The push toward efficiency in higher education is occurring as increasing numbers of faculty and students are struggling with mental health concerns and the world appears progressively polarized. However, education, at its core, can foster hope and effect positive change. This chapter presents a pedagogy of authentic hope that relies on…

This study investigated university teachers' characteristics and their influence on teaching practices: Coming from expectancy-value theory, teachers' personal value of teaching was introduced as a possibly relevant variable and examined along with constructivist and transmissive teaching beliefs as to how they affect various aspects of university…

As explicit administrative expectations to use meaningful inquiry-based instructional activities and formative assessment tasks might influence teachers' classroom practices, this study assessed science teachers' use of contemporary educational activities and assessment tasks above and beyond their conceptions of traditional teaching and learning…

Drawing on qualitative data, this article presents an analysis of six secondary science teachers' expectations and practices related to teaching outdoors during a professional development programme. Using Foucault's and Bernstein's theories of "space", routines and set practices, I argue that participant teachers' fear of losing control…

The current education system aimed to train active deliberative individuals who learn to learn with the adoption of the constructivist educational approach. Based on this objective, there have been significant changes in the roles of teachers. To assist the development of teachers, the Ministry of Education organizes several in-service training…

The Project Approach has been promoted in Hong Kong kindergartens since the 1990s. However, the dynamic processes and underlying mechanisms involved in the teachers' implementation of this pedagogical method there have not yet been fully investigated. This case study of one typical kindergarten in Hong Kong documented how and why eight teachers…

One of the outcomes of the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, "Te Whariki", is "working theories". Prior research on this concept has primarily utilised sociocultural theoretical underpinnings and neglected Piagetian constructivist theories. This paper explores ways the Piagetian concepts of equilibrium and disequilibrium…

Games offer people engaging and motivating experiences. The process of recreating this type of experience in systems that are not typically considered games is called "gamification." Improving engagement and motivation in a learning environment is desired by many educators as traditional approaches do not seem to be as engaging as they…

There is a growing awareness of the need to move beyond generic approaches to teaching, learning and assessment (TLA) to consider the importance of context in shaping TLA practices. However, efforts to engage with context have focused primarily on disciplinary epistemologies and in particular the differences between hard, soft, pure and applied…

The teaching of programming and problem solving has been a challenge and has excited much debate in the literature, so too has been the use of learning management systems (LMSs) to facilitate teaching and enhance learning. In this case study we explore students' perceptions and expectations of the effectiveness of using a constructivist approach…

The focus of this exploratory study was to examine levels of technology integration, self-efficacy, and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in preservice and inservice agricultural education teachers in Oklahoma. The findings of this study suggest that intrapersonal factors, such as self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the introduction of a new experience-based learning process in the learning and teaching of human resource development (HRD) within a professionally accredited curriculum in a UK University. Design/methodology/approach: An action enquiry approach is taken, and qualitative data gathered over a full academic year…