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Computing accurate yet efficient approximations to the solutions of the electronic Schrödinger equation has been a paramount challenge of computational chemistry for decades. Quantum Monte Carlo methods are a promising avenue of development as their core algorithm exhibits a number of favorable properties: it is highly parallel and scales favorably with the considered system size, with an accuracy that is limited only by the choice of the wave function Ansatz. The recently introduced machine-learned parametrizations of quantum Monte Carlo Ansätze rely on the efficiency of neural networks as universal function approximators to achieve state of the art accuracy on a variety of molecular systems. With interest in the field growing rapidly, there is a clear need for easy to use, modular, and extendable software libraries facilitating the development and adoption of this new class of methods. In this contribution, the DeepQMC program package is introduced, in an attempt to provide a common framework for future investigations by unifying many of the currently available deep-learning quantum Monte Carlo architectures. Furthermore, the manuscript provides a brief introduction to the methodology of variational quantum Monte Carlo in real space, highlights some technical challenges of optimizing neural network wave functions, and presents example black-box applications of the program package. We thereby intend to make this novel field accessible to a broader class of practitioners from both the quantum chemistry and the machine learning communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Objectives Methods Results and Conclusions Takeaways Social media provides new opportunities for teachers to learn, communicate and develop professional relationships. It has been proved to be a valid and helpful resource for teachers' professional learning purposes.While previous studies pursued questions like how participants feel, how to support interaction and why participants remain committed, we asked a more fundamental question: what is the structure of a massive informal online professional learning network and what dynamics can we expect regarding participants' commitment?This work presents an empirical study of massive informal online professional networks to investigate the dynamics of learning communities and participants' commitment over time. We employed social network analysis and data mining techniques on a longitudinal data set of more than 400,000 tweets published with the hashtag “#edchat.”We found that around 30% of participants remained committed to the informal learning community over time. Meanwhile, as more and more people committed to the online learning community, participants tended to form smaller communities where the internal connection was stronger.In informal online learning environments, participants can form stable connections. The 30% threshold can be used to measure massive informal online learning networks in terms of commitment or persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As efforts to use learning through play (LtP) expand globally, it is important to explore how children's perspectives impact the efficacy and experience of this pedagogical approach. LtP has been conceptualized as a spectrum from free play to guided play to teacher‐directed play. This spectrum describes different ways in which play happens—with varying levels of adult support—and acknowledges that children's agency is characterized by choice and the ability to direct, participate in, and/or initiate play. Previous research has primarily focused on adult perceptions of LtP for preschool children in high‐resource contexts. We present the perspectives on LtP of children (3–12 years) in Bangladesh, Colombia and Uganda. We photographed learning activities in community centres and schools that incorporated play‐based practices. In group discussions, we used these photographs to elicit children's perspectives on the difference between play and learning in the classroom, the factors that influence their construction of play and learning, and the role that teachers play in these activities. Conceptualizations across the three research sites and ages were similar: Children associated learning with play if the activity was fun and social; distinctions between play and learning were defined by content, modality, materials and location; and teachers were seen as involved in play under limited conditions. We discuss the implications of our findings for the implementation of LtP in majority‐world contexts. By moving teachers from a primarily teacher‐directed approach to more guided‐play approaches, we are not only asking teachers to give up some control but are also asking children to think about adults in fundamentally different ways. This research highlights that we may need to couple professional development for teachers with approaches that support children to change their perceptions of agency and choice in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mosaic approach to leading practices leverages collaboration and makes it possible to renew the social fabric of a school. In this article, the authors use the notion of a 'mosaic of leading practices' to unsettle top-down, hierarchical, positional conceptions of leadership that focus on participants. The latter invites questions about participants' responsibilities for leadership; the former invites questions about what leaders do (their practices) in and for an organisation. We report on research conducted with Aotearoa New Zealand school leaders that explored perceptions of leading practices that support or constrain communities of learning. Drawing on interviews with leaders and teachers who were working to build Communities of Learning |Kāhui Ako (CoL) in their schools and across school communities, the article re-imagines sites of collaboration by viewing them through the lens of practices, not just participants. A theoretical framework is proposed to illustrate mosaics of leading. Patterns of leadership and the concepts of connective enactment and collective accomplishment highlight different degrees of educator collaboration. The article re-imagines sites of collaboration as a means to foster a grassroots approach to culture and community building, rather than as a means for the delivery of school improvement alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in machine learning research have produced powerful neural graph embedding methods, which learn useful, low-dimensional vector representations of network data. These neural methods for graph embedding excel in graph machine learning tasks and are now widely adopted. However, how and why these methods work—particularly how network structure gets encoded in the embedding—remain largely unexplained. Here, we show that node2vec—shallow, linear neural network—encodes communities into separable clusters better than random partitioning down to the information-theoretic detectability limit for the stochastic block models. We show that this is due to the equivalence between the embedding learned by node2vec and the spectral embedding via the eigenvectors of the symmetric normalized Laplacian matrix. Numerical simulations demonstrate that node2vec is capable of learning communities on sparse graphs generated by the stochastic blockmodel, as well as on sparse degree-heterogeneous networks. Our results highlight the features of graph neural networks that enable them to separate communities in the embedding space. Approaches based on neural graph embeddings have shown their effectiveness for complex networks analysis, including link prediction and node classification. The authors uncover strengths and limits of neural embeddings with respect to the task of detecting communities in networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most cost-effective ways to engage students in real-world STEM is by turning to local issues of emerging relevance through current events. In this middle school lesson, local current STEM events are used to encourage students to explore the real-world context of NGSS MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity. Rooted in a 5E model, this lesson on local current STEM issues takes learners on a STEM journey in their own backyard by applying a real-world context of NGSS as well as connects to the ELA Common Core. A three-step approach to lesson dissemination is presented to include: (1) identifying a local environmental issue, (2) engaging students in research focus groups surrounding the issue, and (3) making connections by encouraging students to present findings to local legislators and policymakers. Through asking questions and defining local problems, students are directly applying NGSS Science and Engineering Principles (MS-ESS-5, MS-ESS-3) in their community of learning. I like to call this the shift from Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) to In My Backyard (IMBY). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In teacher professional development (PD), grouping teachers with varying levels of experience can be a productive and empowering way to stimulate the exchange and co‐generation of content and pedagogical knowledge. However, less experienced teachers can face socio‐emotional risks when engaging in collaborative science content reasoning tasks with more experienced colleagues, and these risks may impact the collaborative experience of both parties and the learning environment in teacher PD. This exploratory case study examines the process of productively navigating socio‐emotional risks and interpersonal tensions encountered by a veteran and pre‐service physics teacher during one episode of discussing physics content. We use a single term, comfort‐building, to encapsulate discursive moves that result in increased feelings of comfort and safety by the participants. Comfort‐building includes moves that serve to mitigate social risk, ease tension, and avoid discomfort, as well as those geared toward finding common ground and co‐navigating challenges. These moves can carve out conversational space for teachers to more confidently face risks associated with being accountable to the physics content knowledge and engage in discipline‐based conversations more deeply. The presented case was followed by video‐stimulated individual interviews to determine how consciously the teachers connected their participation to explicit risk and comfort. This case study highlights an affective dimension for consideration in the continued study and facilitation of science teacher PD, especially programs that bring together teachers with a variety of backgrounds and skill sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the activism of student protesters in a rural Rust Belt community's Black Lives Matter protest, challenging prevailing stereotypes about civic engagement, literacies, and youth involvement in rural settings. Utilizing critical ethnography and nexus analysis to examine disruptions of discourses in place and interview student participants about their activism, findings showcase how students strategically practiced multiliteracies to upturn power dynamics and assume leadership roles within a socio‐spatial landscape. Examining youth protest literacies can inform education partners of the ways students already engage in civic discourse and how understanding their co‐construction of space can inform practices across learning communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Methods Results Conclusions The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is undergoing an unprecedented electronic health record (EHR) transition, switching from its homegrown EHR to a commercial system. The transition affects nearly every clinical employee but is particularly disruptive to health professions trainees (HPTs)—an often‐overlooked population in EHR transitions. To better understand and address trainee challenges with the EHR transition, we formed a multistakeholder learning community. In this study, we describe the findings of this learning community and the practices and policies developed in response.In the qualitative study designed and executed by our learning community, we conducted 51 interviews with HPTs, program leaders, and preceptors before and multiple times after an EHR transition site's go‐live (February 16, 2022 to April 7, 2023). We merged interview transcripts with 125 survey free‐text responses from a survey conducted with preceptors 2 months post‐go‐live and conducted thematic analysis to identify key themes. To complement qualitative findings, we also include a quantitative survey finding, and, where applicable, we note policy and practice responses spurred by our learning community.Interviews yielded six key themes: (1) High satisfaction with HPT programs, despite negative impacts of the EHR transition; (2) early delays, then substantial improvements, in HPTs' EHR access; (3) persistent challenges with HPTs' EHR training and support, mitigated by local and national efforts; (4) the challenge of learning to use a rapidly evolving EHR during clinical training; (5) reduced visit volume as a continuing barrier to education; and (6) an impression that HPTs' relative lack of exposure to the prior EHR facilitated their proficiency with the new EHR.Findings highlighted challenges for HPT programs related to the EHR transition, which spurred important changes including the creation of a national VA council to represent the needs of HPTs in the EHR transition, and improvements to HPTs' EHR training and access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This study investigates the multifaceted roles and competences of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) educators and their engagement in Communities of Practice (CoPs). Through an online survey of Greek educators who have implemented STEAM educational projects, employing both closed and open‐ended questions, this research uncovers the complexities of the STEAM educators' role and illustrates how engagement in CoPs can be critical for their professional development and pedagogical practices. The findings highlight the benefits of collaboration, experience exchange and the adoption of best practices within these communities, emphasising CoPs' transformative potential in enhancing STEAM education. By focusing on the educators' perceptions and the contributions of CoPs to teaching, learning and professional growth, this study offers insight that may benefit other European countries without a formal STEAM curriculum, advocating for the integration of art in STEM fields and the importance of CoPs in advancing educational practices towards a more equitable, inclusive and vibrant society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to reveal the general trend by examining the publications made between 2007 and 2023 related to eTwinning under various themes. Meta-synthesis method, a qualitative research design, was employed in this study. It is aimed to reveal the big picture for eTwining. eTwining is a newer education platform. A few study is seen and no review article is published in the literature. The results are presented as frequency and percentages. The review revealed that the highest number of studies was carried out in 2021, and qualitative research was the most preferred method. In addition, the studies were primarily performed with teachers and students, and the most used data collection tool was the interview. Teacher opinions and language education were the most common subjects in publications. Based on these results, it was suggested to employ quantitative and mixed methods and include different sample groups in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online students are becoming an increasingly big part of the student population in higher education. Interaction and collaboration is beneficial for academic performance and well-being, but can be challenging to facilitate in the online context. Through individual in-depth interviews, we have investigated online students' experiences of academic and social community, as well as the role study flexibility can play in their participation in such communities. The thematic analysis resulted in four themes. Theme 1, Expectations of being self-sufficient, shows that many participants made good use of the flexibility of the studies by being organised and independent. However, the expectation of independence became a potential barrier to participation. Theme 2, Collaboration if valuable and flexible, describes how most participants desired increased collaboration with their peers, given that it was flexible and of academic value. Theme 3, Study groups as important but fragile communities, illustrates study groups as the participants' primary learning communities, but finds that maintaining them over time could be challenging. Theme 4, Digital distance, depicts many participants' challenges with connecting digitally with others. We discuss these findings in the light of self-determination theory, showing how flexibility can become both a facilitator and a barrier for basic need satisfaction in online education, and that participation and collaboration seemed to be more closely connected to the need for competence than for relatedness. The main implication of the study is that online studies should strive to create a need-supportive environment that facilitates academic community while acknowledging many online students' necessity for flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Learning Health Systems (LHSs) have not directly informed evidence‐based policymaking. The Translation‐to‐Policy (T2P) Learning Cycle aligns scientists, end‐users, and policymakers to support a repeatable roadmap of innovation and quality improvement to optimize effective policies toward a common public health goal. We describe T2P learning cycle components and provide examples of their application. Methods: The T2P Learning Cycle is based on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Research and Development and Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI), which supports research and quality improvement addressing national public health priorities to inform policy and ensure programs are evidence‐based and work for end‐users. Incorporating LHS infrastructure, the T2P Learning Cycle is responsive to the Foundations for Evidence‐based Policymaking Act, which requires U.S. government agencies to justify budgets using evidence. Results: The learning community (patients, providers, clinical/policy leaders, and investigators) drives the T2P Learning Cycle, working toward one or more specific, shared priority goals, and supports a repeatable cycle of evidence‐building and evaluation. Core T2P Learning Cycle functions observed in the examples from housing/economic security, precision oncology, and aging include governance and standard operating procedures to promote effective priority‐setting; complementary research and quality improvement initiatives, which inform ongoing data curation at the learning system level; and sustainment of continuous improvement and evidence‐based policymaking. Conclusions: The T2P Learning Cycle integrates research translation with evidence‐based policymaking, ensuring that scientific innovations address public health priorities and serve end‐users through a repeatable process of research and quality improvement that ensures policies are scientifically based, effective, and sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an increased emphasis being placed on the importance of postgraduate students publishing articles in international journals, many students may feel a need to organise learning communities with faculty members or their peers to support this aspirational activity. Most research in this area is related to doctoral students, but places relatively little focus on master ones. This study aims to conceptualise possible patterns for the formation of such learning communities through a comparative institutional analysis, based on a qualitative game theoretic discussion. We propose four basic learning community modes: individual (i.e. one-on-one consultancy by faculty staff reviewing individual student drafts); lecture (i.e. writing lectures led by a faculty staff member); peer collaboration (i.e. only students working together on their drafts); and, solo (i.e. individual students working on their own manuscripts without structured support). This is one of a small number of attempts to formalise and provide an analytical model of possible types of coordination between faculty members and master's course students regarding learning community activities. Our analysis indicates that the most efficient strategy for students reaching the point of successful submission is to have faculty members support them by facilitating groups of student authors and providing feedback on their drafts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on decolonizing educational research discourse. Rich, generative, and diverse forms of knowledge production, includes that of the Caribbean. Specifically, the paper uses the Black Caribbean method of Liming, which is an indigenous methodology. The paper illustrates how educational research practices can be enriched by Black and Caribbean ways of thinking, being and knowing. This diversity would support a pivot from Western methods. The author employs reflections from her dissertation writing and research experience, while highlighting the dire need to incorporate and institutionalize methods from Black scholars, Black communities, and the Global South. Via this paper, I illustrate how Liming has allowed for greater discourse, and learning with the diverse communities served. Liming's contributions are beneficial in educational research as well its utility for other areas of research. Lastly, this paper processes the idea that Caribbean, African-centric, and Black, knowledge- making such as Liming are liberatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practical Domain Adaptation (DA) tasks, e.g., Partial DA (PDA), open-set DA, universal DA, and test-time adaptation, have gained increasing attention in the machine learning community. In this paper, we propose a novel approach, dubbed Adversarial Reweighting with α -Power Maximization (ARPM), for PDA where the source domain contains private classes absent in target domain. In ARPM, we propose a novel adversarial reweighting model that adversarially learns to reweight source domain data to identify source-private class samples by assigning smaller weights to them, for mitigating potential negative transfer. Based on the adversarial reweighting, we train the transferable recognition model on the reweighted source distribution to be able to classify common class data. To reduce the prediction uncertainty of the recognition model on the target domain for PDA, we present an α -power maximization mechanism in ARPM, which enriches the family of losses for reducing the prediction uncertainty for PDA. Extensive experimental results on five PDA benchmarks, e.g., Office-31, Office-Home, VisDA-2017, ImageNet-Caltech, and DomainNet, show that our method is superior to recent PDA methods. Ablation studies also confirm the effectiveness of components in our approach. To theoretically analyze our method, we deduce an upper bound of target domain expected error for PDA, which is approximately minimized in our approach. We further extend ARPM to open-set DA, universal DA, and test time adaptation, and verify the usefulness through experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the in-depth development of economic globalization and the increasingly close ties between countries in the world, how to train international talents has become an important topic. Cross-cultural learning is conducive to broadening the horizons of learners and cultivating international talents. An effective network support environment and the design of cross-cultural learning activities are the keys to the success of cross-cultural learning. As an emerging network software with rich functions, simple development and convenient use, the WeChat Mini Program (WMP) can serve as a network support platform for cross-cultural learning activities. This study developed a cross-cultural learning platform based on the WeChat mini program. Under the guidance of activity theory, this study builds a WMP-based design model of cross-cultural learning activities, including the components of learners, resources, cross-cultural learning community, WMP, rules, role division and activity process. Under the guidance of this model, we designed, implemented and evaluated WMP-based cross-cultural learning activities for Chinese students and international students at Lanzhou University. The research results show that the cross-cultural learning activities designed and implemented under the guidance of the model have a positive impact on learners’ knowledge, abilities and literacies. It is expected that this study will enrich the platform of cross-cultural learning and provide a reference for the design of cross-cultural activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst societal, demographic and educational changes, teachers are expected to engage in professional development and learning (PDL) throughout their careers. This study explores school teachers' mental models about their work in the framework of Senge's learning organisation, aiming to support their PDL during curriculum reform and organisational changes. The study's data comprise 41 semi-structured interviews with each teacher in one school community. These interviews were analysed using qualitative, data-driven yet theory-informed content analysis. In the first analysis phase, fragments of mental models concerning teachers' work and their school community were explored. These fragments included themes such as school rules, principal's role and working with colleagues. The findings show that the teachers' mental models regarding their work and school community can be characterised as contradictory and even opposite. In the second phase, these fragments were brought together to form a systemic, holistic picture of the school community, consisting of mental models on system management, teaching community, classroom, students and leadership. Finally, the teachers' mental models are discussed vis-à-vis their importance in individually and socially supporting teachers' PDL when the school community is undergoing diverse changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Picturebooks can be an effective resource to provide opportunities for classrooms to engage in community building conversations and activities. Community building mantras have been developed from several picturebooks that are used as a means of implementing the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) components of creating a caring community. The NAEYC components of creating a caring community of learners include: [1] each member of the community is valued by the others, [2] relationships are an important context through which children develop and learn, [3] each member of the community respects and is accountable to the others to behave in a way that is conducive to the learning and well-being of all, [4] practitioners design and maintain the physical environment to protect the health and safety of the learning community members, and [5] practitioners ensure members of the community feel psychologically safe [and] the overall social and emotional climate is positive. Each mantra has been developed from a picturebook and is formulated around a NAEYC component of creating a caring community of learners. The mantras explored are "stand tall", "we are a family", "mistakes are how we learn", "what if everybody did that", and "be a carrot." Book and author information, ideas for community building conversations, and related engaging activities are provided in relation to each mantra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Participatory extension programmes (PEPs) are a well-known approach to achieve change on an on-farm level. This study examines whether there is a change in on-farm resilience due to PEP participation, by identifying whether participation leads to an increase in resilience capacities, and which aspects of the programme contribute to this. Design/Methodology/Approach: A case study was selected in Aotearoa New Zealand, where 33 interviewees had participated in a 3-year PEP. Findings: Findings show that participation in the PEP led to an increase in the resilience capacities robustness and adaptability. Attributes via which the PEP contributed to this are: (i) increasing openness by connecting to others in the community and learning collectively, (ii) increasing diversity by using new tools and diversifying land use, and (iii) improving system reserves by building labour and feed resources. Practical implications: A resilience framework is applied to evaluation that helps decision-makers identify the multifaceted effects of PEP participation. Insights from the study also contribute to future design of agricultural PEPs, by enabling resilience-building attributes through a novel 'resilience wheel' assessment tool. Theoretical implications: Novel theoretical insights from this study include that PEPs can be evaluated by using a resilience framework and show which resilience attributes are specifically important to establish change via PEP participation. Originality/value: This research is the first to evaluate the effect of PEP participation from a resilience perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2023 Soccer Prediction Challenge invited the machine learning community to develop innovative methods to predict the outcomes of 736 future soccer matches. The Challenge included two tasks. Task 1 was to forecast the exact match score, i.e., the number of goals scored by each team. Task 2 was to predict the match outcome as probability vector over the three possible result categories: victory of the home team, draw, and victory of the away team. Here, we present a new data- and knowledge-driven framework for building machine learning models from readily available data to predict soccer match outcomes. A key component of this framework is an innovative approach to modeling interdependent time series data of competing entities. Using this framework, we developed various predictive models based on k-nearest neighbors, artificial neural networks, naive Bayes, and ordinal forests, which we applied to the two tasks of the 2023 Soccer Prediction Challenge. Among all submissions to the Challenge, our machine learning models based on k-nearest neighbors and neural networks achieved top performances. Our main insights from the Challenge are that relatively simple learning algorithms perform remarkably well compared to more complex algorithms, and that the key to successful predictions lies in how well soccer domain knowledge can be incorporated in the modeling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on an exploratory case study that applied the Community of Inquiry framework in the K-12 Philippine setting, where there are limited studies on blended learning interactions and experiences. The study examined blended learning interactions across three schools in the Philippine K-12 system to investigate the following: (1) what is the nature of interactions in the blended learning classes? and (2) how do the interactions indicate learning communities as outcomes of blended learning? A mixed method approach to data collection was undertaken, which included student surveys, focus group discussions, teacher interviews, and class observations. The constant comparative analysis uncovered thick descriptions of blended learning interactions. Findings uncovered three themes on blended learning across levels of interactions within the Community of Inquiry presences: (i) best of both worlds, (ii) learning anytime and anywhere, and (iii) learning with technology. Descriptive statistics indicated high mean ratings across the presences, revealing positive experiences afforded by the use of various technologies and social media. The study concluded that learning communities are an outcome of blended learning interactions. A Developmental Model for K-12 Blended Learning Communities was recommended to inform teacher professional development on pedagogies and practices supportive of learning community building in contexts where blended learning may continue to thrive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAlthough writing is an essential skill for graduate students (in and beyond their degree programs), limited programmatic support exists to help students develop mindsets and habits needed to become effective, scholarly writers. Furthermore, attrition rates are on the rise in the U.S., with many students dropping out at the “all but dissertation” stage. The timing of departure indicates writing may be a widespread issue warranting direct intervention. We developed a campus-wide, six-week learning community and certificate program intended to increase students’ self-efficacy in academic writing, using readings, reflection, and discussion among graduate students. Pilot results from 32 participants indicate that a noncredit-bearing, short course can have positive impacts on graduate students’ emotions about writing, their literature management approaches, awareness of the social context of writing, and their understanding of writing resources and academic voice. Potential exists for this low-budget model to be applied more broadly and thereby improve efforts to retain and support graduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Coproduction learning health system models clearly define the use of clinical and patient-reported data for system learning and quality improvement, but less is known about how to document formative learning about coproduction value creation over the course of a quality improvement initiative. The authors aimed to 1) assess the feasibility, utility, and acceptability of novel self-assessment tools for coproduction value creation and 2) identify domains of coproduction value creation. METHODS: The authors conducted 4 focus groups with quality improvement teams from 4 health systems in the United States and Sweden between June 2021 and September 2023. A single analyst coded transcripts and proposed themes, with investigator triangulation validating results. RESULTS: Participants found the self-assessment tools acceptable and useful. The improvement passport was seen as more feasible for routine use than the full self-assessment guide. Peer learning within the community of practice, diverse multidisciplinary improvement teams, and leadership support facilitated teams' work. Domains of coproduction value creation included communication, self-efficacy, interconnectedness, direct and indirect costs of health care utilization, health professional experience, and access to the right care. DISCUSSION: Peer learning and camaraderie within the community of practice maintained momentum among participating teams during a challenging time of limited resources and mounting responsibilities in health care settings, suggesting enhanced resiliency through approaching difficult tasks in community. CONCLUSION: The authors identified themes of coproduction value creation and drivers of engagement. Future research will draw on the measurement domains established in this study to inform the development of measures of coproduction value creation. Those measures could then be incorporated into the data-rich environments of coproduction learning health systems to enhance focus on value from service user and professional perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, Euphrates Institute piloted the Peace Practice Alliance (PPA), a virtual six-month program that brings together an international cohort of peacebuilders to learn peace leadership theories and develop related skills and practices. The program framework is based on integral peace leadership, which focuses on four interrelated areas of Innerwork, Knowledge, Community, and Environment. As part of an emergent field, limited research has documented the application of integral peace leadership in peacebuilder training and development programs. This paper, therefore, examines the pilot PPA program to understand the ways in which an online, global peace leadership training program can support the development of community peace leaders. Findings from interviews with 14 of the program’s first cohort of 18 peace leaders revealed that the PPA supported their development through the content of the curriculum, the creation of a strong learning community, and the dual focus on theory and practice. This paper concludes with suggestions for further improvement, including additional spaces for participant interaction and experiential learning and the creation of further training and development opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractUnderstanding the various roles and their corresponding evolving patterns is essential for evaluating the health of learning communities, such as in Asynchronous Online Discussion (AOD) forums. Existing research primarily focuses on identifying specific roles without considering the dynamics of role evolution, which are significant to ongoing community development. Guided by the Reader-to-Leader Framework (RtLF), this study employs multiple machine learning approaches to identify and predict the evolution of roles over time in a learning community. Our approach was applied to a K-12 Math online learning community, using data from 51,821 students to evaluate the community’s health over two years. First, a Gaussian Mixture Model was used to cluster students into five groups that represent their roles roughly in RtLF using the first nine months of learning activities. We then trained an XGBoost model to classify learner roles for subsequent periods based on meta-data. Third, we evaluate the health of the community by comparing the distribution of different roles over time and argue it is a healthy community. This study demonstrates how machine learning approaches can identify learner roles and support the health and development of learning communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the centennial of the Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital in the Journal, highlighting its impact on medical education and practice. Topics discussed include the evolution of disease burden and diagnostic approaches over the past century, the global influence and adaptation of the Case Records in response to medical and social changes, and the ongoing engagement of the medical community with the series through feedback and critique.

AbstractIn-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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The quantity and quality of interaction are critical elements of perceived interactions. This study aimed to summarize findings on the quality of interpersonal interactions in E-Learning at higher education and suggestions that inform future measurement efforts. Method: The scoping review proposed by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) was used. This approach consists of five steps: 1) identifying the research question,2) identifying relevant studies,3) study selection, 4) charting the data, and 5) reporting the results. PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science have searched three databases, including manuscripts in English. The search was conducted from 2000 to July 2021. A PCC (population, concept, and context) was used as eligibility criteria and included the most relevant. The present PCC was defined as a population: university students, context: higher education, and Concept: E-learning and Interpersonal Interactions. Results: This review included twenty-five articles chosen for inclusion. With the thematic analysis, the results of this scoping review were presented in the form of four themes: interaction in the online environment affects learning outcomes, numerous factors affect the interaction of learners in online settings, online interaction and hidden curriculum, and the importance of forming an online learning community. Conclusion: Findings showed that the quality of interpersonal interactions in e-learning seems to be a neglected link in e-learning. Further studies are needed focusing on the quality of interpersonal interactions in e-learning. It is necessary to develop appropriate tools to measure the quality of interpersonal interactions and further evaluate these interactions at the international level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of women in education is increasingly important, especially in the context of career development and leadership. This study aims to look at the dynamics of women in the Teacher Mover program in learning communities, including the challenges faced, the seniority dilemma, and their role in curriculum implementation. The research approach used is qualitative with a phenomenological design. The research subjects consisted of female teachers who have graduated and have a Teacher Mover certificate. Data collection techniques were conducted through interviews and documentation, followed by data analysis through data reduction, presentation, and verification. The results show that (1) women's struggles in the Teacher Mover program include a rigorous selection process and six months of training; (2) the dilemma faced relates to the perception of seniority in the school that often doubts their abilities; and (3) the presence of women as Teacher Mover proves significant in leading learning and contributing to seminars related to the independent curriculum. This research highlights the importance of environmental support for women's career development in education, as well as the need for policies that strengthen women's position in learning communities. The findings are expected to provide insights for the development of more inclusive education policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educators worldwide are engaged in efforts to improve teaching and learning through teachers' collaborations in learning communities and networks. Teacher leadership has played a crucial role in such communities or networks. This study focused on a teacher professional development program in mainland China, the Master Teacher Studio, in which a group of teachers from different schools learn from a master teacher. The study explored how the master teacher enacted leadership strategies to facilitate participants' professional development and how the community can develop sustainably. Through a qualitative case study analysis, the study summarizes five major strategies, namely, establishing a shared value and specific goals, structuring through rules and collaboration, developing people by scaffolding and allocating resources, bridging internal and external social capital, and sustaining the community through leadership virtues and role modeling. The results show that teacher leaders in Chinese contexts adopt a combination of multiple strategies to achieve a dynamic balance depending on the developmental stage of the community and members' dynamic needs. Teachers lead the community through an integration of their administrative, professional, and moral leadership. Implications for teacher leadership in communities are further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The greater the proliferation of AI in educational contexts, the more important it becomes to ensure that AI adheres to the equity and inclusion values of an educational system or institution. Given that modern AI is based on historic datasets, mitigating historic biases with respect to protected classes (ie, fairness) is an important component of this value alignment. Although extensive research has been done on AI fairness in education, there has been a lack of guidance for practitioners, which could enhance the practical uptake of these methods. In this work, we present a practitioner‐oriented, step‐by‐step framework, based on findings from the field, to implement AI fairness techniques. We also present an empirical case study that applies this framework in the context of a grade prediction task using data from a large public university. Our novel findings from the case study and extended analyses underscore the importance of incorporating intersectionality (such as race and gender) as central equity and inclusion institution values. Moreover, our research demonstrates the effectiveness of bias mitigation techniques, like adversarial learning, in enhancing fairness, particularly for intersectional categories like race–gender and race–income. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic AI‐powered Educational Decision Support Systems (EDSS) are increasingly used in various educational contexts, such as course selection, admissions, scholarship allocation and identifying at‐risk students.There are known challenges with AI in education, particularly around the reinforcement of existing biases, leading to unfair outcomes.The machine learning community has developed metrics and methods to measure and mitigate biases, which have been effectively applied to education as seen in the AI in education literature.What this paper adds Introduces a comprehensive technical framework for equity and inclusion, specifically for machine learning practitioners in AI education systems.Presents a novel modification to the ABROCA fairness metric to better represent disparities among multiple subgroups within a protected class.Empirical analysis of the effectiveness of bias‐mitigating techniques, like adversarial learning, in reducing biases in intersectional classes (eg, race–gender, race–income).Model reporting in the form of model cards that can foster transparent communication among developers, users and stakeholders.Implications for practice and/or policy The fairness framework can act as a systematic guide for practitioners to design equitable and inclusive AI‐EDSS.The fairness framework can act as a systematic guide for practitioners to make compliance with emerging AI regulations more manageable.Stakeholders may become more involved in tailoring the fairness and equity model tuning process to align with their values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many initiatives attempt to smooth transitions between 2-year colleges and 4-year universities, but retention and graduation rates for transfer-students are still low, especially in STEM. The Transfer-student Research and Integration Program (TRIP) at the University of Central Florida was developed to meet the needs of a diverse transfer population. TRIP alleviates attrition of life sciences students by providing research experiences, professional development, community integration, and mentorship. We review the model design and share early successes including higher retention rates versus comparison groups. Students reported benefitting from the skills and experiences gained and indicated TRIP's positive impact on their STEM success and career growth. Given the quantitative and qualitative results, our model could be a template for universities attempting to improve STEM transfer-student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faculty online learning communities (FOLCs) can help faculty effectively adopt and persist in using research-based curricula. This paper documents faculty perspectives on the value they gained from participating in a multi-year FOLC designed to help them implement an inquiry-based physical science curriculum. Personal value narratives were collected from 11 volunteer FOLC participants. In the narratives, participants responded to prompts regarding their initial reasons for participation, activities they engaged in, and values they gained, as well as how participation impacted their profession, social connections, professional practice, and ability to influence their world as teachers. Qualitative analysis shows that the values faculty gained through their participation in the FOLC could be associated with four major areas of impact: teaching, community, leadership and personal development. The first two aligned with the initial goals of the FOLC, while the latter two emerged organically through participation over its four-year duration. The methods used to assess value creation in the NGPET FOLC and the findings from this study can inform other professionals who aspire to create and sustain a long-standing faculty development community and understand its impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing a school as a learning community is a complex process necessitating active engagement from the entire school community. This paper reports on a study from Finland that focused on exploring learning community development grounded in a shared vision. We sought to investigate the development of a school community with a separate primary and lower secondary school as it progressed towards becoming a unified comprehensive school. The research involved close school-university collaboration to support the community's transformative journey. Our particular interest in this paper is the relationship between the shared vision and learning community development. At the conclusion of the development project, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of the school management team. Thematic analysis of the interview data was undertaken to identify their perceptions of how the shared vision was linked to learning community development. The in-depth analysis revealed five major themes: (1) communication of the shared vision and transparency; (2) present and absent themes in the shared vision; (3) tradition and innovation; (4) the long-term nature of school development; and (5) the role of the vision in everyday school life. The analysis drew attention to how a school's past and present influence a shared vision and school development. This study provides insights into how the preconditions of a school community contribute to the implementation of a shared vision as a catalyst for change. Recognising the distinct needs and starting points of schools is crucial, emphasising the importance of understanding the pre-existing context in school development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study of classroom practice examined what preservice teachers learned about young children's metacognitive thinking processes and constructivist pedagogy through a classroom project. Thirty preservice teachers engaged in a semester-long metacognitive project in which they conducted four sessions with a group of young children. The project was designed to help preservice teachers to foster young children's metacognitive thinking processes and to become reflective about their roles as constructivist teachers. Their final reflections on the metacognitive project experience were analyzed through the theoretical lens of Kroll and Ammon's dimensions of constructivist teacher education. These preservice teachers demonstrated understanding of the key ideas of metacognition and constructivist teaching, including understanding the role of representation in knowledge construction process, building an autonomous learning community, articulating children's knowledge-building processes, and engaging in the cycle of reflective teaching practices. They understood the importance of children's metacognitive thinking in the construction of knowledge and how to adapt their roles as learning partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Place-based learning encourages students to explore their local communities, learn about history, and develop critical thinking skills. This article focuses on six middle school students who participated in a History Club and entered the National History Day competition and discovered how history and place liberates learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biology teachers received professional development to effect instructional changes that ensure student cognitive engagement and knowledge acquisition at higher cognitive levels. We asked the following questions: 1) What are the initial needs of teachers to promote active learner engagement and knowledge acquisition at higher cognitive levels? 2) What changes in teaching practice does each form of support trigger? 3) Do supportive and reflection-based professional development succeed in improving pupil academic achievement? Teachers received support in the form of interactive lectures and ready-made examples in the form of a written lesson plan to develop teaching practices that promote cognitive engagement and knowledge acquisition at higher cognitive levels. Throughout the professional development programme, they reflected on the success of their teaching practices derived from the lectures and implemented according to the prepared plans based on feedback. The analysis of video recordings of lessons enabled the collection of feedback, while learning communities facilitated critical discussions. Changes in teaching were monitored and identified through (self-)evaluation of recorded lessons using the Teaching Observation Form (TOF). The impact of the training on students’ academic performance was determined using knowledge tests administered before and after the teacher training. Although teachers made positive changes in their teaching, these did not lead to an improvement in students’ academic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory qualitative study investigates the obstacles, local support, and learning outcomes for adolescent learners in Nepal taking massive open online courses (MOOCs). A convenience sampling method was employed, and a total of thirteen individual interviews were conducted with K-12 Nepali students. Utilizing thematic analysis, this study revealed that the major difficulties these learners faced were a lack of scaffolding, language barriers, limited technology and internet access, and unmatched learning capacity and MOOC learning objectives that were designed for adults originally. To address these challenges, a local community of teachers, peers, schools, and families played a significant role in inspiring learning, providing scaffolding and guidance, fostering a collective and open local learning environment, instilling motivation, and offering both emotional and technical support. MOOC learning increases the independence of these adolescent learners, supplementing school learning, supporting their career paths, providing practical skills beyond theories, and achieving mental well-being. The aim of this study is to address the existing research gap pertaining to the role of local communities in blended learning with MOOCs, especially within communities situated in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With evidence mounting on the benefits of equity-minded and active mathematics instruction, increasing numbers of mathematics faculty members are seeking to transform their instruction. Yet, many lack the skills and/or confidence to make the transition. To support faculty in meaningful instructional improvement, the authors of this paper facilitate frequent and innovative professional development (PD) guided by a community of practice framework. PD is intentionally designed to be incremental and supportive. Using one-on-one interview data from ten faculty participants who participated in PD on equity-minded and active mathematics instruction, we report on three crucial characteristics of a community of practice: the domain, the community, and the practice. Findings have implications for mathematics departments that aspire to support instructors to transform their teaching. Incremental PD guided by a community of practice framework could support faculty through the challenges of instructional transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer-led Team Learning (PLTL) is a model of instruction and learning that has been used to address low success rates in various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses and other fields in higher education. (1) While research conveying the efficacy of this model of instruction remains mixed, this project sought to add to the body of knowledge communicating the benefits of PLTL for STEM achievement. This study examined the experiences of STEM community college transfer students' engagement in PLTL within their major course of study when a suite of supports was provided. (2) Specifically, study participants were enrolled in degree programs at a four-year rural, regional university in the engineering, computer science, and mathematics (ECSM) fields and were provided social, financial, and academic assistance. Qualitative analysis of the data revealed that with a PLTL component, community college transfer students were more likely to participate, engage, and perform better in coursework given the additional supports. (3) Study participants indicated the community of learners created through PLTL was a primary motivator for continued engagement and progress towards ECSM degree attainment. (4) Implications for practice extend to engagement and retention efforts of STEM students from the community college population [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers and educational researchers have grown increasingly interested in the extent to which study results generalize across different groups of students. Current generalization research in education has largely focused on the compositional similarity among students based on a set of observable characteristics. However, generalization is defined differently across various disciplines. While the concept of compositional similarity is prominent in causal research, generalization among the statistical learning community refers to the extent to which a model produces accurate predictions across samples and populations. The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which concepts related to contextual generalization (based on compositional similarity) are associated with the ideas related to model generalization (based on accuracy of prediction). We use observational data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 wave as a case study to examine the conditions under which contextual and model generalization are aligned. We assess the correlations between statistical measures that quantify compositional similarity and prediction accuracy and discuss the implications for generalization research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities increasingly integrate online education into their pedagogical practices, utilizing digital tools like video conferencing and discussion boards to enhance learning and foster global collaboration. Research shows that technology influences social interactions and collaborative problem-solving, positively impacting student engagement, satisfaction, and academic performance. However, the debate on online education's benefits and drawbacks continues. Proponents highlight democratized access, flexible schedules, and cost reduction, while critics point to inadequate face-to-face interaction, technical challenges, and perceived lower credibility of online degrees. Despite these drawbacks, advancements in technology are mitigating some concerns. Additionally, mental health significantly affects academic success, but there is limited data on support systems for online students. This study examines the relationship between anxiety levels and academic performance among graduate students in an online counseling program. The findings revealed no significant relationship between anxiety levels and GPAs, challenging previous research and highlighting the complexity of factors affecting student performance in online education. This suggests that other variables, such as time management, support systems, or coping mechanisms, may play a more critical role. Further research is needed to explore these additional factors and develop comprehensive support strategies for online learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tensor decomposition has recently been gaining attention in the machine learning community for the analysis of individual traces, such as Electronic Health Records. However, this task becomes significantly more difficult when the data follows complex temporal patterns. This paper introduces the notion of a temporal phenotype as an arrangement of features over time and it proposes SWoTTeD (Sliding Window for Temporal Tensor Decomposition), a novel method to discover hidden temporal patterns. SWoTTeD integrates several constraints and regularizations to enhance the interpretability of the extracted phenotypes. We validate our proposal using both synthetic and real-world datasets, and we present an original usecase using data from the Greater Paris University Hospital. The results show that SWoTTeD achieves at least as accurate reconstruction as recent state-of-the-art tensor decomposition models, and extracts temporal phenotypes that are meaningful for clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of a leader in a French language learning community at a Japanese university's self-access center. Based on a previous study that focused on exploring the impressions of the members of this student-led community (Marzin & Raluy, 2023), results indicated the core role of the leader in enhancing motivation, (intercultural) communication skills, and sense of belonging. The present narrative study documents the experiences and reflections of the community leader, utilizing a range of reflective tools. The findings suggest that the leader's regular introspection enabled him to assess his feelings, evaluate his decisions based on the community's needs, and provide guidance to other members, with a focus on exploring World French and francophone cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of everyday and scientific concepts in developing student leadership in a self-access learning center (SALC) in Japan. For this purpose, data from three student learning community leaders and one SALC faculty member participating in an 18-month ethnographic case study of the Learning Group (LG), a student-led learning community within a university-based SALC in central Japan, was reexamined according to a framework informed by concept-based learning. Data was first coded inductively utilizing reflective thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) and subsequently deductively using communities of practice theory and the themes of scientific and everyday knowledge. This data highlights numerous ways three leaders of the LG had internalized concepts introduced to them through a SALC-based leadership course administered by a learning advisor (LA) and how this influenced not only their individual learning trajectories, but also the path of their community. Furthermore, the LG leaders were able to develop coherent management/facilitation guidelines for themselves and for future generations of leaders from the social mediation that collaborative group reflection and intentional reflective dialogue afforded. The implications of this study highlight the potential value within SALCs of learning advisors engaging in concept-based instructional approaches where explicit instruction is internalized through dialogic and communicative verbalization and through finding avenues for learners to apply scientific concepts to everyday practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review underscores the significance of learning communities as fertile grounds for skill development across diverse contexts. Furthermore, it reviews and theoretically evaluates several commonly used strategies, methods, and supports for developing skills within learning communities by synthesizing the existing literature. We followed the procedure outlined by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) to ensure a transparent, comprehensive, and standardized approach to conducting and reporting our systematic review, thereby enhancing the review's credibility and reproducibility. Through an extensive analysis of the literature, we identified eleven strategies, methods, and supports (application of collaborative projects, mentorship programs, workshops and training sessions, online learning platforms, peer learning and feedback, problem-based learning, cross-collaboration initiatives, leadership development programs, inclusive learning environments, gamification and simulations, and social media and networking) that play pivotal roles in nurturing different types of skills. We describe each identified solution, its advantages and challenges, the types of skills targeted for development, and their overall contribution to skill enhancement. The findings emphasize the importance of fostering collaborative and interactive environments within learning communities to facilitate collective skill development and personal growth. Our systematic review faced some challenges (e.g., heterogeneity of studies and lack of longitudinal data) due to the overwhelming diversity of the literature on skill development across various disciplines and contexts. Overall, by synthesizing existing knowledge and identifying gaps in the literature, this review serves as a foundation for advancing theory, informing practice, and promoting continual improvement in skill development within learning communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outlier detection, or anomaly detection as it is known in the machine learning community, has gained interest in recent years, and it is commonly used when the sample size is smaller than the number of variables. In 2015, an outlier detection procedure was proposed 7 for this high-dimensional setting, replacing the classic minimum covariance determinant estimator with the minimum diagonal product estimator. Computationally speaking, their method has two drawbacks: (a) it is not computationally efficient and does not scale up, and (b) it is not memory efficient and, in some cases, it is not possible to apply due to memory limits. We address the first issue via efficient code written in both R and C++, whereas for the second issue, we utilize the eigen decomposition and its properties. Experiments are conducted using simulated data to showcase the time improvement, while gene expression data are used to further examine some extra practicalities associated with the algorithm. The simulation studies yield a speed-up factor that ranges between 17 and 1800, implying a successful reduction in the estimator's computational burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study aims to reveal the general trend by examining the publications made between 2007 and 2023 related to eTwinning under various themes. Meta-synthesis method, a qualitative research design, was employed in this study. It is aimed to reveal the big picture for eTwining. eTwining is a newer education platform. A few study is seen and no review article is published in the literature. The results are presented as frequency and percentages. The review revealed that the highest number of studies was carried out in 2021, and qualitative research was the most preferred method. In addition, the studies were primarily performed with teachers and students, and the most used data collection tool was the interview. Teacher opinions and language education were the most common subjects in publications. Based on these results, it was suggested to employ quantitative and mixed methods and include different sample groups in future research.