This article uses a sociocultural approach to analyze how trajectories of identity development and learning intersect in actions carried out in a community of learners. The approach utilizes a framework for analysis with 5 aspects: the action, the agents, the goals, the cultural tools, and the scene. The study posits a distinction between mastery…

Reflection has long been an aspiration in education, from Aristotles Nicamachean Ethics, through Bacons (1605) Advancement of Learning and later articulated by John Dewey. Schon's reflective practitioner underpins the ethos in the professional training of teachers in the UK. This paper reviews approaches to reflection in learning and argues that…

Purpose--Sociocultural learning theories, usually premised on participation in some community, explain workplace learning well up to a certain extent. The paper aims to extend beyond these and to account for learning in repetitive and mundane work environments from a dialectical perspective. Design/methodology/approach--Based on a longitudinal…

A problem solving protocol is described and then applied to a teacher training problematic situation in science and technology education. The problem consists of improving a learning community involved in education research, development and communication. Some remarks concerning the strengths and limitations of using the protocol are made in…

Service learning--a pedagogical technique combining academic learning with community service--offers many benefits to students, faculty, educational institutions, and the community. Relative to social sciences and liberal arts faculty, however, business faculty have been slow to incorporate it into their coursework. Service learning may be…

This inquiry applied an innovative sociocultural framework to examine transformations in preservice teachers' professional development as they worked with children at-risk in a summer literacy camp. The camp incorporated a community of practice model in which teams of masters and doctoral students mentored small groups of preservice teachers. The…

The Magnetic Sentences Industry Game is a high-energy in-class exercise designed to help students gain hands-on experience with setting, implementing, evaluating, and revising business-level strategy. Students compete in teams to create and market sentences using Magnetic Poetry (a product of Magnetic Poetry, Inc.). Revenues earned are highly…

In this paper we discuss manipulatives and hands-on investigations for Calculus involving volume, arc length, and surface area to motivate and develop formulae which can then be verified using techniques of integration. Pre-service teachers in calculus courses using these activities experience a classroom in which active learning is encouraged and…

In this article, the author shares her experience working with preservice teachers in a hands-on museum exhibit. The preservice teachers' responses suggest that the experience of working in a hands-on museum exhibit can be a valuable part of an elementary social studies methods course. Adequately preparing elementary social studies methods…

A Mathematica[TM] package is described that uses simulations and animations to illustrate key concepts in harmonic oscillation and electric circuits for students not majoring in physics or mathematics. Students are not required to know the Mathematica[TM] environment: a user-friendly interface with buttons functionalities and on-line help allows…

In this paper, the authors review more than 300 reports of students in New Zealand, Australia, China, Singapore and South Korea who have participated in a global action-learning program to teach entrepreneurship and free market economics to their respective communities, through Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). The authors use the results of…

Supervision of midwives is a statutory responsibility, which provides a mechanism for support and guidance to every practising midwife in the United Kingdom. To be eligible for appointment as a supervisor, midwives are required to undertake a preparation programme successfully. Because of the changing nature of the professional role and education,…

This paper discusses how a postgraduate certificate course in third-level learning and teaching for academic staff in the Republic of Ireland has adopted a particular approach in teacher education. An important aspect of the successful integration and use of learning technology is the way in which it effectively reflects and articulates a given…

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the relationships between hands-on experiences with formative assessment, students' assessment preferences and their approaches to learning. The sample consisted of 108 university first-year Bachelor's students studying criminology. Data were obtained using the "Revised two-factor study…

Societal and organizational change requires people to change their professional identity continuously. Starting from two theoretical traditions that address identity and learning, the authors analysed the learning narratives of two sets of learners--participants in a two-year experiential learning programme and student interns, both in the domain…