Learning Community Research Articles

Leveraging professional learning communities in linking digital professional development and instructional integration: evidence from 16,072 STEM teachers

BackgroundIntegration of digital tools and resources in STEM instruction has garnered significant attention due to its high potential. Digital professional development is identified as a pivotal factor for equipping teachers with necessary digital skills to effectively orchestrate digital resources. Notably, the role of professional learning communities is considered critical. However, the intricate relationships among digital professional development, professional learning communities, and digital instructional integration among STEM teachers remain underexplored. Utilizing partial least-squares–structural equation models (PLS–SEM), the present study examined links in digital professional development, professional learning communities, and digital instructional integration among STEM teachers (N = 16,072) who participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022.ResultsFindings from the PLS–SEM analysis indicate that digital professional development exhibits a direct positive relationship with professional learning communities and digital instructional integration. Relatedly, professional learning communities is positively correlated with digital instructional integration. In terms of indirect effect, findings show that professional learning communities play a significant positive mediating role in linking digital professional development and digital instructional integration.ConclusionsThis study reports new evidence on the influence of digital professional development on digital instructional integration through professional learning communities among 16,072 STEM teachers and concludes that, when STEM teachers regularly immerse themselves in professional learning communities, they are more likely to benefit from their digital professional development by integrating digital technologies in classroom instruction. Policymakers and educational leaders should consider promoting digital professional development and professional learning communities among STEM teachers, along with efforts to encourage digital instructional integration.

Strengthening capacities in Latin America by designing teacher professional development programmes for climate change education

PurposeThis study aims to describe the design process of two teacher professional development programmes on Climate Change Education in Chile and Mexico, their initial outcomes on teacher practices and feedback on course activities, content and format, and their expectations of future topics for deepening their understanding.Design/methodology/approachA systematization of the design and implementation process of both programmes was conducted. Subsequently, an online survey comprising 21 questions was administered to 115 teachers from both countries, representing 5% of the graduates from each programme. The survey evaluated their experiences, the impact on their teaching practices and the effects on their personal and professional lives. This non-experimental design relied on teachers' self-reported perceptions after completing the course.FindingsTeachers rated their experience highly, particularly regarding content quality and relevance to their local environment. Most (97.4%) applied their learning in their classrooms, with 78.3% noting it helped raise student awareness of climate change and facilitate collaborative projects. Additionally, 92.2% reported personal sensitization to climate issues and 87% changed personal habits. The course influenced 91.3% to take daily actions to reduce CO2 emissions. Some reflections are made on the design and implementation of the programmes, considering the survey results and the available literature.Research limitations/implicationsThe study relied on self-reported data from teachers after they had completed the courses. This approach was chosen because it allowed for a direct assessment of teachers' understanding and experiences. However, it is important to acknowledge the limitations inherent in self-reported data, such as the potential for response bias.Practical implicationsEducators, scientists and healthcare professionals can explore innovative pedagogical approaches to make CCE engaging and relevant, ensuring that all students not only comprehend the content but also feel empowered to contribute to environmental sustainability and learn to regulate their eco-anxiety. Teachers would have the opportunity to attend professional development courses based on research, reflect on their personal and technical habits, transform them, be role models for their students and build professional learning communities. Schools are transformative with a high quality of climate change education.Social implicationsClimate change demands urgent transformations in our consumption, energy generation and the construction of resilient cities. Education is pivotal in empowering environmentally conscious citizens. It fosters environmental awareness, develops skills to tackle climate challenges, promotes active citizenship, advocates for sustainable lifestyles and encourages innovation in clean technologies. By connecting people with nature, education strengthens environmental responsibility. Additionally, it equips society to advocate for sustainable policies and take action for the environment. A comprehensive educational approach is essential to forge global consensus and effectively address climate change.Originality/valueBy systematically evaluating teacher experiences and the impact on their personal and professional lives through detailed survey data, the study provides valuable insights into effective educational strategies for climate change awareness. Additionally, it highlights practical applications and behavioural changes among educators, contributing to the broader discourse on environmental education.

The National Institute on Aging's Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research: Development, Evolution, and Impact.

Spanning nearly 30 of the 50 years in which the National Institute on Aging (NIA) has existed, the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) program represents one of the most successful initiatives for advancing minority aging research and diversifying the scientific workforce within the Institute and across the National Institutes of Health. This article celebrates the genesis of the RCMAR program, beginning with the need to enhance this work, ranging from theories underlying the then-nascent field of health disparities research to study design, measurement, and analytic procedures. It describes the companion focus on preparing, expanding, and diversifying generations of future scholars/scientists to carry forward these advances. RCMAR's emphasis on promoting a comprehensive approach to research career development and building supportive learning communities heralded a more holistic approach to training than was previously the case. The discussion describes the evolution of the structure and emphases of the RCMAR program as it has responded to the frequently changing political, funding, and research environments. The article concludes by highlighting the major successes of this initiative, the challenges it faces, and opportunities afforded future growth as individual centers, the program at large, and NIA as a whole continue to innovate as they collectively address the original goals which remain relevant today and in the near future.

Network community detection via neural embeddings

Recent advances in machine learning research have produced powerful neural graph embedding methods, which learn useful, low-dimensional vector representations of network data. These neural methods for graph embedding excel in graph machine learning tasks and are now widely adopted. However, how and why these methods work—particularly how network structure gets encoded in the embedding—remain largely unexplained. Here, we show that node2vec—shallow, linear neural network—encodes communities into separable clusters better than random partitioning down to the information-theoretic detectability limit for the stochastic block models. We show that this is due to the equivalence between the embedding learned by node2vec and the spectral embedding via the eigenvectors of the symmetric normalized Laplacian matrix. Numerical simulations demonstrate that node2vec is capable of learning communities on sparse graphs generated by the stochastic blockmodel, as well as on sparse degree-heterogeneous networks. Our results highlight the features of graph neural networks that enable them to separate communities in the embedding space.

Deficit to development: rethinking centralised workshops

Centralised academic skills provision has been criticised for being ‘generic’, ‘remedial’, or ‘bolt on’ (Wingate, 2006). Critics argue it takes a deficit approach towards student learning, simplifying academic processes and failing to meet students’ discipline-specific needs. Embedded provision is often seen as the solution. However, embedded does not necessarily mean non-deficit. Indeed, Schneider (2023) highlights that academic tutors can perceive students in relation to skills they are lacking. Subsequently, Learning Developers can be brought in to ‘fix’ students, and as such, embedded sessions may still be disconnected from the curriculum and designed to offer pre-prescribed solutions, reflecting deficit approaches. As Webster (2023) asserts, the Learning Developer’s role is not ‘to give students academic skills’ but rather to help them make sense of the skills and literacies that are hidden in the curriculum. In this workshop, we discussed how we redesigned our entire skills programme using a non-deficit pedagogic approach that aims to help students ‘uncover their curriculum’. Inspired by the University of Manchester’s constructive and collective approach (Blake and Illingworth, 2015), we see our co-curricular offer as providing a unique opportunity to create empowering and developmental learning spaces which sit alongside embedded provision. To meet these aims, our redesign was informed by four principles: Reflection: centring students’ prior knowledge and experience. Collaboration: harnessing knowledge from a community of learners, rather than a ‘sage on the stage’. Choice: students customise their own learning experience, tailoring sessions to meet their own needs. Application: students relate session content to their own discipline and apply learning to their own work. Workshop participants considered debates around deficit thinking in relation to centralised training, working together to redesign learning activities and reflect on the opportunities and challenges of such an approach.

A framework for generating recommendations based on trust in an informal e-learning environment

Rapid advancement in information technology promotes the growth of new online learning communities in an e-learning environment that overloads information and data sharing. When a new learner asks a question, how a system recommends the answer is the problem of the learner’s cold start. In this article, our contributions are: (i) We proposed a Trust-aware Deep Neural Recommendation (TDNR) framework that addresses learner cold-start issues in informal e-learning by modeling complex nonlinear relationships. (ii) We utilized latent Dirichlet allocation for tag modeling, assigning tag categories to newly posted questions and ranking experts related to specific tags for active questioners based on hub and authority scores. (iii) We enhanced recommendation accuracy in the TDNR model by introducing a degree of trust between questioners and responders. (iv) We incorporated the questioner-responder relational graph, derived from structural preference information, into our proposed model. We evaluated the proposed model on the Stack Overflow dataset using mean absolute precision (MAP), root mean squared error (RMSE), and F-measure metrics. Our significant findings are that TDNR is a hybrid approach that provides more accurate recommendations compared to rating-based and social-trust-based approaches, the proposed model can facilitate the formation of informal e-learning communities, and experiments show that TDNR outperforms the competing methods by an improved margin. The model’s robustness, demonstrated by superior MAE, RMSE, and F-measure metrics, makes it a reliable solution for addressing information overload and user sparsity in Stack Overflow. By accurately modeling complex relationships and incorporating trust degrees, TDNR provides more relevant and personalized recommendations, even in cold-start scenarios. This enhances user experience by facilitating the formation of supportive learning communities and ensuring new learners receive accurate recommendations.

What Can We Learn from Early Childhood Theory and Practice?

Education doctoral programs have an essential role to play in this moment of American history, as we train, teach, guide, and prepare education professionals to learn, unlearn, and lead as antiracist education activists. EdD program faculty and administrators sit in critical roles and must examine our own antiracist beliefs, while also facilitating anti-racist learning for our doctoral learners, who, in turn, must create anti-racist learning communities where they teach and lead.

Building inclusive Learning Development spaces ‘…but we don’t have time for universal design’

This project sets out to convert a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) workshop on Dyslexia awareness into a series of mini asynchronous learning experiences. The aim is that learning and teaching staff will access the short asynchronous activities by scanning a Quick Response (QR) code; these activities will provide a brief insight into relevant examples of neurodiverse experiences, followed by tips on changes to professional practice that can embed inclusive and universal design. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an ethos that we all strive for in our various roles in learning development; It embraces the principles of the social model of disability, which the Office of Students (2019) states ‘is not about “fixing” the individual but about restructuring environments and attitudes around them’. As highlighted by Dettmer and Welton (2024, p.62) the learning community seeks to promote the social model of disability when promoting inclusive learning environments. Stripe and Ntonia’s article on implementing change for inclusive teaching (2023) highlights that the challenges faced include lack of time for staff CPD, negative attitudes towards reasonable adjustments, and mindsets that are not conducive to inclusivity. These factors are sector wide; time is precious for many learning and teaching staff, and attending CPD workshops, particularly when it means adding to an existing heavy workload, are not typically at the top of priority lists. However, as proposed, engaging in a 30-60 second asynchronous activity, might lead to some ‘quick wins’ for the adoption of universal design principles. The proposed short asynchronous activities discussed here are based on experiences of neurodiverse learners when faced with non-inclusive environments, and provide strategies that can be immediately implemented. It is hoped that by scanning a QR code and engaging in learning experiences ‘on the go’, this approach will encourage staff to see that inclusive and universal design can start with small changes and have a fundamental impact on students’ learning experiences.

Micro Teaching as Efficient Technique to Increase Self-Efficacy of Prospective Biology Teacher: Evidence from First Year Teacher

This study focuses on the perspective of prospective teachers on the development of self-efficacy during teaching practice in micro teaching and also during real teaching. The problem in this study is what factors influence the development of self-efficacy during micro teaching and real teaching? The purpose of this study is to describe the factors that contribute to the development of self-efficacy during micro teaching and real teaching. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method. The participants of the study were first-year biology teachers who had taken micro teaching courses at college. The instruments used included questionnaires and interview sheets. The results obtained were that during micro teaching, prospective teachers had high self-efficacy in three factors, namely performance experience, other people's experiences, and social support. Meanwhile, after teaching at school (real teaching), the factors that support the development of self-efficacy are physiological and emotional states. In order for self-efficacy to develop well during real teaching, it can be concluded that micro teaching is an efficient technique in improving the self-efficacy of prospective biology teachers. It is necessary to form a learning community in schools that can be used as a forum for teachers to collaborate with each other in finding efficient strategies in teaching. This can support the development of teacher self-efficacy.

What is the meaning of PE? Exploring the influence of an educational curriculum approach on students’ participation and non-participation in physical education

There is evidence that the longstanding multi-activity sport-based approach to physical education (PE) limits the opportunities for students to participate in and learn from PE. Furthermore, studies of educational approaches to PE have identified a willingness to re-orientate and re-structure PE by exploring diverse ways of learning in, through and about movement. This study endeavours to advance this issue through an empirical analysis of how an educational PE curriculum approach influences student engagement. Using the concept of the landscape of practice, it explores how students’ participation or non-participation in PE is moulded by various communities of practice (CoPs), with a specific emphasis on the school as a learning community. The study is based on a qualitative single case study in a state school in Denmark. Data generation included weekly observations of PE lessons taught with an educational approach and focus groups with a total of 33 students from the seventh and ninth grades (13–15 years old). The material was processed using Massey's model for thematic analysis. Our analysis reveals that an educational approach supports student engagement with a broader landscape of PE that is no longer solely associated with communities of sport and physical recreation, but with the school as a community of learning. Such new articulations of PE, which were constructed on the boundaries between multiple CoPs, influenced the students’ willingness to participate in and learn from PE, depending on their positions within the landscape. We discuss the implications for the future design and development of a PE curriculum.

Segment-Based Unsupervised Deep Learning for Human Activity Recognition using Accelerometer Data and SBOA based Channel Attention Networks

The deep learning community has increasingly focused on the critical challenges of human activity segmentation and detection based on sensors, which have numerous real-world applications. In most prior efforts, activity segmentation and recognition have been treated as separate processes, relying on pre-segmented sensor streams. This research proposes an unsupervised deep learning approach for Human Activity Recognition (HAR) that is segment-based, with an emphasis on activity continuity. The approach integrates segment-based SimCLR with Segment Feature Decorrelation (SDFD) and a new framework that leverages pairs of segment data for contrastive learning of visual representations. Furthermore, the Secretary Bird Optimization Algorithm (SBOA) and Channel Attention with Spatial Attention Network (CASANet) are utilized to enhance the performance of sensor-based human activity detection. CASANet effectively extracts key features and spatial dependencies in sensor data, while SBOA optimizes the model for greater accuracy and generalization. Evaluations on two publicly available datasets—Mhealth and PAMAP2—demonstrated an average F1 score of 98%, highlighting the approach’s efficacy in improving activity recognition performance.

A comparative study of voice in Chinese English-major undergraduates’ timed and untimed argument writing

As a somewhat elusive and occlusive concept, voice can be a challenging and formidable hurdle for second language (L2) writers. One area that exemplifies this struggle is timed argument writing, where authors must position claims, ideas, and individual perspectives to an existing knowledge base and scholarly community under the confines of time. To enrich our understandings of voice construction in L2 English writers’ timed writing, we explored how 41 Chinese English-major undergraduates deployed authorial voice in two prompt-based argument writing tasks (timed versus untimed). We also sampled their self-reported knowledge, use, and understanding of voice through a survey-based instrument. To compare the quantity and quality of voice construction between the two samples, we measured 10 voice categories, three voice dimensions, and overall voice strength. Results showed that only two categories displayed statistically significant differences in terms of frequencies, but all three voice dimensions and overall voice strength scored significantly higher in untimed writing samples. Based on the results of our text analysis and survey, we further highlight the complexities of voice in L2 writing, provide evidence in support of existing voice rubrics, and make practical suggestions for teaching and assessing voice in writing.

Penguatan Karakter Integritas Siswa Melalui Lesson Study Dalam Upaya Pencegahan Bullying di SMP Negeri 2 Percut Sei Tuan

This study aims to determine the strengthening of students' integrity character through the Lesson Study model as an effort to prevent bullying at SMP Negeri 2 Percut Sei Tuan. Lesson study is a model for fostering the profession of educators and education personnel through collaborative and continuous learning assessments based on the principles of collegiality and mutual learning to build a learning community. This study is a type of qualitative research with a descriptive analysis method. Data collection techniques in this study are observation, interviews, and documentation. The results of the study obtained are that teachers have carried out their role as character builders through good and responsive responses to every report of bad treatment received by students. However, strengthening students' integrity character is still lacking due to the less than optimal implementation of lesson study. The implementation of lesson study at SMP Negeri 2 Percut Sei Tuan is still less than optimal due to the lack of teacher understanding regarding the importance of implementing the lesson study. Teachers still do not understand the stages of lesson study, namely plan (planning), do (implementation), and see (reflection).

Recovering Hope and a Sense of Agency Through Transformative Education for Internationally Educated Healthcare Professionals in Canada

This study examines the outcomes of transformative education in the program Fostering Canadian Integration for IEHPs: From Learning to Action, created to accompany internationally educated health professionals (IEHPs) in the difficult journey to find fair professional employment in Canada. It shows the importance of self-reflection, a learning community and a welcoming, participatory approach to learning that led to cognitive, emotional and conative transformation for participants. Increased self-awareness of their life journey and emotional patterns, together with critical understanding of their worldviews and new reality supported the participants in the recovery of hope and a sense of agency.

Transforming Literacy and Social Skills through Storytelling in a Community-Based Setting

The research question of this study evaluates the impact that the storytelling tradition at Rumah Baca Rambutan has on children concerning literacy, emotions, social skills, and creativity. Through the qualitative case study, the study discovers that storytelling enhanced the children’s reading appreciation, language, and literacy learning as well as culture. Emotional literacy interconnection was also achieved through the use of storytelling since learners developed empathy and social relationships with characters. In addition, storytelling can develop creative thinking and imagination, through which children can act as main constructors of narratives what would support their cognitive flexibility and problem solving. Notably, the study enjoys the use of storytelling in the passing of cultural values of a certain group besides enhancing the sense of belonging in children. The study contributes to the knowledge that informal narrative intervention enhancing formal and community learning can promote literacy, well-being, and cultural identity when implemented in low and rural context, such as Indonesia. Implications of these outcomes for reform in education include the need to embrace cultural production approaches that are educationally relevant so as to facilitate consideration of children’s developmental experiences.

Versatile video assignment improves undergraduates’ learning and confidence

This mixed methods study examines an explanatory video assignment designed to operationalize contemporary theory about cognition, metacognition, and inclusive teaching. This project grew from a professional learning community of post-doctoral teaching fellows who were involved in course redesign as part of a campus-wide active learning initiative. A team of pedagogical experts, teaching fellows, and faculty designed this video assignment to increase opportunities for students to share their perspectives while practicing a powerful learning strategy. Instructional teams implemented different versions of the video assignment in three courses across two departments. An experimental research component isolated the impact of the assignment on learning and confidence, and a mix of quantitative and qualitative analyses provided evidence about students’ experiences with the assignment. We found that students expressed learning and confidence gains beyond those due to typical course activities. Qualitative evidence suggested that students experienced the assignment as valuable for their learning and that the assignment enhanced self-expression. The assignment was effective in both face-to-face and remote settings, implemented either as a course requirement or extra-credit option. This versatile video assignment presents a practical way to enrich the student experience.

Identifying Key Concepts of the Language of Desire and the Language of Ethics in Dialogic Literary Gatherings

Given the high prevalence of gender violence among adolescents and youth, research has underscored the importance of preventing it from an early age. The literature has clarified that the prevention of gender violence requires the union of the language of desire and of ethics to promote egalitarian relationships as desirable. Nevertheless, there is a need for a more in-depth and extensive analysis of the key concepts that emerge in DLG, implemented in diverse contexts to better understand their potential as a space for the prevention of gender violence. To contribute to filling this gap, this study explores key concepts of desire and ethics that adolescents surface in DLG implemented in 5 Learning Communities have in common. To that end, 26 observations in 9 different DLG groups with students aged 10-15 and 45 interviews with students and teachers were conducted. Results show one key concept of desire and ethics in these DLG: many students reject violence and peer pressure. Implications of these findings for the prevention and overcoming of gender violence are discussed.

“You can't ignore us”: Multiliteracies and disruption in youth activism

AbstractThis article examines the activism of student protesters in a rural Rust Belt community's Black Lives Matter protest, challenging prevailing stereotypes about civic engagement, literacies, and youth involvement in rural settings. Utilizing critical ethnography and nexus analysis to examine disruptions of discourses in place and interview student participants about their activism, findings showcase how students strategically practiced multiliteracies to upturn power dynamics and assume leadership roles within a socio‐spatial landscape. Examining youth protest literacies can inform education partners of the ways students already engage in civic discourse and how understanding their co‐construction of space can inform practices across learning communities.

Towards a Taxonomy Machine: A Training Set of 5.6 Million Arthropod Images

The taxonomic identification of organisms from images is an active research area within the machine learning community. Current algorithms are very effective for object recognition and discrimination, but they require extensive training datasets to generate reliable assignments. This study releases 5.6 million images with representatives from 10 arthropod classes and 26 insect orders. All images were taken using a Keyence VHX-7000 Digital Microscope system with an automatic stage to permit high-resolution (4K) microphotography. Providing phenotypic data for 324,000 species derived from 48 countries, this release represents, by far, the largest dataset of standardized arthropod images. As such, this dataset is well suited for testing the efficacy of machine learning algorithms for identifying specimens into higher taxonomic categories.

Research on the Development Dilemma and Countermeasures of Chinas Education Industry from the Perspective of Digital Transformation

Amidst the rapid evolution and broadening adoption of information technology in China, the education sector is undergoing unprecedented transformation. While the digitalization of Chinas education industry is advancing swiftly, it is encountering various challenges that require ongoing attention and solutions. Promoting educational equality between cities and villages to reduce the difference is a critical component of this transition. The urban-rural education disparity significantly impedes the pace and quality of digital transformation of the education industry in China. Rural regions encounter issues such as inadequate infrastructure, unequal allocation of educational resources, and insufficient digital literacy among teachers. Implementing tutorial systems, establishing Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), and adopting the three classrooms model can effectively address these challenges. Collaboration among schools, government entities, and broader society is essential to promote educational equity, advance educational modernization, and cultivate talents tailored for future societal needs. Studying the challenges faced by Chinas education industry during its digital transformation phase, along with corresponding strategies, is pivotal for developing innovative teaching models and approaches. This endeavor fosters the evolution of educational content and instructional methods, aligning them with the swiftly changing social and economic landscape.