Offers 12 principles as a general foundation for brain-based learning, including (1) the brain is a parallel processor; (2) learning engages the entire physiology; (3) the search for meaning is innate and occurs through patterning; (5) emotions are critical to patterning; (6) every brain simultaneously perceives and creates parts and wholes; and…

A survey of 42 nursing students and interviews with 30 students and 56 staff in New South Wales found both favor critical thinking for improving practice, stimulating inquiry, and improving professional development. Most thought it best to abstract principles of thinking from specific contexts in which it is practiced. (SK)

Presents a mathematics learning cycle that can be use in teaching mathematics and gives two examples of how this learning cycle can be utilized in mathematics classrooms. (ASK)

In her book on Wittgenstein's "Philosophical Investigations", Beth Savickey points out that few critics pay explicit attention to Wittgenstein's references to the child and childhood, particularly in his later work. She argues (paraphrasing Wittgenstein) that "the figure of the child is the figure that draws together the concepts of teaching and…

This paper addresses one approach to reconciling theory, research, and practice, namely, a multitiered teaching experiment involving a models and modelling approach to learning. The four-tiered teaching experiment explored in this paper involves participants at different levels of development who work interdependently towards the common goal of…

The current cacophony of philosophical discourses on ethics and education includes poststructural, postcolonial, and psychoanalytic frameworks. Within these multiple frameworks are critical insights regarding how someone might theorize and practice ethical relations in pedagogical encounters. Such frameworks assume that educational environs are…

D. Klahr and M. Nigam (2004) make a case for the superiority of direct instruction over discovery learning in students' mastery of the control-of-variables strategy central to the scientific method. In the present work, we examine acquisition of this strategy among students of the same age as those studied by Klahr and Nigam, as well as follow…

This article debates whether the concept of satisfaction as a measurement of quality in higher education supports the goal of enhancing transformative learning. As higher education is about transforming people, not just their knowledge, it is argued that learning challenges the identities of students, and even questions their personal integrity.…

This paper describes a method for analysing the learning processes that take place in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. The approach is based on tracking the interactions between learners and tutors. Keeping track of meaningful events serves three main purposes: evaluation of the quality of the process, monitoring…

Concept maps are an instructional strategy that promotes meaningful learning. This chapter examines the use of concept maps in online environments through discussion of CmapTools software. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

CAD (Computer Aided Design) has now become an integral part of Technology Education. The recent introduction of highly sophisticated, low-cost CAD software and CAM hardware capable of running on desktop computers has accelerated this trend. There is now quite widespread introduction of solid modeling CAD software into secondary schools but how…

Corpora and concordancing have become much more widely available as researchers recognise that they can significantly enrich the language learning environment. There is still, however, a strong resistance towards corpus use by teachers and learners (Romer, 2006:122). An understanding of the implications and relevance of corpus use for pedagogy may…

When teaching geography to students in the primary grades, teachers should provide firsthand experiences that young children need to make meaningful sense of their world. David Sobel, author of "Mapmaking with Children: Sense of Place Education for the Elementary Years," suggests that teachers in the early grades adopt a small-world approach to…

The advantages of emphasizing discrete trials "teaching" over discrete trials "training" are presented first, followed by a discussion of discrete trials as a method of teaching that emerged historically--and as a matter of necessity for difficult learners such as those with autism--from discrete trials as a method for laboratory research. The…

This study examines the feasibility of using the "Porch Index of Communicative Ability in Children" (PICAC), a standardized test of general communication, as an out-of-setting school discourse evaluation tool. The rationale for considering the PICAC was based on the expectation that the test creates a teaching-learning context where…