A series of workshops offered to biology and health sciences students during June and July 2022 was primarily aimed to help students to understand and appreciate the employability benefits of engaging with practical science investigations. Such investigations are designed to help students develop not only practical, numerical and problem-solving…

This systematic review used framework synthesis methodology to explore literature describing problem-solving, circle and consultation groups in schools (PSGs). The review sought to understand the underlying mechanisms which contribute to the reported success of these groups. Key themes contributing to positive outcomes associated with these groups…

Taking action is crucial at all stages of career development learning to develop skills and employability with no particular career goal, or for specific career ambitions. This article explores the concept of grand challenges in the context of education for employability through the case study of an extra-curricular programme at a UK university.…

What do people need to learn to engage actively in social action for neighbourhood improvement or development? How important is emergent learning relative to planned learning in this context? Where does first-person knowledge fit into the body of knowledge required for success in bringing about change for the better in neighbourhoods through…

This paper gives an account of how Action Learning Sets (ALS) are used in two of The Rank Foundation investment streams to support the social action impact of charities and social enterprises. With the aid of two Case Studies, the paper illustrates how the ALS can help to connect, sustain and support the social action responses of the local…

Recent years have seen the emergence of design-thinking and maker learning initiatives across formal and informal learning environments. A variety of offerings, from museum and afterschool programs, to STEM challenges and entrepreneurship courses, create opportunities for young people to develop skills relevant to today's workplace. Design-based…

Different approaches to the use of "clickers" (also known as student response systems) were introduced to a cohort of 127 students over a two-year period with the aim of making students think more deeply in-class about their chemistry knowledge. Student performance was monitored, and individual, anonymous student feedback was frequently…

This paper explores how educational psychologists working in a training/consultative way can enable teachers to manage challenging pupil behaviour more effectively. It sets out a rationale which encourages schools to embrace a group based teacher peer-support system as part of regular school development. It then explores the usefulness of the…

How can teachers be helped, at relatively little expense, to improve their professional practice? This problem was addressed in "Improving Formative Assessment in Vocational Education and Adult Literacy, Language and Numeracy Programmes"--the IFA project. Adopting a specific problem-based methodology as part of an action research…

Background: Several studies have examined young primary school children's use of strategies when solving simple addition and subtraction problems. Most of these studies have investigated students' strategy use as if they were isolated processes. To date, we have little knowledge about how math strategies in young students are related to other…

Formative computer assisted assessment has become increasingly attractive in Higher Education where providing useful feedback to large numbers of students can be difficult. However, the nature of such assessments has often been limited to objective questions such as multiple-choice. This paper reports on the development and initial trialling of a…

The current profile of action learning in the UK has recently become clearer (Pedler et al., 2005). Using the template of what have been described as "Revans's Classical Principles", fundamental divergences have begun to emerge. Pedler et al. (2005) identified a number of variances from this template--specifically the use of permanent…

Reviews the current practice of school-based consultation in the United Kingdom, and discusses the degree to which current practice matches research findings on effective consultation. Identifies some of the key characteristics that are essential for consultation to be effective in achieving change, and points out the need for such characteristics…

In recent years, a growing political emphasis has been placed upon the development of transformative assessment-driven reform in schools. There is global consensus on the value of assessment activities that are carefully designed to be consistent with desired learning outcomes, and which coherently connect learning theory, the curriculum,…

Describes a program for training people to apply generic problem-solving techniques to personal problems. Male student volunteers (N=64) were assigned to a training group or no-training control group. The training group achieved a higher standard in their bachelor's degrees and developed an increased belief in internal control. (Author/JAC)