Globalization has become one of the most recurrent concepts in social and political sciences. More often than not, however, the concept is handled without much of a properly articulated theory capable of explaining its historical origin and expansion. For education researchers attempting to elucidate how global changes and processes affect their…

This account of practice follows an action learning project that considered the contribution of the 'L = P + Q + R' formula to the teaching of thinking skills to 31 pre-service teachers in Turkey, including the risks in the process of AL. The participants were observed as exhibiting developments in learning (L) thinking skills through questioning…

As it has been realized that education is a key to a long-term economic growth and to reducing social and economic disadvantages, educational inequality and its reflections in the geography have become some of the major issues in many countries. Turkey is in many ways a good example to analyze the relations between class, education, and regional…

Loglinear smoothing (LLS) estimates the latent trait distribution while making fewer assumptions about its form and maintaining parsimony, thus leading to more precise item response theory (IRT) item parameter estimates than standard marginal maximum likelihood (MML). This article provides the expectation-maximization algorithm for MML estimation…

In this article, the author tells the story of her search for appropriate tools to conceptualise policy work. She had set out to explore the relationship between the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Australia's education policy, but early interview data…

The aim of this study was to improve the criterion-related test score interpretation of a text-based assessment of scientific reasoning competencies in higher education by evaluating factors which systematically affect item difficulty. To provide evidence about the specific demands which test items of various difficulty make on pre-service…

In this paper, I develop a critique of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)-based lifelong learning policy discourse with a particular focus on "key competencies" (KCs) and its equity implications for school curricular policies. First, I review the discussion of KCs in the writings by the OECD-affiliated…

Scientific literacy is now seen as an essential component of informed citizenship and a key curriculum goal in many parts of the world. The relevant literature is vast and replete with a variety of definitions, descriptions, prescriptions, slogans and theoretical perspectives. It addresses not only formal education but also fields as diverse as…

This volume includes four sections of the 2020 NORDSCI international conference proceedings: (1) Education and Educational Research; (2) Language and Linguistics; (3) Philosophy; and (4) Sociology and Healthcare. Education and Educational Research includes 15 papers covering the full spectrum of education, including history, sociology and economy…

The Bologna Process places special emphasis on the outcomes of higher education in terms of employability and key competencies. Taking Germany as an example, this article examines whether the introduction of a two-tier degree structure actually has led to an enhanced acquisition of key competencies. Based on constructivist learning theories, in…

Despite several decades of research into the teaching and learning of Science/Chemistry, at both secondary and tertiary level, it has had relatively little impact on practice. In many countries interest in studying Science at school and university is falling, and there is concern over falling numbers and falling standards. There is a changing…

The 7th International Conference on Education Data Mining held on July 4th-7th, 2014, at the Institute of Education, London, UK is the leading international forum for high-quality research that mines large data sets in order to answer educational research questions that shed light on the learning process. These data sets may come from the traces…

The first volume of the 29th annual conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education contains plenary lecture and research forum papers as listed below. Short oral communications papers, poster presentations, brief summaries of discussion groups, and working sessions are also included in the volume. The plenary…