This paper reports one major finding from a large two-year, mixed-methods study that investigated the process of beginning teachers' learning to teach with information and communication technology (ICT). Among the ten participants involved in the qualitative portion of the study, three stood out from the rest in their effort to use ICT in…

This article describes a holistic approach to designing an introductory, object-oriented programming course. The design is grounded in constructivism and pedagogy of phenomenography. We use constructive alignment as the framework to align assessments, learning, and teaching with planned learning outcomes. We plan learning and teaching activities,…

This paper reviews literature on constructivist learning theories relevant to and evident in teacher education in a New Zealand university. These theories are illustrated within an authentic technology education context which involves students from a primary teacher-education degree programme. It investigates how a practical activity, based on…

The need to improve math education around the country has been well documented, especially in urban school systems like Philadelphia. In Spring 2010, only 56.6% of students in Philadelphia Public schools scored proficient or advanced on the Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessment (PSSA). In Philadelphia Empowerment Schools, the 107 lowest…

This paper analyses how an elementary-level future school in Singapore implements and uses various open-source online platforms, which are easily available online and could be implemented with minimal software cost, for the purpose of teaching and learning. Online platforms have the potential to facilitate students' engagement for independent and…

Corporate training professionals led the explosion of e-learning solutions in the 1990s. Yet in 2008, as new generations of technology-savvy, computer games-oriented employees are entering the workforce, corporate training departments are far behind universities in exploring the use of virtual worlds like Second Life or Protosphere as platforms…

With technology changing the world at a rapid rate, the impact of ubiquitous computing in the classroom has had an influence on education. As the number of one-to-one laptop initiatives grows, the need for further research on the effects of teaching and learning also increases. This case study sought to examine changes in teaching that resulted…

This study aimed to explore how the indigenous (national) culture of teaching and learning mediates teachers' understandings of constructivism in China and the U.S. Thirty middle school math teachers who are self-identified with the mathematics teaching reform movement in each country participated in this study (NCTM 2000 Math Standards in the…

This paper explores the potential benefits of education about intercultural issues for improving a student's future job employability. From the perspective of discourse theory, both job employability and intercultural competence as job qualifications may be taken as discursive constructions. This paper delineates understandings of these concepts…

Effects of problem-based learning as reported in curricular comparison studies have been shown to be inconsistent over different medical schools. Therefore, we decided to summarize effects of a single well-established problem-based curriculum rather than to add up sometimes-conflicting findings from different problem-based curricula. Effect sizes…

A university Environmental Sciences curriculum is described against the background of requirements for environmental problem solving for sustainability and then analyzed using data from regular surveys of graduates (N = 373). Three types of multiple regression models examine links between qualifications and curriculum components in order to derive…

As the population of the United States becomes more diverse, both challenges and opportunities are created for the educational system. The gap that currently exists between a predominantly White, middle class, female teaching workforce and an increasingly heterogeneous population of students is one of the key factors that shapes these challenges.…

Many programmes in further and higher education contain sensitive areas of content, such as diversity, racism, power and privilege, breaking bad news, counselling, sex education and ethical decision making. Team teaching may be a useful method for delivering sensitive areas of course content. This article presents a pilot study that was undertaken…

Demonstrations are a core part of science teaching. In 1980 a three-part assessment method using demonstrating was proposed. Known as DOE this consisted of demonstration, observation and explanation. DOE quickly evolved into POE: predict, observe, explain. In the light of experiences with POE and insights from constructivist theory we set out in…

A new study in Melbourne, Australia, has investigated curriculum change in religious education against the background of literature on curriculum change in education in general. Amongst its several findings, it was ascertained that clear information and theoretical understanding about a curriculum change in religious education is just as important…