The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is defined as an overarching concept that integrates the main tenets of Vygotsky's theory of human development. The conceptualization of the ZPD begins with its social, cultural, and historical context and traces its development as a spatial and temporal metaphor that reflects the sociogenetic root of all…

This article explores Complexity Theory and applications of nonlinear dynamics in physical education (PE). The authors of this article discuss Complexity Theory and its applications to students and student learning. Additionally, there will be discussion of how the networking learning process associated with socio-coordinated mimicry creates a…

This paper will examine the eight principles of Connectivism Learning Theory and provide examples of how institutions of learning--K-12 and higher education--may think about applying them. Engaging in such work will allow institutions to take advantage of technological platforms as they exist today and into the future. While the Internet has…

Professional and vocational learning requires the sharing of expertise across physical, social and cultural boundaries in developing and delivering programmes of study. Contemporary understandings of workplace learning emphasise the criticality of contextualised learning which considers how learners and workplace environments are reciprocally…

This paper explores the constructive links between cooperation, rivalry, and learning within the structure of team communities. Drawing upon social learning theory and qualitative data from case studies conducted in Danish team-based firms, the main purpose is to argue that both cooperation and rivalry are important triggers for mobilizing…

The Race to the Top (RTTT) Assessment Program has funded two state consortia to develop new assessment systems that measure student skills against a common set of college- and career-ready standards in mathematics and English language arts (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). The initial RTTT invitation to submit proposals prompted extensive…

Purpose: The aim of this article is to examine whether the boundary between the separate worlds of evaluation and frontline work in a hospital can be overcome. The study provides an example of a rare, innovative creation process of an assessment tool in which the tool users and the tool producer participated. The article aims to widen the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse and describe the learning that takes place in the interaction between academics from different disciplines and perspectives in collaboration with practitioners. Design/methodology/approach: The research draws on theories of learning that view it in relation to context, where the most significant…

Learning is a changing phenomenon, depending on the advances in theory and research. This book presents a relatively new approach to learning, based on meaningful human activities in cultural practices and in collaboration with others. It draws extensively from the ideas of Lev Vygotsky and his recent followers. The book presents ideas that…

Chormmunity is a group's collaborative, embodied text-making. It explores interfacings of intention, metaphor, empowerment, inspiration, vision, negotiation, collusion, the propositional, the practical, the experiential, the presentational, the tacit, the sociological, the psychological, epistemology, methodology, and ontology. Chormmunity is…

This paper stems from the ESRC TLRP Learning How to Learn--in Classrooms, Schools and Networks Project, and explores how Assessment for Learning (AfL) relates, conceptually, to learning how to learn (LHTL). The term LHTL was intended to draw attention to a primary focus on learning practices, and we have related the processes of AfL to LHTL. A…

Education researchers and classroom teachers have argued that the constant pressure to measure and rank students makes it difficult to shape assessment as an episode of learning. Yet we know little about how learning moves in and through assessment of any kind. Building on two national multisited studies, the research reported here uses…

Information and communications technology (ICT) brings many potential benefits to technology education, though the evidence of improved performance on traditional tasks is not yet proven. Areas such as computer-aided design and manufacture are now becoming standard elements of any student's technology education. These applications of ICT require…

This paper outlines 22 principles of practice that serve as criteria by which to judge the developmental appropriateness of an early childhood curriculum. The principles lead to the assertion that young children as learners are greatly supported when a "project approach" is used--e.g., when their early childhood education experience…

In inclusive education different pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and high ability pupils, can be stimulated to learn according to their capacities and potentials. The research question concentrates on the design features of inclusive education that will optimally promote the motivation and learning processes and outcomes of…