This paper investigates various approaches to learning and their effect on performance of a cohort of international students in two different pedagogical environments. The effect of approaches to learning on performance was determined by using Cohen's "d" with Hedges "g" correction. Coe's spread sheet was used for the purpose.…

We raise questions about young people's participation in light of findings from a project ("Democracy through Citizenship") funded by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Limited, and managed by the Institute for Citizenship. Following a six-month feasibility study the project took place over a three-year period in one local authority in the…

Modeling is a core practice in science and a central part of scientific literacy. We present theoretical and empirical motivation for a learning progression for scientific modeling that aims to make the practice accessible and meaningful for learners. We define scientific modeling as including the elements of the practice (constructing, using,…

Vocabulary knowledge has long been considered critical to children's successful reading comprehension. When children increase their reserves of word meaning, they also broaden their thinking and become aware of new semantic and conceptual relationships. Their broadened awareness, in turn, increases reading comprehension and writing abilities. Many…

According to Reinmann-Rothmeier and Mandl (2001), learning environments should provide an ideal balance between constructivist and instructive elements. Most interesting for constructivist learning processes is the combination of the cognitive and the motivational domain. In an empirical study with 207 fifth-graders of the highest stratification…

Computers are becoming the norm for teaching and learning. The Internet gives people ready access to text, visual and audio messages from around the world. For teachers, content is critical and the future dictates the need for major changes in the role of the teacher and learner. Today's digital tools and video games have proven to be well known…

Recent international policy literature on Education for Sustainable Development puts forward utopian concepts of sustainable development and transformed learning as objects for educational thinking and practice. This paper, drawing on three illustrative educational investigations with youth in a South African context, critically examines how we…

In this paper, we describe a design experiment aimed at helping students to explore and develop concepts of infinite processes and objects. Our approach is based on the design and development of a computational microworld, which afforded students the means to construct a range of representational models (symbolic, visual and numeric) of…

In the mathematics education literature, there is currently a debate about the mechanisms by which group discussion can contribute to mathematical learning and under what conditions this learning is likely to occur. In this paper, we contribute to this debate by illustrating three learning opportunities that group discussions can create. In…

Throughout the English-speaking world, children from bilingual backgrounds are being educated in mainstream classrooms where they have little or no opportunity to use their mother tongue. Second and third generation children, in particular, are assumed to be learning sufficiently through English only. This study investigated how British…

Debugging is often difficult and frustrating for novices. Yet because students typically debug outside the classroom and often in isolation, instructors rarely have the opportunity to closely observe students while they debug. This paper describes the details of an exploratory study of the debugging skills and behaviors of contemporary novice Java…

The aim of this survey is to provide an overview of the various components of "computer aided affective learning systems." The research is classified into 3 main scientific areas that are integral parts of the development of these kinds of systems. The three main scientific areas are: i) emotions and their connection to learning; ii) affect…

The 5 year KP-Lab project funded under the FP6 of the European Commission's Programme for Research and Technological Development is about developing theories, tools, practical models, and research methods that deliberately advance the ways in which knowledge is created and which help to transform knowledge practices in education and in the…

This paper addresses the question of whether instruction is a product or a practice and the relationship of these two concepts to instructional design. The points of view presented are based on the framework articulated by Habermas for dealing with different types of relationships between theory and practice and Grundy's application of these ideas…

A discussion of how methods, techniques, and devices of the teaching/learning process must and will change to meet the future demands of education. (Author/HB)