This article explores the uptake of so-called fast policy solutions to problems in different education policy contexts and highlights the potential impacts that can arise from such policymaking approaches. We draw upon recent literature and theorising around notions of fast policy and evidence-informed policymaking, which suggests that, in an…

The chain of progression from teacher education to qualification to classroom instruction and student engagement, and then to learning and achievement, is not as straightforward as often presented. Societal, political and economic pressures create either a positive climate or a stressful one for both teachers and students. Nevertheless it is safe…

This study reports on the development of a cooperative learning attitude scale for the EFL students based on expert reviews and examines its construct validity. Three rounds of expert reviews were conducted. In each round, five content experts reviewed the items and rated their relevance to the content domain and their comprehensibility. The…

Purpose: This paper examines the impact of communication technology and human-related factors on teacher, student and course performance, in particular on teacher's clarity, perceived value of the course and student learning. Design/methodology/approach: Communication technology factors are analyzed in terms of social media use, while…

The need for strong universities has never been greater in addressing societal challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, resource scarcity, ageing populations, migration and managing artificial intelligence are among the many examples of areas where universities have a major impact. The need for bold, cohesive, collective action across…

Growing awareness of the importance of education in the early years has led professional organizations and policy makers to consider the effectiveness of mathematics education for young children. Factors such as educational environments, early years curricula and teacher education are some of the many aspects that have been examined. This paper…

The present study is aimed at identifying demands and tasks that are considered important by experts in the field of interculturalism for the successful development of schools. Although different theoretical models about intercultural school development, incorporating various conditions and dimensions, have already been suggested, gaps in research…

A generally agreed-upon tenant of the physics teaching community is the centrality of subject-specific expertise in effective teaching. However, studies which assess the content knowledge of incoming K-12 physics teachers in the U.S. have not yet been reported. Similarly lacking are studies on if or how the demographic makeup of aspiring physics…

Humans segment the continuous stream of sensory information into distinct events at points of change. Between 2 events, humans perceive an event boundary. Present theories propose changes in the sensory information to trigger updating processes of the present event model. Increased encoding effort finally leads to a memory benefit at event…

Vygotsky measured his 'zone of proximal development' in years. To do this, he needed a scheme of age periods, and a set of tasks that could diagnose the next age period without defining it. In this paper, we compare the age periods in his late lectures with Halliday's categories of logico-semantic expansion as used by three adolescent…

This paper describes the results of a comparative study into the approaches used by science undergraduates when solving open-ended problems. This study adopted a pseudo-grounded theory framework to analyse six case studies, one from each of the science disciplines studied. The study involved 70 participants from 5 institutions solving open-ended…

Context: Enthusiasm has been noted to increase productivity and quality at work. In teachers' work, this has a connection to student learning and motivation, as well as teaching quality. In the context of Finnish vocational education and training (VET), research on enthusiasm appears especially topical and relevant because of the ongoing wide…

The educational system has been challenging children through competitive societal information-age education by promoting achievement among students, in preparing children for global excellence. This qualitative research case study of elementary school children's lack in cybersecurity knowledge and awareness served helpful with exploration into…

This case study of two fourth-grade teachers explored teachers' literacy instructional practices and perceptions of their professional agency during the hybrid synchronous teaching of the COVID-19 pandemic. In anticipation of the challenges of hybrid synchronous instruction, these teachers combined their classes to co-teach 39 students. Analysis…

This paper addresses the place of the use of international "experts" in assuring the quality of Teacher Education programmes within Higher Education, in relation to the global agenda of improving standards. The experiences of one such "expert" are discussed and recommendations made as to the type of person suited to the role.…