This article presents an empirical example of what a process of mobilisation and disciplination could mean in practice. The example is taken from a "validation" initiative (recognition of prior learning) among a small group of unemployed people in Sweden. An ethnographic approach means that data were collected, mainly through…

The World Wide Web (Web), the largest multimedia system in existence, has been heralded by many as the perfect tool for lifelong learning. One topic mentioned in this regard is science, since many adults have little prior knowledge about it and the field is constantly changing. Yet little empirical research has been done to examine how web…

This paper describes a study designed to test whether situated conceptions of learning can be measured using questionnaires, and the relations between these aspects of students' awareness, their awareness of other environmental variables, and their learning outcomes. A situated conception of learning is one that is evoked and adopted by students…

As environmental changes become a significant societal issue, elementary science curricula need to develop students' understanding about the key concepts of energy and climate change. For teachers, developing quality learning experiences involves establishing what their students' prior understanding about energy and climate change are. A survey…

People learn in many different ways and in many different places. What is learned informally or experientially is often the same or similar to what may be learned in traditional formal learning environments. There are many reasons why recognizing experiential learning is viable educational option, more so in today's economy than ever before. Prior…

This article articulates a framework for examining the quality of formative assessment practice and provides empirical evidence in support of one of its components. Based on a study of middle school science, the study examines the accuracy of teachers' judgments of students' understanding and the relationship of such accuracy to middle school …

Special Education (SPED) in Scotland was a six-week study abroad program where pre-service special education teachers lived with host families and observed in Scottish schools in the area of special education. The program included coursework in the area of Emotional Behavioral Disabilities and traveling. This study sought to determine the impact…

In San Diego, California, 800 public school students from the inner city are attending a program called School in the Park (SITP), for approximately one-fourth of their 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-grade education. This unique program blends rigorous academic standards (formal learning) with hands-on, experiential curricula (informal learning), using…

Since 1989, the Mathematics Education Project (PmatE--Projecto Matematica Ensino) has developed several strategies to improve the success of students in Mathematics. The most important of these are mathematical games for all grades above primary school. The online evaluation of Mathematics subjects is one of PmatE's goals. The implementation of an…

Distance education as a stand-alone approach has grown tremendously in the past 10 years. The other form of distance education, often called hybrid, supplements traditional classroom instruction with online resources. The instructors deliver classroom lectures, but homework, assignments, and supplemental material may be retrieved online.…

The term "culture" has been in common use for a long time. However there is no universally accepted definition and hence it is important to define clearly what culture means in a particular research context. The research reported here is part of a project undertaken at a large Australian university in late 2005. The overall aim of the…

This study analyzed gender differences in achievement emotions in the domain of mathematics. Based on Pekrun's (2000, 2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions, we hypothesized that there are gender differences in mathematics emotions due to the students' different levels of control and value beliefs in mathematics, even when controlling…

Prior research on oppositional culture theory has generally focused on beliefs about the opportunity structure, or the "acting white" hypothesis, as an explanation for racial differences in school achievement. However, little attention has been given to the mechanism by which these beliefs affect achievement: schooling behaviors. The authors posit…

The term scientific literacy is defined differently in different contexts. The term literacy simply refers to the ability for one to read and write, but recent studies in language literacy have extended this definition. New literacy research seeks a redefinition in terms of how skills are used rather than how they are learned. Contemporary…

Learning is an active process, and, as such, interactive lectures are considered as the educational best practice. This study investigated the efficacy of interactive lecturing in a module of eight respiratory physiology lectures in a second-year Physiology course with two distinct subcohorts: students with strong science backgrounds and those…