A crucial challenge in terms of research methods in philosophy of education is that of combining philosophical ways of analyzing and arguing, with the dialogical and pluralist way of thinking needed in educational research. In this article I describe how I dealt with this challenge in my research project focusing on educational implications of the…

Self-directed and social forms of learning are fundamentally different from traditional didactic educational settings from which students are selected for veterinary, medical and other professional degree courses. It is therefore expected that a mismatch may emerge between students' conceptions of effective learning and expectations inherent to…

There is widespread agreement that professional development (PD) is the best possible answer to meeting the complex challenges in education systems. Studies on educational effectiveness identify the link between quality teachers and their PD. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the perceptions of Nigerian delegates from…

Reflecting on the last three years of AJRMSTE publications, I present my perspective on some patterns across many submissions--some of which were published, others not. Firstly, I address the 'fidelity' approach to educational research which I feel has dominated over other approaches. Next, I discuss the perception of constructivism which has been…

Many complex problems affect the lives of our citizens, including our children. A particularly important problem is a lack of a sense of community and connectedness (Belenky, et. al, 1986; Bellah, et. al, 1985; Dewey, 1938; Houser & Kuzmic, 2001; Palmer, 1998). There is a feeling among many that we are no longer connected to something larger…

Many national and international studies put forward the idea that primary education in Turkey is questionable in many aspects. As a result, the Ministry of National Education changed primary curriculums in 2004 in Turkey. The curriculum for primary mathematics was redeveloped taking into consideration constructivist theory of education. The…

The work reported here forms part of a UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) funded project (BL4ACE) (http://bl4ace.tvu.ac.uk/). This project built on previous work that evaluated the effectiveness of a learning design to underpin academic competence in a Business Studies degree. A significant concern of the blended learning design was to…

Learner motivation is considered an important premise for learning achievement. One of the theories used to explain learner motivation in physical education is the Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Different from others, SDT acknowledges the controlling nature of institutionalized education and builds its application around externally imposed…

The paper studies the forms that are used in planning for a child's early childhood education and care in Finnish day care from the perspectives of social constructionism and discourse analysis. It asks how childhood is conceptualised in these forms and what are the social functions of early childhood education and care as implied in the…

This paper examines the theories of organisation that have informed our understanding of schools as complex social worlds and the practice of school leadership that seems to be required in such environments. This understanding has, in turn, determined the research approach we have adopted for investigating principals' work and for ascertaining the…

This essay reflects a pedagogical qualitative action research study conducted in my university contemporary technique courses that explored constructivist, emancipatory, and transformative learning perspectives. The study offered me the opportunity to critically reflect upon my teaching practices and values in light of student perceptions of…

We have analysed the processes of argumentation of three university student groups (A: six students, C: five students, and J: seven students) while making a decision about an environmental problem (selection of a heating system). The discussions took place in three 1 1/2-hour sessions that were audio-taped and transcribed. For the analysis of the…

This research paper investigates if the traditional lecture is no longer appropriate for Neomillennial Learning Styles and whether an alternative blended approach could/should be used? Over the past decade the lecture as we know it, has gradually been under attack from constructivists, Twigg (1999) for example argues that the lecture is in the…

This article examines how Moodle, as an open-source Learning Management System, can be made more interoperable. The authors tested two software standards, LAMS and RELOAD, compatible with socio-constructivism norms. The analysis showed that pedagogic activities created with the LAMS-IMS Learning Design Level A Format are useable with Moodle but…

This article is a discussion of the importance of using student resistance to inform and change teacher practice. The authors relate two narratives of practice, one of which takes place in a constructivist second-grade classroom in Ontario, and a second that takes place in a preservice classroom in California. In the first, a student uses the…