Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the use of "competence" as a concept and through the use of occupational competence standards in six European countries. Design/methodology/approach: Partners in an Erasmus+ project in each of the six countries prepared a review of the use of "competence" in their countries using…

Formative assessment is one of the most effective tools that teachers use to promote student learning and watching one's self teach on video is one of the most effective ways to improve teaching. As part of a project for the Michigan Department of Education, the authors worked with eight teachers in Michigan who are using videos of their teaching…

This study probed the conceptualization of (in)authenticity in teaching and the way it could be enacted in pedagogical practices. The participants were a purposive sample of 20 Iranian university teachers. Data were collected using in-depth interviews, field notes, and observation. The collected data were analyzed through the lens of hermeneutic…

The constructs that currently animate today's dispositions movement are grit and growth mindset. However, the evidence for the reliability and instructional uses of such noncognitive factors in K-12 schools--and of the surveys and tools that attempt to measure them--is thin. After a look at the "logic of assessment" with its focus on…

Drop-in peer tutoring is the most popular model on college campuses, but a high student-tutor ratio suggests that students will spend the majority of their lab time working without the aid of a tutor. This study observed students in a drop-in tutoring center serving developmental math students and explored what they do in that independent time.…

Background: The social relationships model was developed to describe positive relationships between support staff and people with intellectual disability. We evaluated an educational intervention based on this model. Method: Eighteen staff supporting 5 adult service users with severe or profound intellectual disability from 3 day services received…

This study examined the teacher observation cycle to understand the effect of observer knowledge, observer effort, observer power, and school culture on teachers' perceptions of whether the observation process helped them grow, implement strategies, or increase student learning. The concepts of power and expertise were defined by blending the…

A number of theories exist to explain why people gesture when speaking, when they produce gesture, and the origin of their gestures. This dissertation focuses on four individual variables that can influence gesture: (i) familiarity, (ii) imageability, (iii) codability, and (iv) motor experience. Four experiments were designed to determine how each…

As states and districts implement more rigorous teacher evaluation systems, measures of teacher performance are increasingly being used to support instruction and inform retention decisions. Classroom observations take a central role in these systems, accounting for the majority of teacher ratings upon which accountability decisions are based.…

This article describes a case study of a gifted high achiever in learning science. This learner was selected on the assumption that drawing attention to the characteristics of a successful learner may improve learning effectiveness of less successful learners. The first author taught the gifted learner and collected data through participant…

Once the reasons for habitual observation in the classroom have been established, and the intent to observe has been settled, the practical details of observation must be organized. In this article, O'Shaughnessy gives us a model for the implementation of observation. She thoroughly reviews Montessori's work curves and how they can be used to show…

Chemistry laboratories play an essential role in the education of undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM students. The extent of student learning in any educational environment depends largely on the effectiveness of the instructors. In chemistry laboratories at large universities, the instructors of…

Homework (HW) is an integral part of the learning process. Currently, there is renewed interest and controversy about its effectiveness. The present study explores the voices of the science teachers on this matter. Adopting the view that reporting both teachers' views and actual classroom practices is necessary for obtaining a more complete view…

Virtual worlds, such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, have seen remarkable mainstream uptake in the last decade. Such environments have grown from hosting niche interest groups to providing sites for leisure, business and education for tens of millions of Internet users. Concurrently, a multi-disciplinary research field exploring the…

Democratically choosing a single preference from three or more candidate options is not a straightforward matter. There are many competing ideas on how to aggregate rankings of candidates. However, the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem implies that no fair voting system (equality among voters and equality among candidates) is immune to strategic…