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After the transition to university, students need to build a new peer network, which helps them to adapt to university life. This study investigated to what extent students’ prosocial attitudes and academic achievement facilitate the embeddedness in friendship and help-seeking networks, while taking structural network characteristics into account. Participants were 95 first-year bachelor’s degree students and were part of learning communities consisting of 12 students at a university in the Netherlands. Measures included student-reports of prosocial attitudes, peer nominations of friendship and help-seeking networks, and officially registered grades (GPA). Longitudinal social network analysis, stochastic actor-based modeling with the package RSiena, revealed that both students’ own prosocial attitudes and achievement played a role in their friendship formation, whereas only students’ own achievement made the formation of their help-seeking relationships more likely. When students were friends, it was more likely that they approached each other for help and vice versa. Similarity in achievement level contributed to relationship formation in friendship and help-seeking networks. Overall, the results underscore the importance of both student’ prosocial attitudes and achievement for their social adjustment (i.e., making friends) and only achievement for their academic adjustment (i.e., seeking help) during the first year of university within the context of small-scale teaching.

The preoccupation within executive education with addressing relevance and resource constraints, with developing the capacity of participants to become reflexive practitioners, and with sustaining ...

Because of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the authors’ medical school transitioned to an all-virtual learning environment from March to June 2020, which raised concerns among student leaders and administrators as reduced interpersonal attachments have known associations with decreased mental health. In an effort to facilitate student well-being during the pandemic, the Virtual Wellness and Learning Communities program was established. The authors evaluate the effect of this Virtual Wellness and Learning Communities program on medical student sense of wellness and community during the pandemic., Objectives Numerous studies have demonstrated the high risk for burnout and mental illness in medical students. Because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, our medical school transitioned to an all-virtual learning environment from March to June 2020, which raised concerns among student leaders and administrators, as reduced interpersonal attachments have known associations with decreased mental health. In an effort to facilitate student well-being during the pandemic, the Virtual Wellness and Learning Communities (VWLC) program was established. VWLC consisted of hour-long events that offered students the opportunity to engage with their peers online. Methods More than 20 events and workshops were conducted from March to June 2020, including trivia nights, song and guitar performances, sketching, video editing tutorials, chess lessons, yoga, and personal investing tips. An institutional review board–approved survey to assess the efficacy of the VWLC program was sent to medical student participants and nonparticipants. Results The overall response rate of this study was 43% (53/123). The response rate for students who attended a VWLC event was 51% (33/65), and the response rate for students who did not attend a VWLC event was 34% (20/58). Of all of the respondents, 85% (45/53) reported a decreased sense of connectivity with peers because of the pandemic, and 40% (21/53) reported a decrease in their sense of wellness. After attending a VWLC event, 79% (26/33) reported an increased sense of peer connectivity, 61% (20/33) reported improved wellness, and 55% (18/33) believed that these events should continue postpandemic to supplement in-person programming. Those who did not attend a virtual event stated that the main barriers to attending were unfamiliarity with attendees and screen fatigue. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened medical student well-being and sense of community. VWLC programming may be an effective strategy for promoting medical student wellness and community while social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. To our knowledge, this is the first virtual wellness program for promotion of medical student mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic to be described in the literature.

The Dialogue application is an innovative web-based communication tool that extends classroom boundaries and supports collaborative instructional goals. A key feature is the workspace environment in which professional dialogue is modeled and nurtured. For example, students in teacher preparation programs initiate dialogue that link the preservice teachers' university-based learning with field related experience in public schools. Another aspect is the shared dialogue across K-12 schools around student centered research projects. The Dialogue applications enables equal partnerships with community agencies, university students, and families. It supports networking and timely feedback to resolve issues. Additional features sustain communication and educational requirements of a learning community within a school and across semesters.

This study is designed to clarify important features of social network analysis for analyzing community-based activities in a CSCL setting. The theoretical and methodological background is social/communication network analysis, which is employed to identify and understand students' communication and interaction patterns when collaborating through wireless computer networking tools. Thirty-two students were given high-end laptops with access to the wireless Internet, and their use of and communicative patterns via these systems were gathered through a proxy server. Findings show that social influences, in the form of network prestige effects, strongly affected the likelihood and the extent to which information posted in the CSCL environment was shared by peers in this learning community.

The Knowledge Loom (http://knowledgeloom.org) web site, its companion Professional Development Workbook, and content partner data-input interface are examples of technology-supported tools intended to build learning communities that develop teaching expertise. The goal is to collect distributed teaching and learning knowledge and begin the process of weaving it into a rich tapestry of understanding of teaching and learning. The Knowledge Loom is a place where the work of educational researchers and practitioners comes together to put what works in teaching and learning into practice.

We present a shared workspace application for co-constructive tasks with functions for tracking, analyzing and feeding back parameters of collaboration to group members. The interdisciplinary approach is based on an integrative methodology for analyzing collaboration behavior and explicit surveyed data of group members' attitudes. In an exploratory study, we examined the influence of the feedback function, with the long term perspective of enriching collaboration processes in real communities of learners.

This study assesses participants' perceptions of long-term impacts of the Teachers of Quality Academy, a medical school faculty development program designed to prepare faculty to both practice and teach health system science. A previously published 1-year evaluation of the first cohort of 27 participants showed improved perceived skills, with positive career and health system impacts. In this 5-year evaluation, a mixed-methods design included a questionnaire followed by semistructured interviews to assess perceived long-term impacts on participants. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were completed. Questionnaire response rate was 88% (N = 22), and 14 interviews were analyzed. Results demonstrated that participants had incorporated quality improvement concepts into their clinical work and teaching, better understood interprofessionalism, and observed continued improvements in care delivery. They felt the longitudinal training, delivered in a shared setting, created a learning community with lasting positive effects in institutional culture, supported long-term professional development, and had broader institutional impact. Advancements in clinical care, medical education, and professional and academic advancements were noted.

This article examines the work of creating collaborative learning partnerships that fully include students with intellectual disabilities. The article reviews the scholarship of partnership as a starting point in discussing learning environments that support students with significant intellectual disabilities—a group that has only recently been encouraged to enroll in colleges and universities. The authors—a faculty member and two former undergraduate mentors in the University Studies program at Portland State University—offer reflections on their time partnering as facilitators of courses that include students with intellectual disabilities. They then analyze those reflections in relation to the scholarship of partnership and special education. The article presents evidence that the partnership approach to learning is more fully realized through intentional investment in universal design for learning principles and extended support networks invested in collaboration and interpersonal relationship. These approaches effectively bring students with disabilities into the center of educational environments and maintain their agency in shaping their learning communities.

PurposeIn this research, the emphasis is multifold. First objective is to study differences amongst India's Make-in-India, Germany's Industry 4.0 and China's Made-in-China 2025 on a macro level. Second objective is to identify where does individual industry segment out of the five broad segments (prioritized by Make-in-India initiative) represented by ten firms in India stand in terms of adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Third objective is to identify key barriers for each of these five industry segments. Finally, socio-technical interventions are also proposed aimed at faster adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methodological approach is followed to achieve the research objectives. First, for the macro-level comparison of three pertinent countries, extant research and industry literature have been relied upon. Thereafter, at a micro level, inputs from experts belonging to focal sectors are included in this study to ascertain the current level of readiness of adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and the barriers to adoption. Finally, the authors argue for and propose some socio-technical interventions that are aimed at mitigation of barriers for adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies.FindingsIt has been ascertained that amongst the ten firms (two each from given focal sectors) considered in the study, the automotive and the software firm are perhaps best placed to adopt the Industry 4.0 technology, while the infrastructure project management firm is least ready for Industry 4.0 technologies. The common barriers to adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, as elaborated by experts belonging to each of the ten firms, are also identified. These three commons barriers are resistance to change, unclear economic benefits and problems related to coordination and collaboration.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is one of first attempts to understand the nuances related to technology readiness across focal industries pertaining to the Make-in-India initiative and Industry 4.0. The study furthers the extant understanding of common and distinct barriers across industries. Employing the soft-systems methodology, the study advocates for a number of socio-technical interventions pertaining to establishment of e-skill ecosystem, community learning clusters and sector-focussed skill acquisition and augmentation. Since the study considers only two firms corresponding to each of the five focal sectors, including more firms across industries could have resulted in further validation of study as well.Practical implicationsContrasting the initiatives of the three countries results in identification of different thematic focus of the respective initiatives. While India's Make-in-India initiative has a strong social dimension, Germany's Industry 4.0 and Made-in-China 2025 have key objective related to integration of cyber-physical systems and to graduate to innovation-driven country, respectively. Further, analysis on the technology readiness for adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies based on the respective experts' assessment results in understanding of the underlying barriers.Social implicationsAdopting the soft-systems perspective linking nuances of stakeholders, socio-technical systems and socio-economic characteristics results in several propositions to further the social objectives of India's Make-in-India initiative. These propositions advocate for pathways in which extant strengths in terms of technology, people and existing socio-technical structures can be brought together to cater to the requirements related to employability and skill augmentation of new as well as existing workforce.Originality/valueExtant research literature is primarily focussed on certain specific topics within Industry 4.0 implementation and is mainly based on conceptual or theoretical basis. From a practitioners' perspective, only a few empirical papers could be found that too are typically focussed on single case studies resulting from pilot applications of Industry 4.0. However, such papers have not examined the broad implications of Industry 4.0 in terms of differences between key countries' manufacturing initiatives, readiness of key sectors, sectoral barriers and accompanying policy-level implications associated with implementation of Industry 4.0. Thus, the objective of this research is to abridge these research gaps.

Diversity is a key driver of scientific innovation, yet fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have struggled to retain diverse communities. Research suggests that fostering a sense of belonging is critical for retaining diversity. We propose an iterative process that aims to improve sense of belonging among laboratory (lab) members through self-reflection and community collective action.

This study aims to determine whether the Civic Community Learning model that uses the Citizenship Economics approach, which can improve the acquisition of learning outcomes and student learning activities in the Advanced Financial Accounting course, is right on the topic of accounting for branch companies in Economic Education Studies Program. The approach used in this research is qualitative. The method used is action research. Researchers are the key instrument. Data collection techniques are carried out through learning outcomes tests and rubrics for assessing student activities, data analysis is inductive, and qualitative research results emphasize meaning rather than generalization first. Establish performance indicators for the success of each given action. The data sources in this study were students in the third semester of the 2020/2021 academic year majoring in social studies education, economic education study program. This study involved 33-semester 3rd students of the economics study program for the 2020/2021 academic year. This study shows that the acquisition of student learning outcomes and student learning activities taught with the Learning Community learning model in the subject matter of Advanced Financial Accounting, Corporate Accounting Branch has increased.

The proportion of Australian students enrolling in a fully distance, online mode has been increasing over the past decade across a range of courses, including initial teacher education (ITE). The COVID-19 pandemic has further increased the need to teach and design courses in ways that successfully engage students online. This research set out to gain a deeper understanding of what it means for ITE students to be engaged in online learning and how teacher educators can enhance pedagogical practices in the online learning space. Our research tracked the experiences of nine ITE students through a series of interviews before, during, and at the conclusion of a 13-week semester, enabling us to gain valuable insights into the factors that contributed to student engagement throughout this length of time. Our findings offer some pragmatic suggestions for successfully "hosting" these students as they join and participate in the teacher education community. Using the analogy of hosting a party, we propose ways to effectively welcome online students into their learning community, encourage them to participate, enjoy the experience, and be less inclined to leave early.

PurposeThis paper reviews changing government policy on adult education in England over the past 20 years and the funding regimes affecting adult and community learning and union-led learning, which play a major role in learning opportunities for socially excluded adults.Design/methodology/approachA review and analysis of extant literature, informed by previous involvement in the sector and ongoing collaborations.FindingsTwo decades ago, adult education in England provided a variety of learning opportunities for people who either had limited qualifications or who needed to reskill for whatever reason. Access to those opportunities has been reduced just when it is most needed.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a review and viewpoint paper based on experience in England, the limitations of which are discussed in the concluding section. Notwithstanding the institutional specificities of adult education in England, many of the implications are generic and have wider relevance beyond this country context.Practical implicationsEconomic recovery post-coronavirus (COVID) and Brexit will require more access to adult education so people can prepare for labour market re-integration. The practical implication of extending provision in adult education to support labour market integration of vulnerable workers is relevant to most countries.Originality/valueThis paper takes a holistic view of adult education, with particular attention to adult and community learning and union-led learning.

BACKGROUND: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) remains a major complication in the neonatal population. Standard practices regarding the care of premature infants and attitudes toward NEC prevention strategies vary across neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Evidence-based best practice dissemination was presented through the NEC Zero bundle. To close gaps between evidence and practice, a telehealth-delivered intervention (ie, NeoECHO) was provided to NICUs. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to enable adoption of best practice for NEC prevention using NeoECHO through describing the local volunteer unit leaders’, or internal facilitators (IF), experiences in participating in NeoECHO and identifying the extent to which the facilitation activities within the NeoECHO experience were consistent with constructs from the integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (iPARHIS) framework. METHODS: The design of the study was qualitative descriptive. Six internal facilitators (IFs) were recruited in the Southwest. After 6 NeoECHO sessions, individual interviews were conducted with each IF and transcribed verbatim. Content analysis was applied. Codes were informed by the iPARIHS framework. RESULTS: Major themes were (1) Innovation themes of quality improvement projects, Bundles of Care, and Huddle; (2) Recipient themes of Reluctant Stakeholders and Technical Modalities; (3) Context themes of Buy-In, Timing, Resources, Leadership, and Blame; (4) Facilitation themes of Betterment, Buddy System, Passionate Care, and Empowerment; and (5) Adoption themes of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), Evidence-Based Practice, and Honest Discussions. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND RESEARCH: NeoECHO fostered a learning community to share current practices, policies, and strategies to implement prevention, but the internal facilitators were essential to foster local participation. The long-term impacts of NeoECHO are the focus of current research.

Recreating the social aspects of face-to-face teaching in an online environment became more challenging in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. With limited or no face-to-face interaction with students, lecturers had to explore alternative ways to recreate aspects of an engaging and supportive face-to-face learning environment. This article focuses on the use of online discussion forums through the lens of the Community of Inquiry (COI) framework to meaningfully engage a mathematics community of learning. The COI framework, comprising social, cognitive and teaching presences, has been widely applied to online learning. We investigate the question: ‘How can online discussion forums support the development of a learning community in a fully online Vector Calculus course?’ We do this through evaluating our online discussion forum as a COI and consequently recommend design principles. Data from engineering students taking Vector Calculus in an extended degree at a South African university includes interviews, surveys, discussion forum content, and learning platform analytics. Analysis of data using the COI framework shows that discussion forums contributed to social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence. Design principles and directions for further research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science & Technology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study describes the andragogy competence of facilitators in the training of avocado breeders at the West Sumatra agricultural training center who are competent. This can be seen through the approach and encouragement made by the facilitator to the training participants in carrying out the training, then the facilitator also uses appropriate learning media and appropriate training methods. The objectives of this study are to (1) describe the Andragogy Competence of the Facilitator in understanding the learning community. (2) Describe the Andragogy Competence of the Facilitator in designing learning. (3) Describe the Andragogy Competence of the Facilitator in carrying out learning. (4) Describe the Andragogy Competence of the Facilitator in evaluating learning. This research is a research with a quantitative approach and the type of this research is descriptive. The population in this study were 30 people, the sampling technique was random sampling and taken as many as 50% or as many as 15 people. Techniques in collecting data using a questionnaire and data collection tools in the form of a list of statements. The data analysis technique uses the percentage formula. The results of this study indicate that: (1) Description of the andragogy competence of facilitators in avocado breeder training at the West Sumatra Agricultural Training Center. Judging from the sub-variable Understanding Learning Citizens, it is categorized as competent. (2) Description of facilitator's andragogy competence in avocado breeder training at the West Sumatra Agricultural Training Center. Judging from the sub-variables in designing learning, they are categorized as competent. (3) Description of facilitator's andragogy competence in avocado breeder training at the West Sumatra Agricultural Training Center. Judging from the sub-variables carrying out learning are categorized as competent. (4) Description of facilitator's andragogy competence in avocado breeder training at the West Sumatra Agricultural Training Center. Judging from the sub-variables, evaluating learning is categorized as competent. For further researchers to be able to use this thesis as a reference and to look for new findings so that they can increase the existing variables.

The COVID-19 pandemic upended the lives of families with young children as school closures and social distancing requirements left caregivers struggling to facilitate educational experiences, maintain social connections, and ensure financial stability. Considering families' increased reliance on technology to survive, this research documents parents' lived experiences adapting to technology's outsized role alongside other shifts in family life associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we describe a 10-week study with 30 enrolled families with children aged 3 to 13 in the United States using the asynchronous remote communities (ARC) methodology to 1) understand the benefits and challenges faced by families as they adapted technology at home to navigate the pandemic, and 2) to ideate improvements to those experiences through co-design. We found that amidst gaps in infrastructural support from schools, workplaces, and communities, parents experienced deep anxiety and took on new roles, including tech support, school administrator, and curator of meaningful activities for their children. As parents shared bold and creative technology-based solutions for improving family well-being, schooling experiences, social life, and beyond, they demonstrated their capacity to contribute to new models of learning and family life. Our findings are a call to action for CSCW researchers, designers, and family-focused practitioners to work with learning communities that incorporate parent, teacher, and technology experiences in their academic and community planning.

Purpose This study aims to determine the effect of online social networks on university students’ environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). This research aimed to develop and test a behavioral model in the context of online social networks, where students’ attitudes, knowledge and behavior influence their ERB. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quasi-experiment with a pretest-posttest design and a random parallelization control group. The research used a questionnaire to assess ERB, environmental attitudes and environmental knowledge. The researcher randomly assigned 120 students to an experimental and a control group of equal size. Both groups initially completed a pretest. The experimental group was trained in environmental issues over four months (an academic semester) via an online social network. Findings The findings indicated that the social network had a significant effect on motivating ERB. Additionally, it improved environmental attitudes. According to the results, online social networks such as Facebook can significantly aid in teaching and learning environmental issues in formal academic settings. Originality/value Online social networks facilitated significant cognitive progress in environmental education. The primary objective is to educate students about ERB.

Purpose: This community service aims to improve skills and provide knowledge for majelis taklim members about using Zoom meeting for the virtual event and broadcasting virtual events through Youtube streaming service in Malaka Jaya District, Jakarta City. Method: This community service applied an interactive method with survey location, finding community problems with interview methods and training methods to provide knowledge and improve the majelis taklim community of Malaka Jaya District, Jakarta City. Results: Organizing online meetings with Zoom meetings can provide solutions to majelis taklim community during the Covid-19 pandemic, where the implementation of studies can still be held without face-to-face. It supports government movements to prevent the transmission of the Covid-19 virus. In addition, broadcasting a study event by streaming on a Youtube channel can have a broad impact on the general public. Conclusion: Training on Zoom meetings and Youtube streaming can develop a wider online islamic learning community.

Learning communities are often associated with higher student engagement and academic achievement. Few studies to date, however, have examined the impacts of these practices among international students. To address this gap, the following questions led the current study: “To what degree is participation in learning communities associated with international students’ (1) engagement in educationally beneficial activities, (2) learning outcomes (e.g., general, practical, and professional development), and (3) overall satisfaction with their institutional environment and educational experience?” Drawing on student development theory, we designed a path analysis using a structural equation modelling to assess both the direct and the indirect effects. The results suggest that while students’ participation in learning communities positively correlates to student learning gains and satisfaction, the student engagement indicators are the significant mediating predictors for both outcomes, thus recommending that institutions interested in assessing the impacts of learning communities should determine not only the direct effects but also the indirect effects of these practices. Our results also show differences in participation patterns among international student subgroups. Institutions should be aware of such differences and make efforts to scale high impact practices like learning communities to provide opportunities for more students to become involved in these educationally purposeful activities. The findings call for future research aimed at identifying the environmental and individual conditions that are most conducive to the cultivation of these practices for international students.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to determine what experienced school leaders learned through participating in a three-year leadership initiative, called the Leadership Learning Community (LLC), that helped them coach less experienced leaders to lead school improvement efforts.Design/methodology/approachData were collected and analyzed using a qualitative design throughout the three-year initiative.FindingsThe findings indicate the LLC leadership coaches learned to accept and navigate the leaders' developmental and contextual needs, practiced and honed their coaching skills and recognized their own developmental needs.Originality/valueThese findings address the paucity of research on leadership coach learning and development.

Innovative new teaching techniques continue to grow, but a solid grounding in the basic elements of good teaching pedagogy and clear communication is also needed. The foundation of a classroom should be a learning community in which students and instructors alike share a safe space to learn new content, engage in activities to practice with course materials and build skills, and to evaluate progress towards course learning goals. There are some instructors who were not formally trained to teach in higher education and may use the materials that were handed down to them, but not truly know how to develop their own course from the beginning. In this article, we reimagine building a better classroom through the use of infographics. The benefit of infographics is that a picture allows the instructor to interpret the image and adjust for their teaching style and the context of the course. Key elements of good teaching include course alignment, class planning, clear communication with students and collaboration between the instructor and students. Moreover, Covid-19 has heightened awareness of the need for instructors to consider the individual student and ensure that they are set up for success in the context of the class and being a student more generally. We showcase a set of six infographics to demonstrate the use of this medium to develop a successful and enjoyable course and discuss the ways in which the infographics can guide development of an evidence-based teaching approach.

The disproportionate representation of Black men in mathematics has perplexed researchers for decades, and the undergraduate space has been championed as a lever to help remedy this issue. Thus, mo...

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, offline programmes of universities in China had to be rescheduled, classes were moved online based on the government’s requirements. The paper investigated how an online learning environment–especially massive open online course (MOOC) platforms–introduced a sense of social presence in students’ lives to help them better deal with trauma and changed circumstances. To this end, the author conducted a questionnaire-based survey of 5,000 students and 620 teachers at Communication University of China from May 2020 to June 2020 and analysed the respondents’ attitudes towards online community learning during the outbreak and the associated trauma period. The survey reveals that the mimicked social networking environment ensures that students perceive social presence and makes the trauma more bearable. By applying social presence theory to the ongoing crisis and conducting a case study of online education adopted by a Chinese university, this research deepens the understanding of technical reality and social networking environment creation described by the theory. Meanwhile, by analysing co-presence, immediacy, and intimacy in community learning, this study paints a more nuanced picture of the mental state of traumatised groups in a virtual environment. © AMIC/WKWSCI-NTU 2021.

BACKGROUND: During October 2016 through May 2018, a learning community was convened to focus on policies and programs to increase access to the full range of contraceptive options for women of reproductive age. The Increasing Access to Contraception (IAC) Learning Community included 27 jurisdictions, with teams from each jurisdiction consisting of state health department leaders, program staff, and provider champions. At the kick-off meeting, teams from each jurisdiction created action plans that outlined their goals. METHODS: We contacted jurisdictions during May–June 2019, 1 year after the learning community ended, and invited them to complete a post-assessment of goal achievement and sustainment through semi-structured interviews over the telephone or via email. RESULTS: Follow-up information was collected from 26 jurisdictions (96%) that participated in the learning community. The teams from these jurisdictions had created 79 total goals. At the time of the learning community closing meeting in May 2018, 35 goals (44%) had been achieved. Three jurisdictions achieved all their goals by the close of the learning community. At the time of the post-assessment 1 year later, jurisdictions were sustaining efforts for 69 (87%) of the total goals. In every jurisdiction, work on at least one goal that originated in the learning community was sustained. CONCLUSIONS: The jurisdictions that participated in the IAC Learning Community continued the work of their action plan goals 1 year after the formal closure of the learning community, indicating sustainability of the learning community activities, beyond what jurisdictions accomplished during formal participation.

This study focused on the process of how the staff at the Thompson Scholars Learning Community (TSLC), a comprehensive college transition program, tailored the programmatic offerings to meet the needs of low-income, first generation and racialized minority students. Because college students are complex individuals, each of whom faces a unique set of challenges and opportunities, it is reasonable to hypothesize that tailoring support services to the multiple needs of each student may make them more effective. The research identifies a four-part iterative and cyclical process to tailor the programmatic offerings for students – beginning with the individual student and then using information about individual needs to scale to broader group level tailoring. This broadening or scaling process is a new contribution to the literature that has not previously been identified. The tailored approach we identified works at both individual and group levels, which makes it viable as an intervention for large numbers of students. The effort to attend to and learn about individual students ensures that the intervention still meets the needs of individuals, but the testing of these interventions more broadly allows for understanding how these approaches will work for diverse group level tailoring.

PurposeSeashore Louis has enjoyed a long and productive career, contributing many key understandings to the field; among them, foundational theorizing regarding professional community, organizational learning and the role of principal leadership in organizational and student learning. In each, the role of organizational change and its bearing on school improvement has been a key focus of her research. Central to Seashore Louis' organizational change theorizing has been the contention that organizations are expected to produce outcomes (i.e. that they exist to do things), and in turn, those outcomes have consequences for the organization and its members. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the impact her work has had on the field of educational leadership research.Design/methodology/approachThis article traces the development of Karen Seashore Louis' contribution to and work in organizational theory.FindingsBy focusing on Seashore Louis' contribution to our understanding of how professionals learn, both individually and together, and what they do with that information and knowledge, this article will synthesize Seashore Louis' contributions to understanding how change is established, enacted and experienced in schools, as well as how those understandings are informed by theorizing about the role of school culture, openness to new ideas and understandings, alternatives and multiple perspectives, and caring as it relates to leading schools.Originality/valueThe authors’ experience of learning from and with Karen Seashore Louis has deepened the authors’ own understandings of how schools work, how teachers and leaders learn, and the ways in which school organizations can thrive. Key to her influence is her ability to generate and use conceptual and theoretical lenses to explain why people act the ways they do, and how understanding those actions can help us all to improve. Her theorizing has provided the field clarity about what works, where it works and why it works while still problematizing our understandings and pushing for greater depth of understanding and analysis.

In recent years, scholars have become critical of mainstream leadership development approaches. In particular, Petriglieri and Petriglieri refer to the dehumanization of leadership, whereby leadership breaks its ties to identity, community, and context. The purpose of this paper is to present an approach for humanizing leadership using the case example of George Washington University’s Organizational Leadership & Learning (OLL) program. Embedded in the critical leadership studies (CLS) approach, the humanizing principles, and the humanistic leadership paradigm, the OLL program’s leadership learning approach focuses on building a learning community and stakeholder engagement. I describe its pedagogical goals and instructional strategies that help promote a psychologically safe space where learners build trusting relationships, integrate diverse perspectives through respectful dialogues, and develop a sense of the “common good” and culture of equity through issue-centered learning. Using classrooms as “identity spaces” and “leadership learning laboratory” allows learners in the program to practice the co-construction of ideas through mutual influence and interactions. This paper makes a valuable contribution to developing future leadership development programs.

Indonesia is facing a problem with education outcomes, both in access and quality. To increase education access and participation, the President of Indonesia committed to implementing a 12-years compulsory education policy. As a result, upper secondary education’s completion rate has increased significantly in districts that implement 12-years compulsory education rather than in districts that did not implement it. Strategies attached to the policy also considerably affect the completion rate, except for providing community learning centers. However, in every model, the implementation of 12-years compulsory education always significantly affects upper secondary education’s completion rate. The district government that implemented 12-years compulsory education has achieved this condition because of the innovative effort to reach this target.

PurposeThe purpose of this case study is to describe one Southern United States of America (US), historically Black medical school's approach to adapting medical education training through learning communities (LCs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe COVID-19 pandemic created a wide variety of problems for higher education. Classes moved quickly from in-person to virtual instruction with little time for training; faculty and students had to adapt to new learning platforms, learning styles, study techniques and technological challenges. Emotions ran high due to constant change, transitions and numerous unknowns. The LC structure embedded in the curriculum of this US medical school aided in the navigation of these challenges.FindingsOf the 95 MD1–MD4 respondents combined who responded to the COVID-19 LC survey, 67% rated the LC sessions good/outstanding, 20% average, 7% poor/fair and 5% N/A. When asked if LCs had helped them during the pandemic, overall, 66% said “yes” and 34% said “no.” When asked how LCs have helped during the pandemic, themes emerged related to safety, adapting to feelings of isolation/mental health/emotional support, and academic progress.Originality/valueThe small LC group structure created a sense of security for receiving academic help, emotional support, a network of assistance resources and a place to process COVID-19 losses and insecurities. Receptivity to utilizing the LC structure for support may relate to the medical students' commitment to addressing health disparities, serving the underserved and embracing a medical school culture that values community.

Background/Context: Low-income, racially minoritized, and first-generation college students (at-promise students) attending predominantly White, middle class institutions often face inequitable access to enriching educational opportunities, discrimination, and marginalization, creating barriers to their success. Institutions are increasingly designing comprehensive college transition programs (CCTPs) such as the Thompson Scholars Learning Community (TSLC) program to better support this population. Little research has examined how particular elements of CCTPs might foster students’ engagement and outcomes, and TSLC is one of a few existing CCTPs that includes a learning community component where students enroll in shared academic courses. Setting: TSLC operates on three campuses of the University of Nebraska system with different institutional contexts, including mission, size, student population, and geographic location. Study Participants: This study uses quantitative data from 791 first-year students in TSLC who began college in 2015 and 2016 and qualitative data from students and institutional agents who are directly involved with shared academic courses, including instructors and TSLC staff. Purpose: Using a framework of inclusive learning communities defined by Fink and Hummel (2015) , this study explores how and why shared courses may promote engagement and the development of several psychosocial and academic outcomes, including sense of belonging and grade point average (GPA), among at-promise students in their first year of college. Research Design: We use a multilevel mixed methods design, employing quantitative data to examine students’ engagement as well as the link between students’ engagement and several measures of psychosocial wellbeing and academic achievement and qualitative data from students and institutional agents to identify the structures and practices that likely contribute to students’ engagement and outcomes. Findings: We find no significant differences in students’ patterns of engagement in shared courses based on several characteristics related to their social identities, family backgrounds, and prior academic achievement. Engagement is positively linked to students’ sense of belonging and mattering to the institution, academic and social self-efficacy, and first-year GPA. Qualitative data provide insight into the mechanisms that foster these outcomes, including helping students develop connections in academic spaces, having a faculty coordinator who supports shared course instructors and students, and instructors’ use of active and relevant learning experiences. Conclusions: The loose-cohort shared courses model implemented in TSLC supports the success of at-promise students and provides evidence of scalability and adaptability across different institutional contexts, offering a model of inclusive learning community structures and practices that can inform efforts at other institutions.

This article discusses the topic of schools as a learning communities from the perspective of the collaboration of two groups of school workers - teachers and school counsellors. The introduction defines how the concept of schools as learning communities is understood and how it is related to the concept of learning organizations. It also further elaborates on the key characteristics of learning communities. The first premise of the contribution is that through joint effort and collaboration, counsellors and teachers can more efficiently face the practical challenges of their work, both in providing help and encouragement to students and in ensuring better classroom work on the level of the whole school. The second is that they are important partners to each other in their professional development through joint reflections of their educational principles and expectations. The article further focuses on the quality of cooperation between counsellors and teachers in primary and secondary schools in Slovenia. The results of the empirical research show that both groups of school workers tend to evaluate their cooperation as either very good or good while teachers tend to be more satisfied. The questionnaire responses show that teachers believe collaboration can benefit them, however that they frequently leave decisions about work with specific students or classes to the counsellors. Establishing and maintaining partner collaboration is always a challenge, however, it is also crucial for effectively confronting contemporary challenges and ensuring quality learning for all and the contribution thus concludes with guidelines for establishing such a beneficial collaboration.

The use of instant messaging groups for various academic purposes is a rising, but largely understudied, trend in higher education institutions. In the present study we investigate the use purposes and outcomes of three types of academic instant messaging groups or AIMGs. Formal AIMGs are created and managed by teaching staff, class AIMGs are created by students and joined by all members of a particular class, and study AIMGs are smaller groups created by students that know each other personally or collaborate in group assignments. To advance understanding of the role of these groups in students’ wellbeing and academic development, we pose research questions concerning their associations with academic performance, academic stress, and students’ course experiences. We adopt an exploratory frame and survey methodology to collect data from a large sample of undergraduate students (n = 1752). Our findings indicate that, at the institution where data were collected, high rates of AIMG participation is the norm, with class AIMGs emerging as particularly popular. We find statistically significant interaction between formal and study AIMGs and academic performance, as well as between study AIMGs and academic stress. Participation in these groups also predicts students’ social experience of a learning community, as well as their perception of the teaching they receive. Throughout, however, the observed effects are small and their practical significance is questioned. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10639-021-10631-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Although clinic-based palliative care (PC) services have spread in the United States, little is known about how they function, and no studies have examined clinics that predominantly se...

This study examined the three dimensions that should exist in a learning community, namely Student Cohesiveness, Integration, and Task Orientation, related to their influence on attitude toward computer-based statistics. Attitude toward computer-based statistics itself is measured using constructs of the revised Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This study was designed to justify the value of information systems (IS) in overcoming accounting students' statistical problems. The use of IS probable to reduce the pressure in dealing with statistics so that there is an opportunity to increase accounting students' competitive advantage. The respondents consisted of 105 undergraduate accounting students. The data was collected using a 5-scale Likert questionnaire then analyzed using Structural Equational Modelling (SEM). With purposive sampling, this study was collected 105 responses obtained from private and state universities. The results indicate that task orientation is the key indicator of the learning community, affecting attitude toward computer-based statistics. Meanwhile, the second-order factors show that all three predictors were essential in explaining attitude toward computer-based statistics and significantly impacted Reuse Intention. This study also suggests implementing an informal learning community to build learning dynamics that are more independent but still controllable so that the learning topic is integrated with certain subjects.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed forever the way we do certain things. Although the race for a cure and vaccine has taken centre stage, traditional face-to-face medical education has slowly metamorphosised in the background to a virtual world with innumerable webinars, virtual tutorials and lectures in the World Wide Web. Despite this seemingly ‘perfect’ solution, there remains a hidden cost. Educators are forced to learn new skills to engage students as well as manipulate the electronic platform. Impact on learning for students, both undergraduate and postgraduate from a lack of social interactions, remains unknown. In this article, the authors share their experiences from different specialities about the pros and cons of virtual learning and teaching. Suggestions and practical tips are offered to enhance the learning experience. More emphasis may need to be placed on the creation of learning communities rather than lecture-based curricula. Hybrid curricula or conferences may become the future norm. As we slowly move out of lockdown into a changed world and new ways of doing things, lessons learnt can be harnessed for future hybrid models that can combine the best of technology and physical teaching to reduce worldwide inequalities.

One goal of higher education is the development of students’ evaluative judgement, that is, the capacity to make judgements of the quality of work done by oneself and others. Supporting students to...

The directions of education development change in the conditions of VUCA world. It will allow educational institutions to be competitive and improve the quality of their educational services. One of these fields of educational process management is social and community learning.The current article studies the issue of social and community learning as one of the fields of educational process management and the possibilities of its further use in the educational process of preschool, general secondary, out-of-school and postgraduate education. The most important life skills today are actively studying and learning strategies, as well as the skill of leadership and social influence as one of the skills important for specialist, not just the leader. The content of the definitions of «social learning» and «community-learning» and their features is determined.The possibilities of using in the educational process such types of educational and cognitive activity organization as coworking, networking, foresight, crowdsourcing, benchmarking, event, etc. are indicated in the context of the study. Examples of practical techniques of Singaporean educational structures are given.It is concluded that community learning is an educational process implemented on the basis of partnership pedagogy, and its effectiveness and efficiency are ensured through cooperation between students, parents and teachers through various projects, informal meetings, conversations, study circles, etc. Social learning is implemented using various platforms and online tools.

The paper reports a study aimed at investigating tertiary education students' engagement and interactions in the traditional face-to-face learning environment and the sequentially applied distance online learning environment imposed by the sudden upsurge of a worldwide health emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020. The study took place in four distinct science learning communities formed by a total of 347 undergraduate students attending three different academic majors (Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Food Science and Technology) and 13 postgraduate students attending a Masters program related to Chemistry Education, in two Greek universities. The majority of the measured variables were shown to depend on the institution, the academic major, and the semester of study, although to a varying degree. Data analysis provided evidence for a statistically significant lower level of emotional engagement in the online relative to the traditional learning environment among the students of all three undergraduate learning communities. Multiple regression analysis showed that this documented decrease in students' emotional engagement is largely explained by the concurrent decrease at the level of human interaction (either student-student or student-instructor) upon the passage from the traditional to the online learning environment.

Networked learning Community (NLC) that integrates a professional context into the learning experience that uses learning networks to promote self-efficacy and professional development. Online Learning design integrates three techniques: focus on developing personal learning networks, live streaming and online based learning communities and immersive skills and experience mastery for professionals. The hypothesis is that networked learning community among peers in the online learning will help support skills development and confidence in sustainable use of the platform in a personalized way. Meanwhile networking for learning with professionals will strengthen the impact of mastery experience on self-efficacy. Learning experiences as relevant for lifelong learning and professional success are important in today's learning era. NLC aligned with the goals of the 21st century skills movement can be an important mechanism for scaling up efforts to redesign academies that offer skills with a forum for broad but personal learning. The live streaming technique in the learning process in online media has a significant impact in monitoring and monitoring one-on-one learners' abilities. Learning outcomes can be easily corrected and evaluated by relevant experts so that the work can be used as a good portfolio. In the application of the NLC the target output is that there is a promotion mechanism for students to the industrial world by bringing together professional companies and / or developing entrepreneurship with the addition of business training to the relevant NLC. The results of the platform development show that the flow and process of improving skills and professional learning with the community in one field of multimedia industry is getting better

This study aimed to analyze educational strategies and patterns of cooperation between community learning activity centers and village governments, and analyze the constraints and efforts made in the process of increasing community education participation. The study used a qualitative approach with a case study method. The cases were chosen were typical cases that be able to represent similar cases, namely a form of collaboration between the community learning activity center and the village government. The qualitative data analysis used was pattern matchmaking analysis, to answer big questions related to strategies, forms, constraints, and solutions in building cooperation between community learning activity centers and village governments. The obtained results indicated that the strategies used by the community learning activity center in the process of increasing community education participation were in the form of community identification strategies, programs, and partnerships. The pattern of cooperation between the community learning center and the village government was in the form of coaching and mentoring, with the form of cooperation in the form of support for policy regulations, legal protection, budget assistance, mentoring, coaching, and motivation. The obstacles faced by the community learning activity center were weak community commitment and less than optimal program socialization. Efforts to overcome these obstacles were carried out by implementing performance and performance strategies and increasing innovation in disseminating educational programs.

Career academies are small learning communities that allow high school students to learn their core content in the context of the career field they may be interested in pursuing. This type of learning environment incorporates business and industry and postsecondary institutions so academy students receive academic curricula that prepares them for higher education and allows students to have experiences in the career field. There is considerable research demonstrating strong benefits of the academy model to students and teachers, but there is little indicating why students enroll in the academy and what methods of recruitment may work best. The purpose of this study was to assess factors influencing students’ decisions to enroll in career academy programs. The study investigated two research questions. The first research question looked at factors that influence students to apply for academy programs. The second research question explored reasons students have for choosing not to enroll in academy programs. A survey conducted by the school division was used to collect the necessary data with n = 401 responses from students enrolled in an academy and n = 2,421 responses from students not enrolled in an academy. To investigate factors influencing students to apply for academy programs, a factor analysis was performed. This analysis resulted in two larger groupings linking items together based on program experience and student attitudes. A Pareto analysis indicated that counselors were the greatest influencing factors on student decisions to enroll in career academy programs. Parents, teachers, other students, the course catalog, website, and brochure also played a considerable role in how students learned about the academies. To investigate reasons students have for not applying, a Pareto analysis was conducted with the reasons of not knowing, not interested, and missed deadline as most influential.

With the increasing adoption of learning communities, it is imperative to document their effectiveness. Using a large, longitudinal, multi-institutional dataset, we found that linked-learning commu...

As the higher education landscape changes, teaching-only faculty face increasing challenges to deliver evidence-based teaching through engaging with the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). This transition from discipline expert to SoTL practitioner is often poorly supported and undertaken in isolation. We describe a faculty learning community (FLC) to support teaching-only faculty engaging in SoTL. The FLC was formed to provide a space to share challenges regarding scholarship and give practical support to engage in SoTL. The FLC successfully bridged members’ transition to SoTL, providing a sense of belonging to re-connect faculty and promote scholarship.

This research examines the impact of various high-impact educational practices integrated in different group elements (groups course, in-class group activities, and a learning community) on student perceived group work experience related to the Emerging Values model. The Emerging Values model found academic group work to be beneficial for students, specifically associated with peer value and group work values. Different types of high-impact educational practices related to groups are examined using the Emerging Values model. Implications for teaching group work and personal and professional growth in group work are examined. The integration of group work in the higher education classroom and application to professional environments is discussed extensively.

Building community in online EdD programs can be a challenge, and the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of doing so. In this essay, we will situate community building within the larger Community of Inquiry framework and focus on the element of social presence. By understanding more about the various aspects of social presence, faculty who design and deliver online programs can build stronger learning communities with and for their EdD students.

El emprendimiento constituye una de las estrategias para la incorporación del ser humano en los procesos productivos. Su auge en el presente ha venido de la mano de los procesos de reforma de la política previsional en occidente y el sostenido deterioro de las formas laborales industriales. Pero es también, el resultado de los procesos de creatividad e innovación que se hacen cada vez más comunes en la sociedad contemporánea. En este estudio se explora el emprendimiento como una práctica colectiva al investigar la experiencia de un grupo de emprendedores en un espacio común compartido para el desarrollo de sus emprendimientos. El estudio se desarrolló desde una perspectiva de la investigación-acción, en la ciudad de Puerto Montt, al sur de Chile en el espacio turístico denominado “Pueblito Melipulli”. El caso de estudio despliega el proceso de aprendizaje de técnicas y estrategias para agregar valor a la actividad micro emprendedora de carácter artesanal y autóctona. Durante este proceso se obtuvieron hallazgos sobre los obstáculos y posibilidades de su desarrollo al albor de entender una posibilidad de emprendimiento como práctica colectiva. Entre ellos, la necesidad de reconocerse como comunidad que aprende, la construcción colectiva del entorno de su emprendimiento y la autoestima. Se concluye mostrando la resiliencia de los emprendedores fundada en la práctica proactiva de construir un horizonte de expectativa colectivo que se espera sea el aprendizaje central para sus próximas acciones colectivas y la sustentabilidad del emprendimiento en el futuro inmediato.