Second language teacher education (SLTE) has undergone considerable change over the past 25 years. The question of how language teaching is learnt and how programmes of professional preparation can contribute to this process now elicits quite different answers. A new agenda of theory and practice has emerged as SLTE has incorporated many of the…

The pressure on world-wide manufacturing industries to meet tougher demands and regulations has forced companies to focus on improving manufacturing using tools like process automation. This focus requires better-prepared students. The process control course of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez has…

There is renewed interest in what can be called an "experimentist" approach to education research. The claim is that if researchers would focus on experiments and "evidence-based" policies and practices, irreversible progress in education can be achieved. This experimentist approach cannot provide the understanding of knowledge and human beings…

Drawing on a series of semi-structured interviews, this small case study examines the perceptions of a group of trainees on the employment-based graduate teacher programme (GTP) towards the close of their initial teacher education. Building on earlier work on the experience of secondary GTP trainees that had revealed trainees' ambivalence to…

This paper proposes an argument framework for the teaching of null hypothesis statistical testing and its application in support of research. Elements of the Toulmin (1958) model of argument are used to illustrate the use of p values and Type I and Type II error rates in support of claims about statistical parameters and subject matter research…

Parallels between martial arts and mathematics are explored. Misguided public perception of both disciplines, students' misconceptions, and the similarities between proofs and katas are among the striking commonalities between martial arts and mathematics. The author also reflects on what he has learned in his martial arts training, and how this…

This study demonstrates how action research can provide a means for teachers to undertake research for themselves to inform and enhance their work. The focus of the research was the self-critique of pedagogical practice in one-to-one classical instrumental music teaching within the context of the author's private studio. A series of lessons were…

This article reports the outcomes of an exploratory small-scale study to compare lecturer and student conceptions of critical reading at a research-intensive UK institution. Analysis of lecturer and student interviews in four humanities subjects suggests differences in the way lecturers and students conceptualize and articulate the practices of…

A conceptual framework for studying the role of global health partnerships (GHPs) in determining policy practices on access to medication is presented. Although GHPs are of a practical nature, they are implicitly theory informed. The narratives used by GHP partners in relating to access to medication have theoretical origins. Building on the…

Cognitive load is a theoretical notion with an increasingly central role in the educational research literature. The basic idea of cognitive load theory is that cognitive capacity in working memory is limited, so that if a learning task requires too much capacity, learning will be hampered. The recommended remedy is to design instructional systems…

There is a strong quest in several countries including Australia for greater national consistency in education and intensifying interest in standards for reporting. Given this, it is important to make explicit the intended and unintended consequences of assessment reform strategies and the pressures to pervert and conform. In a policy context that…

In Russia, people are once more coming to realize that it is fundamentally impossible to develop a genuinely civilized society unless people are taught national, patriotic, civic, legal, moral, cultural, ethical, and universal human values. Once again, leaders on different levels have begun to talk about the necessity of going back to the…

Launched in 2008, the Strategic Data Project, housed at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, seeks to bridge the divide between educational research and practice in order to transform the use of data in education to improve student achievement. Through the project, the authors build robust research partnerships with…

These Proceedings are a written record of the research presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA 2012) held in Kalamazoo, Michigan, November 1-4, 2012. The theme of the conference, "Navigating Transitions along Continuums," focuses on…

Most Australian Universities offer a selection of research-intensive pathways at the graduate level, which provides opportunities for independent inquiry and intellectual autonomy. Undergraduate students, however, are somewhat short-changed in their experience in research. They are exposed to a variety of areas and disciplines, which forms a…