emerging practices in the field of teaching are reshaping the everyday normalities of how educators used to teach in the past. The Professional Learning Community (PLC) model is an emerging educational innovation and is considered as a powerful strategy…

A Study to Determine Non-Academic Traits of a Successful Student in an Open Learning Center Environment at John Wood Community College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kronquist, Shirley; And Others

John Wood Community College's Open Learning Center (OLC) offers an alternative to traditional classroom approaches using one-to-one instruction, a competency-based learning format, and flexible scheduling. Due to concern over the high attrition rate in OLC courses, a study was conducted to identify the characteristics and variables contributing to…

Understanding Student Learning in Context: Relationships between University Students' Social Identity, Approaches to Learning, and Academic Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bliuc, Ana-Maria; Ellis, Robert A.; Goodyear, Peter; Hendres, Daniela Muntele

2011-01-01

This research focuses on understanding how socio-psychological dimensions such as student social identity and student perceptions of their learning community affect learning at university. To do this, it integrates ideas from phenomenographic research into student learning with ideas from research on social identity. In two studies (N = 110, and N…

Building and Strengthening Infrastructure for Data Exchange: Lessons from the Beacon Communities

PubMed Central

Torres, Gretchen W.; Swietek, Karen; Ubri, Petry S.; Singer, Rachel F.; Lowell, Kristina H.; Miller, Wilhelmine

2014-01-01

Introduction: The Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program supports interventions, including care-delivery innovations, provider performance measurement and feedback initiatives, and tools for providers and consumers to enhance care. Using a learning health system framework, we examine the Beacon Communities’ processes in building and strengthening health IT (HIT) infrastructures, specifically successes and challenges in sharing patient information to improve clinical care. Background: In 2010, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) launched the three-year program, which provided $250 million to 17 Beacon Communities to invest in HIT and health information exchange (HIE) infrastructure. Beacon Communities used this funding to develop and disseminate HIT-enabled quality improvement practices found effective in particular community and practice environments. Methods: NORC conducted 7 site visits, November 2012–March 2013, selecting Communities to represent diverse program features. From August–October 2013, NORC held discussions with the remaining 10 Communities. Following each visit or discussion, NORC summarized the information gathered, including transcripts, team observations, and other documents the Community provided, to facilitate a within-Community analysis of context and stakeholders, intervention strategies, enabling factors, and challenges. Results: Although each Community designed and implemented data-sharing strategies in a unique environment, similar challenges and enabling factors emerged across the Beacons. From a learning health system perspective, their strategies to build and strengthen data-sharing infrastructures address the following crosscutting priorities: promoting technical advances and innovations by helping providers adapt EHRs for data exchange and performance measurement with customizable IT and offering technical support to smaller, independent providers; engaging key stakeholders; and fostering transparent governance and stewardship of the infrastructure with neutral conveners. Conclusion: While all the Communities developed or strengthened data-exchange infrastructure, each did this in a unique environment of existing health care market and legal factors. The Communities, however, encountered similar challenges and enabling factors. Organizations undertaking collaborative data sharing, performance measurement and clinical transformation can learn from the Beacon Communities’ experience. PMID:25848619

Leader & Learner

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsh, Stephanie; Hord, Shirley M.

2008-01-01

One of the most powerful ways for principals to extend their learning is to participate in professional learning communities (PLCs), forums that are explicitly designed to convene educators for learning so that students perform at higher levels. Principals can use PLCs to their professional advantage in two significant ways: (1) by participating…

Applying the Design Framework to Technology Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curwood, Jen Scott

2013-01-01

Building on contemporary research on teacher professional development, this study examined the practices of a technology-focused learning community at a high school in the United States. Over the course of a school year, classroom teachers and a university-based researcher participated in the learning community to investigate how technology can…

Sustaining Professional Learning Communities through Teacher Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jennings, Karen

2013-01-01

Professional learning communities (PLCs), with their attributes of shared values, high expectations, and collaboration, have the potential to change school culture. The 4 elementary schools in this study have been unable to sustain ongoing, effective teamwork, resulting in a failure to attain adequate progress, and in 2 schools, in the placement…

Increasing Student Success: An Interview with Edward A. Morante.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spann, Milton G.; Calderwood, Barbara J.

1998-01-01

Presents an interview with Edward Morante, Dean of Student Services and Learning Resources at College of the Desert (California), regarding the needs of high-risk community college students. Morante focuses on assessment, placement, basic-skills courses, student-support services, the learning-community concept, student involvement, and evaluation,…

Designing for Learning Engagement in Remote Communities: Narratives from North of Sixty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doering, Aaron; Henrickson, Jeni

2014-01-01

There are multiple challenges to designing learning experiences for schools in remote communities, including technology and infrastructure limitations, high teacher and administrator turnover, and conflicting interests between local culture and school curricula. In this paper, we offer a brief history of educational initiatives in remote Arctic…

Balancing Risk? First Year Performing Arts Students' Experience of a Community Arts Event

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hains-Wesson, Rachael; Campbell, Angela

2014-01-01

This study examines participants' responses to first year students' street performances as a non-placement work-integrated learning (WIL) activity over a two year period. The purpose of the study was to determine: (1) community perception, (2) continuous improvement, and (3) future needs. Data was collected through surveying participants'…

Resilience and high performance: What the wildland fire community can learn from the U.S. Military

Treesearch

James Saveland

2011-01-01

Recent advances in the science of psychology are rapidly mending the Cartesian mind-body rift. The U.S. Military has recognized the importance of mental fitness to compliment physical fitness. Health-of- the-Force was a strategic priority of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2009-2010. Wellness enhancement and training is one of the four focus areas of a...

A Critical Appraisal of the Performance of Royal Dutch Shell as a Learning Organisation in the 1990s.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyle, Emily

2002-01-01

Although Royal Dutch Shell had been identified as a "premiere learning organization," it had its worst results in 1998. Reasons included loss of commitment and community, leadership complacency, and inability to create a shared vision. Although management espoused learning organization principles, learning was not used for communal…

Principal Professional Learning Community Behavior in Low Wealth High Schools with Higher and Lower Student Achievement as Measured by Mastery Scores on the New York State Eleventh Grade ELA Regents Exam

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Adrian

2016-01-01

This study was designed to analyze non-principal staff supervisors' perceptions of PLC efforts, encouragements, and activities in the six dimensions of a professional learning community (PLC) characterized as shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collaborative culture, a focus on learning, supportive relationships, and…

Enhancing undergraduate community placements: a critical review of current literature.

PubMed

Dickson, Caroline A W; Morris, Gillian; Gable, Clare

2015-04-01

In the face of the UK-wide policy shift to increased home care, inspiring and enabling the next generation of community nurses is more urgent than ever. The quality of the pre-registration practice learning experience is highly influential on career choices at the point of qualification. Given that 50% of learning by pre-registration students takes place in practice, mentors have a crucial role to play in preparing the next generation of nurses to work in the community. This article discusses the findings of a systematic and critical literature review of pre-registration placements that was funded by the Queen's Nursing Institute Scotland. The review found that students' experiences of learning in community settings are variable, and perceptions of students and mentors are misaligned in terms of what a quality placement should look like. Although there is no clear definition of what constitutes a community placement and there is some underuse of learning environments in areas such as general practice nursing, there are also a number of examples of new and imaginative placements. While these innovations provide 'whole experience' placements, they are currently lacking robust evaluation, despite their potential usefulness on a larger scale. Mentors have the opportunity to provide students with a range of learning opportunities that increase preparedness for working in the community, allowing final year students in particular greater influence over their learning experience. Students undertaking community practice learning, where they have a managed level of autonomy, are more likely to feel confident to take on community nursing roles.

Building online learning communities in a graduate dental hygiene program.

PubMed

Rogo, Ellen J; Portillo, Karen M

2014-08-01

The literature abounds with research related to building online communities in a single course; however, limited evidence is available on this phenomenon from a program perspective. The intent of this qualitative case study inquiry was to explore student experiences in a graduate dental hygiene program contributing or impeding the development and sustainability of online learning communities. Approval from the IRB was received. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants from a stratification of students and graduates. A total of 17 participants completed semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was completed through 2 rounds - 1 for coding responses and 1 to construct categories of experiences. The participants' collective definition of an online learning community was a complex synergistic network of interconnected people who create positive energy. The findings indicated the development of this network began during the program orientation and was beneficial for building a foundation for the community. Students felt socially connected and supported by the network. Course design was another important category for participation in weekly discussions and group activities. Instructors were viewed as active participants in the community, offering helpful feedback and being a facilitator in discussions. Experiences impeding the development of online learning communities related to the poor performance of peers and instructors. Specific categories of experiences supported and impeded the development of online learning communities related to the program itself, course design, students and faculty. These factors are important to consider in order to maximize student learning potential in this environment. Copyright © 2014 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

Learning from the Past as We Aim for the Future through Identifying Students' Learning Styles To Improve Teaching/Learning Experiences in College Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, Elsa C.

Community college students arrive with a diversity of learning styles, study skills, and test anxiety levels. The study described here was conducted to determine whether activity grouping of students according to learning style (incorporating at least two different styles in each group) contributes to improved student performance. In the spring of…

Teaching About the Brain and Reaching the Community: Undergraduates in the Pipeline Neuroscience Program at the University of Pennsylvania

PubMed Central

Edlow, Brian L.; Hamilton, Karen; Hamilton, Roy H.

2007-01-01

This article provides an overview of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s Pipeline Neuroscience Program, a multi-tiered mentorship and education program for Philadelphia high school students in which University of Pennsylvania undergraduates are integrally involved. The Pipeline Neuroscience Program provides mentorship and education for students at all levels. High school students are taught by undergraduates, who learn from medical students who, in turn, are guided by neurology residents and fellows. Throughout a semester-long course, undergraduates receive instruction in neuroanatomy, neuroscience, and clinical neurology as part of the Pipeline’s case-based curriculum. During weekly classes, undergraduates make the transition from students to community educators by integrating their new knowledge into lesson plans that they teach to small groups of medically and academically underrepresented Philadelphia high school students. The Pipeline program thus achieves the dual goals of educating undergraduates about neuroscience and providing them with an opportunity to perform community service. PMID:23493190

Gender Differences in Introductory University Physics Performance: The Influence of High School Physics Preparation and Affect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hazari, Zahra

2006-12-01

The attrition of females studying physics after high school has been a continuing concern for the physics education community. If females are well prepared, feel confident, and do well in introductory college physics, they may be inclined to study physics further. This quantitative study uses HLM to identify factors from high school physics preparation (content, pedagogy, and assessment) and the affective domain that predict female and male performance in introductory college physics. The study includes controls for student demographic and academic background characteristics, and the final dataset consists of 1973 surveys from 54 introductory college physics classes. The results highlight high school physics and affective experiences that differentially predict female and male performance. These experiences include: learning requirements, computer graphing/analysis, long written problems, everyday world examples, community projects cumulative tests/quizzes, father's encouragement, family's belief that science leads to a better career, and the length of time students believe that high school physics would help in university physics. There were also experiences that similarly predict female and male performance. The results paint a dynamic picture of the factors from high school physics and the affective domain that influence the future physics performance of females and males. The implication is that there are many aspects to the teaching of physics in high school that, although widely used and thought to be effective, need reform in their implementation in order to be fully beneficial to females and/or males in college.

Mastering the soft skills in the implementation of work based learning among community college students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Azita Binti; Islamiah Rosli, Doria; Sujadi, Imam; Usodo, Budi; Adie Perdana, Fengky

2017-01-01

Emphasizing the aspects of soft skills among students is an important element to produce graduates who are competitive when facing any situations in the workplace. Various efforts have been taken by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) to improve the education system in Malaysia. Learning methods were introduced to ensure the education systems achieve the educational goals and to produce individuals who are well-balanced with spiritually, emotionally and physically. However, the issue of unemployment among graduates often being spoken in the community and it was regarded as a failure of educational institutions to produce quality graduates. Thus, the method of Work-Based Learning (WBL) was seen as a way to improve the soft skills among the graduates. The study was conducted using quantitative research survey as the design of the study used a questionnaire that was adapted as an instrument. Data were analysed using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0. The respondents were consisted of 97 students who attended WBL programs at the community college. Data were obtained from questionnaires using descriptive statistics for the calculation of the mean and one-way ANOVA test. The findings of the level of soft skills among community colleges were high where the communication skills obtained (mean = 4.1218), critical and problem solving skills (mean = 4.0946), teamwork skills (mean = 4.2297), learning and information management (mean = 4.1219), entrepreneurial skills (mean = 4.0240), professional ethics and moral (mean = 3.9410) and leadership skills (mean = 4.2104). The findings also showed the differences in term of communication skills among the community colleges. This study was significant to the community colleges to identify the level of soft skills among students who performed WBL methods in order to reduce the number of unemployment.

Instruction Guide and Macro Analysis Tool for Community-led Air Monitoring

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA has developed two tools for evaluating the performance of low-cost sensors and interpreting the data they collect to help citizen scientists, communities, and professionals interested in learning about local air quality.

Development of High School Professional Learning Community Leaders: Effectiveness of One District's Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Middendorf, Beth N.

2013-01-01

Research indicated leadership played a key role in successfully implementing professional learning communities (PLCs). There has been little research on pragmatic approaches to developing PLC leaders. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Gene School District's two-part PLC leader development: PLC Institute and ongoing…

Program Evaluation of a High School Science Professional Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLelland-Crawley, Rebecca

2014-01-01

Teachers may benefit more from a professional learning community (PLC) than from professional development initiatives presented in single day workshops. The purpose of this program evaluation study was to identify characteristics of an effective PLC and to determine how the members of the PLC have benefitted from the program. Fullan's educational…

Using Professional Learning Communities to Bolster Comprehension Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dougherty Stahl, Katherine A.

2015-01-01

High-level comprehension instruction is the focus of the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts. However, it has been a challenge for states to provide the professional development (PD) needed to support teachers' implementation of the CCSS. Professional learning communities (PLC) are a means of providing school-embedded PD to…

The Seeds to Success Modified Field Test: Findings from the Impact and Implementation Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boller, Kimberly; Del Grosso, Patricia; Blair, Randall; Jolly, Yumiko; Fortson, Ken; Paulsell, Diane; Lundquist, Eric; Hallgren, Kristin; Kovac, Martha

2010-01-01

In 2006, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Early Learning Initiative (ELI) to improve the school readiness of Washington State's children through three main strategies: (1) development of high-quality, community-wide early learning initiatives in two communities; (2) enhancement of statewide systems that support early…

Small Learning Communities Sense of Belonging to Reach At-Risk Students of Promise

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hackney, Debbie

2011-01-01

The research design is a quantitative causal comparative method. The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) which measures student scores included assessments in mathematics and reading. The design study called for an examination of how type of small learning community (SLC) or the type non-SLC high school environment affected student…

Community Commitment: How Education Institutions Can Best Use Green Strategies in their Construction Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erickson, Paul W.

2008-01-01

Education institutions that embrace green concepts in their construction projects are able to provide safe and healthful learning environments that are responsive to the community. Carrying out these strategies can enhance student learning, reduce health and operations costs, and enhance the quality of a school. Moreover, these high-performing…

Implementation Study of Smaller Learning Communities. Final Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bernstein, Lawrence; Millsap, Mary Ann; Schimmenti, Jennifer; Page, Lindsay

2008-01-01

The Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) program was established in response to growing national concerns about students too often lost and alienated in large, impersonal high schools, as well as concerns about school safety and low levels of achievement and graduation for many students. Authorized under the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act,"…

An Investigation of Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Smaller Learning Community Social Studies Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fischer, Christopher; Bol, Linda; Pribesh, Shana

2011-01-01

This study investigated the extent to which higher-order thinking skills are promoted in social studies classes in high schools that are implementing smaller learning communities (SLCs). Data collection in this mixed-methods study included classroom observations and in-depth interviews. Findings indicated that higher-order thinking was rarely…

Linking Classes: Learning Communities, "High" Culture, and the Working Class Student

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Ginger G.; Buczinsky, Christopher

2013-01-01

How do you teach the humanities to working class students living in the shadow of a BP oil refinery? Calumet College uses freshman learning communities that link humanities, social justice, and English composition classes to provide a foundation for college success to predominantly first-generation students who are often underprepared for…

Relationships between Learning Styles and Academic Achievement and Brain Hemispheric Dominance and Academic Performance in Business and Accounting Courses.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carthey, Joseph H.

A study determined if relationships exist between learning styles and academic achievement and brain hemispheric dominance and academic performance in the courses of principles of management, business law, intermediate accounting, and principles of economics. All second-year accounting students (64 students) at Northeast Iowa Community College…

An Action Research Study on the Effect of Interactive Technology and Active Learning on Student Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bear, Teresa J.

2013-01-01

This quantitative action science research study utilized a causal-comparative experimental research design in order to determine if the use of student response systems (clickers), as an active learning strategy in a community college course, improved student performance in the course. Students in the experimental group (n = 26) used clickers to…

Developing a Community of Practice through Learning Climate, Leader Support, and Leader Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker-Eveleth, Lori J.; Chung, Yunhyung; Eveleth, Daniel M.; O'Neill, Michele

2011-01-01

The Communities of Practice (CoP) concept and the knowledge management literature both provide useful frameworks for conceptualizing how an individual's performance in the classroom (e.g., earning a grade) or in an organization (e.g., solving a client's problem) can be supported by a collection of other individuals performing similar tasks and…

45 CFR 2516.100 - What is the purpose of school-based service-learning programs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... school-based service-learning programs is to promote service-learning as a strategy to support high...-learning programs? 2516.100 Section 2516.100 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE SCHOOL-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Eligibility...

45 CFR 2516.100 - What is the purpose of school-based service-learning programs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... school-based service-learning programs is to promote service-learning as a strategy to support high...-learning programs? 2516.100 Section 2516.100 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE SCHOOL-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Eligibility...

45 CFR 2516.100 - What is the purpose of school-based service-learning programs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... school-based service-learning programs is to promote service-learning as a strategy to support high...-learning programs? 2516.100 Section 2516.100 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE SCHOOL-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Eligibility...

Reforming High School Science for Low-Performing Students Using Inquiry Methods and Communities of Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolden, Marsha Gail

Some schools fall short of the high demand to increase science scores on state exams because low-performing students enter high school unprepared for high school science. Low-performing students are not successful in high school for many reasons. However, using inquiry methods have improved students' understanding of science concepts. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate the teachers' lived experiences with using inquiry methods to motivate low-performing high school science students in an inquiry-based program called Xtreem Science. Fifteen teachers were selected from the Xtreem Science program, a program designed to assist teachers in motivating struggling science students. The research questions involved understanding (a) teachers' experiences in using inquiry methods, (b) challenges teachers face in using inquiry methods, and (c) how teachers describe student's response to inquiry methods. Strategy of data collection and analysis included capturing and understanding the teachers' feelings, perceptions, and attitudes in their lived experience of teaching using inquiry method and their experience in motivating struggling students. Analysis of interview responses revealed teachers had some good experiences with inquiry and expressed that inquiry impacted their teaching style and approach to topics, and students felt that using inquiry methods impacted student learning for the better. Inquiry gave low-performing students opportunities to catch up and learn information that moved them to the next level of science courses. Implications for positive social change include providing teachers and school district leaders with information to help improve performance of the low performing science students.

The Use of Two Professional Learning Community Practices in Elementary Classrooms and the English Language Arts Achievement of California's Most At-Risk Student Subgroups in a Southern California School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Carrie Lynn

2007-01-01

This study examines the impact of 2 professional learning community (PLC) classroom practices on the English Language Arts achievement of California's most at-risk subgroups between selected higher- and lower-performing elementary schools in a southern California school district. The conclusions from this study agree with the body of research,…

Nursing Living-Learning Communities and Student Retention: A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Bauer, Renee N; Kiger, Susan

Living-learning communities have been known to promote student performance and a sense of collegiality. Most studies on this topic have utilized quantitative methods. This qualitative comparison case study examined personal experiences associated with residing in a living-learning community. The study was conducted to explore findings associated with promoting student retention. A secondary goal was to explore student experiences with mentoring. Data were collected using taped recordings of live interviews at two universities that have nursing-themed housing. The targeted sample size was 14. Themes that emerged from the data were mutual support, importance of the resident assistant, and self-determination. Nursing students enjoy themed housing and especially desire the resident assistant to be a nursing student.

Communities Can Work Together to Strengthen Summer Learning for Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willse, Katie

2015-01-01

High-quality summer learning programs in a given city are often only able to address a fraction of the need. Lack of access to program data and absence of stakeholder coordination compounds the problem. Working together to systematically increase program quality and provide more high-quality summer learning opportunities where families need them…

Science education and worldview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keane, Moyra

2008-09-01

Is there a place for Indigenous Knowledge in the science curriculum for a Zulu community in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa? This article argues "yes," based on a participative research and development project that discovered relevant science learning in a Zulu community. Among community concerns for relevant factual and performative knowledge, we found that culture and worldview are critical to community identity, to visioning educational outcomes, and to learning in school science. Cultural practices may contribute to pedagogy and curriculum; curriculum, in turn, may affirm cultural practices. Further, worldview needs to be understood as an aspect of knowledge creation. By understanding key aspects of an African worldview, science educators can contribute to both meaningful science education and community well-being. By fostering culture and worldview, a rural community can make a unique contribution to science education.

Teaching and Learning Information Technology Process: From a 25 Year Perspective--Math Regents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis Sanchez, Louise

2007-01-01

This paper will describe the Teaching and Learning Informational Technology Process (TLITP). Before present day strategies, teaching and learning relied on transformations based on quantification to measure performance. The process will be a non-linear three construct of teacher, student and community. Emphasizing old practices now is the…

Informal teacher communities enhancing the professional development of medical teachers: a qualitative study.

PubMed

van Lankveld, Thea; Schoonenboom, Judith; Kusurkar, Rashmi; Beishuizen, Jos; Croiset, Gerda; Volman, Monique

2016-04-14

Informal peer learning is a particularly powerful form of learning for medical teachers, although it does not always occur automatically in the departments of medical schools. In this article, the authors explore the role of teacher communities in enhancing informal peer learning among undergraduate medical teachers. Teacher communities are groups of teachers who voluntarily gather on a regular basis to develop and share knowledge. Outside of medical education, these informal teacher communities have proved to be an effective means of enhancing peer learning of academic teachers. The processes underlying this outcome are, however, not known. This study therefore aims to explore the processes that make informal teacher communities effective in supporting peer learning of teachers. A qualitative study was performed at a Dutch medical school, where a student-centred undergraduate curriculum had recently been introduced. As part of this curriculum, tutors are segregated into separate specialty areas and thus have only limited opportunities for informal learning with other tutors. The authors followed two informal teacher communities aimed at supporting these tutors. They observed the interactions within the teacher communities and held semi-structured interviews with ten of the participants. The observation notes and interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. The informal teacher communities allowed the tutors to engage in a dialogue with colleagues and share questions, solutions, and interpretations. The teacher communities also provided opportunities to explicate tacit expertise, which helped the tutors to develop an idea of their role and form a frame of reference for their own experiences. Furthermore, the communities enhanced the tutors' sense of belonging. The tutors felt more secure in their role and they felt valued by the organisation due to the teacher communities. This study shows that informal teacher communities not only support the professional development of tutors, but also validate and strengthen their identity as teachers. They seem to provide a dialogical space where informal intercollegiate learning is stimulated, stories are shared, tacit knowledge is made explicit, concerns are shared, and teacher identity is nurtured.

Building America Case Study: Performance and Costs of Ductless Heat Pumps in Marine Climate High-Performance Homes: Habitat for Humanity -- The Woods, Tacoma, Washington

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

The Woods is a Habitat for Humanity (HFH) community of ENERGY STAR Homes (c) Northwest (ESHNW)-certified homes located in the marine climate of Tacoma/Pierce County, Washington. This research report builds on an earlier preliminary draft 2014 BA report, and includes significant billing analysis and cost effectiveness research from a collaborative, ongoing Ductless Heat Pump (DHP) research effort for Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). This report focuses on the results of field testing, modeling, and monitoring of ductless mini-split heat pump hybrid heating systems in seven homes built and first occupied at various times between September 2013more » and October 2014. The report also provides WSU documentation of high-performance home observations, lessons learned, and stakeholder recommendations for builders of affordable high-performance housing such as HFH.« less

Action-learning collaboratives as a platform for community-based participatory research to advance obesity prevention.

PubMed

Bazos, Dorothy A; Schifferdecker, Karen E; Fedrizzi, Rudolph; Hoebeke, Jaime; Ruggles, Laural; Goldsberry, Yvonne

2013-01-01

Although process elements that define community-based participatory research (CBPR) are well articulated and provide guidance for bringing together researchers and communities, additional models to implement CBPR are needed. One potential model for implementing and monitoring CBPR is Action Learning Collaboratives (ALCs); short term, team-based learning processes that are grounded in quality improvement. Since 2010, the Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth (PRCD) has used ALCs with three communities as a platform to design, implement and evaluate CBPR. The first ALC provided an opportunity for academia and community leadership to strengthen their relationships and knowledge of respective assets through design and evaluation of community-based QI projects. Building on this work, we jointly designed and are implementing a second ALC, a cross-community research project focused on obesity prevention in vulnerable populations. An enhanced community capacity now exists to support CBPR activities with a high degree of sophistication and decreased reliance on external facilitation.

Getting the Right Fit: Designing a Professional Learning Community for Out-of-School Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vance, Femi; Salvaterra, Emily; Michelsen, Jocelyn Atkins; Newhouse, Corey

2016-01-01

A skilled workforce is critical in high-quality out-of-school time (OST) programs. However, the workshops commonly used to train OST staff are not adequately preparing practitioners to deliver quality programs that can benefit youth. Professional learning communities (PLCs) are a practice-focused alternative that has a track record of improving…

An Analysis of Teacher and School Administrator Technology Beliefs and Skills as They Enter into a High Achieving Schools Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hildebrand, Shelly Marie

2009-01-01

Teachers and administrators possess varied technology abilities and beliefs. In a study by Williams, Atkinson, Cate, and O'Hair (2008), technology integration and learning community development were positively related. As the teachers and administrators engaged in learning community development and technology integration substantive school…

An Evolutionary Journey: The Case Study of East Muskingum Middle School. Transforming Learning Communities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrow, Linda E.; Martin, Kaye M.; Glascock, Catherine H.

This book is part of a series of case studies that demonstrate better ways to educate Ohio's students. The case study is part of the Transforming Learning Communities (TLC) Project, designed to support significant school-reform efforts among Ohio's elementary, middle, and high schools. This report describes the implementation of an innovative…

The Professional Learning Community as Subversive Activity: Countering the Culture of Conventional Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nehring, James; Fitzsimons, Gray

2011-01-01

As the professional learning community (PLC) as a desired cultural norm gains popularity within K-12 state schools, greater knowledge of the PLC implementation process is warranted. This study reports findings from semi-structured focus group interviews with teachers in an urban/suburban high school after one year of schoolwide professional…

Understanding and Enhancing Pupils' Learning Progress in Schools in Deprived Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dann, Ruth

2016-01-01

This paper draws on data from the "Raising Pupil Attainment in Key Stage 1 in Stoke-on-Trent" research project. The particular focus is on how teachers, head teachers and teaching assistants (n?=?59) articulate pupils' learning success in five highly achieving schools in deprived communities. Six key themes are highlighted which are…

It Takes a Village: Supporting Inquiry- and Equity-Oriented Computer Science Pedagogy through a Professional Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryoo, Jean; Goode, Joanna; Margolis, Jane

2015-01-01

This article describes the importance that high school computer science teachers place on a teachers' professional learning community designed around an inquiry- and equity-oriented approach for broadening participation in computing. Using grounded theory to analyze four years of teacher surveys and interviews from the Exploring Computer Science…

The Community Resource Person's Guide for Experience-Based Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burt, Ruth Fredine; Douglas, Marcia

The booklet is a guide for community resource people who have agreed to share their job experiences with high school students involved in experience-based learning programs. The programs allow students to observe and participate in the daily routines required in careers they may wish to pursue. Resource people can use this booklet to determine how…

Software for project-based learning of robot motion planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moll, Mark; Bordeaux, Janice; Kavraki, Lydia E.

2013-12-01

Motion planning is a core problem in robotics concerned with finding feasible paths for a given robot. Motion planning algorithms perform a search in the high-dimensional continuous space of robot configurations and exemplify many of the core algorithmic concepts of search algorithms and associated data structures. Motion planning algorithms can be explained in a simplified two-dimensional setting, but this masks many of the subtleties and complexities of the underlying problem. We have developed software for project-based learning of motion planning that enables deep learning. The projects that we have developed allow advanced undergraduate students and graduate students to reflect on the performance of existing textbook algorithms and their own variations on such algorithms. Formative assessment has been conducted at three institutions. The core of the software used for this teaching module is also used within the Robot Operating System, a widely adopted platform by the robotics research community. This allows for transfer of knowledge and skills to robotics research projects involving a large variety robot hardware platforms.

Active Semi-Supervised Community Detection Based on Must-Link and Cannot-Link Constraints

PubMed Central

Cheng, Jianjun; Leng, Mingwei; Li, Longjie; Zhou, Hanhai; Chen, Xiaoyun

2014-01-01

Community structure detection is of great importance because it can help in discovering the relationship between the function and the topology structure of a network. Many community detection algorithms have been proposed, but how to incorporate the prior knowledge in the detection process remains a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose a semi-supervised community detection algorithm, which makes full utilization of the must-link and cannot-link constraints to guide the process of community detection and thereby extracts high-quality community structures from networks. To acquire the high-quality must-link and cannot-link constraints, we also propose a semi-supervised component generation algorithm based on active learning, which actively selects nodes with maximum utility for the proposed semi-supervised community detection algorithm step by step, and then generates the must-link and cannot-link constraints by accessing a noiseless oracle. Extensive experiments were carried out, and the experimental results show that the introduction of active learning into the problem of community detection makes a success. Our proposed method can extract high-quality community structures from networks, and significantly outperforms other comparison methods. PMID:25329660

Learning to Apply Algebra in the Community for Adults with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Anthony M.

2016-01-01

Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are routinely excluded from algebra and other high-level mathematics courses. High school students with IDD take courses in arithmetic and life skills rather than having an opportunity to learn algebra. Yet algebra skills can support the learning of money and budgeting skills. This…

Case Study: William Charles Akins High School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2011

2011-01-01

Akins High School is the newest and second largest high school in the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas. This report describes how the school has used small learning communities and the "HSTW" framework of Key Practices to improve the school culture, personalize the learning environment, improve student achievement and…

Community of Learning: Music Learning and Performance Practices among the Native Peoples of North America

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, J. Bryan

2010-01-01

Through descriptions drawn from interviews of Native American musicians and observations of tribal musical events, this paper presents a challenge to the "conservative educational practices" in public schools of the United States. In conclusion, the paper suggests that by more closely examining different cultural learning, values and traditions,…

"To Virgo or Not to Virgo": Examining the Closure and Reopening of a Neighborhood School in a Predominantly African American Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roseboro, Donyell L.; Thompson, Candace M.

2014-01-01

Neighborhood schools engender the idea that schools can be integral community centers, with learning facilitated by the personal relationships developed among teachers, administrators, students, and parents. Neighborhood schools also have represented stigmatized segregated spaces located in communities with high poverty rates, low high school…

Delaying Middle School and High School Start Times Promotes Student Health and Performance: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Position Statement.

PubMed

Watson, Nathaniel F; Martin, Jennifer L; Wise, Merrill S; Carden, Kelly A; Kirsch, Douglas B; Kristo, David A; Malhotra, Raman K; Olson, Eric J; Ramar, Kannan; Rosen, Ilene M; Rowley, James A; Weaver, Terri E; Chervin, Ronald D

2017-04-15

During adolescence, internal circadian rhythms and biological sleep drive change to result in later sleep and wake times. As a result of these changes, early middle school and high school start times curtail sleep, hamper a student's preparedness to learn, negatively impact physical and mental health, and impair driving safety. Furthermore, a growing body of evidence shows that delaying school start times positively impacts student achievement, health, and safety. Public awareness of the hazards of early school start times and the benefits of later start times are largely unappreciated. As a result, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine is calling on communities, school boards, and educational institutions to implement start times of 8:30 AM or later for middle schools and high schools to ensure that every student arrives at school healthy, awake, alert, and ready to learn. © 2017 American Academy of Sleep Medicine

The Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning: Preparation of the Future STEM Faculty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jariwala, Manher

Graduate students at research universities shape the future of STEM undergraduate education in the United States. These future faculty flow into the STEM faculties of several thousand research universities, comprehensive universities, liberal arts colleges, and community and tribal colleges. The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) uses graduate education as the leverage point to develop STEM faculty with the capability and commitment to implement and improve effective teaching and learning practices. CIRTL has developed, implemented, and evaluated successful strategies based on three core ideas: teaching-as-research, learning communities, and learning-through-diversity. A decade of research demonstrates that STEM future faculty participating in CIRTL learning communities understand, use, and advance high-impact teaching practices. Today the CIRTL Network includes 43 research universities. Ultimately, CIRTL seeks a national STEM faculty who enable all students to learn effectively and achieve STEM literacy, whose teaching enhances recruitment into STEM careers, and whose leadership ensures continued advancement of STEM education.

The Costa Rica GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Project as a Learning Science Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro Rojas, María Dolores; Zuñiga, Ana Lourdes Acuña; Ugalde, Emmanuel Fonseca

2015-12-01

GLOBE is a global educational program for elementary and high school levels, and its main purpose in Costa Rica is to develop scientific thinking and interest for science in high school students through hydrology research projects that allow them to relate science with environmental issues in their communities. Youth between 12 and 17 years old from public schools participate in science clubs outside of their regular school schedule. A comparison study was performed between different groups, in order to assess GLOBE's applicability as a learning science atmosphere and the motivation and interest it generates in students toward science. Internationally applied scales were used as tools for measuring such indicators, adapted to the Costa Rican context. The results provide evidence statistically significant that the students perceive the GLOBE atmosphere as an enriched environment for science learning in comparison with the traditional science class. Moreover, students feel more confident, motivated and interested in science than their peers who do not participate in the project. However, the results were not statistically significant in this last respect.

What Impedes the Development of Professional Learning Communities in China? Perceptions from Leaders and Frontline Teachers in Three Schools in Shanghai

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Jia; Yuan, Rui; Yu, Shulin

2017-01-01

Using qualitative data collected from three high schools in Shanghai, this study explored the barriers to the development of professional learning communities (PLCs) in Chinese schools from the perspectives of school leaders and teachers. Results indicate that the barriers identified by teachers in the development of PLCs include insufficient…

A Case Study of How Professional Learning Communities Influence Morale and Rigor in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDonough, Jessica S.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how professional learning communities influence teacher morale and rigor in the classroom. Participants of the study consisted of six to eight core subject teachers from two 4-A high school campuses in southeast Texas. Two focus group interviews were conducted, one at each school, and…

Beginning to Understand Why New Hampshire's Rural Educators Chose Not to Join New Hampshire's Newly Developed On-Line Professional Learning Communities: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Cheryl B.

2011-01-01

Rural educators face many barriers when trying to participate in high quality professional development, including isolation, funding issues, distance, and lack of temporary replacements. Technological solutions can assist rural educators in overcoming these barriers. Participating in on-line professional learning communities can provide New…

High Expectations, Strong Support: Faculty Behaviors Predicting Latina/o Community College Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lundberg, Carol A.; Kim, Young K.; Andrade, Luis M.; Bahner, Daniel T.

2018-01-01

In this study we investigated the extent to which faculty interaction contributed to Latina/o student perceptions of their learning, using a sample of 10,071 Latina/o students who took the Community College Survey of Student Engagement. Findings were disaggregated for men and women, but results were quite similar between the 2 groups. Frequent…

The European Schools: Perspectives of Parents as Participants in a Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martínez, María A.; Hetterschijt, Caroline; Iglesias, Marcos J.

2015-01-01

Within the framework of schools as communities of learning and practice, the purpose of the research upon which this article is based has been to analyze the perceptions of families with respect to the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of the European Schools. The findings of the research show that parents value highly the existence of the…

Learning through Dissonance: Critical Service-Learning in a Juvenile Detention Center as Field Experience in Music Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Jeananne; Sullivan, Brian M.

2016-01-01

Though many pre-service music teachers have received exemplary instruction in their high school music programs, these programs may not be representative of the social, cultural, and economic diversity of their broader communities. This insularity may hinder their perceptions of their community as they step into an increasingly diverse school…

Community Learning Approach (CLA) for Literacy Promotion of Women in the Fishing Villages of Region I (Philippines).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manlongat, Sylvia

After an analysis of 1990 Philippines National Statistics Office data showed a high incidence of illiteracy among women in the fishing villages, a project, Community Learning Approach (CLA), was developed to raise the literacy level. It was designed as an alternative delivery system of educating women in 24 villages for functional literacy and…

Examining the Relationships between the Level of Schools for Being Professional Learning Communities and Teacher Professionalism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cansoy, Ramazan; Parlar, Hanifi

2017-01-01

The objective of this study is to examine the relationships between the levels of schools for being professional learning communities and teacher professionalism based on teachers' perceptions. The participants were a total of 543 teachers working at elementary, middle and high schools in the Eyüp District of Istanbul. The data were gathered…

Factors Affecting the Development and Sustainability of Communities of Practice Among Primary Care Physicians in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Poon, Man Kay; Lam, Tai Pong

2017-01-01

Primary care physicians (PCPs) maintain high standards of medical care by partaking in continuous learning. The learning model of communities of practice (COPs) is increasingly being used in the field of health care. This study explores the establishment and maintenance of COPs among PCPs in Hong Kong. Sequential, semi-structured individual interview and focus group interview were conducted to explore the purposes for partaking in continuous learning, as well as barriers and facilitators for attendance among private nonspecialist PCPs in Hong Kong. Data were drawn from the discourses related to COPs. Thematic analysis with constant comparison was performed until data saturation was reached. PCPs voluntarily established COPs to solve clinical problems from the existing networks. Clinical interest, practice orientation, and recruitment of new members through endorsement by the existing members fostered group coherence. Conversation and interaction among members generated the "best" practice with knowledge that was applicable in specific clinical scenarios in primary care setting. COPs rejected commercial sponsorship to minimize corporate influences on learning. Updating medical knowledge, solving clinical problems, maintaining openness, engendering a sense of trust and ownership among members, and fulfilling psychosocial needs were integral to sustainability. Seeking secretariat support to aid in the logistics of meetings, enhancing external learning resources, and facilitation skills training of facilitators from professional bodies may further incentivize members to maintain COPs. Autonomy of group learning activities, recruiting specialists and allied health professionals, training facilitators, and undertaking discussion in multimedia may achieve the sustainability of COPs.

Modeling the Delivery Physiology of Distributed Learning Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paquette, Gilbert; Rosca, Ioan

2003-01-01

Discusses instructional delivery models and their physiology in distributed learning systems. Highlights include building delivery models; types of delivery models, including distributed classroom, self-training on the Web, online training, communities of practice, and performance support systems; and actors (users) involved, including experts,…

Emotional and cultural impacts of ICT on learners: A case study of Opuwo, Namibia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hambira, N.; Lim, C. K.; Tan, K. L.

2017-10-01

It is believed that the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) among learners and teachers can tremendously enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Besides, the advancement of the ICT technology is also used to improve the academic performance of the learners in learning and has given space to the teachers to boost their teaching in a more effective manner. However, it is also crucial to identify the impacts on the cultural and emotional among the learners. Nonetheless, it is also difficult to imagine contemporary learning environments that are not supported by ICT since the impacts of these technological developments vary among the various communities. In this paper, the contributions are three folds: (i) to investigate the impacts in the cultural and emotional aspects from the perceptions of the teachers about the learners in disadvantaged and marginalized communities, (ii) to design an assessment instrument to survey and determine the different impacts of ICT use on learners from various communities through a set of questionnaires and (iii) to validate the assessment instrument through Cronbach's Alpha reliability testing. Then, the survey is conducted on learners from disadvantaged and marginalized communities in Opuwo, Namibia that makes it an ideal case study for the context of this research. This study made use of a quantitative approach using survey research design through the application of questionnaires to collect data. The size of the population of these community is approximately 500 teachers (from 16 schools, 2 High schools and 14 Primary) and the sample size that is taken into consideration is 42 (8.4% of approximate population). The research revealed that the use of ICT has emotional benefits as well cultural impacts on learners. Careful planning of ICT curriculum was suggested as it will be beneficial to the disadvantaged and marginalized learners.

Leading High School Transformation for College and Career Success: A Guide for Developing a System of Linked Learning Pathways

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stearns, Roman

2014-01-01

This ConnectEd Guide for Developing a System of Linked Learning Pathways will introduce school district leaders and their community partners to Linked Learning and a system of quality pathways that can transform high schools, instructional practice, and the student experience. Not intended to be prescriptive, this document can and should be…

Biotechnology education as social and cultural production/reproduction of the biotechnology community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrée, Maria

2014-03-01

This paper is a commentary to a paper by Anne Solli, Frank Bach and Björn Åkerman on how students at a technical university learn to argue as biotechnologists. Solli and her colleagues report from an ethnographic study performed during the first semester of a 5-year program in biotechnology at a technical university in Sweden. Their study demonstrates how students begin to acquire `the right way' of approaching the controversial issue of producing and consuming genetically modified organisms. In my response I discuss the ethnographic account of this particular educational practice in terms of social and cultural production/reproduction of a biotechnology community and how the participants (students and teaching professors) deal with the dialectic of individual and collective transformation. In the perspective of the biotechnology community, the work done by the teaching professor becomes a way of ensuring the future of the biotechnology community in terms of what values and objectives are held highly in the community of practice.

The Changing Role of Data Stewardship in Creating Trustworthy, Interdisciplinary High Performance Data Platforms for the Future.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richards, C. J.; Evans, B. J. K.; Wyborn, L. A.; Wang, J.; Trenham, C. E.; Druken, K. A.

2016-12-01

The Australian National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) has ingested over 10PB of national and international environmental, Earth systems science and geophysics reference data onto a single platform to advance high performance data (HPD) techniques that enable interdisciplinary Data-intensive Science. Improved Data Stewardship is critical to evolve both data and data services that support the increasing need for programmatic usability and that prioritises interoperability rather than just traditional data download or portal access. A data platform designed for programmatic access requires quality checked collections that better utilise interoperable data formats and standards. Achieving this involves strategies to meet both the technical and `social' challenges. Aggregating datasets used by different communities and organisations requires satisfying multiple use cases for the broader research community, whilst addressing existing BAU requirements. For NCI, this requires working with data stewards to manage the process of replicating data to the common platform, community representatives and developers to confirm their requirements, and with international peers to better enable globally integrated data communities. It is particularly important to engage with representatives from each community who can work collaboratively to a common goal, as well as capture their community needs, apply quality assurance, determine any barriers to change and to understand priorities. This is critical when managing the aggregation of data collections from multiple producers with different levels of stewardship maturity, technologies and standards, and where organisational barriers can impact the transformation to interoperable and performant data access. To facilitate the management, development and operation of the HPD platform, NCI coordinates technical and domain committees made up of user representatives, data stewards and informatics experts to provide a forum to discuss, learn and advise NCI's management. This experience has been a useful collaboration and suggests that in the age of interdisciplinary HPD research, Data Stewardship is evolving from a focus on the needs of a single community to one which helps balance priorities and navigates change for multiple communities.

Support for High-Impact Practices: A New Tool for Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kezar, Adrianna; Holcombe, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Certain widely tested educational practices have been shown to have a significantly beneficial impact on student learning and success in college. These "high-impact practices" include first-year experiences, common intellectual experiences, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, collaborative assignments and projects,…

Social learning within a community of practice: Investigating interactions about evaluation among zoo education professionals.

PubMed

Khalil, Kathayoon; Ardoin, Nicole M; Wojcik, Deborah

2017-04-01

The accessibility and ubiquity of zoos and aquariums-which reach over 700 million people worldwide annually-make them critical sites for science and environmental learning. Through educational offerings, these sites can generate excitement and curiosity about nature and motivate stewardship behavior, but only if their programs are high quality and meet the needs of their audiences. Evaluation is, therefore, critical: knowing what works, for whom, and under what conditions must be central to these organizations. Yet, many zoo and aquarium educators find evaluation to be daunting, and they are challenged to implement evaluations and/or use the findings iteratively in program development and improvement. This article examines how zoo education professionals engage with one another in a learning community related to evaluation. We use a communities of practice lens and social network analysis to understand the structure of this networked learning community, considering changes over time. Our findings suggest that individuals' roles in a networked learning community are influenced by factors such as communicative convenience and one's perceptions of others' evaluation expertise, which also contribute to forming and sustaining professional relationships. This study illuminates how project-based professional networks can become communities of practice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

From Learning Organization to Learning Community: Sustainability through Lifelong Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kearney, Judith; Zuber-Skerritt, Ortrun

2012-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to: extend the concept of "The learning organization" to "The learning community," especially disadvantaged communities; demonstrate how leaders in a migrant community can achieve positive change at the personal, professional, team and community learning levels through participatory action learning and…

How experiential learning in an informal setting promotes class equity and social and economic justice for children from "communities at promise": An Australian perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zyngier, David

2017-02-01

Educational research often portrays culturally, linguistically and economically disenfranchised (CLED) children's disengagement from school learning as individual behaviour, ignoring the contribution of race, gender, socio-cultural, ethnic and social class factors. This paper analyses a specific community engagement programme in Australia which uses experiential learning in an informal setting. The programme, which has been running for seven years, partners pre-service teachers, volunteer high school students and volunteers from a national bank with primary schools where many pupils are experiencing learning difficulties and school engagement problems as a result of their socio-economic status, their poverty, and their ethnic and cultural diversity. Drawing on the perspectives of the children and volunteers participating in the pilot study, and privileging their voices, this paper illustrates how community partnerships may be developed and sustained. The programme's conceptual framework of Connecting-Owning-Responding-Empowering (CORE) pedagogy is explored for its potential to enhance student engagement, achievement and empowerment through focused community involvement. The findings show that when students feel connected to and involved in their community, all participants are empowered in their learning and teaching.

Learning as a shared responsibility: Insights from a series of dialogic workshops with practitioners, leaders, and researchers (Abstract)

Treesearch

Anne Black; Dave Thomas; Jennifer Ziegler; Jim Saveland

2012-01-01

For some time now, the wildland fire community has been interested in 'organizational learning' as a way to improve safety and overall performance. For instance, in the US, federal agencies have established and continue to support the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center, sponsored several national conferences and are currently considering how incident...

Learning as a shared responsibility: Insights from a series of dialogic workshops with practitioners, leaders, and researchers

Treesearch

Anne E. Black; Dave Thomas; Jennifer Ziegler; J. Saveland

2012-01-01

For some time now, the wildland fire community has been interested in 'organizational learning' as a way to improve safety and overall performance. For instance, in the US, federal agencies have established the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center, sponsored several national conferences, and are currently considering how incident reviews might be used to...

Clinical skills-related learning goals of senior medical students after performance feedback.

PubMed

Chang, Anna; Chou, Calvin L; Teherani, Arianne; Hauer, Karen E

2011-09-01

Lifelong learning is essential for doctors to maintain competence in clinical skills. With performance feedback, learners should be able to formulate specific and achievable learning goals in areas of need. We aimed to determine: (i) the type and specificity of medical student learning goals after a required clinical performance examination; (ii) differences in goal setting among low, average and high performers, and (iii) whether low performers articulate learning goals that are concordant with their learning needs. We conducted a single-site, multi-year, descriptive comparison study. Senior medical students were given performance benchmarks, individual feedback and guidelines on learning goals; each student was subsequently instructed to write two clinical skills learning goals. Investigators coded the learning goals for specificity, categorised the goals, and performed statistical analyses to determine their concordance with student performance level (low, average or high) in data gathering (history taking and physical examination) or communication skills. All 208 students each wrote two learning goals and most (n=200, 96%) wrote two specific learning goals. Nearly two-thirds of low performers in data gathering wrote at least one learning goal that referred to history taking or physical examination; one-third wrote learning goals pertaining to the organisation of the encounter. High performers in data gathering wrote significantly more patient education goals and significantly fewer history-taking goals than average or low performers. Only 50% of low performers in communication wrote learning goals related to communication skills. Low performers in communication were significantly more likely than average or high performers to identify learning goals related to improving performance in future examinations. The provision of performance benchmarking, individual feedback and brief written guidelines helped most senior medical students in our study to write specific clinical skills learning goals. Many low-performing students did not write learning goals concordant with their areas of weakness. Future work might focus on enhancing low performers' continued learning in areas of performance deficits. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011.

Learning, education and satisfaction after compulsory rotating internship in Kathmandu University Medical School: a qualitative study of interns' response.

PubMed

Shrestha, D; Mishra, B

2008-01-01

Internship is an integral part of MBBS training programme and mandatory to all students. Kathmandu University Medical School has adopted a programme of compulsory one year rotating internship including 6 weeks community exposure in out reach clinics for the first batch of students. The purpose of the study is to evaluate interns' feedback concerning learning, education and satisfaction. A questionnaire with 47 items was administered to 30 interns who had finished one year rotating internship in Kathmandu University Medical School. Fourty-two responses were graded according in Likert scale and 5 open ended questions were analyzed for common themes. The mean age of the interns was 24.77+/-0.67 yrs with female: male ratio of 1.5:1. Confidence level of communication of interns with faculties was lesser than with junior doctors and patients. Junior doctors and colleagues contributed more in interns' learning than faculties. Community exposure for 6 weeks was considered lengthy and lacking of clear objectives. However, 53.3% interns agreed that achievement of objectives of community posting was high or very high. Of the interns, 50% perceived certain degree of physical or mental or sexual harassment during internship. Interns raised the issue of not involving them as a part of team during clinical posting. Clinical competencies for most of the skills were high or very high. Interns have learned clinical skills and patient care in one year internship programme but contribution of junior doctors and colleague are more than teachers. Clear objectives are needed before clinical and community postings. Process of providing regular feedback from interns and vice versa should be implemented to improve interns' learning, education and satisfaction.

Articulation: A Strategy for Wooing High School Students while Meeting the Needs of Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkbride, Eunice B.; And Others

These three papers address various aspects of community college/high school articulation in Virginia. First, Eunice B. Kirkbride's paper, "Articulation in Northern Virginia," examines the process of smoothing the path from high school to community college by evaluating prior learning and eliminating the need to repeat previously learned…

The Importance of Online Community in Student Academic Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graff, Martin

2006-01-01

This study sought to investigate four separate issues regarding student performance in a blended learning environment in the delivery of a Psychology course to 140 University undergraduates. Firstly, to investigate the relationship between student performance on three different coursework assignments and their performance on interim online…

The Power of "We" Language in Creating Equitable Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erb, Cathy Smeltzer

2010-01-01

Effective teaching values the classroom as a learning community in which instructional approaches optimize learning for all students. Contrary to the principles of an equitable learning environment is the use of "me" language by teachers, a practice that promotes the role of teacher as high status and inadvertently excludes students from the…

Developing a User Oriented Design Methodology for Learning Activities Using Boundary Objects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fragou, ?lga; Kameas, Achilles

2013-01-01

International Standards in High and Open and Distance Education are used for developing Open Educational Resources (OERs). Current issues in e-learning community are the specification of learning chunks and the definition of describing designs for different units of learning (activities, units, courses) in a generic though expandable format.…

SLCE Partnering with Social Justice Collectives to Dismantle the Status Quo

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Augustine, Sarah; Lopez, Daniela; McNaron, Harold; Starke, Elizabeth; Van Gund, Brian

2017-01-01

"Service-learning" is a multilayered term with a complex historical evolution. In the last two decades, service-learning and community engagement (SLCE) have flourished in higher education as staff, faculty, and students have realized it can be a high-impact teaching and learning practice to promote student learning and development.…

Mobile Learning and Indigenous Education in Canada: A Synthesis of New Ways of Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pulla, Siomonn

2017-01-01

M-Learning holds great potential for supporting the positive educational outcomes of underserved Indigenous communities in the Canadian North, and even in urban centers, that are at risk of exclusion from affordable, high-quality learning experiences. The technical advantages of having mobile technology to deliver educational curricula and assess…

Learning Genetics through an Authentic Research Simulation in Bioinformatics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gelbart, Hadas; Yarden, Anat

2006-01-01

Following the rationale that learning is an active process of knowledge construction as well as enculturation into a community of experts, we developed a novel web-based learning environment in bioinformatics for high-school biology majors in Israel. The learning environment enables the learners to actively participate in a guided inquiry process…

Local Adaptation and Institutionalization of an Accreditation Standard: A Community College's Development and Use of Student Learning Outcomes through Shared Governance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moss, Denise

2013-01-01

Since the early 2000's, California community college educators have experienced an intense increase in public demand for performance measures and continuous improvement in the form of outputs. One source of external pressure is the regional accrediting organizations, for California community colleges it is the Accrediting Commission for Community…

Voices of Strong Democracy: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in Communication Studies. AAHE's Series on Service-Learning in the Disciplines.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Droge, David, Ed.; Murphy, Bren Ortega, Ed.

This volume is part of a series of 18 monographs on service learning and the academic disciplines. These essays demonstrate some "best practices" for service-learning, providing rigorous learning experiences for students and high-quality service to the community. A Preface by James L. Applegate and Sherwyn P. Morreale, "Service-Learning in…

Examining Behavioral, Relational, and Cognitive Engagement in Smaller Learning Communities: A Case Study of Reform in One Suburban District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Heather A.; Chang, Mei-Lin; Andrzejewski, Carey E.; Poirier, Ryan R.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this project was to examine the impact of Smaller Learning Community reform on students' behavioral, relational, and cognitive engagement in a suburban school district experiencing urbanization. We describe a project in which we evaluated the engagement of a cohort of 8th grade students as they transitioned to high school (n = 605).…

Scalable High Performance Image Registration Framework by Unsupervised Deep Feature Representations Learning

PubMed Central

Wu, Guorong; Kim, Minjeong; Wang, Qian; Munsell, Brent C.

2015-01-01

Feature selection is a critical step in deformable image registration. In particular, selecting the most discriminative features that accurately and concisely describe complex morphological patterns in image patches improves correspondence detection, which in turn improves image registration accuracy. Furthermore, since more and more imaging modalities are being invented to better identify morphological changes in medical imaging data,, the development of deformable image registration method that scales well to new image modalities or new image applications with little to no human intervention would have a significant impact on the medical image analysis community. To address these concerns, a learning-based image registration framework is proposed that uses deep learning to discover compact and highly discriminative features upon observed imaging data. Specifically, the proposed feature selection method uses a convolutional stacked auto-encoder to identify intrinsic deep feature representations in image patches. Since deep learning is an unsupervised learning method, no ground truth label knowledge is required. This makes the proposed feature selection method more flexible to new imaging modalities since feature representations can be directly learned from the observed imaging data in a very short amount of time. Using the LONI and ADNI imaging datasets, image registration performance was compared to two existing state-of-the-art deformable image registration methods that use handcrafted features. To demonstrate the scalability of the proposed image registration framework image registration experiments were conducted on 7.0-tesla brain MR images. In all experiments, the results showed the new image registration framework consistently demonstrated more accurate registration results when compared to state-of-the-art. PMID:26552069

Scalable High-Performance Image Registration Framework by Unsupervised Deep Feature Representations Learning.

PubMed

Wu, Guorong; Kim, Minjeong; Wang, Qian; Munsell, Brent C; Shen, Dinggang

2016-07-01

Feature selection is a critical step in deformable image registration. In particular, selecting the most discriminative features that accurately and concisely describe complex morphological patterns in image patches improves correspondence detection, which in turn improves image registration accuracy. Furthermore, since more and more imaging modalities are being invented to better identify morphological changes in medical imaging data, the development of deformable image registration method that scales well to new image modalities or new image applications with little to no human intervention would have a significant impact on the medical image analysis community. To address these concerns, a learning-based image registration framework is proposed that uses deep learning to discover compact and highly discriminative features upon observed imaging data. Specifically, the proposed feature selection method uses a convolutional stacked autoencoder to identify intrinsic deep feature representations in image patches. Since deep learning is an unsupervised learning method, no ground truth label knowledge is required. This makes the proposed feature selection method more flexible to new imaging modalities since feature representations can be directly learned from the observed imaging data in a very short amount of time. Using the LONI and ADNI imaging datasets, image registration performance was compared to two existing state-of-the-art deformable image registration methods that use handcrafted features. To demonstrate the scalability of the proposed image registration framework, image registration experiments were conducted on 7.0-T brain MR images. In all experiments, the results showed that the new image registration framework consistently demonstrated more accurate registration results when compared to state of the art.

Implementing Change through the Creation of Graduation Requirements for Community and Service Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mogle, Andrew Lee

2014-01-01

As school districts and communities struggle to increase civic engagement for their students, a medium-sized suburban school district implemented required community service hours as part of their high school graduation requirements. The purpose of this qualitative program evaluation was to investigate how the community service program was meeting…

Comparative Analysis of a MOOC and a Residential Community Using Introductory College Physics: Documenting How Learning Environments Are Created, Lessons Learned in the Process, and Measurable Outcomes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olsen, Jack Ryan

Higher education institutions, such as the University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder), have as a core mission to advance their students' academic performance. On the frontier of education technologies that hold the promise to address our educational mission are Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which are new enough to not be fully understood or well-researched. MOOCs, in theory, have vast potential for being cost-effective and for reaching diverse audiences across the world. This thesis examines the implementation of one MOOC, Physics 1 for Physical Science Majors, implemented in the augural round of institutionally sanctioned MOOCs in Fall 2013. While comparatively inexpensive to a brick-and-mortar course and while it initially enrolled audience of nearly 16,000 students, this MOOC was found to be time-consuming to implement, and only roughly 1.5% of those who enrolled completed the course---approximately 1/4 of those who completed the standard brick and mortar course that the MOOC was designed around. An established education technology, residential communities, contrast the MOOCs by being high-touch and highly humanized, but by being expensive and locally-based. The Andrews Hall Residential College (AHRC) on the CU campus fosters academic success and retention by engaging and networking students outside of the standard brick and mortar courses and enculturating students into an environment with vertical integration through the different classes: freshman, sophomore, junior, etc. The physics MOOC and the AHRC were studied to determine how the environments were made and what lessons were learned in the process. Also, student performance was compared for the physics MOOC, a subset of the AHRC students enrolled in a special physics course, and the standard CU Physics 1 brick and mortar course. All yielded similar learning gains for physics 1 performance, for those who completed the courses. These environments are presented together to compare and contrast their strengths and weaknesses so that the best pieces can be synthesized for future innovation to better encourage academic success in higher education.

Strong Collaborative Relationships for Strong Community Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniel, Julia

2017-01-01

Community schools have gained attention as mechanisms to bring about equitable access to high-quality educational resources, extended learning time and opportunities, integrated student supports, and collaborative engaging relationships with parents and communities. In order to effectively create conditions that provide equitable access to such…

Building Sustainable Health and Education Partnerships: Stories From Local Communities

PubMed Central

Blank, Martin J

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND Growing health disparities have a negative impact on young people's educational achievement. Community schools that involve deep relationships with partners across multiple domains address these disparities by providing opportunities and services that promote healthy development of young people, and enable them to graduate from high school ready for college, technical school, on-the-job training, career, and citizenship. METHODS Results from Milwaukie High School, North Clackamas, OR; Oakland Unified School District, Oakland, CA; and Cincinnati Community Learning Centers, Cincinnati, OH were based on a review of local site documents, web-based information, interviews, and e-mail communication with key local actors. RESULTS The schools and districts with strong health partnerships reflecting community schools strategy have shown improvements in attendance, academic performance, and increased access to mental, dental, vision, and health supports for their students. CONCLUSIONS To build deep health-education partnerships and grow community schools, a working leadership and management infrastructure must be in place that uses quality data, focuses on results, and facilitates professional development across sectors. The leadership infrastructure of community school initiatives offers a prototype on which others can build. Moreover, as leaders build cross-sector relationships, a clear definition of what scaling up means is essential for subsequent long-term systemic change. PMID:26440823

Creative group performances to assess core competencies in a first-year patient-centered medicine course

PubMed Central

Terregino, Carol A.; Saks, Norma S.

2010-01-01

Introduction A novel assessment of systems-based practice and practice-based learning and improvement learning objectives, implemented in a first-year patient-centered medicine course, is qualitatively described. Methods Student learning communities were asked to creatively demonstrate a problem and solution for health care delivery. Skits, filmed performances, plays, and documentaries were chosen by the students. Video recordings were reviewed for themes and the presence of course competencies. Results All performances demonstrated not only the index competencies of team work and facilitation of the learning of others, but many other core objectives of the course. The assignment was rated positively both by the faculty and the students, and has been added to the assessment modalities of the course. PMID:20174597

Creative group performances to assess core competencies in a first-year patient-centered medicine course.

PubMed

Terregino, Carol A; Saks, Norma S

2010-02-15

A novel assessment of systems-based practice and practice-based learning and improvement learning objectives, implemented in a first-year patient-centered medicine course, is qualitatively described. Student learning communities were asked to creatively demonstrate a problem and solution for health care delivery. Skits, filmed performances, plays, and documentaries were chosen by the students. Video recordings were reviewed for themes and the presence of course competencies. All performances demonstrated not only the index competencies of team work and facilitation of the learning of others, but many other core objectives of the course. The assignment was rated positively both by the faculty and the students, and has been added to the assessment modalities of the course.

Learning from a Community Action Plan to Promote Safe Sexual Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiss, Josie A.; Dwonch-Schoen, Kathy; Howard-Barr, Elissa M.; Panella, Michael P.

2010-01-01

The well-being of a community is only as good as the well-being of the individuals who reside in the community. A group of citizens, concerned about the welfare of their community, recognized the high rates of HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy in their south Florida county and decided to take action. Supported by community leaders and using available…

"There's a Real Mix...It's Not All Doom and Gloom around Here!": Parents' Views on Raising Children in a Community Experiencing High Levels of Disadvantage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peppard, Judith

2009-01-01

In 2006 three primary schools and a community youth service "crossed borders" by forming a network to improve student educational achievement in a community experiencing high levels of disadvantage. Recognising that they lacked the capacity and resources required to counteract the numerous barriers to learning experienced by many of…

Learning around Town: Learning Communities in Australia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Liz; Castles, Rachel; McGrath, Majella; Brown, Tony

This booklet explains the features and benefits of learning communities and summarizes Australia's experience with them. Part 1 traces the history of learning communities from the 1970s through the present, presents several definitions of the term "learning community," lists reasons for becoming a learning community, and explains the…

Facilitating long-term changes in student approaches to learning science.

PubMed

Buchwitz, Brian J; Beyer, Catharine H; Peterson, Jon E; Pitre, Emile; Lalic, Nevena; Sampson, Paul D; Wakimoto, Barbara T

2012-01-01

Undergraduates entering science curricula differ greatly in individual starting points and learning needs. The fast pace, high enrollment, and high stakes of introductory science courses, however, limit students' opportunities to self-assess and modify learning strategies. The University of Washington's Biology Fellows Program (BFP) intervenes through a 20-session, premajors course that introduces students to the rigor expected of bioscience majors and assists their development as science learners. This study uses quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess whether the 2007-2009 BFP achieved its desired short- and long-term impacts on student learning. Adjusting for differences in students' high school grade point average and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, we found that participation in the BFP was associated with higher grades in two subsequent gateway biology courses, across multiple quarters and instructors. Two to 4 yr after participating in the program, students attributed changes in how they approached learning science to BFP participation. They reported having learned to "think like a scientist" and to value active-learning strategies and learning communities. In addition, they reported having developed a sense of belonging in bioscience communities. The achievement of long-term impacts for a short-term instructional investment suggests a practical means to prepare diverse students for the rigors of science curricula.

Facilitating Long-Term Changes in Student Approaches to Learning Science

PubMed Central

Buchwitz, Brian J.; Beyer, Catharine H.; Peterson, Jon E.; Pitre, Emile; Lalic, Nevena; Sampson, Paul D.; Wakimoto, Barbara T.

2012-01-01

Undergraduates entering science curricula differ greatly in individual starting points and learning needs. The fast pace, high enrollment, and high stakes of introductory science courses, however, limit students’ opportunities to self-assess and modify learning strategies. The University of Washington's Biology Fellows Program (BFP) intervenes through a 20-session, premajors course that introduces students to the rigor expected of bioscience majors and assists their development as science learners. This study uses quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess whether the 2007–2009 BFP achieved its desired short- and long-term impacts on student learning. Adjusting for differences in students’ high school grade point average and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, we found that participation in the BFP was associated with higher grades in two subsequent gateway biology courses, across multiple quarters and instructors. Two to 4 yr after participating in the program, students attributed changes in how they approached learning science to BFP participation. They reported having learned to “think like a scientist” and to value active-learning strategies and learning communities. In addition, they reported having developed a sense of belonging in bioscience communities. The achievement of long-term impacts for a short-term instructional investment suggests a practical means to prepare diverse students for the rigors of science curricula. PMID:22949424

Performing Our World: Affirming Cultural Diversity through Music Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Adria R.

2012-01-01

This article describes a culturally responsive music curriculum through which students and teachers affirmed diverse stories of individuals present in our public school community. An arts-integrated curriculum project helped make learning more meaningful while concurrently creating a safe learning space for students. This grant-funded project…

Adventures in Assessment: Learner-Centered Approaches to Assessment and Evaluation in Adult Literacy, 2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cora, Marie, Ed.

2002-01-01

This journal presents the following articles: "Introduction: Volume 14--Examining Performance" (Marie Cora) "Fair Assessment Practices: Giving Students Equitable Opportunities to Demonstrate Learning" (Linda Suskie); "Assessing Oral Communication at the Community Learning Center Development of the OPT (Oral Proficiency Test)" (JoAnne Hartel and…

The GREENing of Learning: Using the Eighth Intelligence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Maggie

1997-01-01

Around Puget Sound, communities and elementary teachers value naturalist intelligence, the kind needed to solve environmental problems. As part of an integrated curriculum on water quality, sixth graders are learning about scientific procedures by performing dissolved oxygen, pH, and turbidity tests and taking samples of aquatic organisms. An…

Evaluating Inquiry-Based Learning as a Means to Advance Individual Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ziemer, Cherilyn G.

2013-01-01

Although inquiry-based learning has been debated throughout the greater educational community and demonstrated with some effect in modern classrooms, little quantitative analysis has been performed to empirically validate sustained benefits. This quantitative study focused on whether inquiry-based pedagogy actually brought about sustained and…

Hippocampal Region-Specific Contributions to Memory Performance in Normal Elderly

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Karren H. M.; Chuah, Lisa Y. M.; Sim, Sam K. Y.; Chee, Michael W. L.

2010-01-01

To investigate the relationship between regional hippocampal volume and memory in healthy elderly, 147 community-based volunteers, aged 55-83 years, were evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging, the Groton Maze Learning Test, Visual Reproduction and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Hippocampal volumes were determined by interactive…

Creative Inclusion in Community Theatre: A Journey with Odyssey Theatre

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wooster, Roger

2009-01-01

What does "inclusion" mean in practice? This article considers the work of Odyssey Theatre, a group of learning-disabled and non-learning-disabled performers as they put together a production with the support of professional theatre workers. Working processes are examined and the balance of empowerment and professional leadership…

Maryland Career Clusters: Restructuring Learning for Student Achievement in a Technologically Advanced, Global Society. Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maryland State Department of Education, 2006

2006-01-01

Maryland Career Clusters are a resource for high schools as they reorganize into smaller learning communities. Instruction is organized around career themes, providing more students the opportunity to explore career choices while still in high school and enroll in pathway programs that enable them to successfully transition from high school to…

Training of trainers for community primary health care workers.

PubMed

Cernada, G P

1983-01-01

Training community-based health care workers in "developing" countries is essential to improving the quality of life in both rural and urban areas. Two major obstacles to such training are the tremendous social distance gap between these community workers and their more highly-educated and upper-class trainers (often medical officers) and the didactic, formal educational system. Bridging this gap demands a participant-centered, field-oriented approach which actively involves the trainee in the design, implementation and evaluation of the training program. A description of a philosophic learning approach based on self-initiated change, educational objectives related to planning, organizing, conducting and evaluating training, and specific learning methodologies utilizing participatory learning, non-formal educational techniques, field experience, continuing feedback and learner participation are reviewed. Included are: role playing, story telling, case studies, self-learning and simulation exercises, visuals, and Portapak videotape.

Improving College and Career Readiness through Challenge-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shuptrine, Carl

2013-01-01

High school students in an Advanced Video class addressed the challenge of increasing community awareness. Students followed a challenge-based learning model developing guiding questions and activities to determine solutions for implementation. Literature supported the use of project-based learning that fostered partnerships outside of the…

Learning Community and Nonlearning Community Students in a Midwestern Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laanan, Frankie Santos; Jackson, Dimitra Lynette; Stebleton, Michael J.

2013-01-01

The research on learning communities has focused primarily on students at four-year colleges and universities. There is a dearth of studies that examine learning communities in community colleges. The purpose of this comparative study was to conduct an analysis of learning community and nonlearning community students in a community college located…

Creativity and power: a qualitative, exploratory study of student learning acquired in a community nursing setting that is applied in future settings.

PubMed

Merritt, Alan; Boogaerts, Marina

2014-01-01

Nursing students undertake clinical placements in a wide range of clinical areas as part of their preparation for professional practice, offering students the opportunity to learn about the clinical context and the work that nurses do. This descriptive study explores the implicit learnings that occur for students in a community nursing placement and whether they transfer the knowledge they gain in the community setting into practice in other settings. Participants in this research study described implicit learning from a community nursing context which they were able to utilise in their current practice. Three major themes emerged. Firstly, participants recognised that power relationships manifest differently in a community based setting. This manifest in a recognition of patient autonomy and a creative approach to enhancing the patient's power. The second, related theme involved the enabling of self-determination through collaborative decision making between nurse and the person receiving care. The third theme was the development of an understanding of self-management which manifest in appropriate referrals and what the participants considered high quality discharge planning. This recognition of practice beyond technical, rationalist manifestations suggests that students grasped the unarticulated, implicit dimensions of the community nurse role through their experiences in a community nursing placement.

Trust as a Learning Facilitator that Affects Students' Learning Performance in the Facebook Community: An Investigation in a Business Planning Writing Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Wen-Long; Lee, Chun-Yi

2013-01-01

Several studies have found that participants are willing to share personal information on Facebook, due mainly to trust in fellow group members; however, this trust is often influenced by the discussion environment, methods and participants. A learning facilitator is often employed in entrepreneurial courses but few previous studies have examined…

A Cultured Learning Environment: Implementing a Problem- and Service-Based Microbiology Capstone Course to Assess Process- and Skill-Based Learning Objectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Rachel M.; Willford, John D.; Pfeifer, Mariel A.

2018-01-01

In this study, a problem-based capstone course was designed to assess the University of Wyoming Microbiology Program's skill-based and process-based student learning objectives. Students partnered with a local farm, a community garden, and a free downtown clinic in order to conceptualize, propose, perform, and present studies addressing problems…

Portrait of a Work-Study Program Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghant, Walter A.; Horst, S. Jeanne; Whetstone, Devon H.

2016-01-01

Institutions of higher education invest time and money directing cocurricular programs that allow students to formally engage in the local community. Community-service learning is one type of program recently dubbed "high impact" (Kuh, 2008). However, it is not enough to simply refer to a program as "high impact": it is…

Discovery of Action Patterns and User Correlations in Task-Oriented Processes for Goal-Driven Learning Recommendation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Xiaokang; Chen, Jian; Wu, Bo; Jin, Qun

2014-01-01

With the high development of social networks, collaborations in a socialized web-based learning environment has become increasing important, which means people can learn through interactions and collaborations in communities across social networks. In this study, in order to support the enhanced collaborative learning, two important factors, user…

Reflection and Double Loop Learning: The Case of HS2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Synnott, Michael

2013-01-01

This paper focuses on the potential role of reflection and double loop learning in policy analysis and shared community learning. The discussion is illustrated by the case of HS2, a proposed high-speed railway project in England. It is noted that the foundation of social learning models is a rejection of traditional reliance on technologies or…

High Impact Practices: Student Engagement and Retention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonet, Giselle; Walters, Barbara R.

2016-01-01

Community college students face special challenges that can impede their academic progress, resulting in lower grades and persistence than students in selective four-year colleges. Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York, successfully addresses these challenges with learning communities: small cohorts of students in a blocked program…

Thinking together: What makes Communities of Practice work?

PubMed Central

Pyrko, Igor; Dörfler, Viktor; Eden, Colin

2016-01-01

In this article, we develop the founding elements of the concept of Communities of Practice by elaborating on the learning processes happening at the heart of such communities. In particular, we provide a consistent perspective on the notions of knowledge, knowing and knowledge sharing that is compatible with the essence of this concept – that learning entails an investment of identity and a social formation of a person. We do so by drawing richly from the work of Michael Polanyi and his conception of personal knowledge, and thereby we clarify the scope of Communities of Practice and offer a number of new insights into how to make such social structures perform well in professional settings. The conceptual discussion is substantiated by findings of a qualitative empirical study in the UK National Health Service. As a result, the process of ‘thinking together’ is conceptualized as a key part of meaningful Communities of Practice where people mutually guide each other through their understandings of the same problems in their area of mutual interest, and this way indirectly share tacit knowledge. The collaborative learning process of ‘thinking together’, we argue, is what essentially brings Communities of Practice to life and not the other way round. PMID:28232754

Problem-Based Learning as an Effective Learning Tool in Community Medicine: Initiative in a Private Medical College of a Developing Country.

PubMed

Joseph, Nitin; Rai, Sharada; Madi, Deepak; Bhat, Kamalakshi; Kotian, Shashidhar M; Kantharaju, Supriya

2016-01-01

Knowledge of community medicine is essential for health care professionals to function as efficient primary health care physicians. Medical students learning Community Medicine as a subject are expected to be competent in critical thinking and generic skills so as to analyze community health problems better. However, current teaching by didactic lectures fails to develop these essential skills. Problem-based learning (PBL) could be an effective strategy in this respect. This study was hence done to compare the academic performance of students who were taught Community Medicine by the PBL method with that of students taught by traditional methods, to assess the generic skills of students taught in a PBL environment and to assess the perception of students toward PBL methodology. This study was conducted among seventh-semester final-year medical students between June and November 2014. PBL was introduced to a randomly chosen group of students, and their performance in an assessment exam at the end of postings was compared with that of the remaining students. Generic skills and perception toward PBL were also assessed using standardized questionnaires. A total of 77 students took part in the brainstorming session of PBL. The correlation between self-assigned scores of the participants and those assigned by the tutor in the brainstorming session of PBL was significant (r = 0.266, P = 0.05). Out of 54 students who took part in the presentation session, almost all 53 (98.1%) had good perception toward PBL. Demotivational scores were found to be significantly higher among males (P = 0.024). The academic performance of students (P < 0.001) and success rates (P = 0.05) in the examination were higher among students who took part in PBL compared to controls. PBL helped improve knowledge of students in comparison to those exposed only to didactic lectures. As PBL enabled students to identify the gaps in their knowledge and enhanced their group functioning and generic skills, we recommend PBL sessions: They would help optimize the training in Community Medicine at medical schools. Good correlation of tutor and self-assessment scores of participants in the brainstorming session suggests that the role of tutors could be restricted to assessment in presentation sessions alone. Demotivation, which hinders group performance in PBL, needs to be corrected by counselling and timely feedback by the tutors.

First-Year Student Motivations for Service-Learning: An Exploratory Investigation of Minority Student Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pearl, Andrew J.; Christensen, Robert K.

2017-01-01

As a high-impact educational practice ("Kuh, 2008"), service-learning can have a transformational effect on students, communities, instructors, and higher education institutions. However, despite cautions ("Butin, 2006, p. 481"), student enrollment in service-learning remains overwhelmingly White and female ("Jacoby,…

American Apprenticeship as a Transformative Learning Experience: A Phenomenology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howze, Pamela Bolton

2015-01-01

"American Apprenticeship as a Transformative Learning Experience: A Phenomenology" is an in-depth investigation into the phenomenon of a transformative learning experience for three American high school students who were given a traditional apprenticeship opportunity, including a community college degree, in lieu of going away to a…

The use of misclassification costs to learn rule-based decision support models for cost-effective hospital admission strategies.

PubMed

Ambrosino, R; Buchanan, B G; Cooper, G F; Fine, M J

1995-01-01

Cost-effective health care is at the forefront of today's important health-related issues. A research team at the University of Pittsburgh has been interested in lowering the cost of medical care by attempting to define a subset of patients with community-acquire pneumonia for whom outpatient therapy is appropriate and safe. Sensitivity and specificity requirements for this domain make it difficult to use rule-based learning algorithms with standard measures of performance based on accuracy. This paper describes the use of misclassification costs to assist a rule-based machine-learning program in deriving a decision-support aid for choosing outpatient therapy for patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Redesigning community mental health services for urban children: Supporting schooling to promote mental health.

PubMed

Atkins, Marc S; Shernoff, Elisa S; Frazier, Stacy L; Schoenwald, Sonja K; Cappella, Elise; Marinez-Lora, Ane; Mehta, Tara G; Lakind, Davielle; Cua, Grace; Bhaumik, Runa; Bhaumik, Dulal

2015-10-01

This study examined a school- and home-based mental health service model, Links to Learning, focused on empirical predictors of learning as primary goals for services in high-poverty urban communities. Teacher key opinion leaders were identified through sociometric surveys and trained, with mental health providers and parent advocates, on evidence-based practices to enhance children's learning. Teacher key opinion leaders and mental health providers cofacilitated professional development sessions for classroom teachers to disseminate 2 universal (Good Behavior Game, peer-assisted learning) and 2 targeted (Good News Notes, Daily Report Card) interventions. Group-based and home-based family education and support were delivered by mental health providers and parent advocates for children in kindergarten through 4th grade diagnosed with 1 or more disruptive behavior disorders. Services were Medicaid-funded through 4 social service agencies (N = 17 providers) in 7 schools (N = 136 teachers, 171 children) in a 2 (Links to Learning vs. services as usual) × 6 (pre- and posttests for 3 years) longitudinal design with random assignment of schools to conditions. Services as usual consisted of supported referral to a nearby social service agency. Mixed effects regression models indicated significant positive effects of Links to Learning on mental health service use, classroom observations of academic engagement, teacher report of academic competence and social skills, and parent report of social skills. Nonsignificant between-groups effects were found on teacher and parent report of problem behaviors, daily hassles, and curriculum-based measures. Effects were strongest for young children, girls, and children with fewer symptoms. Community mental health services targeting empirical predictors of learning can improve school and home behavior for children living in high-poverty urban communities. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Powerful learning with public purpose.

PubMed

Cervone, Barbara

2010-01-01

Boredom and failure combine in a toxic brew that propels too many young people off the graduation path. Research shows that engaged students are more likely to perform well academically, that students who are challenged are less likely to be bored and disengaged, and that high-quality instruction and meaningful activities are key factors in promoting a culture of engagement and achievement in and outside the classroom. With data and real-world examples, the author shows how students and their communities are benefiting from collaborative student-led projects. These projects stem from What Kids Can Do, a program that advocates for learning that engages students as knowledge creators and that promotes young people as valued resources and critical voices in policy debates about school, society, and world affairs.

Improving Seismic Data Accessibility and Performance Using HDF Containers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, B. J. K.; Wang, J.; Yang, R.

2017-12-01

The performance of computational geophysical data processing and forward modelling relies on both computational and data. Significant efforts on developing new data formats and libraries have been made the community, such as IRIS/PASSCAL and ASDF in data, and programs and utilities such as ObsPy and SPECFEM. The National Computational Infrastructure hosts a national significant geophysical data collection that is co-located with a high performance computing facility and provides an opportunity to investigate how to improve the data formats from both a data management and a performance point of view. This paper investigates how to enhance the data usability in several perspectives: 1) propose a convention for the seismic (both active and passive) community to improve the data accessibility and interoperability; 2) recommend the convention used in the HDF container when data is made available in PH5 or ASDF formats; 3) provide tools to convert between various seismic data formats; 4) provide performance benchmark cases using ObsPy library and SPECFEM3D to demonstrate how different data organization in terms of chunking size and compression impact on the performance by comparing new data formats, such as PH5 and ASDF to traditional formats such as SEGY, SEED, SAC, etc. In this work we apply our knowledge and experience on data standards and conventions, such as CF and ACDD from the climate community to the seismology community. The generic global attributes widely used in climate community are combined with the existing convention in the seismology community, such as CMT and QuakeML, StationXML, SEGY header convention. We also extend such convention by including the provenance and benchmarking records so that the r user can learn the footprint of the data together with its baseline performance. In practise we convert the example wide angle reflection seismic data from SEGY to PH5 or ASDF by using ObsPy and pyasdf libraries. It quantitatively demonstrates how the accessibility can be improved if the seismic data are stored in the HDF container.

Deep learning decision fusion for the classification of urban remote sensing data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdi, Ghasem; Samadzadegan, Farhad; Reinartz, Peter

2018-01-01

Multisensor data fusion is one of the most common and popular remote sensing data classification topics by considering a robust and complete description about the objects of interest. Furthermore, deep feature extraction has recently attracted significant interest and has become a hot research topic in the geoscience and remote sensing research community. A deep learning decision fusion approach is presented to perform multisensor urban remote sensing data classification. After deep features are extracted by utilizing joint spectral-spatial information, a soft-decision made classifier is applied to train high-level feature representations and to fine-tune the deep learning framework. Next, a decision-level fusion classifies objects of interest by the joint use of sensors. Finally, a context-aware object-based postprocessing is used to enhance the classification results. A series of comparative experiments are conducted on the widely used dataset of 2014 IEEE GRSS data fusion contest. The obtained results illustrate the considerable advantages of the proposed deep learning decision fusion over the traditional classifiers.

Not Driven by High-Stakes Tests: Exploring Science Assessment and College Readiness of Students from an Urban Portfolio Community High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleshman, Robin Earle

2017-01-01

This case study seeks to explore three research questions: (1) What science teaching and learning processes, perspectives, and cultures exist within the science classroom of an urban portfolio community high school? (2) In what ways does the portfolio-based approach prepare high school students of color for college level science coursework,…

Dual Enrollment at the Community College and High School: Where Do Students Hear about It?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brophy, Michael; Johnson, Todd

2007-01-01

Dual enrollment programs allow high school students to enroll in community college courses for credit while they are still enrolled in high school. The present study explored how 350 11th and 12th grade high school students learned about the dual enrollment program. The study also explored which of these sources of information were most predictive…

Safe school task force: University-community partnership to promote student development and a safer school environment.

PubMed

Adler, Corey; Chung-Do, Jane; Ongalibang, Ophelia

2008-01-01

The Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center (APIYVPC) focuses its youth violence prevention efforts on community mobilization by partnering with Kailua High School and other local community groups. This paper describes the development and activities of the Safe School Task Force (SSTF) and the lessons learned. In response to concerns of school, community members, and students, the SSTF was organized to promote student leadership in raising awareness about problems related to violence. Collaboration among the school, community, and the university places students in leadership roles to reduce school violence and enhances their self-efficacy to improve their school environment. To increase SSTF effectiveness, more attention must be paid to student recruitment, consistent community partnerships, and gaining teacher buy-in. This partnership may be useful in multicultural communities to provide students the opportunities to learn about violence prevention strategies, community mobilization, and leadership skills.

Student and community outcomes in service-learning: part 2--community outcomes.

PubMed

Reising, Deanna L; Allen, Patricia N; Hall, Susan G

2006-12-01

This article is the second of a two-part series reporting outcomes from a service-learning program implemented in a bachelor of science in nursing program. Part 1 (on pages 512-515) described students' perceptions of outcomes realized from the program, and Part 2 describes the community outcomes. The purposes of the program were to provide students with history-taking, blood pressure, and heart rate assessment skills, and beginning counseling skills, as well as to provide the university community with blood pressure screening and counseling in a convenient and accessible location. Data on community outcomes were collected on a continual basis during the hypertension screening and counseling program implementation. Clients were anonymously surveyed on health behavior actions taken after their screening and on the screening process. More than 700 client screenings were performed over 2 years, with positive health behavior changes being reported by clients.

Community translation of the Math Interactive Learning Experience Program for children with FASD.

PubMed

Kable, Julie A; Taddeo, Elles; Strickland, Dorothy; Coles, Claire D

2015-04-01

The Math Interactive Learning Experience (MILE), a program designed to address academic and behavioral problems found in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), was found to be effective in a randomized clinical trials with results that persisted at a 6-month follow-up. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a community translation, in partnership with several community sites in the metropolitan Atlanta area. A total of 60 participants were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups: the MILE program administered at a specialty care center (Center MILE) or in the community (Community MILE), or to parent math instruction only (Parent Instruction). This study evaluated instructor satisfaction with the training program, knowledge related to FASD and the MILE program, adherence to the MILE teaching methodology, participant math outcomes, and parents' satisfaction with their treatment experience. Instructors reported a high degree of satisfaction with the overall training and mean site fidelity ratings were positively correlated with change in math performance. Those in the MILE intervention groups demonstrated more positive gains in math skills than those in the Parent Instruction group but did not differ from each other. Parents in the Parent Instruction group reported less satisfaction with their intervention than those assigned to the Center MILE group but satisfaction ratings did not differ between those in the MILE intervention groups. These results indicate that the community translation and the MILE instructor training program developed as part of this process were well-received and effective in producing positive treatment outcomes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Challenges, Assets, and Innovations: Considerations for Secondary Education in Rural Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Youth Policy Forum, 2010

2010-01-01

This brief summarizes the lessons learned during a February 2010 AYPF study mission to North Carolina that examined how rural education systems are providing high quality instruction and improving the readiness of young people for life beyond high school. Participants learned about how federal and state policies and funding streams affect rural…

Transitioning from High School Service to College Service-Learning in a First-Year Seminar

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Laurie; Boyle, Mary-Ellen

2007-01-01

This article analyzes the challenges encountered in a first-year service-learning course in which students had high expectations for community involvement and a commitment to social responsibility, yet significant difficulty connecting their service orientation to the intellectual inquiry expected of them at the college level. This conflict…

45 CFR 2516.810 - What types of evaluations are grantees and subgrantees required to perform?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE SCHOOL-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS...? All grantees and subgrantees are required to perform internal evaluations which are ongoing efforts to assess performance and improve quality. Grantees and subgrantees may, but are not required to, arrange...

Selected Engagement Factors and Academic Learning Outcomes of Undergraduate Engineering Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Justice, Patricia J.

2009-01-01

The concept of student engagement and its relationship to successful student performance and learning outcomes has a long history in higher education (Kuh, 2007). Attention to faculty and student engagement has only recently become of interest to the engineering education community. This interest can be attributed to long-standing research by…

Influencing Student Beliefs about the Role of the Civil Engineer in Society

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nesbit, Susan E.; Sianchuk, Robert; Aleksejuniene, Jolanta; Kindiak, Rebecca

2012-01-01

This study suggests that community service learning experiences facilitate the reconstruction of civil engineering student beliefs about both the type of work performed by civil engineers and the broad impact of civil engineering knowledge. Further, the service learning experiences highlight for students 1) the importance of relationships between…

Helping Educators Foster a Growth Mindset in Community College Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auten, Marianne Adams

2013-01-01

Current research shows that students with a growth mindset are more motivated to learn, want to work harder, are less discouraged by difficulty, use more effective strategies for learning, and have higher academic performance in comparison to students without this mindset. Despite these promising findings, a growth mindset is sometimes not…

Median Middle School: Striving to Rise above Average

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moon, Jodi Saxton

2016-01-01

This case was developed for use with future school leaders in an educational setting. There are several topics of discussion that can be developed, including but not limited to policy implementation, the efficacy of professional learning communities, and improving student learning outcomes. The setting is a solidly performing middle school in the…

Using the Power of Language to Foster Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bixby, Christa

2016-01-01

The process of learning a second language requires vulnerability, and vulnerability demands trust. To put students into a language-learning environment where they are unsure of their abilities, do not know their classmates, and are getting a grade for their performance can lead to an atmosphere of hesitation and fear. It has been said that…

A comparative study on effect of e-learning and instructor-led methods on nurses' documentation competency.

PubMed

Abbaszadeh, Abbas; Sabeghi, Hakimeh; Borhani, Fariba; Heydari, Abbas

2011-01-01

Accurate recording of the nursing care indicates the care performance and its quality, so that, any failure in documentation can be a reason for inadequate patient care. Therefore, improving nurses' skills in this field using effective educational methods is of high importance. Since traditional teaching methods are not suitable for communities with rapid knowledge expansion and constant changes, e-learning methods can be a viable alternative. To show the importance of e-learning methods on nurses' care reporting skills, this study was performed to compare the e-learning methods with the traditional instructor-led methods. This was a quasi-experimental study aimed to compare the effect of two teaching methods (e-learning and lecture) on nursing documentation and examine the differences in acquiring competency on documentation between nurses who participated in the e-learning (n = 30) and nurses in a lecture group (n = 31). The results of the present study indicated that statistically there was no significant difference between the two groups. The findings also revealed that statistically there was no significant correlation between the two groups toward demographic variables. However, we believe that due to benefits of e-learning against traditional instructor-led method, and according to their equal effect on nurses' documentation competency, it can be a qualified substitute for traditional instructor-led method. E-learning as a student-centered method as well as lecture method equally promote competency of the nurses on documentation. Therefore, e-learning can be used to facilitate the implementation of nursing educational programs.

A comparative study on effect of e-learning and instructor-led methods on nurses’ documentation competency

PubMed Central

Abbaszadeh, Abbas; Sabeghi, Hakimeh; Borhani, Fariba; Heydari, Abbas

2011-01-01

BACKGROUND: Accurate recording of the nursing care indicates the care performance and its quality, so that, any failure in documentation can be a reason for inadequate patient care. Therefore, improving nurses’ skills in this field using effective educational methods is of high importance. Since traditional teaching methods are not suitable for communities with rapid knowledge expansion and constant changes, e-learning methods can be a viable alternative. To show the importance of e-learning methods on nurses’ care reporting skills, this study was performed to compare the e-learning methods with the traditional instructor-led methods. METHODS: This was a quasi-experimental study aimed to compare the effect of two teaching methods (e-learning and lecture) on nursing documentation and examine the differences in acquiring competency on documentation between nurses who participated in the e-learning (n = 30) and nurses in a lecture group (n = 31). RESULTS: The results of the present study indicated that statistically there was no significant difference between the two groups. The findings also revealed that statistically there was no significant correlation between the two groups toward demographic variables. However, we believe that due to benefits of e-learning against traditional instructor-led method, and according to their equal effect on nurses’ documentation competency, it can be a qualified substitute for traditional instructor-led method. CONCLUSIONS: E-learning as a student-centered method as well as lecture method equally promote competency of the nurses on documentation. Therefore, e-learning can be used to facilitate the implementation of nursing educational programs. PMID:22224113

Quakertown Community School District: A Systematic Approach to Blended Learning That Focuses on District Leadership, Staffing, and Cost-Effectiveness. From the Field. Digital Learning Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Jiye Grace; Ableidinger, Joe; Hassel, Bryan C.; Jones, Rachel; Wolf, Mary Ann

2013-01-01

The Quakertown Community School District, or QCSD, is a traditional K-12 public school district in rural southeastern Pennsylvania, located in Bucks County, about an hour north of Philadelphia. QCSD has ten schools, including one high school, and serves approximately 5,500 students, 24 percent of whom are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch…

The Relationship between Grade-Level Team Implementation of Professional Learning Communities and Student Achievement in Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lesar, Peter V.

2013-01-01

With changing academic standards, more rigorous state assessments, growing diversity among student populations, decreased school funding, and high achievement expectations from the state and federal government, teachers have a very challenging and demanding job. Fully aware of these high expectations from the education community, school leaders…

The Paul A. Elsner Library and High Technology Complex--A Place for Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Chas. T., Jr.; Sugiyama, Kaoru K.

2001-01-01

Discusses the new Paul A. Elsner Library and High Technology Complex at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona. Describes six planning goals for the facility, including access, integration of services, academic linkages, college services, district-wide services, and linkages with the community. Reports that the library offers faculty support…

Science Alive!: Connecting with Elementary Students through Science Exploration.

PubMed

Raja, Aarti; Lavin, Emily Schmitt; Gali, Tamara; Donovan, Kaitlin

2016-05-01

A novel program called Science Alive! was developed by undergraduate faculty members, K-12 school teachers, and undergraduate students to enrich science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) literacy at community schools located near the university. The ultimate goal of the program is to bolster the scientific knowledge and appreciation of local area students and community members and serve as a model for similar programs. Through the program, we observed that elementary school students made gains toward learning their grade-level science curricula after a hands-on learning experience and had fun doing these hands-on activities. Through the program, undergraduate students, working with graduate students and alumni, build scientific learning modules using explanatory handouts and creative activities as classroom exercises. This helps better integrate scientific education through a collaborative, hands-on learning program. Results showed that elementary school students made the highest learning gains in their performance on higher-level questions related to both forces and matter as a result of the hands-on learning modules. Additionally, college students enjoyed the hands-on activities, would consider volunteering their time at such future events, and saw the service learning program as a benefit to their professional development through community building and discipline-specific service. The science modules were developed according to grade-level curricular standards and can be used year after year to teach or explain a scientific topic to elementary school students via a hands-on learning approach.

A learning skills course for the 1st year medical students: an experience at a Saudi medical school.

PubMed

Siddiqui, Imran A; Bin Abdulrahman, Khalid A; Alsultan, Mohammed A

2015-01-01

Every year nearly 1,500 students enter into medical program after passing high school and national aptitude exams. However, many students experience frustration, failure, and psychological morbidities like stress, depression, and anxiety because they are not aware of their learning styles or do not have effective learning skills and strategies. The College of Medicine of Al-Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University has adopted the outcome based, community oriented, Spiral Curriculum. Although the curriculum is innovative, on the other hand, it is very demanding. The purpose of this paper is to share educational structure and evaluation results of the course on effective learning and study skills for the 1st year medical students. To prepare our students in order to cope with this demanding but promising curriculum, we conducted an effective and comprehensive learning skills course for 16 weeks in the first semester of year 1 in the medical program. Performance of each student was assessed and the course evaluation was done by students at the end of the course. The attendance of the students throughout the course was over 90%. The average performance of students in the summative assessment was 78% and the course was generally liked by the students. Students overall had a positive attitude toward the learning skills course. Majority of the students showed interest in attending the sessions regularly and realized the significance of this course to improve their learning skills.

Reading Quizzes Improve Exam Scores for Community College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pape-Lindstrom, Pamela; Eddy, Sarah; Freeman, Scott

2018-01-01

To test the hypothesis that adding course structure may encourage self-regulated learning skills resulting in an increase in student exam performance in the community college setting, we added daily preclass online, open-book reading quizzes to an introductory biology course. We compared three control terms without reading quizzes and three…

A Community of Practice Approach to Learning Programming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Gwo-Dong; Li, Liang-Yi; Wang, Chin-Yea

2012-01-01

In programming courses, teaching students who have varied levels of knowledge and skills the requisite competencies to perform in real-world software development teams is indeed difficult. To address this problem, this paper proposes a community of practice (CoP) approach and provides some guidelines to simulate a real-world CoP in a blended…

Geosciences Acting Out: Using Theatre to Understand Citizen Values and Concerns with Respect to Marcellus Gas Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orland, B.; Doan, W. J.; Russell, S. B.; Belser, A.

2014-12-01

Marcellus shale gas is being developed with unprecedented speed. The highly capitalized energy industry has influenced major changes in the regulatory framework at federal and state levels and entered into mineral lease agreements 100-fold bigger that previously seen in Northern Pennsylvania. At the same time, the technical and scientific issues at play from geology and hydrology through ecology and sociology effectively block local citizens from fully understanding and participating in decision-making about their own futures. The Marcellus Community-Based Performance Program engages adult residents, landowners, and local decision makers in knowledge-generating performances made collectively with those most impacted by shale gas development. Unlike traditional proscenium stage theatre, community-based performance is a collaborative means for exploring a collectively significant issue or circumstance. The choice to use a community-based theatre method, which engages the spectators in the performance itself as a way of making meaning, was based on the following goals to achieve good debate; to engage community participants in discussion through the exchange of ideas, argument and counter-argument, in an effort to further the education of all; to facilitate the perspectives of citizens in communities where different responses to the risk issues exist because of local economies and legacies with resource extraction. The plays and performances, developed around the broad theme of Living with Risk and Uncertainty, use existing research, reports, newspaper articles, and interviews to present the range of perceptions, facts, and issues surrounding the environmental risks associated with natural gas drilling and focused on developing scientific understanding. Performances have been assessed by seeking direct feedback from participants through pre-performance surveys, post-performance dialogues (talk-backs), and exit interviews. Participants have reported the highest levels of interest in performances related to the economy, health impacts of drilling, environmental impacts, and in learning from what other people have to say.

Adaptive capacity and community-based natural resource management.

PubMed

Armitage, Derek

2005-06-01

Why do some community-based natural resource management strategies perform better than others? Commons theorists have approached this question by developing institutional design principles to address collective choice situations, while other analysts have critiqued the underlying assumptions of community-based resource management. However, efforts to enhance community-based natural resource management performance also require an analysis of exogenous and endogenous variables that influence how social actors not only act collectively but do so in ways that respond to changing circumstances, foster learning, and build capacity for management adaptation. Drawing on examples from northern Canada and Southeast Asia, this article examines the relationship among adaptive capacity, community-based resource management performance, and the socio-institutional determinants of collective action, such as technical, financial, and legal constraints, and complex issues of politics, scale, knowledge, community and culture. An emphasis on adaptive capacity responds to a conceptual weakness in community-based natural resource management and highlights an emerging research and policy discourse that builds upon static design principles and the contested concepts in current management practice.

Building Vibrant Learning Communities: Framework and Actions to Strengthen Community Adult Learning Councils and Community Literacy Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alberta Advanced Education and Technology, 2007

2007-01-01

Because of the important role played by community learning providers, Premier Ed Stelmach asked Canadian Minister of Advanced Education and Technology to increase support for community education and literacy programs. Community Adult Learning Councils and other community providers of adult literacy and family literacy programming are primarily…

Biomedical Big Data Training Collaborative (BBDTC): An effort to bridge the talent gap in biomedical science and research.

PubMed

Purawat, Shweta; Cowart, Charles; Amaro, Rommie E; Altintas, Ilkay

2017-05-01

The BBDTC (https://biobigdata.ucsd.edu) is a community-oriented platform to encourage high-quality knowledge dissemination with the aim of growing a well-informed biomedical big data community through collaborative efforts on training and education. The BBDTC is an e-learning platform that empowers the biomedical community to develop, launch and share open training materials. It deploys hands-on software training toolboxes through virtualization technologies such as Amazon EC2 and Virtualbox. The BBDTC facilitates migration of courses across other course management platforms. The framework encourages knowledge sharing and content personalization through the playlist functionality that enables unique learning experiences and accelerates information dissemination to a wider community.

Service Learning: High School Social Studies Students "Building Bridges" to the Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cranford, Sara L.

2011-01-01

This case study examined the relationships between the programmatic features of service learning and student willingness to participate in and development during a service learning opportunity in the secondary, Social Studies classroom. The sample included two sections of Advanced Placement Psychology which consisted of 58 junior and senior…

Learning from escaped prescribed fire reviews

Treesearch

Anne E. Black; Dave Thomas; James Saveland; Jennifer D. Ziegler

2011-01-01

The U.S. wildland fire community has developed a number of innovative methods for conducting a review following escape of a prescribed fire (expanding on the typical regional or local reviews, to include more of a learning focus - expanded After Action Reviews, reviews that incorporate High Reliability Organizing, Facilitated Learning Analyses, etc). The stated purpose...

Learning in a Physics Classroom Community: Physics Learning Identity Construct Development, Measurement and Validation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Sissi L.

2012-01-01

At the university level, introductory science courses usually have high student to teacher ratios which increases the challenge to meaningfully connect with students. Various curricula have been developed in physics education to actively engage students in learning through social interactions with peers and instructors in class. This learning…

The Influence of Principal Leadership on Classroom Instruction and Student Learning: A Study of Mediated Pathways to Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sebastian, James; Allensworth, Elaine

2012-01-01

Purpose: This study examines the influence of principal leadership in high schools on classroom instruction and student achievement through key organizational factors, including professional capacity, parent-community ties, and the school's learning climate. It identifies paths through which leadership explains differences in achievement and…

Beyond Looking: Using Data to Coach for Instructional Improvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Michael; Taylor, Katherine

2009-01-01

As a team of job-embedded instructional coaches in an ethnically and economically diverse learning environment, the authors are dedicated to thinking through and troubleshooting the improvement of teaching and learning in the three learning communities that make up Clover Park High School. They agree with commentator Laurie Olsen who writes, "Data…

76 FR 65190 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-20

... Century Community Learning Centers Annual Performance Report. OMB Control Number: 1810-0668. Agency Form... et seq.), is to provide expanded academic enrichment opportunities for children attending low... authorization for the collection of data through Web-based, data-collection modules, the Annual Performance...

Linking Science Fiction and Physics Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McBride, Krista K.

2016-01-01

Generally, cohorts or learning communities enrich higher learning in students. Learning communities consist of conventionally separate groups of students that meet together with common academic purposes and goals. Types of learning communities include paired courses with concurrent student enrollment, living-learning communities, and faculty…

Teachers' Challenges, Strategies, and Support Needs in Schools Affected by Community Violence: A Qualitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maring, Elisabeth F.; Koblinsky, Sally A.

2013-01-01

Background: Exposure to community violence compromises teacher effectiveness, student learning, and socioemotional well-being. This study examined the challenges, strategies, and support needs of teachers in urban schools affected by high levels of community violence. Methods: Twenty teachers from 3 urban middle schools with predominantly…

Twenty-First Century Learning: Communities, Interaction and Ubiquitous Computing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leh, Amy S.C.; Kouba, Barbara; Davis, Dirk

2005-01-01

Advanced technology makes 21st century learning, communities and interactions unique and leads people to an era of ubiquitous computing. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the discussion of learning in the 21st century. The paper will review literature on learning community, community learning, interaction, 21st century learning and…

Community Based Learning and Civic Engagement: Informal Learning among Adult Volunteers in Community Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mundel, Karsten; Schugurensky, Daniel

2008-01-01

Many iterations of community based learning employ models, such as consciousness raising groups, cultural circles, and participatory action research. In all of them, learning is a deliberate part of an explicit educational activity. This article explores another realm of community learning: the informal learning that results from volunteering in…

Delaying Middle School and High School Start Times Promotes Student Health and Performance: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Position Statement

PubMed Central

Watson, Nathaniel F.; Martin, Jennifer L.; Wise, Merrill S.; Carden, Kelly A.; Kirsch, Douglas B.; Kristo, David A.; Malhotra, Raman K.; Olson, Eric J.; Ramar, Kannan; Rosen, Ilene M.; Rowley, James A.; Weaver, Terri E.; Chervin, Ronald D.

2017-01-01

During adolescence, internal circadian rhythms and biological sleep drive change to result in later sleep and wake times. As a result of these changes, early middle school and high school start times curtail sleep, hamper a student's preparedness to learn, negatively impact physical and mental health, and impair driving safety. Furthermore, a growing body of evidence shows that delaying school start times positively impacts student achievement, health, and safety. Public awareness of the hazards of early school start times and the benefits of later start times are largely unappreciated. As a result, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine is calling on communities, school boards, and educational institutions to implement start times of 8:30 AM or later for middle schools and high schools to ensure that every student arrives at school healthy, awake, alert, and ready to learn. Citation: Watson NF, Martin JL, Wise MS, Carden KA, Kirsch DB, Kristo DA, Malhotra RK, Olson EJ, Ramar K, Rosen IM, Rowley JA, Weaver TE, Chervin RD. Delaying middle school and high school start times promotes student health and performance: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement. J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(4):623–625. PMID:28416043

Learning to teach in a coteaching community of practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallo-Fox, Jennifer

2009-12-01

As a result of the standards and accountability reforms of the past two decades, heightened attention has been focused upon student learning in the K-12 classrooms, classroom teacher practice, and teacher preparation. This has led to the acknowledgement of limitations of traditional field practicum and that these learning experiences are not well understood (Bullough et al., 2003; Clift & Brady, 2005). Alternative models for student teaching, including those that foster social learning experiences, have been developed. However, research is necessary to understand the implications of these models for preservice teacher learning. Drawing on sociocultural theoretical frameworks and ethnographic perspectives (Gee and Green, 1998), this qualitative research study examined the learning experiences of a cohort of eight undergraduate preservice secondary science teachers who cotaught with eight cooperating teachers for their full practicum semester. In this model, interns planned and taught alongside multiple cooperating teachers and other interns. This study centers on the social and cultural learning that occurred within this networked model and the ways that the interns developed as high school science teachers within a coteaching community of practice (Wenger, 1998). This study utilized the following data sources: Intern and cooperating teachers interviews, field observations, meeting recordings, and program documentation. Analysis focused on community and interpersonal planes of development (Rogoff, 1995) in order understand of the nature of the learning experiences and the learning that was afforded through participant interactions. Several conclusions were made after the data were analyzed. On a daily basis, the interns participated in a wide range of cultural practices and in the activities of the community. The coteaching model challenged the idiosyncratic nature of traditional student teaching models by creating opportunities to learn across various classroom contexts. In different classrooms, there were markedly different constructions of teacher practice and participant roles. The implementation of the coteaching model also resulted in the creation of an interconnected network of colleagues. In the resulting learning community, coteachers supported one another's developing practice and critically examined their shared practice.

Linking Science Fiction and Physics Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McBride, Krista K.

2016-05-01

Generally, cohorts or learning communities enrich higher learning in students. Learning communities consist of conventionally separate groups of students that meet together with common academic purposes and goals. Types of learning communities include paired courses with concurrent student enrollment, living-learning communities, and faculty learning communities. This article discusses a learning community of 21 students that I created with a colleague in the English department. The community encompasses two general education courses: an algebra-based physics course entitled "Intro to Physics" and a literature course entitled "Science Fiction, Science Fact." Students must enroll in both of these courses during the same semester. Additionally, I highlight advantages to linking these courses through surveying the assignments and course materials that we used in our learning community. Figure 1 shows the topics that are covered in both physics and literature courses.

Designing and Implementing Service Learning Projects in an Introductory Oceanography Course Using the ``8-Block Model''

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laine, E. P.; Field, C.

2010-12-01

The Campus Compact for New Hampshire (Gordon, 2003) introduced a practical model for designing service-learning exercises or components for new or existing courses. They divided the design and implementation process into eight concrete areas, the “8-Block Model”. Their goal was to demystify the design process of service learning courses by breaking it down into interconnected components. These components include: project design, community partner relations, the problem statement, building community in the classroom, building student capacity, project management, assessment of learning, and reflection and connections. The project design component of the “8-Block Model” asks that the service performed be consistent with the learning goals of the course. For science courses students carry out their work as a way of learning science and the process of science, not solely for the sake of service. Their work supports the goals of a community partner and the community partner poses research problems for the class in a letter on their letterhead. Linking student work to important problems in the community effectively engages students and encourages them to work at more sophisticated levels than usually seen in introductory science classes. Using team-building techniques, the classroom becomes a safe, secure learning environment that encourages sharing and experimentation. Targeted lectures, labs, and demonstrations build the capacity of students to do their research. Behind the scenes project management ensures student success. Learning is assessed using a variety of tools, including graded classroom presentations, poster sessions, and presentations and reports to community partners. Finally, students reflect upon their work and make connections between their research and its importance to the well being of the community. Over the past 10 years, we have used this approach to design and continually modify an introductory oceanography course for majors and non-majors. The goal was to provide students with an opportunity to do authentic research on water quality and marine resource issues in local coastal embayments. Student research supported several community organizations, most notably the Friends of Casco Bay, an NGO interested in improving the water quality in Casco Bay. This research helped the students to reach some of the learning goals for the course including an understanding of tides, currents, phytoplankton, water quality parameters, dissolved nutrients, and analysis and presentation of quantitative data. Using this pedagogical model allowed the basic structure of the course to remain the same over the years, while enabling us to flexibly respond to changes in the needs and interests of community partners. Gordon, R, Ed. (2003) Problem Based Service Learning: A Field Guide for Making a Difference in Higher Education, 2nd edition. Campus Compact for New Hampshire, Bedford, NH

Reimagining Diversity Work: Multigenerational Learning, Adult Immigrants, and Dialogical Community-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yep, Kathleen S.

2014-01-01

Interactions between universities and surrounding communities have the potential to create empowering education through community engagement. Innovative "town/gown" relationships such as multigenerational learning communities with immigrant communities may foster positive student learning outcomes while at the same time strengthen local…

Neural correlates of effective learning in experienced medical decision-makers.

PubMed

Downar, Jonathan; Bhatt, Meghana; Montague, P Read

2011-01-01

Accurate associative learning is often hindered by confirmation bias and success-chasing, which together can conspire to produce or solidify false beliefs in the decision-maker. We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging in 35 experienced physicians, while they learned to choose between two treatments in a series of virtual patient encounters. We estimated a learning model for each subject based on their observed behavior and this model divided clearly into high performers and low performers. The high performers showed small, but equal learning rates for both successes (positive outcomes) and failures (no response to the drug). In contrast, low performers showed very large and asymmetric learning rates, learning significantly more from successes than failures; a tendency that led to sub-optimal treatment choices. Consistently with these behavioral findings, high performers showed larger, more sustained BOLD responses to failed vs. successful outcomes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal lobule while low performers displayed the opposite response profile. Furthermore, participants' learning asymmetry correlated with anticipatory activation in the nucleus accumbens at trial onset, well before outcome presentation. Subjects with anticipatory activation in the nucleus accumbens showed more success-chasing during learning. These results suggest that high performers' brains achieve better outcomes by attending to informative failures during training, rather than chasing the reward value of successes. The differential brain activations between high and low performers could potentially be developed into biomarkers to identify efficient learners on novel decision tasks, in medical or other contexts.

New Australian High School Represents the Future of Education Facility Design: Kingston High School, Tasmania, Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deni, Adriano

2012-01-01

The brief from local government called for an environmentally sustainable school that establishes new models for excellence in curriculum, teaching, and learning. With its visionary sine wave design concept, flexible learning areas, shared community spaces and "extensive" green roof system--a first for an Australian school--the new $33…

United We Learn: Team Effort Builds a Path to Equity and Alignment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kind, Jill

2014-01-01

This article presents a plan to create a united approach to improve high quality instruction in Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. Professional learning communities were in their infancy, conversations around data were about autopsies of annual standardized tests, and there was no description of what…

A community engagement project in an undergraduate oceanography course to increase engagement and representation in marine science among high school students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, C. D.; Prairie, J. C.; Walters, S. A.

2016-02-01

In the context of undergraduate education in oceanography, we are constantly striving for innovative ways to enhance student learning and enthusiasm for marine science. Community engagement is a form of experiential education that not only promotes a better understanding of concepts among undergraduate students but also allows them to interact with the community in a way that is mutually beneficial to both parties. Here I present on my experience in incorporating a community engagement project in my undergraduate physical oceanography course at the University of San Diego (USD) in collaboration with Mission Bay High School (MBHS), a local Title 1 International Baccalaureate high school with a high proportion of low-income students and students from underrepresented groups in STEM. As part of this project, the undergraduate students from my physical oceanography course were challenged to develop interactive workshops to present to the high school students at MBHS on some topic in oceanography. Prior to the workshops, the USD students met with the high school students at MBHS during an introductory meeting in which they could learn about each other's interests and backgrounds. The USD students then worked in teams of three to design a workshop proposal in which they outlined their plan for a workshop that was interactive and engaging, relying on demonstrations and activities rather than lecture. Each of the three teams then presented their workshops on separate days in the Mission Bay High School classroom. Finally, the USD students met again with the high school students at MBHS for a conclusion day in which both sets of students could discuss their experiences with the community engagement project. Through the workshop itself and a reflection essay written afterwards, the USD students learned to approach concepts in oceanography from a different perspective, and think about how student backgrounds can inform teaching these concepts. I will describe preliminary outcomes of this project and discuss the potential of community engagement projects in general to positively impact and integrate both undergraduate and high school education in ocean science.

Introduction to Small Telescope Research Communities of Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Genet, Russell M.

2016-06-01

Communities of practice are natural, usually informal groups of people who work together. Experienced members teach new members the “ropes.” Social learning theorist Etienne Wenger’s book, Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, defined the field. There are, in astronomy, many communities of practice. One set of communities uses relatively small telescopes to observe brighter objects such as eclipsing binaries, intrinsically variable stars, transiting exoplanets, tumbling asteroids, and the occultation of background stars by asteroids and the Moon. Advances in low cost but increasingly powerful instrumentation and automation have greatly increased the research capabilities of smaller telescopes. These often professional-amateur (pro-am) communities engage in research projects that require a large number of observers as exemplified by the American Association of Variable Star Observers. For high school and community college students with an interest in science, joining a student-centered, small telescope community of practice can be both educational and inspirational. An example is the now decade-long Astronomy Research Seminar offered by Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, California. Each student team is required to plan a project, obtain observations (either locally or via a remote robotic telescope), analyze their data, write a paper, and submit it for external review and publication. Well over 100 students, composed primarily of high school juniors and seniors, have been coauthors of several dozen published papers. Being published researchers has boosted these students’ educational careers with admissions to choice schools, often with scholarships. This seminar was recently expanded to serve multiple high schools with a volunteer assistant instructor at each school. The students meet regularly with their assistant instructor and also meet online with other teams and the seminar’s overall community college instructor. The seminar features a textbook, self-paced learning units, and a website sponsored by the Institute for Student Astronomical Research.

Building sustainable health and education partnerships: stories from local communities.

PubMed

Blank, Martin J

2015-11-01

Growing health disparities have a negative impact on young people's educational achievement. Community schools that involve deep relationships with partners across multiple domains address these disparities by providing opportunities and services that promote healthy development of young people, and enable them to graduate from high school ready for college, technical school, on-the-job training, career, and citizenship. Results from Milwaukie High School, North Clackamas, OR; Oakland Unified School District, Oakland, CA; and Cincinnati Community Learning Centers, Cincinnati, OH were based on a review of local site documents, web-based information, interviews, and e-mail communication with key local actors. The schools and districts with strong health partnerships reflecting community schools strategy have shown improvements in attendance, academic performance, and increased access to mental, dental, vision, and health supports for their students. To build deep health-education partnerships and grow community schools, a working leadership and management infrastructure must be in place that uses quality data, focuses on results, and facilitates professional development across sectors. The leadership infrastructure of community school initiatives offers a prototype on which others can build. Moreover, as leaders build cross-sector relationships, a clear definition of what scaling up means is essential for subsequent long-term systemic change. © 2015 Institute for Educational Leadership. Journal of School Health published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American School Health Association.

Kiva Microloans in a Learning Community: An Assignment for Interdisciplinary Synthesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Staats, Susan; Sintjago, Alfonso; Fitzpatrick, Renata

2013-01-01

Learning communities can strengthen early undergraduates' learning, but planning them can be daunting for instructors. Learning communities usually rely on integrative assignments that encourage interdisciplinary analysis. This article reports on our experiences using microloans as an interdisciplinary assignment in a learning community that…

Enhancing Community Service Learning via Practical Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ronen, Ilana; Shemer-Elkiyam, Tal

2015-01-01

The advantages of learning communities focused on analyzing social issues and educational repercussions in the field are presented in this study. The research examines the contribution of a learning community to enhancing student teachers' responsibility and their social involvement. The assumption was that participating in learning community…

Constructivist Learning Environments and Defining the Online Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Loren

2014-01-01

The online learning community is frequently referred to, but ill defined. The constructivist philosophy and approach to teaching and learning is both an effective means of constructing an online learning community and it is a tool by which to define key elements of the learning community. In order to build a nurturing, self-sustaining online…

High School in the Community: Providing Alternatives in Education. Profiles of Promise 39.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawke, Sharryl

Secondary students in the New Haven, Connecticut schools are offered a community high school program as an alternative to traditional education. The program is committed to three basic goals: (1) building student skills; (2) increasing student motivation to learn; and (3) encouraging students to become responsible, independent members of society.…

Cultural patterns in children's learning through keen observation and participation in their communities.

PubMed

Correa-Chávez, Maricela; Roberts, Amy L D; Pérez, Margarita Martínez

2011-01-01

This chapter examines children's learning through careful attention and participation in the ongoing activities of their community. This form of learning, which has been called learning through Intent Community Participation, seems to be especially common in Mesoamerican Indigenous communities. In these communities, children are integrated into the everyday work and lives of adults and their learning may not be the central focus. We contrast this pattern with that of middle-class European American communities where children are segregated from the primary adult functions of the community. In middle-class communities and schools, children are often encouraged to engage in abstract lessons where their attention is explicitly directed to specific events. In contrast, learning through keen attention and observation may rely on learning through attention to instructions not specifically directed to the learner. Studies demonstrate Mesoamerican Indigenous children's ability to learn through simultaneous and open attention to overheard or observed activities. This form of learning is supported through multiple modalities of communication and interaction. Motivation to learn stems from the learner's inclusion into the major activities and goals of the community. Implications of research and future directions for the study of learning through keen observation are discussed.

Communities of practice in life sciences and the need for brokering

PubMed Central

Tierney, Anne

2016-01-01

Etienne Wenger’s work on communities of practice is influential in teaching and learning in higher education. A core work of many postgraduate certificate in teaching and learning (PGCert) courses for new lecturers, it is studied, in the main, as a means to understand how to support and encourage students to achieve more effective learning. Communities of practice can also be applied to academics. In the context of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and its predecessors, the gulf between research-focused and teaching-Focused academics in life sciences has widened, so that in many institutions, these two groups have evolved into two distinct communities of practice; one whose priority is disciplinary research, the other’s learning and teaching. However, in 2015, the UK government announced that a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) would be introduced into higher education in England, as early as 2017. While the exact details of TEF remain unclear, it is certain that “excellence” and “student satisfaction” will be high on the agenda. It is vital, therefore, that the two communities of practice, research-focused and teaching-focused, find ways to come together in order to ensure high quality teaching and learning. Wenger proposes that this can be done through the process of “brokering”, which allows expertise from both communities of practice to cross from one to the other, strengthening both. This should be encouraged at departmental and institutional level, but another vital origin of brokering can be forged at a(n) (inter)national level at meetings such as the SEB Annual Conference, where teaching-focused academics have the opportunity to mix with research-active colleagues. While this paper is informed by recent and current events in the UK Higher Education sector, it is of interest to academics who work in an environment where research and teaching have become separate to any extent. PMID:26998239

Surgical journal club as a community of practice: a case study.

PubMed

Quinn, Edel Marie; Cantillon, Peter; Redmond, Henry Paul; Bennett, Deirdre

2014-01-01

Journal club has become a signature pedagogy in postgraduate medical education. In this article, social learning theory, through the lens of "communities of practice" (CoP), is applied to elucidate the process of learning in journal club. The study is a case study of a surgical journal club. Video recordings of 2 journal club sessions were followed by semistructured audio-recorded interviews with a sample of journal club participants. Thematic content analysis was performed, mapping data to themes arising based on the key tenets of CoP. Features of the 4 tenets of CoP learning (community, meaning, identity, and practice) were identified in both the video recordings of journal club and the participant interviews. A shared enterprise and common sense of purpose (community) was seen throughout the video recordings, but feelings of belonging to the community were much stronger for senior members (consultants/attending staff and senior trainees) compared with junior members (junior trainees and students). Experiences and perspectives were more commonly exchanged between senior trainees and consultants, with junior trainees not partaking in discussions, an example of newcomers beginning at the periphery. The main impediment to learning was found with low senior member attendance at journal club, thus limiting access to narratives of senior experience of practice and feedback. In attempting to improve journal club design for learning, ensuring the participation of senior community members and thus access to narratives of experience along with active engagement of junior members to allow them develop their own meaning should be incorporated into the journal club design. Copyright © 2014 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning Objectives for Shooting Sports Instruction. 554A: Using Measurable Criteria To Evaluate Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benson, Delwin E.; Manning, Jan

This publication contains objectives that range from basic shooting sports safety and proficiency to more specialized activities. They can be applied to hunter safety education, 4-H shooting sports, scouting, and club or community activities for youth or adults. The specific learning objectives in each list have been grouped into learning…

Using Wiki to Create a Learning Community for Chemistry Teacher Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shwartz, Y.; Katchevitch, D.

2013-01-01

This study focuses on using wikis as a learning environment, as part of a professional development program for chemistry teacher leaders. The study was performed in Israel and involved 20 chemistry teachers. One goal was to investigate how using wiki may promote effective science teacher professional development. Various aspects of the teachers'…

Self-Regulation and Math Attitudes: Effects on Academic Performance in Developmental Math Courses at a Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Otts, Cynthia D.

2010-01-01

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship among math attitudes, self-regulated learning, and course outcomes in developmental math. Math attitudes involved perceived usefulness of math and math anxiety. Self-regulated learning represented the ability of students to control cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral aspects of…

Project GOLD: Growth Opportunities through Learning & Doing, Performance Reporting Period, November 1, 1996-February 28, 1998. National Workplace Literacy Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seminole Community Coll., Sanford, FL.

Project "Growth Opportunities through Learning and Doing" (GOLD), Seminole Community College's basic skills update program, enrolled 107 students at 2 manufacturing facilities from April 1995-February 1998. Employees from Siemens Telecom Network (formerly known as Siemens Stromberg-Carlson) studied offsite in a classroom equipped with 10 computers…

Using escaped prescribed fire reviews to improve organizational learning

Treesearch

Anne E. Black; James Saveland; Dave Thomas; Jennifer Ziegler

2012-01-01

The US wildland fire community has been interested in cultivating organizational learning to improve safety and overall performance for a number of years. A key focus has been on understanding the difference between culpability (to be guilty) and accountability (to explain) and on re-orienting review processes towards building a collective account of (as opposed to...

Tic Disorders and Learning Disability: Clinical Characteristics, Cognitive Performance and Comorbidity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eapen, Valsamma; Crncec, Rudi; McPherson, Sarah; Snedden, Corina

2013-01-01

Tics are involuntary movements or sounds. Tourette syndrome is one of a family of tic disorders that affect around 1% of the population but which remains underrecognised in the community. In paediatric special education learning disability classes, the prevalence of individuals with tic disorders is around 20-45%--higher still in special education…

Fight the Power: Situated Learning and Conscientisation in a Gendered Community of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curnow, Joe

2013-01-01

In this paper, I employ situated learning theory to explore gendered processes of marginalisation and conscientisation in a social movement organisation. Using a student activist organisation as a case study, I explain women's awareness of and resistance to masculine performances of leadership and decision-making through the concept of…

Supporting Shared Resource Usage for a Diverse User Community: the OSG Experience and Lessons Learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garzoglio, Gabriele; Levshina, Tanya; Rynge, Mats; Sehgal, Chander; Slyz, Marko

2012-12-01

The Open Science Grid (OSG) supports a diverse community of new and existing users in adopting and making effective use of the Distributed High Throughput Computing (DHTC) model. The LHC user community has deep local support within the experiments. For other smaller communities and individual users the OSG provides consulting and technical services through the User Support area. We describe these sometimes successful and sometimes not so successful experiences and analyze lessons learned that are helping us improve our services. The services offered include forums to enable shared learning and mutual support, tutorials and documentation for new technology, and troubleshooting of problematic or systemic failure modes. For new communities and users, we bootstrap their use of the distributed high throughput computing technologies and resources available on the OSG by following a phased approach. We first adapt the application and run a small production campaign on a subset of “friendly” sites. Only then do we move the user to run full production campaigns across the many remote sites on the OSG, adding to the community resources up to hundreds of thousands of CPU hours per day. This scaling up generates new challenges - like no determinism in the time to job completion, and diverse errors due to the heterogeneity of the configurations and environments - so some attention is needed to get good results. We cover recent experiences with image simulation for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), small-file large volume data movement for the Dark Energy Survey (DES), civil engineering simulation with the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), and accelerator modeling with the Electron Ion Collider group at BNL. We will categorize and analyze the use cases and describe how our processes are evolving based on lessons learned.

Leadership Strategies in High Performing Community Colleges: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brimhall, Carrie L.

2014-01-01

Effective community college leaders make a difference in the culture and performance of the institution. The research study sought to discover leadership strategies that lead to the achievement of high performance outcomes in community colleges. In 2013, the American Association of Community Colleges Competencies for effective leadership criteria…

Using Learning Communities to Build Faculty Support for Pedagogical Innovation: A Multi-Campus Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furco, Andrew; Moely, Barbara E.

2012-01-01

To encourage greater adoption of a pedagogical innovation (service-learning), semester long faculty learning communities were established at eight institutions. These learning community experiences produced gains in participants' (N = 152) self-assessed expertise with service-learning, ability to collaborate with community partners, and…

A Faculty Professional Development Model That Improves Student Learning, Encourages Active-Learning Instructional Practices, and Works for Faculty at Multiple Institutions.

PubMed

Pelletreau, Karen N; Knight, Jennifer K; Lemons, Paula P; McCourt, Jill S; Merrill, John E; Nehm, Ross H; Prevost, Luanna B; Urban-Lurain, Mark; Smith, Michelle K

2018-06-01

Helping faculty develop high-quality instruction that positively affects student learning can be complicated by time limitations, a lack of resources, and inexperience using student data to make iterative improvements. We describe a community of 16 faculty from five institutions who overcame these challenges and collaboratively designed, taught, iteratively revised, and published an instructional unit about the potential effect of mutations on DNA replication, transcription, and translation. The unit was taught to more than 2000 students in 18 courses, and student performance improved from preassessment to postassessment in every classroom. This increase occurred even though faculty varied in their instructional practices when they were teaching identical materials. We present information on how this faculty group was organized and facilitated, how members used student data to positively affect learning, and how they increased their use of active-learning instructional practices in the classroom as a result of participation. We also interviewed faculty to learn more about the most useful components of the process. We suggest that this professional development model can be used for geographically separated faculty who are interested in working together on a known conceptual difficulty to improve student learning and explore active-learning instructional practices.

Bounded Community: Designing and Facilitating Learning Communities in Formal Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Brent G.; Ludwig-Hardman, Stacey; Thornam, Christine L.; Dunlap, Joanna C.

2004-01-01

Learning communities can emerge spontaneously when people find common learning goals and pursue projects and tasks together in pursuit of those goals. "Bounded" learning communities (BLCs) are groups that form within a structured teaching or training setting, typically a course. Unlike spontaneous communities, BLCs develop in direct response to…

Integrating Real-Time Antecedent Rubrics via Blackboard™ into a Community College General Psychology Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goomas, David

2015-01-01

Numerous studies have reported on the innovative and effective delivery of online course content by community colleges, but not much has been done on how learning management systems (LMS) can deliver real-time (immediate data delivery) antecedents that inform students of performance requirements. This pilot study used Blackboard's™ interactive…

Formative Self-Assessment College Classes Improves Self-Regulation and Retention in First/Second Year Community College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahlberg, Jamie

2015-01-01

This research examined the influence formative self-assessment had on first/second year community college student self-regulatory practices. Previous research has shown that the ability to regulate one's learning activities can improve performance in college classes, and it has long been known that the use of formative assessment improves…

The effect of postnatal depression on mother-infant interaction, infant response to the Still-face perturbation, and performance on an Instrumental Learning task.

PubMed

Stanley, Charles; Murray, Lynne; Stein, Alan

2004-01-01

A representative community sample of primiparous depressed women and a nondepressed control group were assessed while in interaction with their infants at 2 months postpartum. At 3 months, infants were assessed on the Still-face perturbation of face to face interaction, and a subsample completed an Instrumental Learning paradigm. Compared to nondepressed women, depressed mothers' interactions were both less contingent and less affectively attuned to infant behavior. Postnatal depression did not adversely affect the infant's performance in either the Still-face perturbation or the Instrumental Learning assessment. Maternal responsiveness in interactions at 2 months predicted the infant's performance in the Instrumental Learning assessment but not in the Still-face perturbation. The implications of these findings for theories of infant cognitive and emotional development are discussed.

Marquardt's Mach 4.5 Supercharged Ejector Ramjet (SERJ) High-Performance Aircraft Engine Project: Unfulfilled Aspirations Ca.1970

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Escher, William J. D.; Roddy, Jordan E.; Hyde, Eric H.

2000-01-01

The Supercharged Ejector Ramjet (SERJ) engine developments of the 1960s, as pursued by The Marquardt Corporation and its associated industry team members, are described. In just three years, engineering work on this combined-cycle powerplant type evolved, from its initial NASA-sponsored reusable space transportation system study status, into a U.S. Air Force/Navy-supported exploratory development program as a candidate 4.5 high-performance military aircraft engine. Bridging a productive transition from the spaceflight to the aviation arena, this case history supports the expectation that fully-integrated airbreathing/rocket propulsion systems hold high promise toward meeting the demanding propulsion requirements of tomorrow's aircraft-like Spaceliner class transportation systems. Lessons to be learned from this "SERJ Story" are offered for consideration by today's advanced space transportation and combined-cycle propulsion researchers and forward-planning communities.

Errorless Learning for Training Individuals With Schizophrenia at a Community Mental Health Setting Providing Work Experience

PubMed Central

Kern, Robert S.; Liberman, Robert P.; Becker, Deborah R.; Drake, Robert E.; Sugar, Catherine A.; Green, Michael F.

2009-01-01

The effects of errorless learning (EL) on work performance, tenure, and personal well-being were compared with conventional job training in a community mental health fellowship club offering 12-week time-limited work experience. Participants were 40 clinically stable schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder outpatients randomly assigned to EL vs conventional instruction (CI) at a thrift-type clothing store. EL participants received training on how to perform their assigned job tasks based on principles of EL, such as error reduction and automation of task performance. CI participants received training common to other community-based entry-level jobs that included verbal instruction, a visual demonstration, independent practice, and corrective feedback. Participants were scheduled to work 2 hours per week for 12 weeks. For both groups, job training occurred during the first 2 weeks at the worksite. Work performance (assessed using the Work Behavior Inventory, WBI) and personal well-being (self-esteem, job satisfaction, and work stress) were assessed at weeks 2, 4, and 12. Job tenure was defined as the number of weeks on the job or total number of hours worked prior to quitting or study end. The EL group performed better than the CI group on the Work Quality Scale from the WBI, and the group differences were relatively consistent over time. Results from the survival analyses of job tenure revealed a non-significant trend favoring EL. There were no group differences on self-esteem, job satisfaction, or work stress. The findings provide modest support for the extensions of EL to community settings for enhancing work performance. PMID:18326529

Errorless learning for training individuals with schizophrenia at a community mental health setting providing work experience.

PubMed

Kern, Robert S; Liberman, Robert P; Becker, Deborah R; Drake, Robert E; Sugar, Catherine A; Green, Michael F

2009-07-01

The effects of errorless learning (EL) on work performance, tenure, and personal well-being were compared with conventional job training in a community mental health fellowship club offering 12-week time-limited work experience. Participants were 40 clinically stable schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder outpatients randomly assigned to EL vs conventional instruction (CI) at a thrift-type clothing store. EL participants received training on how to perform their assigned job tasks based on principles of EL, such as error reduction and automation of task performance. CI participants received training common to other community-based entry-level jobs that included verbal instruction, a visual demonstration, independent practice, and corrective feedback. Participants were scheduled to work 2 hours per week for 12 weeks. For both groups, job training occurred during the first 2 weeks at the worksite. Work performance (assessed using the Work Behavior Inventory, WBI) and personal well-being (self-esteem, job satisfaction, and work stress) were assessed at weeks 2, 4, and 12. Job tenure was defined as the number of weeks on the job or total number of hours worked prior to quitting or study end. The EL group performed better than the CI group on the Work Quality Scale from the WBI, and the group differences were relatively consistent over time. Results from the survival analyses of job tenure revealed a non-significant trend favoring EL. There were no group differences on self-esteem, job satisfaction, or work stress. The findings provide modest support for the extensions of EL to community settings for enhancing work performance.

Enhancing Fourth Grade Students' Writing Achievement through Purposeful Experiential Learning: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McManus, Michael S.; Thiamwong, Ladda

2015-01-01

This study focuses on the effects of involving fourth grade students in an experiential learning task that improves the school and requires the students to call on community agency, area business, and high school student support. Data related to students' learning were collected by using evaluative writing surveys, student and parent conferences,…

Educational Statistics Authentic Learning CAPSULES: Community Action Projects for Students Utilizing Leadership and E-Based Statistics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Carla J.

2009-01-01

Since educational statistics is a core or general requirement of all students enrolled in graduate education programs, the need for high quality student engagement and appropriate authentic learning experiences is critical for promoting student interest and student success in the course. Based in authentic learning theory and engagement theory…

Old and Young Dogs Teaching Each Other Tricks: The Importance of Developing Agency for Community Partners in Community Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bucher, Jacob

2012-01-01

This article covers the importance of creating and developing agency in community partners when engaging in community-based learning. Often when faculty incorporate service- or community-based learning into their classes, we measure the "learning" part but not the "service" or "community." Focusing more on the latter involves working "with"…

The Founding of the Learning Communities Association

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huerta, Juan Carlos

2017-01-01

Learning communities have reached the point in their growth that we now need a professional association to allow for more opportunities for participation in advancing learning communities. This is the story of the founding of the new Learning Communities Association.

Improving the quality of learning in science through optimization of lesson study for learning community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setyaningsih, S.

2018-03-01

Lesson Study for Learning Community is one of lecturer profession building system through collaborative and continuous learning study based on the principles of openness, collegiality, and mutual learning to build learning community in order to form professional learning community. To achieve the above, we need a strategy and learning method with specific subscription technique. This paper provides a description of how the quality of learning in the field of science can be improved by implementing strategies and methods accordingly, namely by applying lesson study for learning community optimally. Initially this research was focused on the study of instructional techniques. Learning method used is learning model Contextual teaching and Learning (CTL) and model of Problem Based Learning (PBL). The results showed that there was a significant increase in competence, attitudes, and psychomotor in the four study programs that were modelled. Therefore, it can be concluded that the implementation of learning strategies in Lesson study for Learning Community is needed to be used to improve the competence, attitude and psychomotor of science students.

Retention of Community College Students in Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krajewski, Sarah

2015-01-01

The issue of attrition in online courses at higher learning institutions remains a high priority in the United States. A recent rapid growth of online courses at community colleges has been instigated by student demand, as they meet the time constraints many nontraditional community college students have as a result of the need to work and care…

Learning Communities: New Structures, New Partnerships for Learning. The First-Year Experience. Monograph Series, No. 26.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levine, Jodi H., Ed.

This monograph on learning communities and the first-year college experience presents 12 chapters which combine theory with examples of good practice and recommendations for building and sustaining effective learning communities. Following an introduction by the editor, the included chapters are: (1) "What Are Learning Communities?"…

45 CFR 2517.600 - How are funds for community-based service-learning programs distributed?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How are funds for community-based service-learning... (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Distribution of Funds § 2517.600 How are funds for community-based service-learning programs distributed? All...

45 CFR 2517.600 - How are funds for community-based service-learning programs distributed?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false How are funds for community-based service-learning... (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Distribution of Funds § 2517.600 How are funds for community-based service-learning programs distributed? All...

Service-Learning as a Catalyst for Community Development: How Do Community Partners Benefit From Service-Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geller, Joanna D.; Zuckerman, Natalie; Seidel, Adam

2016-01-01

Service-learning has the potential to create mutually beneficial relationships between schools and communities, but little research explores service-learning from the community's perspective. The purpose of this study was to (a) understand how community-based organizations (CBOs) benefited from partnering with students and (b) examine whether…

Active Learning Crosses Generations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodard, Diane K.

2002-01-01

Describes the benefits of intergenerational programs, highlighting a child care program that offers age-appropriate and mutually beneficial activities for children and elders within a nearby retirement community. The program has adopted High/Scope's active learning approach to planning and implementing activities that involve both generations. The…

Service-Learning and Learning Communities: Tools for Integration and Assessment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oates, Karen K.; Leavitt, Lynn H.

This publication attempts to provide fundamental theory about service-learning and learning communities, along with descriptions of best practices, lessons learned, and assessment strategies. The text is designed to provide resources to help readers offer service-learning experiences for their students. Learning communities are now commonly…

Toward a Social Approach to Learning in Community Service Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooks, Leda; Scharrer, Erica; Paredes, Mari Castaneda

2004-01-01

The authors describe a social approach to learning in community service learning that extends the contributions of three theoretical bodies of scholarship on learning: social constructionism, critical pedagogy, and community service learning. Building on the assumptions about learning described in each of these areas, engagement, identity, and…

Disconnects in pedagogy and practice in community health nursing clinical experiences: Qualitative findings of a mixed method study.

PubMed

Pijl-Zieber, Em M; Barton, Sylvia; Awosoga, Olu; Konkin, Jill

2015-10-01

Many baccalaureate schools of nursing are using non-traditional placements for undergraduate community health clinical rotations. These placements occur at agencies not organizationally affiliated with the health care system and they typically do not employ registered nurses (RNs). In this paper, we describe the qualitative findings of a mixed method study that explored these gaps as they relate to pre-registration nursing students' preparation for community health roles. While non-traditional community health placements offer unique opportunities for learning through carefully crafted service learning pedagogy, these placements also present challenges for student preparation for practice in community health roles. The theory-practice gap and the gap between the expected and actual performance of new graduates are accentuated through the use of non-traditional community clinical experiences. These gaps are not necessarily due to poor pedagogy, but rather due to the perceptions and values of the stakeholders involved: nursing students, community health nursing faculty, and community health nurses. New ways must be developed between academe and community health practice areas to provide students with opportunities to develop competence for practice. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Science Alive!: Connecting with Elementary Students through Science Exploration†

PubMed Central

Raja, Aarti; Lavin, Emily Schmitt; Gali, Tamara; Donovan, Kaitlin

2016-01-01

A novel program called Science Alive! was developed by undergraduate faculty members, K–12 school teachers, and undergraduate students to enrich science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) literacy at community schools located near the university. The ultimate goal of the program is to bolster the scientific knowledge and appreciation of local area students and community members and serve as a model for similar programs. Through the program, we observed that elementary school students made gains toward learning their grade-level science curricula after a hands-on learning experience and had fun doing these hands-on activities. Through the program, undergraduate students, working with graduate students and alumni, build scientific learning modules using explanatory handouts and creative activities as classroom exercises. This helps better integrate scientific education through a collaborative, hands-on learning program. Results showed that elementary school students made the highest learning gains in their performance on higher-level questions related to both forces and matter as a result of the hands-on learning modules. Additionally, college students enjoyed the hands-on activities, would consider volunteering their time at such future events, and saw the service learning program as a benefit to their professional development through community building and discipline-specific service. The science modules were developed according to grade-level curricular standards and can be used year after year to teach or explain a scientific topic to elementary school students via a hands-on learning approach. PMID:27158309

Clinical supervision in a community setting.

PubMed

Evans, Carol; Marcroft, Emma

Clinical supervision is a formal process of professional support, reflection and learning that contributes to individual development. First Community Health and Care is committed to providing clinical supervision to nurses and allied healthcare professionals to support the provision and maintenance of high-quality care. In 2012, we developed new guidelines for nurses and AHPs on supervision, incorporating a clinical supervision framework. This offers a range of options to staff so supervision accommodates variations in work settings and individual learning needs and styles.

Teacher recommended academic and student engagement strategies for learning disabled students: A qualitative study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nwachukwu, Bethel C.

There has been a push towards the education of students with Learning Disabilities in inclusive educational settings with their non-disabled peers. Zigmond (2003) stated that it is not the placement of students with disabilities in general education setting alone that would guarantee their successes; instead, the strategies teachers use to ensure that these children are being engaged and learning will enable them become successful. Despite the fact that there are several bodies of research on effective teaching of students with learning disabilities, special education teachers continue to have difficulties concerning the appropriate strategies for promoting student engagement and improving learning for students with learning disabilities placed in inclusive educational settings (Zigmond, 2003). This qualitative study interviewed and collected data from fifteen high performing special education teachers who were employed in a Southern state elementary school district to uncover the strategies they have found useful in their attempts to promote student engagement and attempts to improve student achievement for students with learning disabilities placed in inclusive educational settings. The study uncovered strategies for promoting engagement and improving learning outcomes for students with learning disabilities placed in inclusive classrooms. The findings showed that in order to actually reach the students with learning disabilities, special education teachers must go the extra miles by building rapport with the school communities, possess good classroom management skills, and become student advocates.

Preserving Calung Banyumasan through Vocational Education and its Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suharto; Indriyanto

2018-02-01

Traditional music in Banyumas especially Calung Banyumasan is very famous for its very distinctive style. But now there is a tendency of quantity and the quality of the music began to decline. Vocational high school of Banyumas is one potential that can be used in this art conservation effort. The purpose of this research is to find the form of preservation of Calung art through education. The result of the research shows that the effort of defence of the art of Calung tradition is part of the effort to preserve the art of tradition and culture of Banyumas in general. The Calung material spread in several subjects, both theoretical and practical manifested in the form of Basic Competence and Basic Material of each subject in the syllabus. All Calung learning materials are classic (Banyumas original style) without influence from other musical styles. Meanwhile, to popularize this type of music, this school performs an off-campus musical performance with a mixed-style, classic and contemporary type. To develop the competence of students and to contribute to the community of artists of this music, the school performs activities Prakerin (Practice industrial activities).

Metrics, Dollars, and Systems Change: Learning from Washington State's Student Achievement Initiative to Design Effective Postsecondary Performance Funding Policies. A State Policy Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenkins, Davis; Shulock, Nancy

2013-01-01

The Student Achievement Initiative (SAI), adopted by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges in 2007, is one of a growing number of performance funding programs that have been dubbed "performance funding 2.0." Unlike previous performance funding models, the SAI rewards colleges for students' intermediate…

Supporting the Development of Science Communication Skills in STEM University Students: Understanding Their Learning Experiences as They Work in Middle and High School Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grant, Brooke L.; Liu, Xiufeng; Gardella, Joseph A.

2015-01-01

This paper examines the roles that 52 university Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students play in an Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Partnership that connects several middle schools, high schools, institutions of higher learning, businesses, and community institutions. It also examines the support these students…

The Relationship between Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning with the Effectiveness of Ordinary and Smart Secondary School Principals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khammar, Zahra; Heidarzadegan, Alireza; Balaghat, Seyed Reza; Salehi, Hadi

2013-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between knowledge management and organizational learning with the effectiveness of ordinary and smart high school principals in Zahedan Pre-province. The statistical community of this research is 1350 male and female teachers teaching in ordinary and smart students of high schools in that 300 ones…

Impact of Using Facebook as a Social Learning Platform to Connect High School Students with Working Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamauchi, Yuhei; Fujimoto, Toru; Takahashi, Kaoru; Araki, Junko; Otsuji, Yusuke; Suzuki, Hisashi

2012-01-01

This study examines "the Socla study program" to build a social learning community for high school students using Facebook and other Internet services. In the two-week program, the students worked on individual study projects that focused on their future plans. With the help of volunteer supporters and facilitators, the students found…

Blending Together, Step by Step: Principal Uses Professional Learning to Combine Two School Cultures into One

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Linda E.; Shafer, Tracy; Kragler, Sherry

2009-01-01

There is no denying that combining two schools, or even opening a new school, is loaded with challenges and frustrations as well as high expectations. Principal Tracy Shafer saw a rural school consolidation as an opportunity to use professional development to create a community focused on student learning, meeting the need for high-quality…

Lessons Learned for Improving Spacecraft Ground Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bell, Michael; Henderson, Gena; Stambolian, Damon

2013-01-01

NASA policy requires each Program or Project to develop a plan for how they will address Lessons Learned. Projects have the flexibility to determine how best to promote and implement lessons learned. A large project might budget for a lessons learned position to coordinate elicitation, documentation and archival of the project lessons. The lessons learned process crosses all NASA Centers and includes the contactor community. o The Office of The Chief Engineer at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C., is the overall process owner, and field locations manage the local implementation. One tool used to transfer knowledge between program and projects is the Lessons Learned Information System (LLIS). Most lessons come from NASA in partnership with support contractors. A search for lessons that might impact a new design is often performed by a contractor team member. Knowledge is not found with only one person, one project team, or one organization. Sometimes, another project team, or person, knows something that can help your project or your task. Knowledge sharing is an everyday activity at the Kennedy Space Center through storytelling, Kennedy Engineering Academy presentations and through searching the Lessons Learned Information system. o Project teams search the lessons repository to ensure the best possible results are delivered. o The ideas from the past are not always directly applicable but usually spark new ideas and innovations. Teams have a great responsibility to collect and disseminate these lessons so that they are shared with future generations of space systems designers. o Leaders should set a goal for themselves to host a set numbers of lesson learned events each year and do more to promote multiple methods of lessons learned activities. o High performing employees are expected to share their lessons, however formal knowledge sharing presentation are not the norm for many employees.

Learning in third spaces: community art studio as storefront university classroom.

PubMed

Timm-Bottos, Janis; Reilly, Rosemary C

2015-03-01

Third spaces are in-between places where teacher-student scripts intersect, creating the potential for authentic interaction and a shift in what counts as knowledge. This paper describes a unique community-university initiative: a third space storefront classroom for postsecondary students in professional education programs, which also functions as a community art studio for the surrounding neighborhood. This approach to professional education requires an innovative combination of theory, methods, and materials as enacted by the professionals involved and performed by the students. This storefront classroom utilizes collaborative and inclusive instructional practices that promote human and community development. It facilitates the use of innovative instructional strategies including art making and participatory dialogue to create a liminal learning space that reconfigures professional education. In researching the effectiveness of this storefront classroom, we share the voices of students who have participated in this third space as part of their coursework to underscore these principles and practices.

A Strategy to Learn How to Build Scientific-Education and Outreach Partnerships in the Ocean Sciences: COSEE Ocean Learning Communities.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keil, R. G.; Bell, P. L.; Bittner, M. S.; Robigou, V.; Sider, K.

2005-12-01

The College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences and the College of Education at the University of Washington, the Seattle Aquarium, and the California Maritime Academy formed a partnership to establish a Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) labeled "Ocean Learning Communities." The COSEE-OLC will join the national network of NSF-funded centers that provide a catalytic environment in which partnerships between ocean researchers and educators flourish. The COSEE network contributes to the national advancement of ocean science education by sharing high-quality K-12 or informal education programs, best practices and methodologies, and offering exemplary courses through the network and at national professional meetings. Building on the successes and lessons of the existing COSEE centers, the COSEE-OLC will foster collaborations among the oceanography research community, the science of learning community, informal and formal educators, the general public, and the maritime industry in the Northwest region and the West coast. The concept for this partnership is based on reaching out to traditionally underserved populations (from the businesses that use the sea or for which economic success depends on the oceans to the united native tribes), listening to their concerns and needs and how these can be addressed within the context of ocean-based research. The challenges of integrating education and outreach with scientific research programs are addressed by the center's main catalytic activity to create Ocean Learning Communities. These communities will be gatherings of traditionally disparate stakeholders including scientists, educators, representatives of businesses with a connection to the oceans, and citizens who derive economic or recreational sustenance from the oceans. The center's principal goal is to, through time and structured learning activities, support various communities 1) to develop a common language and 2) to make a commitment to creating collaborations that will improve ocean research and public awareness at the regional scale. Researchers in the science of learning will evaluate and study the successes and challenges of these regional approaches to better understand the development and sustainability of productive partnerships and to develop learning models to share and apply at the national level.

From nationwide standardized testing to school-based alternative embedded assessment in Israel: Students' performance in the matriculation 2000 project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dori, Yehudit J.

2003-01-01

Matriculation 2000 was a 5-year project aimed at moving from the nationwide traditional examination system in Israel to a school-based alternative embedded assessment. Encompassing 22 high schools from various communities in the country, the Project aimed at fostering deep understanding, higher-order thinking skills, and students' engagement in learning through alternative teaching and embedded assessment methods. This article describes research conducted during the fifth year of the Project at 2 experimental and 2 control schools. The research objective was to investigate students' learning outcomes in chemistry and biology in the Matriculation 2000 Project. The assumption was that alternative embedded assessment has some effect on students' performance. The experimental students scored significantly higher than their control group peers on low-level assignments and more so on assignments that required higher-order thinking skills. The findings indicate that given adequate support and teachers' consent and collaboration, schools can transfer from nationwide or statewide standardized testing to school-based alter-native embedded assessment.

Effects of body mass index and education on verbal and nonverbal memory.

PubMed

De Wit, Liselotte; Kirton, Joshua W; O'Shea, Deirdre M; Szymkowicz, Sarah M; McLaren, Molly E; Dotson, Vonetta M

2017-05-01

We previously reported that higher education protects against executive dysfunction related to higher body mass index (BMI) in younger, but not older, adults. We now extend the previous analyses to verbal and nonverbal memory. Fifty-nine healthy, dementia-free community-dwelling adults ranging in age from 18 to 81 years completed the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test - Revised (HVLT-R) and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test - Revised (BVMT-R). Self-reported years of education served as a proxy for cognitive reserve. We found that more highly educated individuals maintained their BVMT-R immediate recall performance across the range of BMI, but in less educated individuals, higher BMI was associated with worse performance. Our findings suggest that education may play a protective role against BMI-related nonverbal learning deficits, similar to previous reports for verbal memory and executive functioning. Results highlight the importance of considering educational background when determining the risk for BMI-related cognitive impairment in clinical settings.

[Looking back but facing ahead: implementing lessons learned from the 2nd Lebanon War].

PubMed

Adini, Bruria; Laor, Danny; Lev, Boaz; Israeli, Avi

2010-07-01

The medical system utilizes a structured culture for learning lessons in order to improve the supply of services. Various tools are utilized to evaluate performance. The aim of the article is to describe the processes for learning lessons which were carried out following the Second Lebanon War and the major lessons that were identified and implemented. Three processes were performed: a process of learning Lessons of the heaLthcare system, initiated and led by the Supreme HeaLth Authority (SHA); After action review (AAR), initiated and led by the military Medical Corps and; at a later stage, a critique, initiated and led by the State Comptroller, that examined the performance of the medical system, as part of a critique on the preparedness of the home front. The following elements were defined as highly prioritized for improvement to elevate the preparedness for a future war: (1) deployment of unified clinics in conflict areas; (2) supply of medical services to the population in shelters; (3) deploying emergency medicine services, including the relationship between the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Home Front Command (HFC); (4) defining the relationships between the MOH and HFC in deploying the community health services in emergencies; (5) protecting medical facilities and personal protection equipment for medical teams and; (6) treating acute stress reactions. The AAR, critique and learning lessons signify three different processes that can sometimes be contradictory. Nevertheless, it is possible to achieve organizational improvement white integrating between these three processes, as was displayed by the SHA.

Learning Microbial Community Structures with Supervised and Unsupervised Non-negative Matrix Factorization.

PubMed

Cai, Yun; Gu, Hong; Kenney, Toby

2017-08-31

Learning the structure of microbial communities is critical in understanding the different community structures and functions of microbes in distinct individuals. We view microbial communities as consisting of many subcommunities which are formed by certain groups of microbes functionally dependent on each other. The focus of this paper is on methods for extracting the subcommunities from the data, in particular Non-Negative Matrix Factorization (NMF). Our methods can be applied to both OTU data and functional metagenomic data. We apply the existing unsupervised NMF method and also develop a new supervised NMF method for extracting interpretable information from classification problems. The relevance of the subcommunities identified by NMF is demonstrated by their excellent performance for classification. Through three data examples, we demonstrate how to interpret the features identified by NMF to draw meaningful biological conclusions and discover hitherto unidentified patterns in the data. Comparing whole metagenomes of various mammals, (Muegge et al., Science 332:970-974, 2011), the biosynthesis of macrolides pathway is found in hindgut-fermenting herbivores, but not carnivores. This is consistent with results in veterinary science that macrolides should not be given to non-ruminant herbivores. For time series microbiome data from various body sites (Caporaso et al., Genome Biol 12:50, 2011), a shift in the microbial communities is identified for one individual. The shift occurs at around the same time in the tongue and gut microbiomes, indicating that the shift is a genuine biological trait, rather than an artefact of the method. For whole metagenome data from IBD patients and healthy controls (Qin et al., Nature 464:59-65, 2010), we identify differences in a number of pathways (some known, others new). NMF is a powerful tool for identifying the key features of microbial communities. These identified features can not only be used to perform difficult classification problems with a high degree of accuracy, they are also very interpretable and can lead to important biological insights into the structure of the communities. In addition, NMF is a dimension-reduction method (similar to PCA) in that it reduces the extremely complex microbial data into a low-dimensional representation, allowing a number of analyses to be performed more easily-for example, searching for temporal patterns in the microbiome. When we are interested in the differences between the structures of two groups of communities, supervised NMF provides a better way to do this, while retaining all the advantages of NMF-e.g. interpretability and a simple biological intuition.

Pursuit of stem enrollment in high school and higher education for Latino and Caucasian students with disabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, Laurel Ann

This study examined course enrollments for female and male Latino and Caucasian students with disabilities (SWD) in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) to establish baseline data in one region of the state of Washington. The study analyzed five academic years of STEM course enrollment in one high school Career and Technical Education (CTE) program and one comprehensive community college. The study uncovered the following findings: (a) Latino and Caucasian SWD STEM enrollment percentages were not significantly different in the high school CTE program, but were significantly different in the STEM program in the comprehensive community college; (b) more females enrolled in Science and males in Engineering than anticipated, (c) Mathematics had the smallest enrollment pattern by ethnicity and gender in both settings, and (d) more males than females enrolled in Technology courses in the comprehensive community college. This research suggests the use of universal design of learning, theory of mind, and the ecological learning theory to encourage STEM enrollment for students with disabilities. Keywords: Career and Technical Education (CTE), Caucasian, comprehensive community college, disability, enrollment, female, high school, Latino, male, STEM, student enrollment, and students with disabilities.

Why STEM Learning Communities Work: The Development of Psychosocial Learning Factors through Social Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carrino, Stephanie Sedberry; Gerace, William J.

2016-01-01

STEM learning communities facilitate student academic success and persistence in science disciplines. This prompted us to explore the underlying factors that make learning communities successful. In this paper, we report findings from an illustrative case study of a 2-year STEM-based learning community designed to identify and describe these…

The Group as Teacher: The Gestalt Peer-Learning Community as a Vehicle for Organisational Healing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barber, Paul

The possibility of using a Gestalt-informed peer learning community to facilitate reflective learning and organizational change was explored. A peer learning community model exists that is based on two approaches to working with mental illness--therapeutic community practice (which is based on treating the community group rather than individuals…

The Difference a Cohort Makes: Understanding Developmental Learning Communities in Community Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wathington, Heather D.; Pretlow, Joshua; Mitchell, Claire

2011-01-01

Learning communities, a small cohort of students enrolled together in two or more linked courses, have become a popular intervention to help underprepared students succeed in college. Though learning communities abound in practice, the key structural feature of a learning community--the cohort--may not be fully understood. Authors posit that a…

Business Students' Learning with Online Discussion Forums: The Case of a Virtual Classroom Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Jake

2010-01-01

This study examined what learning is and how learning was facilitated in a virtual classroom community using online discussion forums. Results demonstrated that learning in such a community was the active participation by the members of the community in the process of meaning construction. The construction of meaning in such a community was…

Lessons Learned (3 Years of H2O2 Propulsion System Testing Efforts at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, Gary O.

2001-01-01

John C. Stennis Space Center continues to support the Propulsion community in an effort to validate High-Test Peroxide as an alternative to existing/future oxidizers. This continued volume of peroxide test/handling activity at Stennis Space Center (SSC) provides numerous opportunities for the SSC team to build upon previously documented 'lessons learned'. SSC shall continue to strive to document their experience and findings as H2O2 issues surface. This paper is intended to capture all significant peroxide issues that we have learned over the last three years. This data (lessons learned) has been formulated from practical handling, usage, storage, operations, and initial development/design of our systems/facility viewpoint. The paper is intended to be an information type tool and limited in technical rational; therefore, presenting the peroxide community with some issues to think about as the continued interest in peroxide evolves and more facilities/hardware are built. These lessons learned are intended to assist industry in mitigating problems and identifying potential pitfalls when dealing with the requirements for handling high-test peroxide.

Barriers to calling 911 and learning and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation for residents of primarily Latino, high-risk neighborhoods in Denver, Colorado.

PubMed

Sasson, Comilla; Haukoos, Jason S; Ben-Youssef, Leila; Ramirez, Lorenzo; Bull, Sheana; Eigel, Brian; Magid, David J; Padilla, Ricardo

2015-05-01

Individuals in neighborhoods composed of minority and lower socioeconomic status populations are more likely to have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest event, less likely to have bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed, and less likely to survive. Latino cardiac arrest victims are 30% less likely than whites to have bystander CPR performed. The goal of this study is to identify barriers and facilitators to calling 911, and learning and performing CPR in 5 low-income, Latino neighborhoods in Denver, CO. Six focus groups and 9 key informant interviews were conducted in Denver during the summer of 2012. Purposeful and snowball sampling, conducted by community liaisons, was used to recruit participants. Two reviewers analyzed the data to identify recurrent and unifying themes. A qualitative content analysis was used with a 5-stage iterative process to analyze each transcript. Six key barriers to calling 911 were identified: fear of becoming involved because of distrust of law enforcement, financial, immigration status, lack of recognition of cardiac arrest event, language, and violence. Seven cultural barriers were identified that may preclude performance of bystander CPR: age, sex, immigration status, language, racism, strangers, and fear of touching someone. Participants suggested that increasing availability of tailored education in Spanish, increasing the number of bilingual 911 dispatchers, and policy-level changes, including CPR as a requirement for graduation and strengthening Good Samaritan laws, may serve as potential facilitators in increasing the provision of bystander CPR. Distrust of law enforcement, language concerns, lack of recognition of cardiac arrest, and financial issues must be addressed when community-based CPR educational programs for Latinos are implemented. Copyright © 2014 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Barriers to Calling 911 and Learning and Performing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation for Residents of Primarily Latino, High-Risk Neighborhoods in Denver, Colorado

PubMed Central

Sasson, Comilla; Haukoos, Jason S.; Ben-Youssef, Leila; Ramirez, Lorenzo; Bull, Sheana; Eigel, Brian; Magid, David J.; Padilla, Ricardo

2016-01-01

Study objective Individuals in neighborhoods composed of minority and lower socioeconomic status populations are more likely to have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest event, less likely to have bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed, and less likely to survive. Latino cardiac arrest victims are 30% less likely than whites to have bystander CPR performed. The goal of this study is to identify barriers and facilitators to calling 911, and learning and performing CPR in 5 low-income, Latino neighborhoods in Denver, CO. Methods Six focus groups and 9 key informant interviews were conducted in Denver during the summer of 2012. Purposeful and snowball sampling, conducted by community liaisons, was used to recruit participants. Two reviewers analyzed the data to identify recurrent and unifying themes. A qualitative content analysis was used with a 5-stage iterative process to analyze each transcript. Results Six key barriers to calling 911 were identified: fear of becoming involved because of distrust of law enforcement, financial, immigration status, lack of recognition of cardiac arrest event, language, and violence. Seven cultural barriers were identified that may preclude performance of bystander CPR: age, sex, immigration status, language, racism, strangers, and fear of touching someone. Participants suggested that increasing availability of tailored education in Spanish, increasing the number of bilingual 911 dispatchers, and policy-level changes, including CPR as a requirement for graduation and strengthening Good Samaritan laws, may serve as potential facilitators in increasing the provision of bystander CPR. Conclusion Distrust of law enforcement, language concerns, lack of recognition of cardiac arrest, and financial issues must be addressed when community-based CPR educational programs for Latinos are implemented. PMID:25481112

The Application of Observational Practice and Educational Networking in Simulation-Based and Distributed Medical Education Contexts.

PubMed

Welsher, Arthur; Rojas, David; Khan, Zain; VanderBeek, Laura; Kapralos, Bill; Grierson, Lawrence E M

2018-02-01

Research has revealed that individuals can improve technical skill performance by viewing demonstrations modeled by either expert or novice performers. These findings support the development of video-based observational practice communities that augment simulation-based skill education and connect geographically distributed learners. This study explores the experimental replicability of the observational learning effect when demonstrations are sampled from a community of distributed learners and serves as a context for understanding learner experiences within this type of training protocol. Participants from 3 distributed medical campuses engaged in a simulation-based learning study of the elliptical excision in which they completed a video-recorded performance before being assigned to 1 of 3 groups for a 2-week observational practice intervention. One group observed expert demonstrations, another observed novice demonstrations, and the third observed a combination of both. Participants returned for posttesting immediately and 1 month after the intervention. Participants also engaged in interviews regarding their perceptions of the usability and relevance of video-based observational practice to clinical education. Checklist (P < 0.0001) and global rating (P < 0.0001) measures indicate that participants, regardless of group assignment, improved after the intervention and after a 1-month retention period. Analyses revealed no significant differences between groups. Qualitative analyses indicate that participants perceived the observational practice platform to be usable, relevant, and potentially improved with enhanced feedback delivery. Video-based observational practice involving expert and/or novice demonstrations enhances simulation-based skill learning in a group of geographically distributed trainees. These findings support the use of Internet-mediated observational learning communities in distributed and simulation-based medical education contexts.

Peer Training of Community Health Workers to Improve Heart Health Among African American Women

PubMed Central

Willock, Robina Josiah; Mayberry, Robert M.; Yan, Fengxia; Daniels, Pamela

2015-01-01

Introduction Training community health workers (CHWs) builds a workforce that is essential to addressing the chronic disease crisis. This article describes a highly replicable CHW training program that targets heart disease risk among African American women. Background African American women suffer disproportionately from heart disease mortality and morbidity. Well-trained CHWs are uniquely positioned to close this disparity gap. Method We used a Learning Circle approach to train CHWs in heart health education. The curriculum blended web-based, self-directed learning and in-person peer coaching. CHWs learned through (a) peer-to-peer sharing, (b) problem solving and brainstorming, and (c) leadership and experiential activities. Training evaluation measures were CHWs' (a) self-confidence, (b) heart health knowledge, (c) satisfaction with training, (d) training retention, and (e) replication of training within 90 days after training. Results This training resulted in appreciable effects on four of five outcome measures. Heart health knowledge increased significantly among experienced CHWs (p = .011). CHWs were satisfied with training and retention was 100%. CHWs initiated and subsequently delivered 122 person hours of community heart health education and CHW training in their communities. Discussion/Conclusion CHW heart health training using Learning Circles is a practical and replicable method of training CHWs and holds significant potential for building capacity in resource-poor community organizations. PMID:24891525

Peer training of community health workers to improve heart health among African American women.

PubMed

Josiah Willock, Robina; Mayberry, Robert M; Yan, Fengxia; Daniels, Pamela

2015-01-01

Training community health workers (CHWs) builds a workforce that is essential to addressing the chronic disease crisis. This article describes a highly replicable CHW training program that targets heart disease risk among African American women. African American women suffer disproportionately from heart disease mortality and morbidity. Well-trained CHWs are uniquely positioned to close this disparity gap. Method. We used a Learning Circle approach to train CHWs in heart health education. The curriculum blended web-based, self-directed learning and in-person peer coaching. CHWs learned through (a) peer-to-peer sharing, (b) problem solving and brainstorming, and (c) leadership and experiential activities. Training evaluation measures were CHWs' (a) self-confidence, (b) heart health knowledge, (c) satisfaction with training, (d) training retention, and (e) replication of training within 90 days after training. This training resulted in appreciable effects on four of five outcome measures. Heart health knowledge increased significantly among experienced CHWs (p = .011). CHWs were satisfied with training and retention was 100%. CHWs initiated and subsequently delivered 122 person hours of community heart health education and CHW training in their communities. CHW heart health training using Learning Circles is a practical and replicable method of training CHWs and holds significant potential for building capacity in resource-poor community organizations. © 2014 Society for Public Health Education.

Nursing simulation: a community experience.

PubMed

Gunowa, Neesha Oozageer; Elliott, Karen; McBride, Michelle

2018-04-02

The education sector faces major challenges in providing learning experiences so that newly qualified nurses feel adequately prepared to work in a community setting. With this in mind, higher education institutions need to develop more innovative ways to deliver the community-nurse experience to student nurses. This paper presents and explores how simulation provides an opportunity for educators to support and evaluate student performance in an environment that models a complete patient encounter in the community. Following the simulation, evaluative data were collated and the answers analysed to identify key recommendations.

History-Infused Lessons in Introductory Calculus at the Secondary Level: Students' Learning and Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poh, Wei Beng; Dindyal, Jaguthsing

2016-01-01

A history-infused lesson package developed by a team of teachers in a professional learning community was used to teach introductory calculus in a secondary school. First, we report a quasi-experimental design that showed that students in the experimental group performed significantly better than students in the control group. Second, we report on…

Children's Reading Ability in Early Primary Schooling: Challenges for a Kenyan Rural Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mwoma, Teresa

2017-01-01

School outcomes and good performance in different subjects depends on children's ability to read. Thus teaching children on how to read during early grades is critical in promoting learning to read. More advanced skills acquired in later grades depend on early grade learning, so children who do not acquire these reading skills in their early…

Effective Literacy Instruction for Adults with Specific Learning Disabilities: Implications for Adult Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hock, Michael F.

2012-01-01

Adults with learning disabilities (LD) attending adult basic education, GED programs, or community colleges are among the lowest performers on measures of literacy. For example, on multiple measures of reading comprehension, adults with LD had a mean reading score at the third grade level, whereas adults without LD read at the fifth grade level.…

Learning Communities in Undergraduate STEM Education: A Quantitative Analysis of how Sense of Community Influences Retention of Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Archie, T.; Newman, P.

2012-12-01

Countless programs are aimed at retaining first year college students in their majors and at their institutions. Additionally, first year students in STEM majors are retained at lower rates, than non-STEM majors. Previous research has shown that students who leave the institution are not as academically and socially integrated into the campus community than students who persist at an institution. Residential learning communities can be thought of as a retention tool by enhancing the academic and social integration of their participants. Academic integration has historically been measured by academic success as indicated by GPA, while social integration has been more difficult to measure. We adapted the Sense of Community Index (SCI) as a measure of social integration. Sense of community (SOC) has been defined as ''a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members' needs will be met through their commitment to be together''. This quantitative study examines sense of community as a means of social integration and explores the relationship between learning communities, students' sense of community, and their intent to persist at a large public university and within their current major. An online survey of 60 first-year college students in a Natural Resources College, examined the relationships between learning community participation, sense of community, and student retention. A logistic regression of sense of community was very effective in predicting students' intent to stay or leave the institution. Structural equation models showed that sense of community was strongly positively related to a students' intent to stay or leave the institution for non-learning community participants, but not for learning community participants. We hypothesized that learning community participants sense of community needs would be more fully met than non-learning community participants. Learning community students showed a weak correlation between sense of community and intent to persist in their major, indicating that these students' departure decisions were based on factors other than sense of community. These finding were consistent with previous research of sense of community which has supported this construct as a needs based hierarchical theory. For example, if students' sense of community needs are met, then they can focus on higher level needs, such as academic success. Conversely, if students' sense of community needs are not being fully met, then this factor remains salient in terms of influencing their departure decision. Our results suggest that learning communities fulfill students' sense of community needs, thus this factor has less influence on learning community participants' decision to leave the institution than their counterparts who do not participate in a learning community. Our results suggest that learning communities are effective in fulfilling students' sense of community needs, thus allowing them to focus their energies on higher order needs such as academic success.

Performed Identity and Community among College Student Interns Preparing for Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Catherine F.

2014-01-01

Scholars have yet to gain a sense of how students perform their disparate identities of intellectual and worker as they navigate the potentially dueling aims of content learning and professional job training in internship courses. The author focuses on students in two internship courses in order to ascertain how they socially perform their roles…

Moments: The Foxfire Experience.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wigginton, Eliot

The high school journalism teacher who initiated the Foxfire Project discusses the memorable learning experiences and community studies in which students are involved as they develop and publish the Foxfire magazines. The author describes the project objectives and the successfully implemented teaching techniques and learning activities so that…

An Examination of How Community of Inquiry Relates to Student Performance in an Online Community College Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McWhorter, Robert Rowe

2013-01-01

Research has revealed that students in online classes may have higher rates of attrition than those in traditional face-to-face classes. Effective teaching and learning in an online environment requires different pedagogical skills than those used in traditional face-to-face classes. Online courses must focus on the quality of interaction. As an…

Managing a New Collaborative Entity in Business Organizations: Understanding Organizational Communities of Practice Effectiveness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkman, Bradley L.; Mathieu, John E.; Cordery, John L.; Rosen, Benson; Kukenberger, Michael

2011-01-01

Companies worldwide are turning to organizational communities of practice (OCoPs) as vehicles to generate learning and enhance organizational performance. OCoPs are defined as groups of employees who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic and who strengthen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on a consistent basis.…

Bringing Carnaval Drum and Dance Traditions into 4-H Programming for Latino Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conklin-Ginop, Evelyn; Braverman, Marc T.; Caruso, Robyn; Bone, Dennis

2011-01-01

4-H Bloco Drum and Dance is an afterschool program that teaches adolescents drumming, dancing, and theater arts in the rich traditions of Brazilian Carnaval. Teens learn to express themselves in a variety of modalities and perform at community events. The program was developed by a community coalition that included 4-H, other youth programs, and…

The College President's Critical Role in Modeling Assessment: A Lesson in Leadership by Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Somera, R. Ray D.

2007-01-01

The college president's role in supporting and promoting student learning outcomes and institutional assessment is a herculean one. At Guam Community College (GCC), the president has been performing a crucial role in setting an assessment example for the rest of the college community since he took office on June 16, 2001. Seeking to model an…

Beyond the Scores: Mathematics Identities of African American and Hispanic Fifth Graders in an Urban Elementary Community School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleshman, Paula Jenniver

2012-01-01

As mathematics identity affects students' learning and doing of mathematics, it is critical to understand the mathematics identities of African American and Hispanic students as the mathematical performance and pursuits of far too many continue to lag behind. Further, as community schools have been shown to positively impact students in urban…

Can Dialectical Behavior Therapy Be Learned in Highly Structured Learning Environments? Results from a Randomized Controlled Dissemination Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dimeff, Linda A.; Woodcock, Eric A.; Harned, Melanie S.; Beadnell, Blair

2011-01-01

This study evaluated the efficacy of methods of training community mental health providers (N=132) in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) distress tolerance skills, including (a) Linehan's (1993a) Skills Training Manual for Borderline Personality Disorder (Manual), (b) a multimedia e-Learning course covering the same content (e-DBT), and (c) a…

From a Sense of Stereotypically Foreign to Belonging in a Science Community: Ways of Experiential Descriptions about High School Students' Science Internship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Pei-Ling; Roth, Wolff-Michael

2010-01-01

Science educators often suggest that students should learn science in ways and settings that bear family resemblance with "the real thing." Internship in science laboratories constitutes one such way in which students may learn science and learn about science. However, very little is known about "how" participants experience a…

Using the Chemistry Classroom as the Starting Point for Engaging Urban High School Students and Their Families in Pro-Environmental Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daubenmire, Patrick L.; van Opstal, Mary T.; Hall, Natalie J.; Wunar, Bryan; Kowrach, Nicole

2017-01-01

Evolving mobile technology and the rapid spread of STEM-focused informal learning environments have created a unique opportunity to break through the barriers that have traditionally separated diverse learning contexts such as school, family, and community. Previous research suggest that in a well-designed family learning environment, both parents…

Linked Learning: Can Career and Technical Education Programs Take California High Schools into the 21st Century?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Brian Edward

2012-01-01

This qualitative study explored the ability of a linked learning career and technical education program to engage fully students and thereby increase at-risk students' persistence in school. The focus was to identify the degree to which linked learning career and technical education programs provide a community atmosphere, increase and maintained…

An Independent Investigation of the Utility of the Learning Disability Screening Questionnaire (LDSQ) within a Community Learning Disability Team

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stirk, Steven; Field, Bryony; Black, Jessica

2018-01-01

Background: The Learning Disability Screening Questionnaire (LDSQ) has been shown to have high sensitivity and specificity to identify those who are likely to meet intellectual disability diagnostic criteria (McKenzie, et al. [McKenzie K., 2015]). However, there is no independent research to date to support these findings. Materials and Methods:…

A Pilot Study of Service-Learning in a Spanish Heritage Speaker Course: Community Engagement, Identity, and Language in the Chicago Area

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petrov, Lisa Amor

2013-01-01

This article presents research findings from a pilot study of the use of service-learning in an intermediate-high class ("Spanish Language and Culture for Heritage Speakers") in the fall semesters of 2010 and 2011. Students reported gains in the areas of communication skills, dispositional learning, language, identity formation, and…

Argumentation Based Joint Learning: A Novel Ensemble Learning Approach

PubMed Central

Xu, Junyi; Yao, Li; Li, Le

2015-01-01

Recently, ensemble learning methods have been widely used to improve classification performance in machine learning. In this paper, we present a novel ensemble learning method: argumentation based multi-agent joint learning (AMAJL), which integrates ideas from multi-agent argumentation, ensemble learning, and association rule mining. In AMAJL, argumentation technology is introduced as an ensemble strategy to integrate multiple base classifiers and generate a high performance ensemble classifier. We design an argumentation framework named Arena as a communication platform for knowledge integration. Through argumentation based joint learning, high quality individual knowledge can be extracted, and thus a refined global knowledge base can be generated and used independently for classification. We perform numerous experiments on multiple public datasets using AMAJL and other benchmark methods. The results demonstrate that our method can effectively extract high quality knowledge for ensemble classifier and improve the performance of classification. PMID:25966359

Restructuring Schools for Young Adolescents. Issues in Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.

The schools attended by young adolescents must be transformed into "communities for learning" that provide students with a climate fostering their intellectual development. Such communities have high expectations for students, challenge them with an integrated curriculum, offer meaningful relationships with adults, and maintain an…

Beyond the Ivory Tower: A Comparison of Grades Across Academic and Community OB/GYN Clerkship Sites.

PubMed

Fay, Emily E; Schiff, Melissa A; Mendiratta, Vicki; Benedetti, Thomas J; Debiec, Kate

2016-01-01

CONSTRUCT: Decentralized clinical education is the use of community facilities and community physicians to educate medical students. The theory behind decentralized clinical education is that academic and community sites will provide educational equivalency as determined by objective and subjective performance measures, while training more medical students and exposing students to rural or underserved communities. One of the major challenges of decentralized clinical education is ensuring site comparability in both learning opportunities and evaluation of students. Previous research has examined objective measures of student performance, but less is known about subjective performance measures, particularly in the field of obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN). This study explores the implications of clinical site on the adequacy of subjective and objective performance measures. This was a retrospective cohort study of 801 students in the University of Washington School of Medicine OB/GYN clerkship from 2008 to 2012. Academic sites included those with OB/GYN residency programs (n = 2) and community sites included those without residency programs (n = 29). The association between clerkship site and National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) grade was assessed using linear regression and clinical and final grade using multinomial regression, estimating β coefficient and relative risks (RR), respectively, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for gender, academic quarter of clerkship, and year of clerkship. There were no differences in NBME exam grades of students at academic sites (76.4 (7.3) versus 74.6 (8.0), β = -0.11, 95% CI [1.35, 1.12] compared to community sites. For clinical grade, students at community sites were 2.4 times more likely to receive honors relative to high pass (RR 2.45), 95% CI [1.72, 3.50], and for final grade, students at community sites were 1.9 times more likely to receive honors relative to pass (RR 1.98), 95% CI [1.27, 3.09], and 1.6 times more likely to receive honors relative to high pass (RR 1.62), 95% CI [1.05, 2.50], compared to those at academic sites. Students at community sites receive higher clinical and final grades in the OB/GYN clerkship. This highlights a significant challenge in decentralized clinical education-ensuring site comparability in clinical grading, Further work should examine the differences in sites, as well as improve standardization of clinical grading. This also underscores an important consideration, as the final grade can influence medical school rank, nomination into honor societies, and ranking of residency applicants.

Professional Learning Communities: Assessment--Development--Effects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hipp, Kristine Kiefer; Huffman, Jane Bumpers

This presentation addresses three topics: (1) the assessment of professional learning communities in schools; (2) the design and development of professional learning communities in schools; and (3) the effects of professional learning communities in schools. The purpose of this brief document is to share descriptions, processes, and materials…

Learning Community Assessment 101--Best Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huerta, Juan Carlos; Hansen, Michele J.

2013-01-01

Good assessment is part of all good learning communities, and this article provides a useful set of best practices for learning community assessment planning: (1) articulating agreed-upon learning community program goals; (2) identifying the purpose of assessment (e.g., summative or formative); (3) employing qualitative and quantitative assessment…

Community involvement in out of hospital cardiac arrest

PubMed Central

Shams, Ali; Raad, Mohamad; Chams, Nour; Chams, Sana; Bachir, Rana; El Sayed, Mazen J.

2016-01-01

Abstract Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Developing countries including Lebanon report low survival rates and poor neurologic outcomes in affected victims. Community involvement through early recognition and bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can improve OHCA survival. This study assesses knowledge and attitude of university students in Lebanon and identifies potential barriers and facilitators to learning and performing CPR. A cross-sectional survey was administered to university students. The questionnaire included questions regarding the following data elements: demographics, knowledge, and awareness about sudden cardiac arrest, CPR, automated external defibrillator (AED) use, prior CPR and AED training, ability to perform CPR or use AED, barriers to performing/learning CPR/AED, and preferred location for attending CPR/AED courses. Descriptive analysis followed by multivariate analysis was carried out to identify predictors and barriers to learning and performing CPR. A total of 948 students completed the survey. Participants’ mean age was 20.1 (±2.1) years with 53.1% women. Less than half of participants (42.9%) were able to identify all the presenting signs of cardiac arrest. Only 33.7% of participants felt able to perform CPR when witnessing a cardiac arrest. Fewer participants (20.3%) reported receiving previous CPR training. Several perceived barriers to learning and performing CPR were also reported. Significant predictors of willingness to perform CPR when faced with a cardiac arrest were: earning higher income, previous CPR training and feeling confident in one's ability to apply an AED, or perform CPR. Lacking enough expertise in performing CPR was a significant barrier to willingness to perform CPR. University students in Lebanon are familiar with the symptoms of cardiac arrest, however, they are not well trained in CPR and lack confidence to perform it. The attitude towards the importance of bystander CPR and the need to learn CPR is very positive. Interventions should focus on public awareness campaigns regarding the importance of initiating bystander CPR while activating emergency medical services (EMS) and on making CPR training more available. PMID:27787361

The Application of Learning Theories in Community College Classrooms. UCLA Community College Bibliography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carducci, Rozana

2006-01-01

The references in this document provide an overview of empirical and conceptual scholarship on the application of learning theories in community college classrooms. Specific theories discussed in the citations include: active learning, cooperative learning, multiple intelligences, problem-based learning, and self-regulated learning. In addition to…

Learning to Be Drier: A Case Study of Adult and Community Learning in the Australian Riverland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Mike; Schulz, Christine

2009-01-01

This article explores the adult and community learning associated with "learning to be drier" in the Riverland region of South Australia. Communities in the Riverland are currently adjusting and making changes to their understandings and practices as part of learning to live with less water. The analysis of adult and community learning…

Reflective Writing and Life-Career Planning: Extending the Learning in a Learning Community Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nownes, Nicholas; Stebleton, Michael

2010-01-01

This essay recounts the authors' experiences as community college faculty members in a learning community (LC) linking first-year composition with a class in life-career planning and development. The authors begin with a learning community story shared recently over drinks with a group of community college English teachers. They use the story to…

Teaching social responsibility through community service-learning in predoctoral dental education.

PubMed

Brondani, Mario A

2012-05-01

Social responsibility refers to one's sense of duty to the society in which he or she lives. The Professionalism and Community Service (PACS) dental module at the University of British Columbia is based upon community service-learning and helps dental students to understand the challenges faced by vulnerable segments of the population as they actively reflect on experiences gathered from didactic and experiential activities. This article aims to illustrate the extent to which PACS has fostered awareness of social responsibility through the British Columbia Ministry of Education's Performance Standards Framework for Social Responsibility. Reflections were gathered from students in all four years of the D.M.D. program and were analyzed thematically in three categories of the framework: Contribution to the Classroom and Community, Value of Diversity in the Community, and Exercise of Responsibilities. The constant comparison analysis of the reflective qualitative data revealed that the students directly or indirectly addressed these three categories in their reflections as they synthesized their understanding of community issues and their collaborative roles as socially responsible members of the dental profession. Follow-up studies are needed to explore the impact of community-based dental education upon students' perceptions and understanding of social responsibility and professionalism regarding underserved communities.

Lessons Learned: Community Solar for Municipal Utilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

This report outlines the work that STAT has completed, discusses the range of approaches utilities are taking, and highlights several challenges municipal utilities face in deciding whether and how to pursue community solar. As this report shows, there is no 'silver bullet' in terms of municipal utility community solar design or implementation - programs vary significantly and are highly dependent on localized contexts.

Elevating "Low" Language for High Stakes: A Case for Critical, Community-Based Learning in a Medical Spanish for Heritage Learners Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martinez, Glenn; Schwartz, Adam

2012-01-01

Critical approaches to Spanish heritage language (SHL) pedagogy have called for more meaningful engagement with heritage language communities (Leeman, 2005). In a recent survey, furthermore, SHL students expressed a desire for more community-based activities in SHL curricula (Beaudrie, Ducar, & Relano-Pastor, 2009). This paper reports on the…

Effective collaborative learning in biomedical education using a web-based infrastructure.

PubMed

Wu, Yunfeng; Zheng, Fang; Cai, Suxian; Xiang, Ning; Zhong, Zhangting; He, Jia; Xu, Fang

2012-01-01

This paper presents a feature-rich web-based system used for biomedical education at the undergraduate level. With the powerful groupware features provided by the wiki system, the instructors are able to establish a community-centered mentoring environment that capitalizes on local expertise to create a sense of online collaborative learning among students. The web-based infrastructure can help the instructors effectively organize and coordinate student research projects, and the groupware features may support the interactive activities, such as interpersonal communications and data sharing. The groupware features also provide the web-based system with a wide range of additional ways of organizing collaboratively developed materials, which makes it become an effective tool for online active learning. Students are able to learn the ability to work effectively in teams, with an improvement of project management, design collaboration, and technical writing skills. With the fruitful outcomes in recent years, it is positively thought that the web-based collaborative learning environment can perform an excellent shift away from the conventional instructor-centered teaching to community- centered collaborative learning in the undergraduate education.

HPC in a HEP lab: lessons learned from setting up cost-effective HPC clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husejko, Michal; Agtzidis, Ioannis; Baehler, Pierre; Dul, Tadeusz; Evans, John; Himyr, Nils; Meinhard, Helge

2015-12-01

In this paper we present our findings gathered during the evaluation and testing of Windows Server High-Performance Computing (Windows HPC) in view of potentially using it as a production HPC system for engineering applications. The Windows HPC package, an extension of Microsofts Windows Server product, provides all essential interfaces, utilities and management functionality for creating, operating and monitoring a Windows-based HPC cluster infrastructure. The evaluation and test phase was focused on verifying the functionalities of Windows HPC, its performance, support of commercial tools and the integration with the users work environment. We describe constraints imposed by the way the CERN Data Centre is operated, licensing for engineering tools and scalability and behaviour of the HPC engineering applications used at CERN. We will present an initial set of requirements, which were created based on the above constraints and requests from the CERN engineering user community. We will explain how we have configured Windows HPC clusters to provide job scheduling functionalities required to support the CERN engineering user community, quality of service, user- and project-based priorities, and fair access to limited resources. Finally, we will present several performance tests we carried out to verify Windows HPC performance and scalability.

45 CFR 2517.300 - Who may participate in a community-based service-learning program?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...-learning program? 2517.300 Section 2517.300 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Eligibility To Participate § 2517.300 Who may participate in a community-based service-learning program...

45 CFR 2517.300 - Who may participate in a community-based service-learning program?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...-learning program? 2517.300 Section 2517.300 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Eligibility To Participate § 2517.300 Who may participate in a community-based service-learning program...

Analyzing Online Behaviors, Roles, and Learning Communities via Online Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Yu-Chu

2010-01-01

Online learning communities are an important means of sharing and creating knowledge. Online behaviors and online roles can reveal how online learning communities function. However, no study has elucidated the relationships among online behaviors, online roles, and online learning communities. In this study, 32 preservice teachers participated in…

Learning Communities Faculty Scholars: An Online, Targeted Faculty Development Course to Promote Scholarly Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steiner, Hillary H.

2016-01-01

Many learning communities instructors seek professional development opportunities that foster their growth as teacher-scholars. Learning communities programs, therefore, have an opportunity to provide targeted, "just in time" training that allows for the immediate application of knowledge to a learning community setting, maximizing…

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. Volume 13, Number 1, Fall 2006

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Jeffrey, Ed.

2006-01-01

The "Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning" ("MJCSL") is a national, peer-reviewed journal consisting of articles written by faculty and service-learning educators on research, theory, pedagogy, and issues pertinent to the service-learning community. The "MJCSL" aims to: (1) widen the community of…

Canada's Composite Learning Index: A Path Towards Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cappon, Paul; Laughlin, Jarrett

2013-01-01

In the development of learning cities/communities, benchmarking progress is a key element. Not only does it permit cities/communities to assess their current strengths and weaknesses, it also engenders a dialogue within and between cities/communities on the means of enhancing learning conditions. Benchmarking thereby is a potentially motivational…

Latina Student Perceptions of Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yaqub, Samia

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the learning that occurs in Latina students who enroll in learning communities designed for underprepared community college students. The research question guiding this study is: What are the experiences of Latina students enrolled in developmental learning community courses which have the greatest impact on…

Circle and Lines: Complexities of Learning in Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schupack, Sara

2013-01-01

Following is a study that explores learning in community in a fully-integrated, team taught course at a community college in New England. These classes, Learning Communities (LCs) represent rich opportunities for exploring and practicing democratic education. From a theoretical grounding in social learning theories and an exploration into learning…

Learning Communities for Curriculum Change: Key Factors in an Educational Change Process in New Zealand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Frances

2012-01-01

Increasingly school change processes are being facilitated through the formation and operation of groups of teachers working together for improved student outcomes. These groupings are variously referred to as networks, networked learning communities, communities of practice, professional learning communities, learning circles or clusters. The…

An Examination of the Impact of Learning Communities on Job

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilmes, David M.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between learning community participation and job/major congruence. Previous research has demonstrated that learning communities are effective vehicles for promoting student and institutional outcomes. However, few studies have examined the impact of learning communities on alumni or career…

Community Partners' Assessment of Service Learning in an Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steimel, Sarah J.

2013-01-01

This assessment explored community partners' perceptions of service learning in a required communication course. Semi-structured interviews revealed that community partners believed that students were providing needed and valuable service, students were learning about the community, and students were learning through their application of course…

Designing learning environments to promote student learning: ergonomics in all but name.

PubMed

Smith, Thomas J

2013-01-01

This report introduces evidence for the conclusion that a common theme underlies almost all proposed solutions for improving the performance of K-12 students, namely their reliance on the design of educational system environments, features and operations. Two categories of design factors impacting such performance are addressed: (1) 9 factors reliably shown to have a strong influence - namely environmental design of classroom and building facilities, longer exposure to learning, cooperative learning designs, early childhood education, teaching quality, nutritional adequacy, participation in physical activity, good physical fitness, and school-community integration; and (2) 11 factors with an equivocal, varied or weak influence - classroom technology, online learning environments, smaller class size, school choice, school funding, school size, school start times, teacher training level, amount of homework, student self-confidence and informal learning. It is concluded that: (1) student learning outcomes, and more broadly the edifice of education itself, are largely defined in terms of an extensive system of design factors and conditions; (2) the time is long overdue for the educational system to acknowledge the central role of E/HF design as the major influence on student performance and learning; and (3) K-12 educators and administrators should emphasize allocation of resources to design factors reliably shown to have a strongly positive impact on student performance, but should treat expenditure on factors with equivocal, varied or weak influence on such performance with more caution and/or skepticism.

Creating a Community of Practice to Prevent Suicide Through Multiple Channels: Describing the Theoretical Foundations and Structured Learning of PC CARES.

PubMed

Wexler, Lisa; McEachern, Diane; DiFulvio, Gloria; Smith, Cristine; Graham, Louis F; Dombrowski, Kirk

2016-01-01

It is critical to develop practical, effective, ecological, and decolonizing approaches to indigenous suicide prevention and health promotion for the North American communities. The youth suicide rates in predominantly indigenous small, rural, and remote Northern communities are unacceptably high. This health disparity, however, is fairly recent, occurring over the last 50 to 100 years as communities experienced forced social, economic, and political change and intergenerational trauma. These conditions increase suicide risk and can reduce people's access to shared protective factors and processes. In this context, it is imperative that suicide prevention includes--at its heart--decolonization, while also utilizing the "best practices" from research to effectively address the issue from multiple levels. This article describes such an approach: Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES). PC CARES uses popular education strategies to build a "community of practice" among local and regional service providers, friends, and families that fosters personal and collective learning about suicide prevention in order to spur practical action on multiple levels to prevent suicide and promote health. This article will discuss the theoretical underpinnings of the community intervention and describe the form that PC CARES takes to structure ongoing dialogue, learning, solidarity, and multilevel mobilization for suicide prevention. © The Author(s) 2016.

Creating a Community of Practice to Prevent Suicide Through Multiple Channels: Describing the Theoretical Foundations and Structured Learning of PC CARES

PubMed Central

Wexler, Lisa; McEachern, Diane; DiFulvio, Gloria; Smith, Cristine; Graham, Louis F.; Dombrowski, Kirk

2016-01-01

It is critical to develop practical, effective, ecological, and decolonizing approaches to indigenous suicide prevention and health promotion for the North American communities. The youth suicide rates in predominantly indigenous small, rural, and remote Northern communities are unacceptably high. This health disparity, however, is fairly recent, occurring over the last 50 to 100 years as communities experienced forced social, economic, and political change and intergenerational trauma. These conditions increase suicide risk and can reduce people’s access to shared protective factors and processes. In this context, it is imperative that suicide prevention includes—at its heart—decolonization, while also utilizing the “best practices” from research to effectively address the issue from multiple levels. This article describes such an approach: Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES). PC CARES uses popular education strategies to build a “community of practice” among local and regional service providers, friends, and families that fosters personal and collective learning about suicide prevention in order to spur practical action on multiple levels to prevent suicide and promote health. This article will discuss the theoretical underpinnings of the community intervention and describe the form that PC CARES takes to structure ongoing dialogue, learning, solidarity, and multilevel mobilization for suicide prevention. PMID:26880738

Becoming a Physicist: How Identities and Practices Shape Physics Trajectories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quan, Gina M.

This dissertation studies the relationships and processes which shape students' participation within the discipline of physics. Studying this early disciplinary participation gives insight to how students are supported in or pushed out of physics, which is an important step in cultivating a diverse set of physics students. This research occurs within two learning environments that we co-developed: a physics camp for high school girls and a seminar for undergraduate physics majors to get started in physics research. Using situated learning theory, we conceptualized physics learning to be intertwined with participation in physics practices and identity development. This theoretical perspective draws our attention to relationships between students and the physics community. Specifically, we study how students come to engage in the practices of the community and who they are within the physics community. We find that students' interactions with faculty and peers impact the extent to which students engage in authentic physics practices. These interactions also impact the extent to which students develop identities as physicists. We present implications of these findings for the design of physics learning spaces. Understanding this process of how students become members of the physics community will provide valuable insights into fostering a diverse set of successful trajectories in physics.