The burgeoning interest over recent decades about the human brain, and possible implications for education, has, perhaps not surprisingly, fostered a suite of urban myths about brain functioning. The prize for the barmiest goes to the one about using only 10% of the brain, but there are plenty more that deserve dishonourable mention. The most…

"White men are saving brown women from brown men." Gayatri Spivak suggests that this phrase is for her as fundamental for an investigation of colonial dynamics as Freud's formulation "a child is being beaten" was for his inquiry into sexuality. Through a deconstructive interrogation of elementary Hawaiian history textbooks, Hawaiian studies…

The capsule histories of physics that students learn in their physics courses stem basically, I believe, from a linear view of history--that physicists in making fundamental discoveries follow a Royal Road to them, as Hermann von Helmholtz put it in 1892. The actual routes they follow, however, are generally nonlinear, and when historians display…

We find infinite series in calculus to be one of the most confusing topics our students encounter. In this note, we look at some issues that our students find difficult or ambiguous involving the Ratio Test, the Root Test, and also the Alternating Series Test. We offer some suggestions and some examples, which could be a supplement to the set of…

People frequently underestimate how long it will take them to complete a task. The prevailing view is that during the prediction process, people incorrectly use their memories of how long similar tasks have taken in the past because they take an overly optimistic outlook. A variety of evidence is reviewed in this article that points to a…

For students to develop meaningful conceptions of fractions and fraction operations, they need to think of fractions in terms other than as just whole-number combinations. In this article, we suggest two powerful images for thinking about fractions that move beyond whole-number reasoning. (Contains 5 figures.)

Several companies are marketing maintenance equipment to education institutions on a "quiet platform," citing benefits such as a safer, more pleasant indoor environment and unobtrusive operations during day cleaning or operating hours. This is basically "sound advice" (no one likes noisy equipment), but some of the messages can be confusing and…

Paul Stapleton's (2006) critique of quantitative research brings to the surface some common interpretive problems arising when experimental and quasi-experimental research designs are compared. While Stapleton may be correct in pointing out the superiority of experimental research designs because they best eliminate the influence of extraneous…

Conducting research in the home setting with homebound older adults presents distinct ethical and practical challenges that require special consideration. This article describes the methodological issues that make studying homebound older adults especially vulnerable to therapeutic misconception and researcher role conflict and offers practical…

In spite of its prevalence and importance, questioning in education has been underestimated and misconceptualized. The major reason for this has been that most studies on questioning have been heavily dependent on the paradigm of positivism. The present study critiques the limitations of those studies on four specific issues: 1) the narrow…

A discovery-based experiment is developed depending on a "false assumption" that the students mistakenly assume they know the structure of a reaction product and are forced to reconcile observations that are inconsistent with this assumption. This experiment involves the chemistry of azulenes, an interesting class of intensely colored aromatic…

Virtual schooling, or the practice of offering K-12 courses via distance technologies, has rapidly increased in popularity since its beginning in 1994. Although effective interaction with and support for students in these environments requires a unique set of skills and experiences, teacher education programs rarely include teaching and…

Worldwide teachers are faced with the task of continuously facilitating and implementing educational reform that has been designed without their participation. This exclusion of the key agents, who must mediate between the change agenda and actual change in the classroom, from the planning and decision-making processes, is detrimental to…

This study investigated the effect of concept mapping over traditional instruction on students' understanding and retention of heat and temperature concepts. The sample of this study consisted of 5th grade students from two classes of a elementary school (n=75). One intact class was randomly assigned to the comparison group whereas the other one…

Reduced HIV risk behavior and increased use of care and support services have been demonstrated among adults accessing HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). The impact of VCT on adolescents is, however, not known. Focus group discussions were held with adolescents and parents in two South African townships to establish the perceptions of and…