When families consider investing in their children's education they must weigh the perceived costs against the potential benefits, which becomes increasingly difficult as the cost of higher education continues to rise. Using a family systems approach, this phenomenological study explored the central research question, "How do families…

School inspections have become an important instrument of quality assurance and quality development in many European countries. So far, the focus of empirical research on school inspections has been on the acceptance of the procedure among the school-internal actors, its influence for internal quality development and its effects on student…

This article discusses some of the challenges departments face as they embark on curriculum development. The interpersonal dynamics of a department are often the first and most difficult obstacle to overcome but are often overlooked. The author suggests some strategies for how to address these issues as they arise.

This research examined the decisions that highly experienced outdoor leaders made on backpacking expeditions conducted by a tertiary institution in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. The purpose of the research was to document decision problems and explore them as Recognition-Primed Decisions (RPD) within naturalistic decision making (NDM)…

A problem-based learning (PBL) assumption is that silence is incompatible with collaborative learning. Although sociocultural studies have reinterpreted silence as collaborative, we must understand how silence occurs in PBL groups. This essay presents students' explanations of dominance, leadership, and silence as PBL group roles. An ethnographic…

The use of data for educational decision making has never been more prevalent. However, teachers and school leaders need support in data use. Support can be provided by means of professional development in the form of "data teams". This study followed the functioning of 4 data teams over a period of 2 years, applying a qualitative case…

This article reports the findings of a research study exploring what motivates governing bodies to consider joining or creating a federation, their experiences of the process and the barriers faced. The research methodology involved semi-structured telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews and analysis of relevant documentation. The varied…

Since the 1990s, federal programs for workforce training have aimed to transform the role of community colleges from narrow contract training to a broader role that encompasses strategic instructional program planning and innovation to support lifelong learning for a changing workforce and economic development (Jacobs & Teahen, 1996). Yet, to…

As community gardens expand across the U.S., Extension professionals can support them not only in horticultural education but also in planning and organization. Knowledge of community garden management is helpful in this regard. Existing research focuses on outcomes and criteria for successful gardens, but is less clear about how community gardens…

This paper reports on an attempt to help 12-year-old students develop a specific optimization strategy for selecting among possible solutions in socioscientific decision-making situations. We have developed teaching and learning materials for elaborating this strategy, and we have implemented them in two intact classes (N = 48). Prior to and after…

This article reports the results of a one-year longitudinal study examining a teaching intervention designed to enhance students' learning of critical thinking in Hong Kong. Seventy participating students (age 16-18) learned how to make reasoned arguments through a series of collaborative activities, including critical-thinking modelling tasks and…

Background: Data-based decision making can lead to increased student achievement; however, schools struggle with the implementation of data-based decision making. Professional development in the use of data is therefore urgently needed. However, professional development is often ineffective in terms of improving the knowledge, skills, and attitude…

The purpose of this study was to use a systems approach to examine informal communications, meaning those occurring outside of scheduled meetings, among stakeholders in a preschool early intervention program. This investigation expands the discussion of how occupational therapy treatment decisions are made in educational settings by using a…

The purpose of this study was to study Organizational Behavior of Colleges of Education of Maharashtra state in India. Organizational behavior was studied at three process level i.e. individual process level, team process level and organizational process level. The differences were found out if any, in the Organizational Behavior, in between the…

Because the volcanic ash that affected air travel in Western Europe in 2010 was considered as one of the most meaningful learning experiences by a group of MBA students, this article aims to outline the main aspects of an incidental learning situation, rarely described on management education literature. Incidental learning is an unsystematic…