Researchers and evaluators increasingly use focus groups as a culturally responsive (CR) method to facilitate empowerment -- especially among vulnerable groups. Yet, the expansion of this practice muddles the concept of empowerment and purposes for using focus groups for empowerment. Of particular need is a clear differentiation of the purposes…

The colliding epidemics of non-communicable diseases including diabetes with chronic infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa requires contextualized innovative disease management strategies. This qualitative study conducted in a peri-urban township near Cape Town, South Africa aimed to identify and gain in-depth understanding of contextual and…

This paper describes teacher educators' understanding of language for classroom communication in higher education. We argue that teacher educators who are aware of their personal practical knowledge of language have a better understanding of their students' language use and provide better support for knowledge construction. Personal practical…

The discussion on how to integrate African indigenous knowledge (IK) into mainstream Science and Technology schooling prevails. Nigeria's colonised school curriculum is antithetical to its rich IK heritage. Guided by postcolonial theory, and the need for a culturally relevant and decolonised curriculum, this paper sought to explore seven basic 7-9…

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the perceptions and competences of prospective science teachers about formative assessment approaches. Qualitative case study methodology was used in the study. Research group consisted of 17 senior students of science education. As a data collection tool, a semi-structured "Formative Assessment…

The concept of peace can be described as the values including respecting features such as race, gender, religion, physical appearance, and age; appreciating diversities, unity, cooperation, tolerance and being fair. Related to this, the concept of peace education can be defined as an educational process during which peaceful problem-solving…

To better prepare physical education (PE) teachers, this study explored a group of pre-service teachers' understanding, application, and development of critical thinking (CT) in a capstone methods course. Participants were 12 pre-service teachers from a PE teacher education (PETE) program at a large university in the southwestern United States.…

Extant literature attests to limited systematic inquiry into students' perceptions of good teaching in higher education. Consequently, there have been calls for engaging students in construing what makes good university teaching. This interpretivist study investigated final-year undergraduate students' perceptions of good teaching at Makerere…

Basic knowledge of human reproduction can help youth prepare for puberty and make later classes focused on advanced reproductive health topics manageable. With the intention of potentially informing the creation of learning materials, we conducted a needs assessment among children ages 7 to 12 in our suburban Chicago community to ascertain their…

Purpose: Organizational silos that build on the existing organizational structures are often considered to have negative effects in the form of focus on private narrow objectives and organizational fragmentation. To avoid such harmful outcomes, competence management is called for, and in this, the human resources (HR) function takes a key role.…

Our paper deals with intergenerational informal learning developed by participatory democracy process in the Self-organized District Communities (SDC) in Maribor, the second largest city in Slovenia. It is based on the assumption that SDC assemblies, being safe and trustworthy, are very powerful spaces for behavioural and values exchange between…

Adoption of science content standards that include anthropogenic climate change has prompted widespread instruction in climate change for the first time. However, the controversial nature of the topic can be daunting and many teachers share misconceptions that lead to weak treatment of climate change in classrooms. Nevertheless, numerous teachers…

This paper focuses on the findings of an exploratory, qualitative phenomenological study and investigates opinions and evaluations of faculty members about trolls encountered in social media and mass medium. The research was carried out in Anadolu University in Turkey. A total of 18 faculty members from 9 faculties in 12 different departments…

The following article presents a small-scale qualitative study in which the student learning experiences from service user and carer (SUAC) involvement in social work, mental health nursing and social welfare courses at an English university were evaluated for any effects on student perceptions, knowledge, skills and practice. Using focus group…

We explored rural older adults perceptions of health to inform health promotion program development, using social marketing as our framework. Participants in seven focus groups viewed independence and holistic health as indicators of health and identified healthful eating and physical activity as actions to promote health. Barriers to these…