This article examines how teachers can navigate "difficult knowledge" embedded within digital stories, particularly those sourced from openly licensed literacy platforms. These platforms offer a rich tapestry of narratives reflecting diverse cultural contexts and experiences, but may also present challenging themes that require sensitive…

In this study, it was aimed to determine the sources of concern of primary school teachers in terms of controversial issues and the difficulties they experience in instructional processes and to improve their teaching skills related to controversial issues with digital stories. In this context, participatory action research method was utilized. A…

Shared meaning-making across differences in today's polarized society requires a socio-political perspective toward conceptualizing and operationalizing collaborative competence. Thus, there is a pressing need for socio-political pedagogies and designs in CSCL to empower students as cultural-historical agents who can communicate and work…

Critical thinking ability is a very important basic ability in learning mathematics. In the era of technological advances and digitalization, a comprehensive learning approach is needed that accommodates critical thinking skills. The controversial problem-based multimodal approach with ethnomathematics is seen as being able to improve this…

Although argumentation is a critical historical component of scientific literacy, the recent coronavirus pandemic and associated issues have highlighted the importance of argumentation in science practice. Argumentation that aligns with functional scientific literacy requires gathering evidence and reasoning to support or refute claims related to…

There is a dearth of research into teaching strategies and learning approaches for units involving sensitive topics that can provoke an emotional response in students. In a business ethics unit, attempts to strike a balance between conceptual knowledge and theory and skills training can be challenging because the unit can involve personal,…

This quasi-experimental, mixed model study explored the use of an instructional approach that provided direct instruction and experiences in multicultural education while empowering preservice teachers to examine their perspectives using a hybrid classroom format. The purpose of the study was to explore preservice teachers' attitudes and…

Augmented reality (AR) technologies are identified as one of key emerging technologies for education in the next 5 years. AR takes advantage of virtual objects or information overlaying physical objects or environments, resulting in a mixed reality in which virtual objects and real environments coexist in a meaningful way to augment learning…

Dr. Sally Knipe, Course Coordinator, Bachelor of Education (Middle Schooling) at Charles Sturt University has been teaching undergraduate students in this program for six years. When Charles Sturt University introduced a learning management system, Interact she, with the faculty's educational designer, Miriam Edwards worked together in developing…

Delivering a discussion-intensive curriculum via online instruction can pose a variety of challenges. This article presents an overview of a contemporary issues online graduate course, and analyzes the degree to which the course encouraged feelings of community, a tone of thoughtful and willing reflection, and an overall understanding of…

"The Distance Education Evolution: Case Studies" addresses issues regarding the development and design of online courses, and the implementation and evaluation of an online learning program. Several chapters include design strategies for online courses that range from the specific to the universal. Many authors address pedagogical issues from both…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is the use of a "real world" problem or situation as a context for learning. The present study explores the use of PBL in an online biotechnology course. In the PBL unit, student groups dealt with the ethical, legal, social, and human issues surrounding pre-symptomatic DNA testing for a genetic disease. Issues…

The authors report on their experiences as participants in the Community, Self and Identity Project; a collaborative teaching and research project between the University of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch University. The project aimed to provide fourth year social work and psychology students the opportunity to become part of a shared…