Continuing emphasis given to computer technology resourcing in schools presents potential for web-based initiatives which focus on quality arts teaching and learning, as ways to improve arts outcomes for all students. An arts e-learning collaborative research project between specialist on-line teacher/researchers and generalist primary teachers…

Ever since the first ethnographic studies, the question about how people learn in different contexts was an essential element of research. Studies in anthropology of education have increasingly focused on schooling. Nowadays, however, the traditional topic of learning in out-of-school contexts recovers its relevance because the development of…

Research in science education suggests that teachers' beliefs are linked to the use of inquiry-based instruction; teachers holding a constructivist belief are more likely to engage in student-centered activities in the classroom. However, there is currently little research on the ways in which teachers' beliefs change over time, and in particular,…

The purpose of this study was to determine how contributing to a class wiki affected the learning of pre-service teachers enrolled in a language arts methods class. Participants included 37 preservice teachers enrolled in three sections of a field-based language arts methods class during two semesters. Data collection included online observations…

As students engage in pre-service teacher (PT) activities, they take a number of courses that help prepare them to teach in schools. During that time, they must also form their own understanding of what teaching and learning means for them (Kroll, 2004). In many cases, this can conflict with their view of teaching as a command approach to…

This article will map the process of collaborative professional enquiry in an attempt to make sense of the structural elements evident in creating a "Community of Collaborative Professional Enquiry" (CCPE). At the heart of each CCPE examined was a collaborative, improvement-focused intervention that was designed and implemented by…

The present study aimed to evaluate whether a chemistry laboratory course called "Laboratory Experiments in Science Education" based on constructivist instruction accompanied with concept mapping enhanced pre-service chemistry teachers' conceptual understanding. Data were collected from five pre-service chemistry teachers at a university…

Drawing upon my critical appropriation of Alasdair MacIntyre's account of the rationality of traditions, I undertake to explain and demonstrate how the competing conceptual frameworks of distinct traditions of educational inquiry and practice can be assessed through dialectical argument. To illustrate the "method" of dialectic, I argue that the…

The call for reforms in science education has been ongoing for a century, with new movements and approaches continuously reshaping the identity and values of the discipline. The HPS movement has an equally long history and taken part in the debates defining its purpose and revising curriculum. Its limited success, however, is due not only to…

This qualitative constructivist research study employed a unique professional case-based pedagogy to investigate how concurrent Education undergraduate students made sense of the complex dilemmas inherent in the cases and in particular, the factors that influenced their critical thinking processes. The paper identifies three core categories that…

In this rejoinder to Bryan Brown and John Reveles, we highlight the facts that (a) sociocultural theories of learning do not go far enough because they fail to address a number of issues and (b) we require concepts such as power and positionality to understand science learning.

The goal of this study was to increase our understanding of the learning-oriented verbal interactions taking place between students during the problem-based learning (PBL) cycle. The verbal interactions of one PBL group of five students throughout an entire PBL cycle were recorded in this data-intensive case study. The verbatim transcript…

This study tried to ascertain a possible relationship between the number of student moderators (1, 2, and 3), online interactions, and critical thinking of K-12 educators enrolled in an online course that was taught from a constructivist approach. The course topic was use of technology in special education. Social network analysis (SNA) and…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)'s emphasis of reading, language arts, and mathematics (RLA&M) and its de-emphasis of science has been a source of great concern among educators. Through an objectivist and constructionist framework, this study explored the unforeseen effects of the NCLB on public science education among Title I (TI) and…

Cooperating teachers (CTs) are considered one of the most important groups who play a role in the success of student teachers (STs) during their field-based experience (FBE). The literature in the Arabic world about how CTs should fulfill their role has been limited with most of what is available has been conducted in the United States and other…