Cynthia Szymanski Sunal – författare

Our goal with this book, Research on Enhancing the Interactivity of Online Learning, is to present a juried, scholarly, and accessible review of research, theory, and/or policy on specific issues of interactive online learning for K-16 educators, administrators, and students of online learning. Online learning has become the norm rather than the exception for many of today’s students. Instructors are more willing to explore online learning options, students are enrolling in record numbers and colleges, as well as many K-12 institutions, are offering more online courses. As educators, we have more tools than ever to ensure online course success, but just as with a traditional class, we must continue to place emphasis on good pedagogy. To achieve good pedagogy, online teaching takes additional time and a restructuring of course content by the instructor. Student issues include coping strategies, ease of navigation, skills required to complete the course, availability of online resources, feedback from the instructor, and collaborative, interactive learning opportunities. Principles of interactive online learning are new to many, and this book provides a forum for interactive online learning research while also including ideas that enhance both the practical and theoretical aspects of interactive online learning. The editors have included chapters that can further knowledge and understanding of emerging trends and foster debate regarding issues that surround interactive online learning.

This is Book V in the series, Research on Education in Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East. The series strives to encourage the presentation of evidence based investigations using data collected on site from the three world regions it considers. A strong focus is on data specific to a nation or to a region within a nation, as we recognize that nations are diverse, often encompassing regions with unique cultural and geographic characteristics. The data are rooted in the voices of individuals and communities. Such evidential data are analyzed and interpreted within the context of the complex human and natural environments from which they are derived. Chapters in the books within the series describe investigations that are part of an effort to continue the publication of an annual compilation of research studies in the three world regions upon which the series focuses. The series, therefore, indicates that the need to develop modern, self-sufficient, independent, and post-colonial societies is being balanced with the need to strengthen cultural values and identities within these three world regions. Book V in the series focuses on how the educational challenges found in these three world regions are addressed. The chapters specifically examine related recent research, identify useful investigative methodologies, identify accomplishments in meeting challenges, and consider unresolved challenges. The overarching questions presented below were derived from an analysis of the questions, methods, and conclusions presented in the studies appearing in this book. These overarching questions described here reflect the connections between educational issues that emerged in the 20thcentury and issues identified in the 21st century.

This edited volume explores various issues pertaining to the education of children with disabilities in Africa, the Caribbean and Middle East. As a group, persons with disabilities have been subjected to social, cultural and educational exclusions of various forms and for various socially-scripted reasons. In education, for instance, individuals with disabilities have been altogether excluded from educational participation in many parts of the developing world or they have been excluded from pursuing meaningfully beneficial higher levels of education in developed countries like the United States. One of the social responses/remedies to the widely-acknowledged exclusionary practices experienced by learners with disabilities has been the widespread implementation of inclusive practices in the education of individuals with disabilities across countries, in the west and the developing regions of the world. A distinctive marker of difference in the way inclusive practices have been enacted in western countries versus those in the developing world has primarily stemmed from the fact that majority of western countries operate under funded mandates that also regulate the provision of education to persons with disabilities. While the ideal of inclusion has been highly desirable, many of countries in the developing world have floundered in their implementation due to lack sound legislative framework to guide implementation coupled with socio-cultural factors related to negative perceptions of disabilities and limited funding sources. Chapters in this volume explore inclusive education from a variety of perspectives.

Research in Science Education (RISE) Volume 6, Research Based Undergraduate Science Teaching examines research, theory, and practice concerning issues of teaching science with undergraduates. This RISE volume addresses higher education faculty and all who teach entry level science. The focus is on helping undergraduates develop a basic science literacy leading to scientific expertise. RISE Volume 6 focuses on research-based reforms leading to best practices in teaching undergraduates in science and engineering.

The goal of this volume is to provide a research foundation for the professional development of faculty teaching undergraduate science. Such science instruction should have short- and longterm impacts on student outcomes. The goal was carried out through a series of events over several years. The website at http://nseus.org documents materials from these events. The international call for manuscripts for this volume requested the inclusion of major priorities and critical research areas, methodological concerns, and results of implementation of faculty professional development programs and reform in teaching in undergraduate science classrooms.

In developing research manuscripts to be reviewed for RISE, Volume 6, researchers were asked to consider the status and effectiveness of current and experimental practices for reforming undergraduate science courses involving all undergraduates, including groups of students who are not always well represented in STEM education. To influence practice, it is important to understand how researchbased practice is made and how it is implemented. The volume should be considered as a first step in thinking through what reform in undergraduate science teaching might look like and how we help faculty to implement such reform.