Former First Lady, Michelle Obama believes that every individual should have some type of postsecondary education or training beyond high school to achieve economic and personal success (Reach Higher Initiative, Better Make Room, 2019). Educational attainment (e.g., a high school diploma, college degree, or postsecondary training) provides career opportunities for advancement into leadership positions and benefits such as health insurance and retirement (Heckman, 2000). Additionally, an individual with a college degree can make over one million dollars more over a lifetime in salary than someone with a high school diploma (Carnevale, Cheah, & Hanson, 2015). Acquiring a college degree can lead to employment opportunities and is considered an asset in the U.S. economy (Washington, 2010). However, certain populations encounter barriers to attaining an education, particularly a postsecondary education, leading to a disparity in receiving the aforementioned benefits. Some of these populations include African American students, LGBTQ students, and students with disabilities. There is a dearth of information and research on providing guidance on implementation, research, and best practices in equity-based career development, college readiness, and successful postsecondary transitions for minoritized, at risk, or vulnerable populations. The editors of this volume invited authors with research and practice expertise around various student populations in preparing them for college and career readiness as well as postsecondary transitions. This book is the first of its kind to discuss career development and postsecondary transitions from an access and equity perspective. Further, this text serves as a call to action to ensure the United States' most vulnerable populations has an opportunity to successfully transition into multiple postsecondary options after high school.

In this digital age, faculty, teachers, and teacher educators are increasingly expected to adopt and adapt pedagogical perspectives to support student learning in instructional environments featuring online or blended learning. One highly adopted element of online and blended learning involves the use of online learning discussions. Discussion-based learning offers a rich pedagogical context for creating learning opportunities as well as a great deal of flexibility for a wide variety of learning and learner contexts. As post-secondary and, increasingly, K-12 institutions cope with the rapid growth of online learning, and an increase in the cultural diversity of learners, it is critical to understand, at a detailed level, the relationship between online interaction and learning and how educationally-effective interactions might be nurtured, in an inclusive way, by instructors. The Handbook of Research on Online Discussion-Based Teaching Methods is a cutting-edge research publication that seeks to identify promising designs, pedagogical and assessment strategies, conceptual models, and theoretical frameworks that support discussion-based learning in online and blended learning environments. This book provides a better understanding of the effects and both commonalities and differences of new tools that support interaction, such as video, audio, and real-time interaction in discussion-based learning. Featuring a wide range of topics such as gamification, intercultural learning, and digital agency, this book is ideal for teachers, educational software developers, instructional designers, IT consultants, academicians, curriculum designers, researchers, and students.

Early childhood educators are keenly aware of the importance of a child's transition to ""real school."" This transition is occurring earlier in a child's life now that school districts nationwide are moving to pre-kindergarten experiences for 3- and 4-year olds. Annually, more than one million children attend public school pre-k programs overseen by elementary school principals who, although veteran educational leaders, were not trained to oversee these programs. Although pre-k classrooms are rapidly growing and deserve special attention, school leaders must be reminded that early childhood means more than pre-kindergarten; it extends through third grade. School leadership needs to understand the principles of early childhood education to effectively support all children age three to grade three. Professional and Ethical Consideration for Early Childhood Leaders is a collection of innovative research that crafts an overall understanding of the importance of early childhood leadership in today's schools. The book employs strategies to improve support for children in early childhood years, examines the different roles of early childhood leadership, analyzes best practices for implementation in early childhood contexts, and explores improvements for leadership preparation for schools with pre-k through third-grade children. While highlighting a wide range of topics including advocacy, cultural responses, and professional development, this publication is ideally designed for educators, administrators, principals, early childhood development teachers, daycare instructors, curriculum developers, advocates, researchers, academicians, and students.

Lifelong learning assists us in having a successful career, promotes mental health, and helps us to adapt to the constant changes we experience. Rapid changes in our technological and social environment mean that we must learn more and learn faster than ever before. Given the importance of learning, it is essential to understand what we learn and how we learn. These learning elements and the relationships among them can best be understood through a theory of adult learning. The goal of this book is to propose such a theory.In this book, we present what we consider to be a holistic, logical, integrated, and readable summary of what adults learn and how adult learning takes place. Throughout this exposition, we include the contributions of many of the most impactful learning theorists and the latest empirical research on individual learning. We also highlight some of the intellectual debates that are still in progress in this rapidly evolving field.In simple terms, according to the theory, learning begins with an experience. This experience is followed by reflection and dialogue with others. These activities cause individuals to modify or add to what they already know and are cognitively able to do (ie, learning is occurring). While this logic is employed by a number of scholars, the book has a number of features that should make it a widely referenced source on adult learning theory. The book introduces the entire learning framework at the beginning and expands upon it in subsequent chapters. This framework, combined with clear definitions of terms and the use of examples while avoiding obscure language, serves to make the book very readable.

In far too many classrooms, the emphasis is on instructional strategies that teachers employ rather than on what students should be doing or thinking about as part of their learning. What's more, students' minds are something of a mysterious ""black box"" for most teachers, so when learning breaks down, they're not sure what went wrong or what to do differently to help students learn. It doesn't have to be this way. Learning That Sticks helps you look inside that black box. Bryan Goodwin and his coauthors unpack the cognitive science underlying research-supported learning strategies so you can sequence them into experiences that challenge, inspire, and engage your students. As a result, you'll learn to teach with more intentionality-understanding not just what to do but also when and why to do it. By way of an easy-to-use six-phase model of learning, this book: Analyzes how the brain reacts to, stores, and retrieves new information. Helps you ""zoom out"" to understand the process of learning from beginning to end. Helps you ""zoom in"" to see what's going on in students' minds during each phase. Learning may be complicated, but learning about learning doesn't have to be. And to that end, Learning That Sticks helps shine a light into all the black boxes in your classroom and make your practice the most powerful it can be. This product is a copublication of ASCD and McREL.

From a field developed out of the need to train military personnel at scale to its current role in enabling virtual learning and training experiences, instructional design has developed into a complex, multifaceted discipline. The modern instructional design process goes by many names (e.g., learning experience design, learning engineering, training and development, organizational development) and continues to adapt with continual changes in society and skill development needs. From mobile to remote learning as well as online and traditional classrooms, instructional designers are faced with meeting the learner where they are to design authentic and engaging learning experiences. Additionally, learning development needs have expanded outside of formal learning into professional development, on the job training, and continuous learning.

Given the increasing diversity of the United States and students entering schools, the value of teacher learning in clinical contexts, and the need to elevate the profession, national organizations have been calling for a re-envisioning of teacher preparation that turns teacher education upside down. This change will require PK-12 schools and universities to partner in robust ways to create strong professional learning experiences for aspiring teachers. University faculty, in particular, will not only need to work in schools, but they will need to work with schools in the preparation of future teachers. This collaboration should promote greater equity and justice for our nation's students. The purpose of this book is to support individuals in designing clinically based teacher preparation programs that place equity at the core. Drawing from the literature as well as our experiences in designing and coordinating award-winning teacher education programs, we offer a vision for equity-centered, clinically based preparation that promotes powerful teacher professional learning and develops high-quality, equity-centered teachers for schools. The chapter topics include policy guidelines, partnerships, intentional clinical experiences, coherence, curriculum and coursework, university-based teacher educators, school-based teacher educators, teacher candidate supervision and evaluation, the role of research, and instructional leadership in teacher preparation. While the concepts we share are research-based and grounded in the empirical literature, our primary intention is for this book to be of practical use. We hope that by the time you finish reading, you will feel inspired and equipped to make change within your own program, your institution, and your local context. We begin each chapter with a "Before You Read" section that includes introductory activities or self-assessment questions to prompt reflection about the current state of your teacher preparation program. We also weave examples, a "Spotlight from Practice," in the form of vignettes designed to spark your thinking for program improvement. Finally, we conclude each chapter with a section called "Exercises for Action," which are questions or activities to help you (re)imagine and move toward action in the (re)design of your teacher preparation program. We hope that you will use the exercises by yourself, but perhaps more importantly, with others to stimulate conversations about how you can build upon what you are already doing well to make your program even better.

Self-directed learning is a concept that has been in circulation for centuries, though the topic experiences lulls and surges as contemporary theories identify advantages or improvements to better align the topic with contemporary learning environments. Self-directed learning is an instructional strategy where students accept a leadership role in their own learning practice and an increasingly significant learning technique for undergraduate students performing in a technologically and globally advanced college arena. Self-Directed Learning and the Academic Evolution From Pedagogy to Andragogy is an essential reference book that supports a student shift from passive pedagogical learning to active andragogical exploration and specifically shift from seeking mastery of basic skills to recognizing and reassessing the structure of personal assumptions, expectations, feelings, and actions. It fills the gap between theory-laden academic books designed to help academic faculty incorporate self-directed learning activities into their courses and the self-help books designed to help motivate individuals to learn new skills. This book is designed to specifically empower college students to accept a leadership role in their academic journey. Covering topics such as self-directed learning, lifelong learning, educational leadership, and competency-based education, this book is a foundational resource for teachers, instructional designers, administrators, curriculum developers, academicians, researchers, and students.

Though there has been a rapid increase of women's representation in law and business, their representation in STEM fields has not been matched. Researchers have revealed that there are several environmental and social barriers including stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities that continue to block women's progress in STEM. In this book, the authors address the issues that encounter women of color in STEM in higher education.

Scholarly dispositions represent the practices and habits of mind that support consistent success in teaching, learning, and knowledge creation. To be successful in their undergraduate and graduate education, students must develop academic skills that transcend content knowledge, such as receiving and responding to critical feedback and learning how to collaborate, master academic writing, and be mindful of ethical research practices. Much is still unknown about how to teach dispositions, such as how to design a curriculum to best cultivate habits of mind, and this book attempts to address this gap while providing practical methods and strategies that can help higher education practitioners to cultivate and assess the scholarly dispositions of their students effectively. The Handbook of Research on Developing Students' Scholarly Dispositions in Higher Education provides insight on dispositions that students must learn in higher education and how higher education faculty can help students to develop these dispositions, as well as evidence-based methods that help develop scholarly dispositions for undergraduate and graduate education. This book provides a plethora of information on scholarly dispositions and related elements, including teaching time management, collaboration, and research ethics. It is an ideal reference source for teachers, academicians, administrators, researchers, and students aspiring to become researchers and scholars themselves.

This volume traces the socialization process, professional development, career paths, and theory and research of contemporary pioneers in education and psychology. This volume contains interviews with leading scholars who are at the vanguard of teaching and learning. They shared how their childhood development influenced their theoretical paths and research endeavors and revealed their thoughts, beliefs, and experiences that made them who they are today. These scholars responded to questions pertaining to their childhood, initial interest in education and psychology, role models, research interests and major findings, future directions of their research, educational implications derived from their research, and perception of their legacy. They are real people who have had experiences like anybody else, but found homes and teachers who supported them. While in college, they found educators who mentored them. Readers will find that this volume offers them an opportunity to learn the background of contemporary pioneers in education and psychology, provides valuable sources where they can learn about how major theories developed and where they are moving, and reveals the personal anecdotes that influenced the conceptualization of contemporary theories and research. Educators and students will find that this book provides hope and a rejuvenated enthusiasm about the status of education and psychology and that they too can be leaders in their own ways.

With the increasing share of adult and non-traditional students in the higher education student body, higher education faculty and administrators must ensure that the design of programs, courses, and student services support the success of all students. The needs and wants of these adult and non-traditional learners will differ, and it is important that research helps advance the understanding of these students to increase their success, acclimation, and experience in institutions. Ensuring Adult and Non-Traditional Learners' Success With Technology, Design, and Structure is designed to provide higher education professionals with current research and research-based best practices for ensuring student success for adult learners and non-traditional students. The research presented in this book will help ensure that programs, courses, and student services are designed and implemented in a manner that supports student success for all learners in the institution. Chapters include research on student motivation, program design, educational technology, student engagement, and more. This book is intended for post-secondary administrators, faculty, teachers, administrators, teacher educators, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in relevant educational services for adult learners and non-traditional students.