Undergraduate student perspectives regarding specific factors associated with self-directed learning were collected through eight focus groups. A total of 80 upperclassmen provided input revealing three emergent themes in the focus groups responses: (1) Student-Controlled, (2) Faculty-Controlled, and (3) Administration-Controlled Facilitators and…

Near-peer facilitators (senior students serving as facilitators to their more junior peers) bring a unique student-based perspective to teaching. With fewer years of teaching experience however, students who become involved in a facilitator role typically develop related skills quickly through a process of trial-and-error within the classroom. The…

The purpose of this paper is to consider some issues in the uses of what we have termed "creative" action learning in a business education context, and to review some aspects of its practice. A review of the literature, including its use in higher education, is followed by a case illustration of its use in a UK business school with…

A student-centred approach to learning encourages students to have more responsibility for their learning and is a process that relies heavily on professional confidence to "let-go" of traditional teaching responsibilities. This paper describes the introduction of a student-centred approach within one further education college in…

This article aims to offer both a theoretical contribution and examples of practices of trust building in peace education; the article presents an empirical analysis of videotaped interactions in the context of peace education activities in international groups of adolescents. The analysis regards two international summer camps promoted by the…

This article presents the first review of the Creative Group Work (CGW) training program for facilitators who provide group-based intervention programs to offenders in Corrective Services New South Wales, Australia. The program emphasizes the interpersonal aspects of group work and seeks to equip facilitators to engage with participants in a way…

Digital media and open educational resources (OER) are said to redraw the boundaries between learners and teachers, by weakening the centralization of expertise and the distribution of subject-matter authority. This paper presents the findings of an ethnographic study of how the use of OER mediates the relations between self-directed learners and…

Using documentation in professional development has the potential to enhance professional visibility and credibility and to turn attention squarely to learning and teaching. This article targets providers of professional development and offers clear steps to providing an inquiry-based approach using close observation and documentation of…

In order to achieve their course learning outcomes, public affairs instructors can train students to solve real community problems (SRCP). This approach focuses on the learners themselves and aims to transform the role of college professors from traditional teaching (lecturing) to facilitating and coaching students' learning activities. This…

Purpose: Networks are increasingly viewed as entities of learning and innovation in agriculture. In this article we explore learning as issue framing in two agricultural innovation networks. Design/methodology/approach: We combine frame analysis and social learning theories to analyse the processes and factors contributing to frame convergence and…

The twofold purpose of this study is to identify engineering students' perceptions of a problem-based learning environment and to analyse the influence of their personal "situation," general "interest" in engineering and "ability" to succeed on their perception, after they were exposed to PBL for the first time.…

Teacher involvement in curriculum design has a long tradition. However, although it fosters implementation of curriculum reforms, teachers encounter various problems while designing related to conditions set for the design process, and lack the knowledge and skills needed to enact collaborative design processes. Providing support to enhance…

University and college counseling centers struggle with rising service demands without a corresponding increase in resources. Consequently, counseling centers must seek creative ways to not only maintain the status quo, but expand capacity while preserving effectiveness. In other countries, therapist-assisted, Internet-delivered treatment has been…

A team of facilitators describe the process and content of portfolios they create for families attending weekly playgroup sessions based on the philosophy and practices of the Parents Interacting with Infants (PIWI) model. The parent-child portfolios are a form of authentic assessment and highlight children's development within the context of…

Research is limited on how metacognition is facilitated and manifested in socially situated online learning environments such as online discussion forums. We approached metacognition as the phenomenon of interest partly through a methodological objective to evaluate the relevance of a metacognition construct and partly through a content objective…