Abstract: Dialogue is “at the heart of the e-learning experience” (Littleton & Whitelock 2004, p.173). It is the means to building mutual understanding, encouraging the construction of personal meaning and ensuring engagement. Inquiry requires dialogue. If we value processes of inquiry, then it is at our peril that we ignore the complex issues and aspects of designing and facilitating in online environments for inquiry processes. How do we design online learning experiences that encourage dialogue and a process of inquiry? A phenomenological inquiry using student postings, student interviews and survey data from an online undergraduate course is undertaken to explore the dynamic interrelation between design, facilitation, tools and learning. As part of the analysis, a heuristic device was developed – the Map of aspects of dialogical inquiry. In this article, this device and the dynamic interrelation between design, facilitation, tools and learning are discussed, and implications for practitioners teaching in online environments are explored.

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Abstract: In this study, the practices and views of lecturers who teach inclusive education to trainee primary school teachers are examined in relation to their own inclusive teaching practices as they pertain to working with students with a disability. This examination draws on interview data gleaned from nine university lecturers. These data provide important information about inclusive education practices in higher education institutions generally and, in particular, education faculties. The results of the data analysis indicate that even though all the lecturers self identify as inclusive educators and adopt various inclusive teaching and assessment practices, barriers exist that impede inclusive practice in tertiary settings. Recommendations for future research and training conclude the paper.

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Abstract: Leadership beliefs contribute to behaviors and attitudes. The purposes for conducting this study were 1) to gain an understanding of undergraduate students’ leadership beliefs, 2) to implement three distinct leadership modules into an introductory textiles and clothing course, and 3) to assess the modules’ effectiveness in promoting empowering leadership beliefs. The study used quantitative and qualitative methods (n=76). Findings suggest undergraduates’ perceptions of leadership encompass trait and situational perspectives of leadership. The modules influenced students’ understanding of the varied definitions of leadership and empowered them to consider that the behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes of leadership were attainable.

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Abstract: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Fellows Program at Southeast Missouri State University supports an annual cohort of 10 faculty Fellows to evaluate, through individual research projects, the effect of teaching on student learning of two or more of the university’s General Education objectives. Designed around practical action research and collaborative peer consulting, the SoTL Fellows Program creates a multidisciplinary community of peers who meet approximately monthly (seminar schedule included). Subgroups within the seminar address sequenced questions about research processes and then collaboratively consult with one another as they apply the research processes to their specific projects. The Fellowship year culminates in a presentation of project findings to the University community. The Program is well supported by the Administration. Fellows receive up to $1500 for research and travel. Analysis of 3 cohorts of Fellows showed that 66% of the projects had clear results showing enhanced student learning. The surveyed Fellows affected over 4500 students in 100 courses. Most of the projects emphasized a new teaching approach, new curriculum materials, integrated applications, and active learning. Fifteen projects were presented at conferences and 7 were published in peer reviewed journals to date. Participation in the SoTL Fellows Program is viewed positively in promotion and tenure decisions, with Fellows reporting a variety of intrinsic rewards as well.

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Abstract: Participation in service learning projects is a growing phenomenon at universities and colleges. Research indicates service projects are beneficial for college students and adults. There is little data investigating developmental differences in how younger versus older participants perceive the service learning process. In this project, older adults joined high school and university students on a ten-day service mission to Panama to provide humanitarian aid. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, participants were assessed on their motivations for volunteering, their belief in a just world, and their emotional experiences from working in a service learning setting. On the Volunteer Functions Inventory, there was no significant difference between the students’ and the adults’ motivation to volunteer, but as evidenced on the Global Belief Scale, students were more likely to endorse the belief that life is fair and predictable and that people get what they deserve than were the older non-students. The Aids Caregiver Scale indicated younger and older participants reported similar levels of satisfaction in their work on this project. The qualitative analysis involved a paper synthesizing the experience from a strict service learning perspective. Suggestions and recommendations for similar projects are included.

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Abstract: This paper conveys the findings of a study conducted to evaluate the initiation of an interactive online computer-assisted learning module, called WEBLEARN, in an undergraduate introductory accounting course at an Australian university. The purpose was to aid students in the preparation of cash flow statements, a topic that from the student perspective is usually considered fairly difficult. Following the pilot of the module, student responses were collected via questionnaire in order to evaluate their perceptions regarding the WEBLEARN module. Diffusion of innovations theory was utilized as a framework for assessing student responses and to guide further development of modules in other topics within the accounting unit. The results proved to be significant in relation to all four independent variables: relative advantage, compatibility, ease of use, and result demonstrability. The combination of quantitative and qualitative findings indicates that the majority of students formed favourable perceptions regarding the relative advantage, compatibility, and ease of using the module, which further translated into positive intentions regarding prospective use of the module as a learning resource.

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Abstract: The increase in numbers of international students who have English as a second language (ESL) and are studying in English-medium universities has renewed the emphasis of English language development in higher education, particularly concerning academic writing. Much of the discussion has concentrated on developing best practices in providing support via Language and Academic Support (LAS) programs. However, the main challenge in recent years has focused on integrating disciplinary and language learning. What has been largely missing from the discussion are the views of lecturers and students regarding the strategies they use to develop academic writing in the discipline. This paper addresses this issue. The analysis reveals that academic writing within the disciplines is largely an individual endeavor for both lecturers and their students. Lecturers focus on explaining what skills students are required to demonstrate in their assignments, but students are more concerned with understanding how they can develop these skills. The implications are discussed concerning the development of a whole institutional approach for integrating language and disciplinary teaching.

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Abstract: This paper describes an innovative teaching collaboration between two university professors to prepare undergraduate preservice teachers for planning, designing, and assessing interdisciplinary curriculum. Specifically, we were interested in whether deliberate efforts to integrate social studies and assessment methods courses would facilitate our students’ learning compared to when such courses are taught in isolation (traditional instruction). Fifty-nine undergraduate elementary education preservice teachers served as participants. Approximately half received integrated instruction, the other half traditional instruction. In both instructional formats, preservice teachers were required to design and implement interdisciplinary units (i.e., lessons, assessments) during their clinical experience. Examination of interdisciplinary units revealed that preservice teachers receiving integrated instruction outperformed their nonintegrated coursework peers in developing, assessing, and reflecting on interdisciplinary content.

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Abstract: This study focused on training students in skills essential to making oral presentations based on original and independent research work as part of their English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course. As a result of the training, students showed an increase in the successful use of researchrelated skills and a great improvement in their ability to present their findings in English. Students appeared to have a better grasp of their subject matter, to be more at ease, less reliant on their notes, and better able to address their audiences directly. Students’ oral presentations not only illustrated a greater ability of students to use appropriate formats and structures in English but also a willingness and ability to adopt new methods of learning. This would seem to suggest that the preference for ‘rote learning’ so commonly attributed to Hong Kong students is indeed the result of expectations and experiences in previous learning situations rather than the intrinsic and inherent characteristics of the learners themselves.

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Abstract: When students are involved in a classroom activity designed to promote the learning of specific concepts, it is more likely they will understand and retain these concepts when they engage emotionally in the learning experience. The difficulty for teachers involved in higher education is how to engage students in their learning in an emotionally challenging way while maintaining a classroom environment in which students feel safe. In the following instructional paper, the use of role-play as a pedagogical approach for enhancing learning through emotional engagement will be discussed. The paper highlights how the author makes use of role-play to provide genuine emotional challenges for students in a tertiary setting while still providing a safe learning environment.

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Abstract: In the present article, we will reflect on some didactic challenges and possibilities that emerge when teaching in interdisciplinary settings, and we will use and discuss the journey as a metaphor for learning. We argue that teaching in interdisciplinary studies rests on movements between different understandings, and that it gives ample opportunities for beneficial learning processes. This does not only apply to interdisciplinary studies. The metaphor of taking a journey can be used to illustrate the learning process and the dimension of personal change associated with moving between different understandings and discourses of knowledge. Some of the questions we will raise are: In what ways can differing disciplinary backgrounds be of help or create a hindrance? What are the specific didactic challenges one faces? What happens to one’s understanding of one’s own subject after having been confronted with something new and different?

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Abstract: Though the concept of noticing has been extensively addressed in the SLA literature, few studies suggest promoting noticing through collaborative feedback tasks (CFTs) in an EFL college writing classroom. To fill this gap, this paper attempts to provide a framework for promoting noticing through CFTs using three sequenced and interrelated CFTs: (I) pre-noticing stage that aims at instructing the students on how the feedback task functions and what its purposes are, (II) whilenoticing stage that is based on two interrelated feedback tasks, namely contrastive-critical framing and transformed practice, and (III) post-noticing stage that is aimed at helping students reflect on what they have learned during the entire feedback process. To begin with, the article provides definitions of noticing. It then discusses how noticing and feedback are closely related to facilitate second or foreign language writing learning. In what follows, it discusses how noticing and CFTs complement one another in order to facilitate critical and focused noticing to help students enhance their writing accuracy and fluency. Lastly, the article examines some challenges in promoting noticing through CFTs in an EFL writing classroom.

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Abstract: This paper focuses on the role of multimodal technologies in facilitating reflective processes and the subsequent assessment of reflectivity for students in pre-professional programs. Reflective practice has been established as a critical tool for developing identity in and on practice. This paper will focus firstly on reviewing salient literature about reflective practice and its use with pre-professional teachers. It will then report the processes and outcomes of the authors’ practices, as supported by the literature. Various reflective practices will be examined and explained. The role of the E-Portfolio (Electronic Portfolio) as the vehicle for housing student reflective practice will be briefly explored and the process for using author-developed rubrics for assessing levels of reflective practice will also be shared. Suggestions for replication in other disciplines, while being implicit, will also be made explicit.

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