Research globally has shown that many children lose interest in science towards the end of primary school and throughout the post-primary phase. This article explores children's experience and views in Irish schools that have adopted innovative practices that aim to empower, excite and inspire children in science. One of these focuses on explicit…

Teaching about the many controversial issues found in social studies is not easy. Teachers often shy away from such topics, especially in classrooms where students may be socially challenged and unaware of the vocabulary and social norms of civil discourse. This article explores how the narrative strategy Storypath can be used as a vehicle for…

The past few years has seen the rapid growth of data mining approaches for the analysis of data obtained from Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The objectives of this study are to develop approaches to predict the scores a student may achieve on a given grade-related assessment based on information, considered as prior performance or prior…

This articles describes the learning process of infants and toddlers and provides tips that parents and caregivers can use to promote the development of rich language skills, as well as an abiding passion for learning. From the earliest days, talking with babies encourages their knowledge of words. Singing and reading books increases their…

This chapter contributes to a growing body of knowledge about the experience of academic and teaching staff during transition from traditional to Next Generation Learning Spaces (NGLS), providing a description of the process undertaken in one university, the outcomes achieved, and the lessons learnt. [For the complete volume, "The Future of…

As a result of the modern pervasiveness of smartphones and other mobile technologies, students and teachers increasingly communicate by computer technologies. They communicate through online conferencing systems, interact via social networking sites, and meet in virtual learning spaces in addition to gathering together in classrooms, laboratories,…

Far from following a linear process from its conception to its implementation, an educational design often involves discrepancies between what its promoters intended and what the participants actually do. In this paper, drawing from a sociocultural perspective to learning, we focus our attention precisely on some of the discrepancies observed…

The realities of the 21st-century learner require that schools and educators fundamentally change their practice. "Educators must produce college- and career-ready graduates that reflect the future these students will face. And, they must facilitate learning through means that align with the defining attributes of this generation of…

This article describes a professional learning plan created in the Fort Wayne Community Schools (Indiana, USA) for principals working and learning together on the RISE Indiana Teacher Effectiveness Rubric. This training plan ensures that principals are observing instructional practice in the same way and in agreement with the district's instrument…

Years after the publication of its seventh and final volume in 2007 and the completion of the film series in 2011, the "Harry Potter" series is still studied and cited by professionals in fields ranging from science and economics to law and theology (for recent examples see Gierzynski and Eddy; Reagin; Bassham). Its continuing popularity…

The article "Personal Coaching: A Model for Effective Learning" (Griffiths, 2006) appeared in the "Journal of Learning Design" Volume 1, Issue 2 in 2006. Almost ten years on, Kerryn Griffiths reflects upon her original article. Specifically, Griffiths looks back at the combined coaching-learning model she suggested in her…

Student engagement is highly visible in higher education research about learning and teaching, but lacks a single meaning. It can be conceived narrowly as a set of student and institutional behaviours in a classroom or holistically and critically as a social-cultural ecosystem in which engagement is the glue linking classroom, personal background…

This article is an account of how the author developed a comprehensive understanding of human learning over a period of almost 50 years. The learning theory includes the structure of learning, different types of learning, barriers of learning as well as how individual dispositions, age, the learning environment and general social and societal…

Threshold concepts, student learning and curriculum are constructs within a learning and teaching discourse foregrounded by Meyer and Land. In this paper, we introduce a conceptual model that integrates these three constructs and identifies desired outcomes at the intersects: namely the processes of (1) ways of thinking and practising, (2)…

Designing an assessment system for complex thinking in mathematics involves decisions at every stage, from how to represent the target competencies to how to interpret evidence from student performances. Beyond learning to solve particular problems in a particular area, learning mathematics with understanding involves comprehending connections…