Primary/elementary teachers are uniquely positioned in terms of their need for ongoing, science-focused professional development. They are usually generalists, having limited preparation for teaching science, and often do not feel prepared or comfortable in teaching science. In this case study, CHAT or cultural-historical activity theory is used…

Problem Statement: Having appeared in the 60s, the Communicative Approach still keeps its popularity in language teaching contexts. There is almost no doubt that its application varies depending on the teacher's understanding of the methodology. Likewise, some studies on the application of the Communicative Approach in Turkey have revealed that…

The goal of this study was to provide a preliminary evaluation of a social skills and facilitated play early intervention programme to promote social interaction, prosocial behaviours and socio-communicative skills among young extremely shy children in China. Participants were a sample of n = 16 extremely shy young children attending kindergarten…

This article describes a professional development project for teachers that aimed at developing innovative teaching with ICT in a 21st-century understanding of the term innovative. The article describes the result of the intervention and the practice-based method used for this professional development project. Data from teacher planning,…

In kindergarten classrooms (5 to 6 year olds) in the United States, interactive reading aloud has long been considered an important part of a comprehensive emergent literacy program. However, while individual components of interactive reading aloud (for example, teacher activity, student activity and text) have been studied, researchers have…

This study is part of a school improvement programme on entrepreneurial education and investigates teachers' understanding and transmission of entrepreneurial education in two Swedish lower secondary schools, through interviews and observations. Entrepreneurship is a well-established concept within capitalist society, but the interest here is to…

Many early childhood assessment practices involve table top testing that requires young children to behave like an adult (e.g., follow adult directives, attend to task, and answer questions). Research and professional policy standards have identified and mandated alternatives. Authentic assessment is the alternative to conventional testing…

Following the challenges faced in the selection and implementation of e-assessment tools for student assessment, I undertook a journey of implementing an e-assessment system within the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). This article describes the path traversed and highlights the potholes and expressways on this road towards e-assessment…

This research report shares the findings that emerged from a qualitative study in which the main objective was to discover whether or not novice English as a foreign language teachers regulate their negative emotions during their initial teaching practice, and if so, how they do this. The data were collected by semi-structured interviews and…

The purpose of this paper is to consider how a small Catholic institute of higher education (HE) attempts to balance the broad demands of globalisation with the need to adhere to, promote and develop its foundation as a Catholic college. The paper begins with a consideration of the changes which have taken place in HE in the UK over the past 50…

Young children tend to judge improbable events to be impossible, yet there is variability across age and across individuals. Our study examined parent-child conversations about impossible and improbable events and links between parents' explanations about those events and children's possibility judgments in a reasoning task. Regression analyses…

Purpose: Food practices, including associated routines, rituals, and habits, are an unexplored area in school health promotion. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap through exploring how food rituals act as vehicles for young people to establish, maintain, and strengthen social relationships. Design/methodology/approach: Through an…

Recognizing the importance of academic language for students' success in schools, this article reports on an investigation of how narrative-focused literacy events in the classroom provide opportunities for academic language socialization. Data were collected from one public elementary school in a major metropolitan area in the Mid-Atlantic region…

This study investigated the effectiveness of Flushing Away Noise, an interdependent group contingency using an iPod equipped with a decibel meter application, for reducing noise in restrooms. Two Head Start classrooms in the Southeastern United States, referred for demonstrating high levels of student noise in the restroom, were included in the…

Pair programming is a collaborative programming practice that places participants in dyads, working in tandem at one computer to complete programming assignments. Pair programming studies with Computer Science (CS) and Software Engineering (SE) majors have identified benefits such as technical productivity, program/design quality, academic…