Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of scenario planning on participant mental model styles. Design/methodology/approach: The scenario planning literature is consistent with claims that scenario planning can change individual mental models. These claims are supported by anecdotal evidence and stories from the practical…

Introduction: Weight management is a new public health role for community pharmacists in many countries. Lack of expertise is one of the key barriers to counseling obese patients. We evaluated the comparative efficacy of three alternative continuing education (CE) meetings on weight management. Methods: We designed a randomized controlled trial…

In this article the authors report on research into how an ePortfolio (eP) process can address the critique that teacher education programs offer fragmented course experiences and too often focus on narrow instrumentalist approaches emphasising the "how to" and the "what works"--implying that learning how to teach is about stitching together…

The authors use data from a finance-related theme park to explore how financial education changes investment, financing, and consumer behavior. Students were assigned fictitious life situations and asked to create household budgets. Some students received a 19-hour financial literacy curriculum before going to the park, and some did not. After…

Background: Children and adolescents with mental health problems are widely reported to have problems with peer relationships; however, few studies have explored the way in which these children are regarded by their peers. For example, little is known about the nature of peer stigmatisation, and no published research has investigated implicit…

By combining the false belief (FB) and photo (PH) vignettes to identify theory-of-mind areas with the false sign (FS) vignettes, we re-establish the functional asymmetry between the left and right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). The right TPJ (TPJ-R) is specially sensitive to processing belief information, whereas the left TPJ (TPJ-L) is equally…

By 2020 our world will have changed and with it the shape and role of education and of educational research. One cannot predict the future, but in this paper three possible scenarios are outlined reflecting alternative approaches of government to the economic, political, social and environmental challenges facing the Asia Pacific region. For each…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a teaching methodology for improving the understanding of ethical decision making. This pedagogical approach is applicable in college courses and in corporate training programs. Design/methodology/approach: Participants are asked to analyze a set of eight ethical dilemmas with differing situational…

Thinking Journey is introduced as a mode of science instruction based on a specially designed discussion between students and teachers in the context of an imaginary journey. The paper elaborates the rationale of this mode and its specific features: enculturation into science, analytical observation, multiple perspectives of the subject and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how WebQuests can be used in physics classes for teaching specific concepts. The study had three stages. The first stage was to develop a WebQuest on Newton's second law. The second stage involved developing a lesson plan to implement the WebQuest in class. In the final stage, the WebQuest was…

Three-dimensional (3-D) multi-user virtual environments (3-D MUVEs) have been used to provide language learners with realistic scenarios in which verbal and non-verbal interactions are simulated. However, little is known of the underlying factors that shape interaction in avatar-based virtual worlds. This study examined the perceptions of 38…

Established in 2011, the Online School of Civic Education (the Online School) is intended to give Iranian teachers and educators the opportunity to reflect, experiment, and create classroom experiences aimed at teaching their students how to think, rather than what to think. The Online School was developed to provide teachers and educators inside…

This study evaluated preservice teachers' professional-knowledge transformation while they participated in simulated professional-development activities via a "Second Life" virtual classroom--an Internet-based multiuser virtual environment (MUVE). While a cohort of preservice teachers experienced the MUVE environment, the instrumental exploratory…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of girls and boys about the effects that body-based harassment would have on girls' eating habits and engagement in physical activity. Five scenarios were read to focus groups comprised of 12- to 14-year-old students in grades 7 and 8. Each scenario represented behaviours that fall…

A new curricular approach in our undergraduate second-year instrumental analysis laboratory was implemented. Students work collaboratively on scenarios in diverse fields including pharmaceuticals, forensics, gemology, art conservation, and environmental chemistry. Each laboratory section (approximately 12 students) is divided into three groups…