One major responsibility of K-12 teachers in United States public schools is to meet the needs of disabled students. While many preservice and in-service teacher training programs present educators with information related to service delivery as outlined in a student's Individualized Education Program or 504 plan, they rarely address how to talk…

This review uses research literature to outline the characteristics, benefits and disadvantages of formal, non-formal, and informal learning. There appears to be a consensus around the meanings of formal and informal learning. Formal learning broadly aligns with organised, institutionalised learning models (such as learning seen in schools),…

In 2011, member states of the Innovation Lab Network (ILN or Network), facilitated by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), agreed to work together under the shared belief that their states face a great opportunity to transform their education systems to new designs that prepare all students for postsecondary learning, work, and…

This study traces the development of a vocabulary measure designed to assess multiple types of word knowledge. The assessment, which was administered in conjunction with a science unit about weather and the water cycle for third-and-fourth graders, included items for six knowledge types--recognition, definition, classification/example, context,…

In order to improve instruction in introductory astronomy, we are investigating students' preinstructional ideas about a number of cosmology topics. This article describes one aspect of this large research study in which 1270 students responded to a subset of three questions each from a larger set of questions about the following areas: definition…

Concepts of genetics are often difficult to teach, specifically the central concept of gene. Even the scientists disagree when defining this concept. This paper investigates university students' understanding about the gene and its functions. The results show the dominance of two conceptions of the gene: the Neoclassical model and the Mendelian…

Going green? For many, this phrase has a definitive ending, such as an "!" or a strong "." For the authors, the journey began with the questions: (1) What should students be "learning" about sustainability?; and (2) How do we know that they "are" learning? Their journey to understand the relationship between student learning and sustainability…

In this article, the author proposes a dynamic, interdisciplinary, network conception of expertise that differs from conventional static, linear conceptions. Using a range of graphic images, the author propose specific visualizations of this network conception of expertise. First, he discusses attempts to pin expertise down in a definition. Then…

This paper examines the notion of "competence" in the VET systems of France and England. While both countries have developed "competence-based" approaches, underlying the similar terminology are distinct meanings, rooted in the countries' institutional structures and labour processes. A key distinction is identified between a…

Provides a conceptual framework for considering the distinction between evaluation use and evaluation influence and the relationship between evaluation use and knowledge use. Clarifies and expands some of the established definitions of concepts related to evaluation use. (SLD)

We propose an integration of aspects of several developmental and systems of beliefs models of personal epistemology. Qualitatively different positions, including realism, dogmatism, skepticism, and rationalism, are characterized according to individuals' beliefs across three dimensions in a model of epistemic and ontological cognition. This model…

Educational research is distinctive inasmuch as it shares the moral objective of education, which is to help people make the best of themselves through processes of learning. Educational research is a service industry for education. As such, its contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of educational processes can be increased by focusing…

In Australia and elsewhere, four approaches have been used to determine whether stocks of vocational education and training (VET) skills are adequate to meet industry needs. The four methods are as follows: (1) the manpower requirements approach; (2) the international, national, and industry comparisons approach; (3) the labor market analysis…