The emergence of educational technologies has spurred research interest in exploring effective ways to enhance human learning in digital environments. Social Learning Theory (SLT), as a crucial theory that offers a conceptual framework for understanding the role of human agency in learning, can shed light on the underlying mechanisms of learners'…

Background and aims: A growing number of autistic children have access to inclusive education programs as early as kindergarten. However, little is known about how they actually participate in social interactions and develop their communicative skills according to the parameters of this environment. The aim of this article is to review…

A small-scale action research project was used to consider the policy and rhetoric surrounding development of the "expert learner" and how this might be further explored to provide opportunities for learners to have greater direct involvement in reflection and discussion with teachers. The research was based within a further education…

Understanding and documenting how young children negotiate their relationships with their teachers is crucial, considering that early teacher-student relationships have important long-term implications for children's school success (Hamre & Pianta, 2001). However, the existing studies on teacher--child relationships focus primarily on the…

This article analyses the educational approaches towards the animal-human relationship which have been developed during the last 20 years. The article establishes a chain of states in that relationship and presents the reasons why those states are consecutive or, occasionally, simultaneous. Next, the different European profiles of social educators…

This article offers interpretive perspectives on play as a cultural activity during middle childhood by contrasting two communities targeted for aid by external sport and play programs: a Chicago public housing community and a community of Angolan refugee camps. Ethnographic anecdotes, along with some survey results, demonstrate that aside from…

Direct support persons (DSPs) often face problems in observing and determining alertness in individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). A literature study was carried out to gather information about the problems just described. A search of two electronic databases and the references found in relevant hits revealed 42…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning that takes place when people with disabilities interact in a rehabilitation context. Data were generated through in-depth interviews and close observations in a 2 one-half week-long rehabilitation program, where the participants learned both wheelchair skills and adapted physical…

Observer's paradox, the basic problem facing any analyst interested in understanding how people talk to each other within naturally occurring contexts, is discussed. In observer's paradox, by recording or observing everyday interaction, one is contaminating interaction by process of observation. An extension to sociolinguistic method is suggested…

Research identifying relationships between principals' instructional leadership behavior and academic achievement is problematic because it fails to consider the perspectives of the "consumer" (i.e., students). Consequently, this study investigated what students perceive principals do to influence their academic achievement. Students identified…

Discusses interaction analysis, a procedure for objectively recording and analyzing the verbal interchange between instructors and students, which can aid instructors in setting goals for improving their instruction. Specific topics covered include instructor behavior when working with students, a process for objectively analyzing teacher…

This paper reviews observational studies of infant-environment interaction during the first year of life. First, the utility of ecological and ethological perspectives for the assessment of organism-environment interactions is explored. Second, the observational research is categorized and discussed along methodological lines in terms of variable…

A symbolic interactionist approach to evaluation views the evaluator as an observer of group behavior in which individual action aligns with collective action. The evaluator attempts to discover what is actually going on in the program being evaluated. Though the interactionist approach frees the program manager from having to articulate goals, it…

A review of past methods of observing teacher behavior is presented, with comment on the relative effectiveness of each method provided. A research model using videotape recording of teachers' in-classroom behavior is suggested, and information given concerning the current use of similar methods of observation. (LH)

This study draws on research and programs in Sweden, England, Canada, and the United States to examine communication interaction between a person using a communication aid and a person who is an able-bodied, natural speaker. It primarily addresses the child or adult with normal or near-normal cognitive abilities who uses augmentation and interacts…