For the past five summers, the authors have taught summer school to recent immigrants and refugees. Their experiences with these fourth-grade English language learners (ELL) have taught them the value of using models to build scientific and mathematical concepts. In this article, they describe the use of different forms of 2- and 3-D models to…

Set in the context of a teacher education program, this study examined how three White pre-service teachers participate in book club discussions of children's literature. We asked: When White pre-service teachers are in a context that enables talk about race, racism and anti-racism, what do they talk about? What conceptual and discursive tools do…

How students understand, feel about and respond to assessment might contribute significantly to learning behaviour and academic achievement. This paper reviews studies that have used a relatively new self-reported survey questionnaire ("Students' Conceptions of Assessment"--SCoA) about student perceptions and understandings of…

Much is known about high school students' attitudes towards science but there is almost no research on what passion for science might look like and how it might be manifested. This exploratory case study took advantage of a unique group of highly gifted science students participating in the Australian Science Olympiad (N = 69) to explore their…

Assessment is both essential and a potentially powerful positive force. Music teachers need to provide assessment evidence to survive in today's data-driven school environment. However, the more important reasons they must assess are to improve their professional effectiveness as teachers, to improve student learning, and to help them advocate for…

Mobile technology is a favorite discussion topic among senior IT leaders and higher education administrators. Mobile is the future for content delivery. Colleges and universities need to establish a strategy now and make the decisions necessary to take advantage of this communication opportunity. In this article, the author recommends making…

Health and physical education teacher education (HPETE) in New Zealand has been subjected to numerous external influences and change elements in recent years. This article reflects on the impact of these influences on HPETE in our higher education institutions since the introduction of a new curriculum framework in 1993. The 1993 curriculum…

Immigrant college student populations continue to grow, but the complexity of their unique needs and issues remain relatively unknown. To gain a better understanding of the multiple contextual factors impacting immigrant students from a systems-based approach, I applied Bronfenbrenner's (1977) human ecology framework to the study. Students…

Objective: The study evaluated the effectiveness of an online first aid course by comparing it with the traditional instructor-led course. An effective online course increases course accessibility and mitigates the major deterrent to widespread layperson training. Design: A comparison group design evaluated performances among 25 laypersons…

This research explored the measurement characteristics of two science examinations and the potential to use access arrangements data to investigate how students requiring reading support are affected by features of exam questions. For two science examinations, traditional and Rasch analyses provided estimates of difficulty and information on item…

As part of the International Successful School Leadership Project, an updated model of successful school leadership based on Australian case studies is described. This model attempts to capture the relationship between the characteristics of the school leader (who they are), the interventions they initiate (what they do), and the way they respond…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a user interface for web lectures for engaging with other users while working with video based learning content. The application allows its users to ask questions about the content and to get answers from those users that currently online are more familiar with it. The filtering is based on the…

Purpose: In the authors' experience, the biggest issue with pose-based exergames is the difficulty in effectively communicating a three-dimensional pose to a user to facilitate a thorough understanding for accurate pose replication. The purpose of this paper is to examine options for pose presentation. Design/methodology/approach: The authors…

Theories of the "knowledge economy" view knowledge, and particularly new knowledge, as a critical resource to enhance a nation's economic growth. Governments around the world have invested in doctoral education expansion. Reforms in doctoral education are being shaped by the changing needs of society, of research modes, and of a changed…

Learning context has increasingly been postulated to exert an influence on the dynamics of individual differences in language learning. In a longitudinal design that tested the proficiency gains of 1,682 learners over a 2-year foreign language program, a multilevel modeling approach was deployed in this study to account for variation in second…