In this article, the author wants to bury inservice and all of the outdated practices that go with it such as "delivery of professional development," "training," "staff development programs," "professional development activities," and "ippy dippys." She wants to bury them so deep that no educator will ever again use them to describe the learning…

This study investigated the effects of students' reflections, combined with suggestive feedback, on the development of self-regulated learning and learning outcomes. Suggestive feedback alerts students that further reflection is advisable, without being very directive. Forty-nine students participated in a regular web-based distance education…

Personal epistemologies, individuals' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and how one comes to know, can facilitate and constrain cognition, motivation, and learning (Pintrich, 2002). They are especially relevant in teacher education because preservice teachers will become responsible for the knowledge and knowing of others. This study…

Learning to read and write is a psycholinguistic and social process. That is why mother-tongue speakers of minority African languages find learning to read in the language they speak is a qualitatively better learning experience than learning to read in a language they are unfamiliar with. However, reading methodologies used for teaching reading…

Little research has been conducted on how students work when they are required to plan, build and evaluate artefacts in technology rich learning environments such as those supported by tools including flow charts, "Labview" programming and Lego construction. In this study, activity theory was used as an analytic tool to examine the social…

Teachers of physiology at all postsecondary levels were asked to participate in a survey about the possible sources of students' difficulty in learning physiology. Sixty-three physiology teachers responded to the 18-question survey; 35 of the respondents also responded to a request for written comments about this issue prior to taking the survey.…

The purpose of this article is to examine contemporary transformations in early childhood education, in light of developments in policy, theory and practice, and to chart significant changes and continuities over the last 40 years. The Plowden Report had a significant impact on early childhood education, because it reified developmental theories,…

This study aims to investigate the role of mediation in the learning process from a sociocultural perspective, activity theory in particular. This study was carried out in a primary English immersion school within the CCUEI Programs in Mainland China. Data were collected mainly through observations and interviews, which were then supplemented by…

Across Canada there is increased attention to the important relationship between the quality of learning environments--particularly effective teaching--and student achievement. "What did you do in school today?" proposes a multi-dimensional framework of student engagement as a core idea for improving the quality of teaching and learning…

The Horizon Report series is the product of the New Media Consortium's Horizon Project, an ongoing research project that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within education around the globe. This volume, the "Horizon Report: 2009 K-12…

In this article, we articulate five principles of curriculum design and illustrate their application in a third-year undergraduate course for environmental and ecological scientists. In this way, we provide a practical framework for others wishing to enhance their students' learning. To apply the five principles, we created a learning environment…

Drawing on research literature on online discussion and on reading and learning from the text, we argue that research on learning from text has much to offer but has been largely absent in informing the design and study of online learning environments. We propose several key issues to be considered in research and development of online discussion,…

This paper explores how individuals develop their personal definitions of teaching and learning and how that translates into the classroom. The literature on psychological and educational research suggests that human thinking and communication are profoundly metaphorical in nature. If this is true, metaphors can play a valuable role in revealing,…

This paper discusses the various aspects of mathematics teaching and learning at the elementary school level. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards are reviewed by giving examples and a list of principles of learning in mathematics is offered. Principles include the following: 1) the need for pupils to perceive learning…

This book presents issues concerning relationships between mathematical knowledge and the teaching and learning processes, focusing especially on the genesis of mathematical knowledge in the classroom. The chapter titles are: (1) The Fragility of Knowledge (Guy Brousseau and Michael Otte); (2) The Double Bind as a Didactical Trap (Stieg…