Scientific literacy not only involves scientific content relative to each branch of science, as a scientifically literate person is also aware of what science is, as well as how it operates in a broader and complex sense. Therefore, in order to develop and implement successful methodologies in the classroom aiming to improve students' scientific…

The present work provides a review of two widely used approaches in educational research: action research and case study. Action research aims to improve educational practice by means of reflective cycles and shows variants according to a predominant paradigm, from technical to critical visions. A case study, described as an umbrella term, focuses…

Disparate educational outcomes persist for culturally and linguistically diverse learners despite numerous efforts to encourage pre-service and in-service teachers to adopt culturally relevant education. The operationalization of culturally relevant education, however, remains relatively unexplored as an explanation for teacher resistance.…

In this article, the notion of potential as discussed within creativity research is examined. It is noted that there are multiple, sometimes competing, understandings of potential within the literature with the biggest gaps existing between individual perspectives, on the one hand, and sociocultural perspectives on the other. Affirming that a…

As researchers, teachers, and practitioners we often encounter young professionals and lay adults who do not understand basics of mammalian body temperature regulation. Often their single solid piece of knowledge is that some vertebrates (mammals and birds) are warm-blooded and some (fish, amphibians, and reptile) are cold-blooded, which is…

Recent worldwide epidemiological surveys of autism conducted in 37 countries are reviewed; the median prevalence of autism is 0.97% in 26 high-income countries. Methodological advances and remaining challenges in designing and executing surveys are discussed, including the effects on prevalence of variable case definitions and nosography, of…

Michael Young has written extensively about "powerful knowledge" as the type of knowledge that should be central in education: knowledge that is -- among many other things -- reliable and potentially testable, that helps us understand the natural and social world, and offers us a language to engage meaningfully in moral and political…

This report examines whether a distinction can be made in Australian VET between initial vocational education and training (IVET) and continuing vocational education and training (CVET), as applies in a number of other countries. Assisting students to more effectively identify and undertake courses that will optimise their outcomes from VET is the…

Recently, a debate has arisen around what can be called the "indistinguishability thesis," that is, the claim that it is impossible to distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research. In contrast, this article argues that the inability to define simple, sharp boundaries around qualitative and quantitative research does not…

Some children experience more difficulty than others becoming literate, often at great emotional, intellectual, social, and economic cost to themselves, but also to those who love and care for them, and for society at large. The causes of those difficulties and what to do about them have been the source of much research and sometimes heated…

This is the first in a series of briefs the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) will release on long-term English learners (LTELs). The full study will examine LTELs in Texas, with particular focus on 10 Houston-area public school districts. Currently, there is no formal definition of LTEL in Texas. The purpose of this brief was to…

McGrath presents a prototyping proposal to better classify character education programs. He proposes 7 key elements that can facilitate identifying more and less typical programs. This proposal appears to be a very good start for improving the organization of the character education field and facilitating research. This commentary highlights 4…

Robert McGrath (this issue) has proposed a useful way of bringing the field closer to a consensual definition of character education. We support much of his proposal. Like McGrath, we believe the goal of character education should be to increase the expression of qualities that benefit one's self and others. We also agree that character education…

The major aim of the current paper is to review and discuss three prevailing approaches to the study of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) since the middle of the twentieth century: Contrastive Analysis (CA, henceforth), Error Analysis (EA) and Interlanguage (IL). It begins with a general overview of how the CA approach was formulated and developed…

This chapter examines how studies focused on the same topic--disproportionality in special education--can generate vastly different conclusions about its sources and causes. By analyzing existing disagreements in the field, we explore essential questions about what constitutes high-quality and relevant evidence when seeking to understand how,…