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Faculty members abruptly transitioned to online course delivery during the COVID-19 public health crisis. Unfortunately, the isolation of learning online had the potential to damage students' well-being during an already stressful pandemic. Furthermore, many faculty members had little experience with online modes of instruction and few effective strategies for building community online. This exploratory sequential mixed methods study uses data from 37 individual interviews with faculty across diverse disciplines, course evaluations from 13 of the 37 interview participants, and survey data from 347 faculty to answer the following research question: "How did faculty foster a sense of community online to support students' holistic well-being during the COVID pandemic? What strategies can faculty use to create community and foster well-being in online courses?" Results show that successful strategies centered around intentional and purposeful course design, establishing clear expectations for faculty and students, and fostering supportive and trustworthy online learning environments.

The COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented public health emergency, challenged higher education and threatened students' well-being in several ways. With the abrupt shift to online learning, were instructors able to maintain a focus on educating whole students, in addition to teaching subject matter? We answer this question by investigating "formative education," an approach to teaching and learning that emphasizes holistic development, exploring formative education online during the pandemic. This qualitative study investigates the strategies of 37 college faculty who provided successful formative education online. A cross-subject analysis of data from faculty interviews and supplemental materials (course artifacts, course evaluations, student interviews) uncovered three teaching approaches that faculty used to achieve formative education online: empathic (centering students' emotions), reflective (facilitating deep inquiry), and adaptive (having flexibility in meeting students' needs). These approaches could help instructors design online education that engages the whole person.

Rater cognition or "think-aloud" studies have historically been used to enhance rater accuracy and consistency in writing and language assessments. As assessments are developed for new, complex constructs from the "Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)," the present study illustrates the utility of extending "think-aloud" studies to science assessment. The study focuses on the development of rubrics for scientific argumentation, one of the NGSS Science and Engineering practices. The initial rubrics were modified based on cognitive interviews with five raters. Next, a group of four new raters scored responses using the original and revised rubrics. A psychometric analysis was conducted to measure change in interrater reliability, accuracy, and generalizability (using a generalizability study or "g-study") for the original and revised rubrics. Interrater reliability, accuracy, and generalizability increased with the rubric modifications. Furthermore, follow-up interviews with the second group of raters indicated that most raters preferred the revised rubric. These findings illustrate that cognitive interviews with raters can be used to enhance rubric usability and generalizability when assessing scientific argumentation, thereby improving assessment validity.

Video of teachers' own classrooms is used in professional development (PD), with recent research pointing to the promise of teacher-captured video and collegial discourse in Video Clubs (VCs). Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, this study investigated teachers' engagement with student thinking during VCs, which were part of a PD model in which teachers captured and analysed their classroom videos and identified clips and questions to discuss in VCs. The discourse of two school teams revealed a marginally significant change in teachers' focus on student thinking, interpretive stance and the specificity of their discourse over time. Additionally, features of the presenting teacher's video case (e.g., case question specificity) appeared to have influenced teachers' interpretive stance in making sense of student thinking. Potential factors contributing to teacher discourse and implications for designing and implementing VCs with teacher-captured video in fostering teachers' engagement with student thinking are discussed.

Purpose: Applications for tracking and managing classroom behavior have become increasingly commonplace, thus making it possible to incorporate nonacademic data into collaborative problem-solving and school improvement. Whether or how these platforms might support such aims, however, is not known. Accordingly, this study explores practices involving these applications, focusing especially on problem-solving among educators and with students' families. Design/methodology/approach: This comparative case study took place in three schools. In total, 34 semistructured interviews were conducted with teachers and school leaders. Analysis included qualitative coding as well as the development of within- and cross-case summaries. Findings: Schools varied greatly when it came to using behavior management platforms as a part of problem-solving. At a basic level, it was not uncommon for educators to use behavioral data for classroom troubleshooting or check-ins with students and transactional communications with families. However, only two schools attempted to use behavioral data for more systemic, "big picture" problem-solving, such as to make discipline policies more equitable or to improve teacher practices. The richness of collaboration with families seemed especially shaped by how and how frequently data were shared (e.g. automated notifications and paper printouts). Originality/value: Empirical research about behavior management applications has been limited and focused only at the classroom level. The present study contributes new knowledge about the school-level implications of these platforms, while also expanding conversations about how behavioral data may be incorporated into data-informed problem-solving. Implications for leadership and theory are also discussed.

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study investigated how a professional learning system involving an interplay of teachers' own classroom video, analysis tools and coaching helped teachers notice students' thinking. The system comprised teachers scrutinizing video evidence of their students' ideas, using software tools to analyze the particulars of student thinking, and engaging in video studies with a coach to sharpen their emerging insights. Thirteen elementary grade science teachers participated in a professional learning program. They videotaped their science discussions and used a video analysis software to study their videos with a program coach. Transcripts of teachers' baseline and post-program video studies were analyzed quantitatively. For three of those teachers, transcripts of their video studies during the program were analyzed qualitatively. All teachers increasingly attended to and interpreted students' thinking and focused on specific student ideas. They studied noteworthy events from the video and adopted a particular "lens" to scrutinize their students' thinking. Teachers drew on their knowledge of the curriculum and students and feedback from their coach. The paper elaborates key findings and implications in light of the relevant literature.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of educational technology (EdTech) in K-16 education. EdTech includes tools such as audio-visual aids, computer-assisted learning, mobile devices, smart technologies, and virtual reality. Despite the increase in EdTech investments, there is still inequality in access to technology for students in underserved schools. This special issue explores innovative uses of EdTech, including technology-assisted reading instruction for English language learners, the impact of mobile-assisted language learning apps on student motivation, the influence of educational technology on teaching approaches, perceptions of technology integration among teachers, and the benefits of digital storytelling for student learning. The studies emphasize the need for professional development, diverse research, and the promotion of learner autonomy in the use of EdTech. [Extracted from the article]

Spine surgery generally yields a notable improvement in patients' health state, and there is variability in measured patient outcomes after spine surgery. The present work aimed to describe for clinicians how appraisal underlies their patients' experience of healthcare interventions. This prospective longitudinal cohort study (n = 156) included adults undergoing spine surgery for degenerative spinal conditions. The analysis was a descriptive illustration of the relationship between change in the spine-related disability using the Oswestry Disability Index and change in cognitive-appraisal processes using the Quality-of-Life Appraisal Profilev2-Short Form, early versus later during the recovery trajectory (i.e., between baseline and 3 months post-surgery; and between 3 and 12 months post-surgery). Cognitive-appraisal processes related to Sampling of Experience showed greater change soon after surgery, whereas Standards of Comparison appraisals changed more later in the recovery trajectory. Different appraisal processes were emphasized by patients who reported worsening of the spine-related disability, as compared to those who reported no change or improvement. These findings suggest that changes in appraisal differ depending on the individual's experience of the impact of spine surgery. Appraisal processes thus reflect an ongoing dynamic in adaptation to changing function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the importance of supporting students' comprehensive wellbeing when teaching online. One promising approach is formative or whole-person education, which emphasizes wholeness, purpose, and community. We created a scale using a polytomous Item Response Theory modeling approach, measuring the extent to which postsecondary teachers engage in formative education online. To our knowledge, this is the first scale designed to measure this construct. The scale was developed within an exploratory sequential mixed methods study on formative education online that also included semi-structured interviews with 37 faculty members. Results from the qualitative analysis were used to develop initial items. This data-informed process increased the construct validity of the scale. We refined the original item pool through a pilot test using a sample of 308 instructors. This article presents psychometric results for the final, 10-item scale using a sample of 245 instructors. Evaluation of item fit statistics, item trace lines, and the total information curve indicate that the graded response model was appropriate for this scale. The Cronbach's alpha and marginal reliability coefficients for the final scale were .90 and .91, indicating good reliability. Future research can explore how this scale might be adapted for in-person learning environments and other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]