While simulations have widely been used to facilitate conceptual change in learning science, results indicate that significant disparity or gap between students' prior conceptions and scientific conceptions still exists. To bridge the gap, we argue that the applications of computer simulation in science education should be broadened to enable…

This study examines the life world of school-going adolescent girls in Johannesburg and their construction of identity. It outlines the socio-historical background of concepts relating to identity such as race and culture and their use and misuse in the South African context. In South Africa, race/culture/identity have been historically conflated…

Although many research studies report students' Lamarckian misconceptions, only a few studies present learning and teaching strategies that focus on the successful development of the concept of natural selection. The learning and teaching strategy for upper secondary students (aged 15-16) presented in this study conducted in The Netherlands is…

This paper explores the impact of the internationalization of higher education on the formation of student identity. It does so in the context of increasing developments in offshore education and the rapid emergence of the professional doctorate in Australia and overseas. Drawing on data from a larger qualitative study of student experiences of…

Many students have difficulty accessing academic content information that, traditionally, has been presented in print (e.g., textbooks and other school materials). Because much of the information that reflects school knowledge is obtained through printed texts, these students will lag in their knowledge development and not have ample opportunities…

This presidential address by Richard Bates, President of the Australian Teacher Education Association, discusses teacher-education reform in Australia, particularly in the context of public education. Bates contends that in 2006 there are two sets of interests that are particularly dangerous to education: (1) those who see education simply as a…

This paper draws on an action research inquiry into my teaching practice featuring careful analysis of the experiences of some of the students in my college-level introductory college physics course. Specifically, the research describes and interprets the role of Writing-to-Learn pedagogies in a physics classroom with a view to exploring how such…

The concept of "communicative competence" is one of the most influential theoretical developments in language education as it helped redefine the objectives of L2 instruction and the target language proficiency. While acknowledging these contributions, this paper asks if the conceptual formulation of "communicative competence" has other…

Working memory is where we "think" as we learn. A notion that emerges as a synthesis from several threads in the research literatures of cognition, motivation, and connectionism is that motivation in learning is the process whereby working memory resource allocation is instigated and sustained. This paper reviews much literature on motivation and…

A semiotic perspective on mathematical activity provides a way of conceptualizing the teaching and learning of mathematics that transcends and encompasses both psychological perspectives focussing exclusively on mental structures and functions, and performance-focussed perspectives concerned only with student's behaviours. Instead it considers the…

The 9th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2016) is held under the auspices of the International Educational Data Mining Society at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, in the USA. The conference, held June 29-July 2, 2016, follows the eight previous editions (Madrid 2015, London 2014, Memphis…

R. Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment (IE) Program was used as a tool of cognitive educational intervention with 10 deaf children (ages 7 to 15), all recent immigrants from Ethiopia to Israel. The group's special education needs resulted from their deafness, lack of formal educational experience, lack of previous exposure to sign language or…

Parameter passing is the mechanism by which various program modules share information in a complex program; this paper was a study of novice programmers' understanding of the parameter construct. The bulk of the data was collected from interviews with eight college students enrolled in a state university introductory computer programming course.…

Concept maps drawn by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tertiary off-campus students were examined to determine the effectiveness of interactive multimedia as an instructional medium for teaching and learning in a multiple cultural context that integrates the requirements of academic culture and aspects of the students' cultures. Interactive…

Since teachers are the most familiar with the students they meet and with their own classroom opportunities, they are in the best position to design instruction for specific groups. This manual is a guide for creating activities for gifted and other students to do independently, without prior large group instruction. The activities enable teachers…