The Unfolding of a Professional Learning Community

This study focuses on the emergence of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in a new international school in southern China with particular emphasis on the views of participants. Using a cross-sectional survey given to the founding faculty, repsondents provided rich qualitative data from which themes were gleaned about the emergence of distinct cultures in these developing PLCs. Dynamic systems operating at micro- and macro-levels in the initial stages of a newly formed PLC were discovered that have an impact on group development and the larger school culture. Practical considerations that may help administrators, teachers, and teacher-leaders in initializing the conditions for a PLC are also discussed

The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning

IMPACT: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning is a peer-reviewed, biannual online journal that publishes scholarly and creative non-fiction essays about the theory, practice and assessment of interdisciplinary education. Impact is produced by the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning at the College of General Studies, Boston University (www.bu.edu/cgs/citl).How do our students learn what it means to be a human being, with all the attendant responsibilities and joys? How do we learn to teach in a truly interdisciplinary manner? These are some of the questions that preoccupy this issue’s contributors

Exploring the Level of Engagement of Capstone Students in an Active Learning Center

This study provides a qualitative exploration of the level of engagement of Capstone students attending course meetings in an Active Learning Center (ALC) during their own respective semester at a public research university in the Boston area. A design-based research methodology was employed to study innovative learning environments encompassing learning in context. Study results uncovered three themes regarding the impact of the learning space on students’ perceptions of learning and levels of engagement; revealed that one particular tool, the use of small white boards, encouraged deep thinking and reflection; and indicated that the ALC provided a highly collaborative experience