Analyzing qualitative data from learning processes is considered "messy" and time consuming (Chi in J Learn Sci 6(3):271-315, 1997). It is often challenging to summarize and synthesize such data in a manner that conveys the richness and complexity of learning processes in a clear and concise manner. Moreover, qualitative data often…

The Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) is a qualitative method, based on the Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) theory, which provides a powerful tool to elicit tacit personal construction systems, with minimal intervention and interpretation. Although the contributory potential of the RGT as a cognitive research tool in science education has been…

This special issue includes 5 contributions of contemporary work based in the phenomenography and variation theory research tradition and also actualises theoretical and methodological discussions. This introduction consists of 3 main parts. First is a brief introduction to and framing for the contributions through pointing to some of the main…

This paper builds on the history of Esbrina, an established research group in Spain with almost 20 years' experience and a deeply-rooted tradition of self-reflection and learning. We start by analysing the academic and social contexts in which the group was created and recognised. We make explicit team members' backgrounds, dispositions and…

This paper introduces "Five-level QDA" (Qualitative Data Analysis) as a pedagogy for the teaching and learning of CAQDAS (Computer Assisted Qualitative Data AnalysiS) that spans methodologies, software packages and teaching modes. Based on the authors' personal trajectories of using, teaching and researching CAQDAS since the late-1990s,…

Study abroad programs offer a unique opportunity to evaluate pedagogic models. The role of studios in design and planning pedagogy has been examined. However, how the general framework of a studio supports other pedagogic models has not been widely discussed. This article assesses a series of urban planning and design studios conducted abroad to…

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how amateur choral singers experience collective group support as a method of learning "art music" choral work. Findings are derived from a grounded-theory based, socio-musical case study of an amateur "art music" Bach Choir, in the process of rehearsing and performing the Mass in B…

Learning involves more than just a small group of participants, which makes designing and managing collaborative learning processes in higher education a challenging task. As a result, emerging concerns in current research have pointed increasingly to teacher orchestrated learning processes in naturalistic learning settings. In line with this…

When children move from preschool to primary school in Germany, this involves a transition between two distinct systems with regard to political responsibility. Following Rimm-Kaufman and Pianta's (2000) ecological and dynamic model of transition, the research project focuses on the perspectives of parents and professionals on the learning…

The title of this new journal provides opportunity to review the many contexts which need to be taken into account in reflecting upon foreign language teaching. These contexts include the educational, the fact that much language teaching takes place within general educational and often compulsory educational settings and institutions. Learners…

Experiential learning pedagogy is taking a lead in the development of graduate attributes and educational aims as these are of prime importance for society. This paper shows a community service experiential project conducted in China. The project enabled students to serve the affected community in a post-earthquake area by applying their knowledge…

This article focuses on teachers' learning in a research and development (R&D) work project. The teachers are working in a lower secondary school, and the cooperation between them and the researcher lasted for two years. The aim of this article is to show what teachers can learn and how they can learn during such a project. In the qualitative…

This essay addresses the value of leveraging the unique learning, thinking, and knowledge students develop in home-community spaces for school curriculum. The author explores "everyday resistance" to highlight a particular set of enacted political actions and practices in which students, families, and communities participate to negotiate the…

This narrative chronicles my journey as a doctoral student in English Education as I navigated the decision as to which research methodologies I should align myself with during my doctoral studies. Gee's theory of discourses (2012) provides a framework in which to situate the identity work at play in deciding the kind of research methods one…

The article reports on the first phase of a large-scale qualitative research project that explored the perceptions of training practitioners on how they understood the process by which we carry our knowledge and skill across different contexts. Clearly, this is a process of transition, where it is the individual who moves across the contexts and…