GeoCapabilities is a distinctive approach to teacher professional development which foregrounds the educational potential of geographical knowledge. This paper examines the effect of GeoCapabilities on geography teachers' expertise. First, the paper explores a problem of teacher training which privileges technique for classroom effectiveness over…

Video tutorials for software training are becoming more and more popular, but their construction and effectiveness is understudied. This paper presents a theoretical model that combines demonstration-based training (DBT) and multimedia learning theory as a framework for design. The study investigated the effects of video tutorials on motivation,…

The paper describes an approach to the sustainable introduction of IT in developing countries based on international collaboration between students taking the form of a knowledge bridge. The authors consider the challenges for introducing information technologies in developing countries; one of these is lack of reading materials ultimately leading…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the feasibility of a conceptual model on relations between organisational innovation, knowledge productivity and social capital. It explores processes of knowledge productivity for sustainable innovation and associated HRD implications in knowledge intensive organisations, taking the perspective that…

A "humanitarian market" for off-grid renewable energy technologies for displaced populations in remote areas has emerged. Within this market, there are multiple stakeholder agendas. End-user needs and sustainable development goals are currently not considered through the customer-enterprise relationship and the applied product and…

This article presents the authors' critique of lessons proposed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21). The authors initiate a discussion about content that they hope will play out in schoolhouses and statehouses across the country. They take on a different task: they present a handful of lesson ideas from P21 that could enhance studies…

We analyse the way in which the Holocaust is taught in The Netherlands, with an emphasis on critically examining the content of secondary school textbooks used to teach Dutch students about the history of the Holocaust. We also interview Dutch educators, government officials and academics about the state of Dutch Holocaust education. Our findings…

In science education, students should come to understand the nature and significance of models. In the case of chemistry education it is argued that the present use of models is often not meaningful from the students' perspective. A strategy to overcome this problem is to use an authentic chemical modelling practice as a context for a curriculum…

The structure of expertise is investigated along a variety of dimensions. A new and distinct approach is used, which is based on extensive analysis of theories, models, and practice-based strategies found in the literature. This base is used to define a set of dimensions that might be helpful in constructing knowledge profiles. The four dimensions…

In this preliminary investigation (part of a study of the role of prior knowledge in learning) the views of students about prior knowledge and the importance it has for learning were studied. An effort was made to verify whether the previously proposed model of the concept was congruent with student views. Forty of 120 students at the Open…

Problem-solving models in memories of 11 good and 12 poor novice first-year university students were studied. The students reconstructed physics problems seen briefly, relying on models in memory. Both good and poor students had models of problem situations at their disposal, but good students performed better than poor students. (SLD)

The mentoring model described in this paper assumes teachers to be self-directing professionals, and adopts the formalized mentor-protege relationship as the starting point and the individual teacher's professional development as the organizing principle for the induction of teachers into the profession. The essential elements of a mentor's…

In this study, learners worked with a simulation of harmonic oscillation. Two supportive measures were introduced: model progression and assignments. In model progression, the model underlying the simulation is not offered in its full complexity from the start, but variables are gradually introduced. Assignments are small exercises that help the…

Two experiments assessed the effects of activation of prior knowledge through small-group discussion. College students (n=39) and Dutch secondary school students (n=88) were asked to elaborate on possible explanations of a natural phenomenon. Data suggested that such activation of prior knowledge can be a successful instructional strategy. (SLD)

The Second International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM2009) was held at the University of Cordoba, Spain, on July 1-3, 2009. EDM brings together researchers from computer science, education, psychology, psychometrics, and statistics to analyze large data sets to answer educational research questions. The increase in instrumented…