Winter 2011    
ISSN 1096-1453    
Volume 15, Issue 4 Editorial: The Winter 2011 issue of Academic Exchange Quarterly highlights the topic “Collaboration in Education”. These articles demonstrate the willingness of teaching professionals to combine their expertise to produce innovative programs that will provide unique learning experiences for students of different levels. Some of the studies highlighted also focus on enhancing the delivery of services to the public. In collaboration, individual egos are set aside to focus on a common goal. In these articles you will see how these efforts have the capacity to effect change. Some of the recipients of these services are underserved and underrepresented student populations, those needing healthcare especially aging adults, university students and faculty. These articles are a testimony to the participants, their creativity and their mission to expand their own learning experiences and in most cases give their students’ experiences that surpass the prescribed curriculum. It is clear that some of the studies have also enhanced the community in which the collaborative effort took place. In this issue we can read Lockhart’s article on how faculty collaborated in higher education to strengthen their teaching skills. Although faculty members may be masters in their individual disciplines, they may need to acquire pedagogical skills to thoroughly engage their students. Dart, Moayad, Lykens, Marishak-Simon and Robinson discuss how university faculty collaborated with community partners in developing a pedagogical model in which college students worked with the community to improve public health outcomes for senior citizens. O’Riordan and colleagues at Queen’s University worked on an interprofessional collaboration with community based agencies. Senior level students worked directly with patients experiencing health challenges. Spice, an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Fuentes, and Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education fostered collaboration between pre-service and in-service teachers in Mathematics. Bridging the gap of theory to practice is always a challenge in Teacher Education programs. Their article profiles their work to provide a basis for readers in other disciplines who may be interested in embarking on a similar experience. There are cases in which collaboration is used to enhance the academic development of diverse student populations. Bradley and Kelly developed a hands- on inquiry based workshop on Acoustical Physics for high school students from the New York City public schools. This effort was supported by the Vassar College Physics and Astronomy Department and the Bronx Institute at Lehman College. Fuentes and other Mathematical Education researchers at various universities in Texas collaborated to form a cross institutional model for other researchers who have diverse interests yet common goals. Schaefer and Rivera combined their expertise in curriculum and teaching with Counselor Education to provide opportunities for middle and high school students to benefit from college and career readiness programs while still in their middle and high school settings. Graduate students in the United States and Canada participated in online course collaboration, thanks to the efforts of Winton and Pollock. The idea was to encourage these students to broaden their perspectives in local, state, provincial and national policy processes. In this issue, the diversity of studies demonstrates the effectiveness of collaboration. The dedication of those involved is clear. Collaboration in Education will be the topic again for the Winter 2012 issue. I invite you to submit your studies. I am proud to be the Feature Editor again for this topic. Melody D’Ambrosio Deprez, Ed.D. Feature Editor, Collaboration in Education Associate Professor of Graduate Education Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY |