Grounded within current reform recommendations and built upon Giere's views (1986, 1999) on model-based science, we propose an alternative approach to science education which we refer to as the "Evidence-Explanation (EE) Continuum." The approach addresses conceptual, epistemological, and social domains of knowledge, and places emphasis…

In the complex world of educational policy, causal inferences will be debated. As we review non-experimental designs in educational policy, we focus on how to clarify and focus the terms of debate. We begin by presenting the potential outcomes/counterfactual framework and then describe approximations to the counterfactual generated from the…

This manuscript addresses the potential role of geoscience education research in understanding geoscience expert practice. We note the similarity between the perception-action framework of Ulric Neisser (Neisser, 1976) and the observation-prediction framework used by geoscience practitioners. The consilience between these two approaches is that…

Many classroom-observation instruments have been developed (e.g., Gleason et al., 2017; Nava et al., 2019; Sawada et al., 2002), but a very small number of studies published in refereed journals have rigorously examined the quality of the ratings and the instrument using measurement models. For example, Gleason et al. developed a mathematics…

This review brings together the literature that pertains to the role of relational reasoning, or the ability to discern meaningful patterns within any stream of information, in the mental work of scientists, medical doctors, and engineers. Existing studies that measure four forms of relational reasoning--analogy, anomaly, antinomy, and…

Purpose: Taking Beijing Academy as an illustrative example, this article aims to discuss a model of "design-as-learning, learning-as-design". Design/Approach/Methods: As a member of an international panel of the school, I have involved significant periods of observation of classroom work, focus group discussions with students, meetings…

Much of the professional development offered to school teachers centers on quantifiable aspects of teaching and learning that correlate to external inspection processes. Insufficient attention is given to the student-teacher relationship and the dynamics contained within; in more "challenging" schools, this is central to the progress of…

"A program of brief but frequent classroom walk-throughs has become an increasingly popular strategy in recent years for informally supervising teachers and observing classroom activities" (Protheroe, 2009, p.30). Because walk-through observation has such potential as a catalyst to support both excellent instruction and a positive shift…

In a highly systematic literature, researchers have investigated the manner in which people make feature inferences in paradigms involving uncertain categorizations (e.g., Griffiths, Hayes, & Newell, 2012; Murphy & Ross, 1994, 2007, 2010a). Although researchers have discussed the implications of the results for models of categorization and…

The further education (FE) sector in the UK, or post-compulsory education as it is often referred to, has undergone some radical changes in recent years. Historically, FE is synonymous with vocational education and training, providing communities with courses that tended to be in practical, non-academic subjects. Many FE lecturers came from…

This article draws on current literature leading to the development of a holistic framework to support practitioners in observation and assessment of childrens evolving inquiry skills. Evidence from the 2011 Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) in England identifies a decline of year five student achievement in science. A…

Learning Rounds is a form of professional development that has gained widespread currency in Scotland. It has received official endorsement from Scottish Government funded agencies and has spread as a practice through at least 24 out of 32 local authorities, in part through popular adoption by teachers. However the literature on Instructional…

This article describes the design, implementation and lessons learned from a digital storytelling project in a health promotion theory course. From 2011-2012, 195 health promotion majors completed a digital storytelling project at a Midwestern university. The instructor observed students' understanding of theories and models. This article adds to…

This paper describes and evaluates aspects of a professional development programme for existing CS teachers in secondary schools (PLAN C) which was designed to support teachers at a time of substantial curricular change. The paper's particular focus is on the formation of a teacher professional development network across several hundred teachers…

Background: Under the view of dynamical system theory, expertise in sports emerges from the interaction of multiple constraints. At an individual level, important interactions amongst constraints could include the relationships that evolve between one's family, playmates/coaches, and specific training activities. Or more broadly, other…