Learning Community Research Articles

From Tutor to Future Educator: Investigating the Role of Peer-Peer Tutoring in Shaping Careers in Medical Education

AbstractIn the effort to promote academic excellence and provide teaching experiences and training for medical students, the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine (UCISOM) built a novel peer tutoring program (2020), Collaborative Learning Communities with Medical Students as Teachers (CLC-MSAT). While the role of peer-assisted learning in student success on academic courses is well established, we wanted to assess the impact of our UCISOM peer-assisted learning program on tutors’ career interest in medical education. Through a mixed-methods analysis of our peer tutors’ experiences, we found 100% were overall satisfied with their positions; > 85% learned new skills; > 88% felt they were strong teachers; > 88% felt they now had a stronger grasp of the medical curriculum and most importantly, 100% of students maintained their interest and aspirations to serve in a future medical educator role after participating as a tutor. Additionally, we found a statistically significant relationship between tutors’ intentions of exploring a career in academic medicine after serving in the CLC program. Our findings suggest that our tutoring program has had a positive impact in providing authentic teaching experiences and training to medical students early in their careers at UCISOM, which may help prepare the next generation of qualified academic clinicians.

Higher Education Institutions’ appreciation and adoption of e-publishing in Macau, China

The rapid digitization of scholarly communication has globally transformed the landscape of academic publishing. Through descriptive research, this study explored the appreciation and adoption of e-publishing strategies within higher education institutions in Macau, China. It aimed to establish a framework for effective e-publishing strategies in educational management to enhance teaching methodologies, student engagement, and learning outcomes. The research objectives included profiling higher education institutions based on enrolment figures, teaching modalities, institutional types, and learning facilities. Additionally, it assessed the level of appreciation of administrators, teachers, and students regarding electronically published learning materials in terms of quality, content, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. Comparative analyses were conducted to discern differences in assessments among the three respondent groups. Furthermore, the study examined the relationship between institutional profiles and the level of appreciation for e-publishing. It also evaluated the extent of e-publishing adoption in academic management, administration, resource accessibility, and learning outcomes. There is a moderate adoption on the level of adoption of electronically published learning materials in terms of academic management, administration, and learning outcomes as assessed by the administrators, the teachers and the students. Ultimately, the findings yielded for the development of a strategic plan to promote the effective integration of e-publishing in higher education institutions in Macau, China.

Growing community-based composting programs in China: Implementation and policy lessons from eight cases

Localised processing of waste into resources is a prime target towards circular economy, yet community-led composting programs have reported significant implementation challenges. There are no implementation process models or guidelines for programs spanning community, waste, governance, legislation domains: each community learns anew. Here we report a multi-case study of community-led composting program implementations in eight urban sites in China. In-depth key-informant interview information was analysed as cycles of activity towards increasingly-complex needs/targets (like simple recycling; complex composting). Cross-community comparisons suggest transferable implementation lessons: delegation of certain roles is more effective than simply involving stakeholders; enthusiasts can significantly mobilize stakeholders but cannot replace them; paperwork burden could negate funding availability benefits; access to specific expertise (technical, legal, operational) at crucial moments was key; stakeholder learning was most effective via personal meetings and introductions. City policies incorporating these implementation lessons could facilitate scaling-up in China. Future studies can investigate generalizability.

The Language Science Station at Planet Word: a language research and engagement laboratory at a language museum

Abstract The Language Science Station (LSS) is a research and engagement laboratory operating at the Planet Word museum in Washington, DC, representing a unique partnership between language researchers and a museum dedicated to language. The LSS invites Planet Word guests – ranging from local to international visitors – to participate in research studies and engage in educational activities with student language scientists from diverse academic backgrounds. In doing so, we broaden participation in the language sciences among both the researchers and the participant population. This paper outlines the goals, values, and structure of the LSS, highlighting our dual emphases on research and engagement. We focus on several aspects of the project. These include our novel multi-university researcher-museum partnership, the different considerations that we find are necessary for conducting research in a museum setting compared to the laboratory, and our training of researchers and student research assistants. The paper also provides reflections from students on their interactions with museum visitors. We share our experiences with the broader scholarly community in an effort to lower barriers for other behavioral scientists interested in combining research and engagement in public venues.

A Development Technology Acceptance Model Towards Blended Learning Motivation: Social Presence as A Mediator

Blended learning motivation (BLM) is crucial for the success of blended learning, especially for students in higher vocational education and training institutions (HVETIs). This study investigates the impact of perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU), and social presence (SP) on blended learning motivation. An online survey collected data from 714 students across 36 HVETIs in Chongqing City, China. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to examine the relationships among the study variables. The findings indicate social presence, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness positively influence blended learning motivation. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use enhance blended learning motivation through social presence, even though the direct effect of perceived ease of use on social presence was unsupported, with perceived ease of use indirectly influencing social presence through perceived usefulness. This study highlights the social presence's pivotal role in promoting blended learning motivation and offering insights for developing a motivational, trust-based blended learning community for students, educators, and policymakers within blended learning environments.

Integrating Malay Local Wisdom in English Learning: Students’ Perception at State Junior High School 1 in Tanjung Pura Regency of North Sumatera Province

Integrating local wisdom into the English learning process is essential to preserve cultural identity and promote a more meaningful and relevant learning experience for students. This study aimed to explore students' perceptions on the importance of integrating local wisdom of the Malay community in English language learning. A qualitative approach was applied, which involved a survey of 27. The results showed that most students believe that the integration of local wisdom of the Malay community in English language learning is important. They recognized the potential benefits, including increased cultural understanding, better language learning motivation, and development of 21st century skills. However, the students also identified some challenges, such as the limited availability of learning resources that integrate the local wisdom of the Malay community and the need for better teacher training in this area. The findings of this study indicated that students were generally open to the integration of Malay local wisdom in English language learning, but there needs to be a more systematic and comprehensive effort to address the identified challenges. Implications for curriculum development, teacher professional development, and learning resource design to integrate local wisdom of the Malay community in English textbooks.

Community partnership approaches to safe sleep (CPASS) program evaluation

BackgroundSudden unexpected infant death (SUID) continues to be a leading cause of death in infants in the United States (US), with significant disparities by race and socio-economic status. Infant safe sleep behaviors are associated with decreasing SUID risk, but challenges remain for families to practice these routinely. The objective of this program was to implement and evaluate a novel approach for an infant safe sleep pilot program built upon partnerships between hospitals and community-based organizations (CBOs) serving pregnant and parenting families in at-risk communities.MethodsCommunity Partnership Approaches to Safe Sleep (CPASS) was a prospectively implemented infant safe sleep program. CPASS included children’s hospitals partnered with CBOs across five US cities: Portland, OR, Little Rock AR, Chicago, IL, Birmingham, AL, and Rochester, NY. The program consisted of (1) monthly learning community calls; (2) distribution of Safe Sleep Survival Kits; and (3) surveys of sites and families regarding program outcomes. Survey measures included (1) site participation in CPASS activities; (2) recipients’ use of Safe Sleep Kits; and (3) recipients’ safe sleep knowledge and behaviors.ResultsCPASS learning community activities were consistently attended by at least two representatives (1 hospital-based, 1 CBO-based) from each site. Across the five sites, 1002 safe kits were distributed over 9 months, the majority (> 85%) to families with infants ≤ 1 month old. Among participating families, 45% reported no safe sleep location before receipt of the kit. Family adherence to nighttime safe sleep recommendations included: (1) no bedsharing (M 6.0, SD 1.8, range 0–7); (2) sleep on back (M 6.3, SD 1.7, range 0–7); and (3) sleep in a crib with no blankets/toys (M 6.0, SD 2.0, range 0–7). Site interviews described how participation in CPASS influenced safe sleep conversations and incorporated local data into counseling. Hospital-CBO relationships were strengthened with program participation.ConclusionsThe CPASS pilot program provides a new, innovative model built on hospital-community partnerships for infant safe sleep promotion in SUID-impacted communities. CPASS reached families before their infant’s peak age risk for SUID and empowered families with knowledge and resources to practice infant safe sleep. Important lessons learned included improved ways to center and communicate with families.

Outdoor Play and Learning in Elementary Schools: A Critical Participatory Action Research Project

In this study, we enacted critical participatory action research (CPAR) within an online community of practice (CoP). The CoP was designed to build a community of outdoor play and learning (OPAL) practitioners. This paper describes how a cohort (n=18) of experienced Kindergarten to grade eight (K-8) teachers from across British Columbia shared their OPAL experiences and practice and the collective action taken. Regularly scheduled meetings over a six-month period resulted in dialogue that identified the need for quality resources that were accessible for all teachers. The concept of a website, developed for teachers by teachers experienced with OPAL, was initiated within the CPAR process. This article describes findings related to participation in a CPAR CoP, and the process of deciding upon and enacting shared action to support OPAL elementary school teachers.

How do early childhood education leaders shape professional learning communities?

ABSTRACT This study examined how early childhood leaders working simultaneously as kindergarten teachers perceive the professional learning communities they lead – explicitly identifying the factors that promote or hinder the communities’ development from the leader’s point of view. A qualitative-phenomenological approach was applied using semi-structured interviews of ten early childhood leaders. Factors that contributed to a community’s successful functioning were discussions on practices and real-life dilemmas, active involvement of teachers in community meetings, and creating an atmosphere based on trust and closeness. On the other hand, hindering factors were essentially allocated time to transferring agendas and information from superintendents and limited collaborative culture among teachers beyond community meetings. The findings highlight the considerable potential of professional communities for providing significant assistance to kindergarten teachers to promote children’s education. Nevertheless, leaders need more autonomy in determining the content of meetings and additional knowledge and strategies to strengthen pedagogical collaborations between community participants.

Roles of science and research in vocational teacher preparation: A case study from a Norwegian VET teacher programme

Bridging vocational skills and scientific principles can pose challenges in vocational education and training (VET) teacher programmes. This study aims to enhance such programmes by exploring the potential of reflective practices among students and educators on the nature of science and research in VET contexts. Engaging VET teacher students with multidisciplinary backgrounds in a learning community, the study explores how to further develop research-based teacher training by ‘nudging’ student cooperation. A pedagogical course designed to appreciate students’ prior experiences aimed at preparing them to reflect upon their own professional development from a scientific perspective. Using five focus group interviews with 19 first-year students, the study identifies and explains four key factors for quality in VET teacher training: relevance of pedagogical theory, the value of a multidisciplinary approach, recognition of students’ VET backgrounds, and the importance of community in learning. The findings emphasise the significance of creating coherence between research, vocational skills, educational theory, and real-world applications to develop quality in VET teacher training. This study has implications for educators and policymakers, underlining the need for a comprehensive approach to research-based VET teacher competence that integrates personal, academic, and professional elements.

Impact of Russia- Ukraine War on Indian Economy

In this day and age, few individuals have considered making war predictions. Still, it is taking place. Both the global economy and the people of Ukraine are suffering as a result of something they have never done in their lives. Ukraine was attacked by Russia on February 24, 2022. Since then, Russia has been the target of criticism from other nations as a whole, and now, other nations have united against Russia, greatly impacting the global economy. My research attempts to determine how the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has influenced India's international commerce, what effects it has had on the country's future, and what other patterns the Indian economy will likely follow as a result of this conflict. I'll examine India's international commerce with Russia and Ukraine during the last five years and attempt to research how a conflict would affect trade in the future. We believe that this study article will aid in the understanding of the global impact of this conflict by the scholarly community.

DSEception: a noval neural networks architecture for enhancing pneumonia and tuberculosis diagnosis.

Pneumonia and tuberculosis are prevalent pulmonary diseases globally, each demanding specific care measures. However, distinguishing between these two conditions imposes challenges due to the high skill requirements for doctors, the impact of imaging positions and respiratory intensity of patients, and the associated high healthcare costs, emphasizing the imperative need for intelligent and efficient diagnostic methods. This study aims to develop a highly accurate automatic diagnosis and classification method for various lung diseases (Normal, Pneumonia, and Tuberculosis). We propose a hybrid model, which is based on the InceptionV3 architecture, enhanced by introducing Deepwise Separable Convolution after the Inception modules and incorporating the Squeeze-and-Excitation mechanism. This architecture successfully enables the model to extract richer features without significantly increasing the parameter count and computational workload, thereby markedly improving the performance in predicting and classifying lung diseases. To objectively assess the proposed model, external testing and five-fold cross-validation were conducted. Additionally, widely used baseline models in the scholarly community were constructed for comparison. In the external testing phase, the our model achieved an average accuracy (ACC) of 90.48% and an F1-score (F1) of 91.44%, which is an approximate 4% improvement over the best-performing baseline model, ResNet. In the five-fold cross-validation, our model's average ACC and F1 reached 88.27% ± 2.76% and 89.29% ± 2.69%, respectively, demonstrating exceptional predictive performance and stability. The results indicate that our model holds promise for deployment in clinical settings to assist in the diagnosis of lung diseases, potentially reducing misdiagnosis rates and patient losses. Utilizing deep learning for automatic assistance in the diagnosis of pneumonia and tuberculosis holds clinical significance by enhancing diagnostic accuracy, reducing healthcare costs, enabling rapid screening and large-scale detection, and facilitating personalized treatment approaches, thereby contributing to widespread accessibility and improved healthcare services in the future.

A quantitative analysis of artificial intelligence research in cervical cancer: a bibliometric approach utilizing CiteSpace and VOSviewer.

Cervical cancer, a severe threat to women's health, is experiencing a global increase in incidence, notably among younger demographics. With artificial intelligence (AI) making strides, its integration into medical research is expanding, particularly in cervical cancer studies. This bibliometric study aims to evaluate AI's role, highlighting research trends and potential future directions in the field. This study systematically retrieved literature from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC), employing VOSviewer and CiteSpace for analysis. This included examining collaborations and keyword co-occurrences, with a focus on the relationship between citing and cited journals and authors. A burst ranking analysis identified research hotspots based on citation frequency. The study analyzed 927 articles from 2008 to 2024 by 5,299 authors across 81 regions. China, the U.S., and India were the top contributors, with key institutions like the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the NIH leading in publications. Schiffman, Mark, featured among the top authors, while Jemal, A, was the most cited. 'Diagnostics' and 'IEEE Access' stood out for publication volume and citation impact, respectively. Keywords such as 'cervical cancer,' 'deep learning,' 'classification,' and 'machine learning' were dominant. The most cited article was by Berner, ES; etal., published in 2008. AI's application in cervical cancer research is expanding, with a growing scholarly community. The study suggests that AI, especially deep learning and machine learning, will remain a key research area, focusing on improving diagnostics and treatment. There is a need for increased international collaboration to maximize AI's potential in advancing cervical cancer research and patient care.

A SeNA-based study of in-service teachers’ interaction patterns in an online learning community

In-service teachers, constrained by work commitments, adopt online learning methods for their graduate studies, emphasizing the significance of exploring the construction of online learning communities. Analyzing collaborative conversation texts within the online learning process of the “Learning Science” course at a university in Beijing, this study employed social epistemic network analysis (SeNA) to investigate interaction patterns of in-service teachers and propose optimization strategies. The findings of this study show that in asynchronous discussions without intervention, the overall situation of collaborative conversations among in-service teachers tends to be low-level. The social interaction network shows polycentricity, categorizing members into core and peripheral interactors based on distinct social interaction characteristics, highlighting substantial disparities in epistemic networks. Core interactors prioritize engaging with others, yet their contributions primarily echo interactions, reflecting superficial knowledge dimensions. Conversely, specific peripheral interactors prioritize independent reflection, sharing content largely derived from personal experiences or knowledge, signifying a commitment to independent and in-depth thinking within deeper knowledge dimensions. Moreover, learners’ online interactions are influenced by individual characteristics, instructional evaluation and the learning community atmosphere.

Scientometric analysis of COVID-19: A basis for developing a general theory of pandemic from scholarly communications perspective

This study conducted a scientometric analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim of providing a foundation for developing a general theory of pandemics from a scholarly communications perspective. To achieve this, the study sought to answer a single question: How do knowledge, innovation, and environment relate to one another during a pandemic? Carayannis and Campbell (2010) posed a similar question from a different perspective, and this study builds on that by attempting to provide a framework in case another pandemic occurs. To understand the publication behavior of scholars over the five-year period from 2019 to 2024, the authors analyzed data extracted from Scopus between August 18 and 28, 2023. The search strategy used was “COVID-19 OR Coronavirus OR Coronaviruses OR SARS-CoV-2 OR 2019-nCoV.” The search yielded 511,920 results, of which 17,487 were used for this study. It was found that many countries around the globe formed six clusters. As a result, researchers from these countries continued to produce significant research outputs, leading to a high number of citations and enhancing their position within scholarly communications. An interesting finding of this research revealed new and relevant topics, prompting the authors to link these findings with the quintuple helix theory. The study recommended using empirical and theoretical models to develop theories that can further define pandemics.

TWO QUESTIONS: THE MASʾALATĀN AND THE AVICENNIAN CORPUS

AbstractThis article brings to light a previously unedited short treatise, the Masʾalatān (Two Questions), attributed to Avicenna (d. 1037). While the earliest witness to the text is the Ayasofya 4853 manuscript, containing a substantial portion of Avicenna's Nachlass, some of which is integrated into the Mubāḥaṯāt and Taʿlīqāt, the Masʾalatān has remained a standalone work with limited circulation. Consequently, the primary concern revolves around the verification of its authenticity and its feasibility given the available data. This article presents a critical edition of the text alongside a parallel translation but it also serves as a case study on the possibilities of authorship verification. It also compiles information from codicology, nevertheless, it primarily focuses on the commentary that analyses and compares the arguments to Avicenna's unquestionably authentic solutions. The first question addresses whether every existent is spatially located, while the second explores the impossibility of an actual infinite body. The commentary endeavors to interpret the text against the cultural and theological background that may have inspired such inquiries, meanwhile also seeks to address its later influence. In addition to unveiling a hitherto unseen text to the scholarly community for further research, it also offers an insight into the limitations of authorship attribution.

From Language Arts to Learning Communities: A Pathway toward Critical Literacy for Everybody

This article will outline how literacy leaders can engage their community through empowering conversations and composition that center the body as knowledge and text.

The Factors Affecting the Impacts of Using the School Improvement Plan (SIP) on Students' Academic Achievement in Malaysia

While professional learning communities are hailed as the solution to raising teacher quality in Malaysia, other nations, such as the UK and Canada, have started to deprivatize teaching. This theory is predicated on the notion that teaching is a collaborative endeavor in which educators grow as individuals and professionals. Rather, it is a cooperative process in which teacher learning enhances student learning. Furthermore, the traditional classroom is rapidly changing to accommodate the needs of students in the twenty-first century while also encouraging the deprivatizing teaching approach. Consequently, this study presents a curriculum-change implementation strategy one school uses to meet Malaysia's evolving understanding of learning in and for the twenty-first century. Narrating a series of anticipated strategic events clarifies the importance of using distributive leadership as an essential tool for supporting educational enhancement and highlights the benefits of consultative techniques. This study aims to determine the variables that influence how the School Improvement Plan (SIP) affects Malaysian students' academic performance. Using a Google Form approach, this study used a quantitative research design, an effective and systematic way to collect quantifiable data. According to this survey, teacher leadership factors have the most significant impact on students' academic success compared to the other two factors. The results of this study suggested a theoretical framework that forecasts the related factors—principal instructional leadership, teacher leadership, and conducive school environment—that influence the effects of implementing the School Improvement Plan (SIP) on students' academic achievement in Malaysia.

The Time is Now, the Time is Always

The time could not be more urgent, and university faculty and leaders must act and reclaim their responsibility for civic preparation. In the face of enrollment decline, an emphasis on student credit hours, and a history of siloed tunnel vision, action seems impossible in a system that opposes the core mission of higher education. In this article, authors—faculty from two teacher preparation departments—share their journey that started as state-mandated program revision to a campus-wide civic agenda. They argue for the integration of civics teaching in disciplinary courses and share classroom teaching ideas that cultivate civic identity and virtues. Feeling empowered, they widened the scope of their work to include a campus-wide learning community and civic survey audits to target professional learning opportunities. Through collected data and lessons learned, they demonstrate the moves needed to reclaim higher education’s core democratic purpose.

Business Learning Communities’ Formation: CBAA as an Agent of Change Thru Entrepreneurial Mind Turn Into Business

Business learning communities includes the development of knowledge about various aspects of business, including regulations, best practices, and necessary skills for success. The Laguna State Polytechnic University and the College of Business Administration and Accountancy conducted this study to identify the Entrepreneurial Mind Turn Into Business (EMTIB) study to help the community about business and persuade in the entrepreneurial mind setting; examine the importance of the key concepts in business for the growth of any entity and to bring out into practice the mind-set of entrepreneurship to the community; provide basic knowledge in accounting and balancing; and establish filing systems within an organization. Majority of the respondents were non-graduate of business course in this way they will develop their core skills across in an array of the entrepreneurial topics. In business growth of any entity, they purchased goods and services from a potential entrepreneur and to know the importance of financial accounting and balancing.