Purpose: To provide an understanding of the ways in which Confucian Heritage students use reflection as a means of learning at university. Design/methodology/approach: The approach is an exploratory qualitative study into the ways in which Confucian Heritage students learn while studying at university. Data are collected by means of…

Assumptions about knowledge construction, knowledge transmission and the nature of mathematics always underlie any teaching practice even if often unconsciously. In the paper we explain our theoretical assumptions about these cognitive and epistemological issues and derive from them a "model" of teacher. Finally we discuss why and how…

Interviewed novice and experienced, part-time students in Hong Kong about their teaching and learning beliefs. Novice students with didactic/reproductive beliefs about teaching and learning found it difficult to adjust to higher education if the teaching was not expository; more experienced students tended to hold facilitative/transformative…

This article explores the Sami philosophy of the gift as a basis for a transformative pedagogical framework. Grounded on the Sami land-based worldview, this philosophy calls for the recognition and reciprocation of gifts, whether gifts of the land, interpersonal gifts or giftedness of an individual. In particular, the article considers two Sami…

Traditional ecological knowledge is a potentially powerful medium in which to teach environmental education and has the potential for influencing transformative learning. Although many educators agree that one of the focuses of environmental education is adult transformation, this has not been extensively explored in the context of Hawaiian…

Being a Master of Business Administration (MBA) instructor can be a satisfying, as well as a frustrating experience, but instructors can avoid becoming discouraged if they know and apply some important teaching strategies. In this article, the authors offer four teaching strategies that have made the difference between success and failure in the…

This article describes a university-sponsored experiential-based simulation, the NANO SCENARIO, to increase the public's awareness and affect attitudes on the societal implications of nanoscience and nanotechnology by bringing together diverse stakeholders' perspectives in a participatory learning environment. Nanotechnology has the potential for…

Culturally responsive standards-based (CRSB) teaching can help bring diverse school communities together and make learning meaningful. Unlike multicultural education--which is an important way to incorporate the world's cultural and ethnic diversity into lessons--CRSB teaching draws on the experiences, understanding, views, concepts, and ways of…

The practice of fostering transformative learning was reviewed from an empirical perspective. In the literature, much support was found for Mezirow's ideals for promoting rational discourse and critical reflection, two of the three interrelated components he identified as central to the process of fostering transformational learning. Other factors…

Education has become a domain of considerable ideological division. Today the mantra is freedom and choice, yet at the same time, a push to "back to basics" is observed. This author attempts to trace the contours of this division by taking two steps back from the contemporary fray. One step is to situate present day discussions in a larger…

This paper represents a conversation between a high school science teacher and a university researcher as they found common ground in the theory and experiences of designing powerful learning experiences. The teacher describes an instructional unit in which students designed a complex, interactive display showing what life may have been like…

Those growing up in the 1950s, 60s or 70s are familiar with how physically active children were before computers and video games were introduced. Each neighborhood had its own version of the various games that were played. Many of these games involved a pink rubber ball called a Spaldeen. They were everywhere and almost everyone had one. These…

The findings reported in this article form part of a wider comparative research project investigating the active learning of teachers and of pupils in the educational practices of eight countries. This article aims to describe what a small rural school in Finland understands by active learning. Data is presented from a qualitative research case…

The article reports on an action research project, informed by transformative learning theory. Transformative learning involves individuals gaining an awareness of their current habits of mind, and resulting points of views accompanied by a critique of their assumptions and premises, an assessment of alternative views, a decision to negate an old…

Purpose: To provide a history of the emergence of quality systems from the mid-1980s. To show how quality became a primary policy concern in higher education policy. To map the development of quality processes and raise questions about dominant approaches and express concerns for the future. Design/methodology/approach: Historical document…