This study examines the difficulties biology teachers face when teaching cell division in the secondary schools of the central part of the Erzurum province in Turkey. During this research, a questionnaire was distributed to a total of 36 secondary school biology teachers. Findings of the study indicate biology teachers perceive cell division as…

A learning community can play an important role in facilitating student learning in a class and this is especially evident for distance learning courses. Creating a learning community that is virtual requires the use of online communication tools such as email, threaded discussion boards, and chat rooms. Many online students also benefit through…

Virtually every Government programme for children and every Government Department in the UK is expected to involve children and young people in its policy development and service delivery (Children and Young People's Unit, 2001). It is the new orthodoxy. Yet, hard questions are often avoided when reciting the mantra of participation. Why bother?…

Official involvement of parents in school education has been very limited until recently within the highly centralized educational administration and school management system in Korea. But, the educational reform in 1995 has brought fundamental changes in educational administration and school management system of Korea. The main approach of the…

Consistent with the conception of teaching as a learning profession, the authors' vision of a professional teacher workforce is one in which teachers do take responsibility for their own learning--their work. Supporting teachers' transition from workers to learners may require learning opportunities of a different type--work opportunities offered…

The successful establishment of a purpose-built innovative school designed to support new ways of teaching and learning in the senior secondary years, particularly in the area of science and mathematics, required a comprehensive and research-based professional development policy and program. Planning professional learning opportunities for the…

In this article, the authors focus on the use of Web-based instruction in social studies methods courses. They examine in what ways Web-based instruction transforms both teaching and learning and explore the problems and possibilities involved with electronic classrooms, including Web-supported instruction. Their study is classroom…

This report examines effects of structural and process features of professional development programs on teachers' knowledge, practice and efficacy. It is based on four recent (2002-2003) studies undertaken through the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme, designed to enhance teacher quality. The total data set for the survey study…

In this article, the author discusses small learning communities (SLCs), a term that is used to refer to the practice of organizing secondary schools into smaller units. Features of SLCs include small structure, curricular specialization and choice, a focus on the learner and learning, and, in particular, the active and collaborative nature of…

Religious education students on initial teacher education programmes work in both school and university contexts that might be expected to produce different accounts of the nature of religion. This article explores the contested nature of religion and the ways in which student teachers negotiate their own understanding of subject knowledge. A…

This paper reports on a comparison of two research approaches of the study of the reflective practice in two different modes of tele-guidance of the school practicum. The results of two studies were contrasted encouraging the dialogue between researchers coming from different research paradigms. Although the researchers in the two studies shared…

Sites of internationalised education are the result of, and in turn contribute to, the cultural processes of globalisation. These sites have created new education contact zones that may pose moral dilemmas for teachers--in particular for the teachers employed in the cultural contact zones of ESL, English for academic purposes, and foundation…

While a growing body of research reveals the beneficial effects of music on education performance the value of music in educating the young child is not being recognized. If research of students in the school system indicates that learning through the arts can benefit the "whole" child, that math achievement scores are significantly…

This paper reflects on the relevance and applicability of "key transferable skills" to the higher education curriculum. Although they are regarded as having common currency within universities, it is argued that their uncritical acceptance devalues and distorts the nature and character of the teaching and learning employed in academe.…

Two current themes in social studies education- the inclusion of technology and the emphasis on "doing history"--intersect with the use of Web-based or digital primary sources in the classroom. Digital libraries make these resources available to students and teachers interested in accessing rare primary documents in order to study the…