A case study of one high performance baseball coach’s experiences within a learning community

This study aimed to derive specific critical success factors using comparison analysis between a high performing group and an ordinary performing group who participated in a learning community and to propose support methods enhancing the effects of learning communities. For these purposes, the data from the reflective journals written by 111 participants were categorized according to a matrix designed for the content analysis. The main study results can be summarized as below. First, the comparison data on the response frequency of the two groups revealed that the high performing group responded more frequently than the other group in 35 out of 54 items and that the ordinary group responded relatively more frequency in 7 items. Second, the results from comparing the competencies of the two groups showed that the high group’s frequency of participants’competencies were different from that of the other group. The factors more frequently commented by the high performers are listed as follows: expression, self-reflection, problem solving, collaboration, group operation, and learning goal-setting. According to the data on the other group, the factors more frequently used were problem solving, group operation, expression, and collaboration. Third, in order to increase the effectiveness of any given learning community, the six critical success factors namely, a multifaceted approach for problem-solving, planning and sharing operation plans, a free and clear expression of oneself, task performance for achieving common goals, self-growth from self-understanding, and specified goal-setting and scheduling, are classified by the following three dimensions of continuous reinforcement, prior support, and additional support. In conclusion, implications for effective learning communities and suggestions for following studies were discussed.

Coach education directors of sport organizations are responsible for developing coaches to support quality sport participation. While adults comprise an increasingly larger cohort in many sport organizations, their programming, including coaching and coach education, is marginalized. The purpose of this collective case study was to outline directors’ perceptions of challenges and interests regarding lifelong sport participation through their perspectives of adult-oriented professional development for coaches in their sport organizations. Five directors of coach education attended webinars on coaching Masters sport and then engaged in follow-up interviews. Data were reflexively thematically analyzed. The results indicated that directors acknowledge differences in coaching adults and youth but a coaching focus on youth and high performance. They discussed the benefits of supporting Masters sport through quality coaching for lifelong sport participation and valued adult-oriented coaching approaches. Lifelong sport pathways could advance with shifts toward supporting Masters sport with quality coach education.

Implementations of evidence-based mental health practices often disappear quickly, and few studies have examined sustainment. Since 2001, the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) learning community has promoted dissemination, implementation, sustainment, and expansion of IPS by using multiple strategies: online training, in-person training and technical assistance, technical assistance teleconferences, annual meetings, stakeholder conference calls, fidelity assessments, and transparency of outcomes. This study examined sustainment of IPS over a two-year period among programs in the learning community in the United States. The authors interviewed IPS team leaders in 129 programs actively participating in the learning community in 2012 and 2014. The structured interview addressed questions about program status, funding, and quality improvement activities. Simultaneously, the learning community tracked program-level data on IPS fidelity and employment rates. The study examined two-year program sustainment and changes in employment rates, fidelity, funding, and quality improvement activities. In 2012, 129 participating sites had been active for an average of 4.5 years. At two-year follow-up, 124 (96%) sites were sustained. The sustaining sites maintained quality improvement activities, expanded funding sources, and increased employment rates (41% to 43%; p=.04) and fidelity scores (103.8 to 108.4; p=.002). Nearly all programs participating in a learning community in 2012 continued to provide IPS services over the next two years, exceeding sustainment rates for evidence-based practices reported in the literature. Quality indicators also improved, suggesting that learning community activities fostered sustainment and quality. Controlled studies must compare specific learning community approaches with usual methods of sustainment.

At Michigan State University (MSU), the AGEP learning community features the participation of over 70% of the African-American, Latinx, and Native-American under-represented minorities (URM), also referred to as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) doctoral students in fields sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Monthly learning community (LC) meetings allow AGEP participants to create dialogues across disciplines through informal oral presentations about current research. The learning communities also offer opportunities to share key information regarding graduate school success and experience; thus providing a social network that extends beyond the academic setting. At MSU, AGEP also provides an interdisciplinary and multigenerational environment that includes graduate students, faculty members, post-docs and prospective graduate students. Using monthly surveys over a 4-year period, we evaluated the impact of this AGEP initiative focusing on the utility of the program, perceptions of departmental climate, career plans and institutional support. Findings indicate that AGEP participants consider their experiences in the program as vital elements in the development of their professional identity, psychological safety, and career readiness. Experiences that were identified included networking across departments, focus on career placement, involvement in minority recruitment and professional development opportunities. Additionally, AGEP community participants resonated with the “sense of community” that is at the core of the MSU AGEP program legacy. In this article, we proposed a variation of Tomlinson’s Graduate Student Capital model to describe the AGEP participants’ perceptions and experiences in MSU AGEP. Within this 4-year period, we report over 70% graduation rate (completing with advanced degrees). More than half of Ph.D. students and almost 30% of master’s degree students decided to pursue academia as their careers. In addition, we found a high satisfaction rate of AGEP among the participants. Our analysis on graduate student capital helped us identify motivating capital development by years spent at MSU and as an AGEP member. These findings may provide some insight into which capitals may be deemed important for students relative to their experiences at MSU and in AGEP and how their priorities change as they transition toward graduation.

This research identifies important features of mathematics learning from the accounts of early school leavers. These students were enrolled in a Youth Reconnected Program at a Technical and Further Education [TAFE] college. Specifically, it examines the relationship between their experiences of mathematics learning in two different social contexts, the program and secondary school classrooms, the discourses and associated discursive practices of these two contexts, and the forms of identities of participation that are constructed in them. Drawing on a social theory of learning and critical discourse theory, the research identifies the processes by which membership in communities of learning is achieved and identities discursively constructed. It draws on the accounts of forty-three early school leavers and six staff members located in a Youth Reconnected Program, a program designed to re-engage early school leavers in education and or training, about their prior experiences of secondary school and their current experiences of TAFE. From these accounts, the thesis seeks to explicate their experiences of learning mathematics in both contexts and to consider the implications of different student experiences of learning for mathematics education. Critical discourse analysis provides the means for applying this framework to examine the discourses, discursive practices, identities, and forms of participation constructed in the accounts. It views the accounts as constituted by their social context. It shows how the language of the accounts works to construct particular versions of reality and how relations of power construct particular identities. It allows a richer qualitative exploration of the reported practices of mathematics classrooms with particular regard to linking the theoretical and practical concerns of this study. It makes transparent the relations between the social (including relations of power and domination), discourse, and discursive practice, thus enabling a more in-depth reading of the participants‘ accounts. Discourses about two different experiences of mathematics learning were identified—one about mathematics learning in the Youth Reconnected Program (TAFE) and the other about mathematics learning in secondary schools. The discourses and their associated discursive practices—differing application of instructional style, communication and interaction, source of authority, pace of instruction, grouping of students and assessment— were found to contribute significantly to the construction of particular student identities and forms of participation. Student experiences emphasised the importance of four characteristics for membership in a community of learners—mutual engagement, joint enterprise, shared repertoire and access. These characteristics and practices were shown to contribute substantially to the construction of identities of participation in mathematics learning for most of the students who participated in this study. There was strong evidence to indicate that small class sizes impacted significantly on student engagement and participation in learning. A crucial factor here rests with the role of the teachers and tutors and how, given the opportunities for reduced class size, they implement, sustain and maintain interactions with the students for effective teaching and learning to occur. If in this context, consistent interactions are provided that also includes clear and explicit explanations, discussion, and negotiation, students are more likely to maintain their interest and actively participate in mathematics learning. This study‘s significance is twofold. It lies in the critical importance of the issue it addresses—student participation in mathematics learning—and the articulation of a social theory of learning with critical discourse theory to enable a different and more effective understanding of the significance of discourses, identities and communities of participation in mathematics learning. Although the study cannot claim generalisability across other populations of learners or across all mathematics and TAFE classrooms because of the small select sample of early school leavers drawn upon, by highlighting these accounts of students‘ learning experiences in some mathematics classrooms and the TAFE program, and their associated experiences of them, it draws attention to a different perspective on mathematics learning. In this alternative framing, learning as a social process is contingent on access to the discourse of mathematics learning and the discursive practices that support learning, participation, and membership in a community of mathematics learners. An attention to the social processes of mathematics learning infers a significant role for mathematics teachers in enabling student access to certain discourses and communities of learning. Such a role is often neglected in current contexts of accountability that specify a focus on achieving syllabus outcomes.

The individual placement and support (IPS) model of supported employment for people with serious mental illness is an evidence-based practice. Factors including a national learning community promoting IPS and enforcement of the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision have spurred the growth of IPS nationwide. In this study we first evaluated the national prevalence and quality of IPS programs. We then evaluated the impact of learning community membership and Olmstead settlements on IPS program penetration and quality across the United States. We interviewed representatives from 48 state behavioral health agencies and 51 state vocational rehabilitation agencies. Survey questions examined the number of IPS programs in each state, the presence of an Olmstead settlement mandating employment services for people with serious mental illness, and the presence of three indicators of quality in IPS programs: collaboration between statebehavioral health and vocational rehabilitation agencies, regular, independent fidelity monitoring, and technical assistance and training for IPS programs. Respondents from 38 (75%) states, including 19 states in the IPS Learning Community and 19 outside the learning community, reported a total of 523 IPS programs nationwide (M = 14, SD = 16). The state IPS program penetration rate (number of IPS programs per 1,000,000 people) ranged from 0.05 to 16.62 (M = 3.61, SD = 3.62) among states with IPS. The penetration rate was similar for learning community and non-learning community states with IPS, but learning community states were much more likely than non-learning community states with IPS to report the presence of each of three quality indicators. Eleven states reported Olmstead or other settlements that positively impacted employment services for people with serious mental illness, but among the 38states with IPS programs, Olmstead states did not differ from non-Olmstead states in IPS program penetration or on the quality indicators. Nationally, most states provide IPS programs, but the within-state penetration rate and quality of implementation vary widely. While learning community and non-learning community states with IPS do not differ in the prevalence of IPS programs, learning community states are much more likely to report key quality indicators, which may enhance these states' potential for sustaining and expanding IPS. Olmstead settlements have not yet shown a direct impact on the penetration and quality of IPS, but as the Department of Justice continues to enforce the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision, their significance may increase.

Emory University School of Medicine.

In this paper I am concerned with the analysis of the collaborative work and learning experiences of students involved in distributed problem-based learning (dPBL), with a view to beginning to answer the question: "What happens in a dPBL group?" In order to do this I present two related studies. The first study examines the way in which a dPBL group develops over the period of its work. I show that there are three distinct, but often simultaneous phases of group development: A long first phase characterized by negotiation; a second phase where there is division of work and considerable research activity; and a third phase of production. A snap shot of the early negotiation phase is analysed and discussed as a means of indicating some of the dynamics of the group. The second study looks at the ways in which the work of the group implicitly and explicitly helps to develop and sustain it as a "community of learners." I identify two characteristics of this group which help explain how it sustains itself as a community of learners: The achievement of milestones, and the negotiation of identity and knowledge. The methodological approach adopted in these studies involves examination of the work of a dPBL group as it occurred online, and the analysis of transcripts of their discussions, debates, activities and shared production. In addition, members of the groups were involved in focused, in-depth interviews about their experience of learning in dPBL contexts. Implications for practice are discussed.

BackgroundWhile many research-based instructional strategies in STEM have been developed, faculty need support in implementing and sustaining use of these strategies. A number of STEM faculty professional development programs aim to provide such pedagogical support, and it is necessary to understand the activity and learning process for faculty in these settings. In this paper, a taxonomy for describing the learning opportunities in faculty (online) learning community meetings is presented. Faculty learning communities, meeting either in-person or (increasingly) online, are a common form of professional development. They aim to develop the pedagogical and reflective skills of participants through regular meetings centered on conversations about teaching and learning.ResultsThe tool presented in this paper, the Taxonomy of Opportunities to Learn (TxOTL), provides a structured approach to making sense of the dynamic interactions that occur during faculty learning community meetings. The origins and development of the TxOTL are described, followed by a detailed presentation of the constructs that make up the TxOTL: communicative approach used in a conversation, the concepts developed, and the meeting segment category. The TxOTL characterizes the learning opportunities presented by a faculty learning community conversation through describing the content of the conversation as well as how participants engage in the conversation. Examples of the tool in use are provided through an application to a faculty online learning community serving instructors of a physical science curriculum. A visual representation used to compactly display the results of applying the taxonomy to a meeting is detailed as well. These examples serve to illustrate the types of claims the TxOTL facilitates.ConclusionsThe TxOTL allows one to examine learning opportunities available to a faculty learning community group, analyze concept development present in their conversations, track change over time in a given group, and identify patterns between meeting segment categories and communicative approaches. It is useful for researchers as well as facilitators of these STEM faculty professional development groups. The taxonomy is most applicable to faculty (online) learning communities, with limited use for workshops and K-12 professional development contexts.

The present study investigated whether online students’ sense of community and self-determined need satisfaction predicted online course satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample consisted of 136 Australian university students who were studying online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students completed online surveys for sense of community (i.e., social connectedness and learning community), self-determined need satisfaction (i.e., relatedness, competence, and autonomy), and online course satisfaction. The study results indicated that learning community and social connectedness significantly predicted the self-determined needs and online course satisfaction, with learning community having a large effect size. Autonomy partially mediated the relationship between social connectedness and online course satisfaction; autonomy was the only self-determined need to predict online course satisfaction. It was concluded that online university students require learning communities and social connectedness to meet their needs and have a satisfying learning experience. The self-determined need of autonomy was the most important for student’s satisfaction with their course. These findings have implications for universities to build a sense of community in their courses to support students' needs and improve online course satisfaction.

Watch the VIDEO.At this time of rapid advancements in scholarly communication, publishers must increasingly find new ways to respond and adapt to researcher needs. However current technological infrastructure in the industry is not built to be agile or easily customizable. We must look beyond the inflexible, restrictive, and costly technology silos we currently have, evaluate our workflows, and learn from other industries to pursue community-owned, collaborative solutions. How can open source technology equip us in our pursuit of efficient, sustainable publishing that can evolve with research communication practices? Can we aggregate and share the cost of building core tools, refocusing our technology investments instead into the customizations and enhancements needed to befit researcher requirements, all in the framework of open source? In this presentation we will outline the significance of open source infrastructure to Hindawi’s mission and vision, and the importance of partnering with like-minded organizations to drive change for the industry. We will present the work that Hindawi has undertaken in collaboration with the Coko Foundation, eLife, and the University of California Press to evolve xPub—a modular open source architecture, configurable in a variety of arrangements to provide a host of workflow solutions for publishers—and consider the impact that the adoption and integration of xPub can have for publishers, societies, and institutions worldwide.

When Mark Tucker, M.A., began his role as the new baseball coach at Surry Community College in 1995, he faced the challenge of launching a baseball program from scratch. The school didn’t have a baseball facility, history, uniforms, or players. “We actually had an open tryout to select our players for our first team,” he recalled. “We practiced and played at the high school next door for three years until we built an on‐campus field. After our initial year, we recruited and kept building on our success,” added Tucker, who continued as head coach until 2008.

The teaching staff of each school should form a Professional Learning Community (PLC). This concept refers to the focus on the cooperation between members of the organisation in order to achieve the common goals of developing the school (improvement of teaching and learning practices, engaging in joint research, evaluation of results etc.). Everything must start from the existence of a clear and convincing vision of what the organization should become and from the emphasis on a culture of learning for all. This research aimed to present the teachers perception of these learning communities within schools and the role they fulfill in reality across the organisations. The instrument used in conducting the research was a questionnaire consisting of 30 multiple choice questions administered to teachers from high schools in Bihor county. The results obtained show that most teachers believe that teaching staffs do not always work as learning communities, that more work is still required to make them truly effective, and that the role of school headteachers is essential in this process. The more active, participatory and stimulative is the school leadership, the expected results can be obtained more effectively. The better collective and individual values blend, the more stimulative is teamwork for the individual, the higher performances will be achieved in schools.

Learning communities have been implemented in colleges and universities across the country in an effort to enhance the learning experience for undergraduate students. Scholars have noted the potential for these communities to help students build skills outside of the classroom as well as improve their performance inside the classroom. In this paper, we investigate the potential for learning communities to improve students’ attitudes toward the oft-dreaded subject of research methods. In the fall 2022 and fall 2023 semesters, we conducted two large-scale research projects on college students’ voting behavior in which students in a residential learning community participated as undergraduate study assistants. In addition, we surveyed students who had participated in various forms of research across three years of the learning community. We find that experiential exposure to social science has a moderate and positive effect on students’ interest and propensity to study research methods.

Utilizing a comparative research design, this study explored the perceived benefits of an interdisciplinary, multi‐institutional learning community for behavioral health students, including counselors‐in‐training at historically Black colleges and universities. To understand the perceived benefits, the researchers examined quantitative and qualitative post‐participation surveys. The findings revealed that overall, participants believed the Learning Community contributed to their development and practice, particularly those who had not yet earned an advanced degree. The Learning Community offered career capital via new knowledge, enhanced graduate training, a safe space, expanded networks, and interdisciplinary/interprofessional perspectives.