With the invention of World Wide Web in 1992, delivery of distance education via internet and emergency of web-based classrooms have rapidly gained acceptance as an alternative and supplement to traditional face to face classroom instruction (Alavi, Yoo & Vogel, 1997; Rahm & Reed, 1997), which represents a paradigm shift challenging all…

For the thirty-eighth time, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

This thesis reports a survey study of the autonomous L2 learning by 100 first-year non-English-major Chinese post-graduates via the instruments of a questionnaire and semi-structured interview after the questionnaire. It attends to address the following research question: To what extent do Chinese postgraduate students conduct autonomous L2…

This paper describes a study in which professors explored and refined their perspectives about pedagogy and university teaching. Results show that collaborative, inquiry-based faculty development influenced their growth as effective educators. More frequent feedback from students and colleagues was seen as a major factor in helping professors…

The purpose of this study was to examine the processes for sharing teaching expertise used by award winning professors. The central research question of this study was: How do expert teaching professors share their expertise with mentees? A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was used to gather the perspectives from these professors…

In 2004, an upper Midwestern school district received a grant to administer content-specific professional development to teachers of American history. A series of nine master's level, degree-eligible courses were developed and administered by the local university's history department. At the conclusion of the grant activities in spring of 2008,…

Digital preservation is a significant challenge for cultural heritage institutions and other repositories of digital information resources. Recognizing the critical role of metadata in any successful digital preservation strategy, the Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies (PREMIS) has been extremely influential on providing a "core" set…

Secondary student performance in the domain of reading has been a cause for concern for educators and scholars alike. To understand the demands placed on students we must first understand how reading changes within content areas and across grades. Furthermore, we must have an understanding of teachers' conceptions about the texts they teach. This…

Objectives: The objectives were to investigate the operational requirements for offering healthful vended reimbursable lunches to students and to identify barriers to implementation. Methods: A descriptive case study method was utilized to explore the operations of two school nutrition programs offering vended reimbursable lunches. Two school…

The purpose of this preliminary study was to explore the residual barriers and facilitators for a selected group of individuals with severe physical disabilities who had been afforded a comprehensive set of strategies and services aimed at meeting their basic personal as well as academic needs. Their perceptions of both barriers and facilitators,…

Why do teachers become poor performers? In semi-structured interviews, forty elementary school principals in Israel described the personal story of one poor-performing staff member. Half of the problematic teachers were veteran teachers who faced a marked internal and external shift in mid-career. The seeds of their problems were probably planted…

Little research has been done to investigate the influence of cultural differences on students' second/foreign language learning styles, with a focus on comparing between East and West classroom cultures. This study investigates the differences that East Asian students may encounter when studying in the English-medium academic environment. By…

At present, school administrators do not have necessary information to create a school environment where teenage girls unhappy with their bodies can experience success at school. This research surrounds three research questions: (1) How do adolescent girls' definitions of their bodies relate to their perception of their high school's climate? (2)…

The transition from the comfort of a familiar role, that of teacher, to the discomfort of a new role, that of school administrator, is a transformative process. Transforming oneself requires leaving what is known and venturing into the unknown. Researchers have illuminated women's struggle to attain school leadership positions, but the…

Arts integration is becoming an important focus within general curriculum instruction to connect student learning needs and content. However, few studies have addressed arts-integrated approaches that enhance the educational process in the general education setting. The aim of this qualitative case study was to examine arts-based approaches in…