In this theoretical paper, I examine the role and potential alterations to uses of social categories in qualitative research. Categories are socially constructed, imbued with power, and include race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. These categories, although constructs and subject to change, hold durability and are leveraged in much of…

Research into the construct of science teacher identity has gained momentum over the past decade in an effort to achieve a more comprehensive, holistic understanding of teacher learning and development. As yet few studies have examined the unique identity challenges of science teacher career changers. A dialogical approach to the conceptualization…

This qualitative case study responds to calls for research on the ways critical reflection develops in preservice and novice teachers. While evaluating capacity to reflect is a dominant practice in teacher education, few studies explore empirically how different factors impact teachers' reflection. Building from earlier research that…

This paper uses data from 4745 first-year accountancy students of a large South African university, for a 7-year period (2011-2017), to understand how certain skills endowments and individual attributes have changed in their contributions to student's performance over time. To do so, the variance associated with an external shock to the learning…

Background: Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience greater sleep problems than their peers. Although adolescence is generally a developmental period characterized by insufficient sleep, few studies have used a multi-informant, multi-method design, to examine whether sleep differs in adolescents with and without…

This study adopted a longitudinal retrospective case study approach to investigate Chinese business students' transitional learning experience in a problem-based learning (PBL) course with innovative assessment practices. The study focused on students' beliefs and strategy use in a constructively aligned PBL course for business communication.…

The article reports the results of a longitudinal research study conducted in three mathematics classes in Czech schools with 62 pupils aged 12-18 years. The pupils were exposed to the use of selected heuristic strategies in mathematical problem solving for a period of 16 months. This was done through solving problems where the solution was the…

This study considers the specificity of 3,136 Korean students' occupational preferences during secondary school and examines whether the types of high school are related to the crystallization in occupational preferences by applying binary growth models. Based on Super's developmental stage, this study shows that students largely formulate solid…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to systematically document, scrutinise and critically analyse the current research literature on higher education choice to: establish the scope of the studies; map the factors associated with choice; identify the key strengths and weaknesses in the research literature; critically analyse the extant research…

The movement towards "openness" in education has tended to position itself as inherently democratising, radical, egalitarian and critical of powerful gatekeepers to learning. While "openness" is often positioned as a critique, I will argue that its mainstream discourses--while appearing to oppose large-scale operations of…

This dissertation examines the gap in college enrollment between Asian Americans and Latino Americans regarding the effects of family and school factors, classifying them into the six ethnic/generational status groups (Asian American first generation, Asian American second generation, Asian American third generation and plus, Latino American first…

Beliefs influence how learners construe what they experience in the classroom and their learning behaviour. Understanding the nature of such beliefs is therefore important if teaching is to be as effective and responsive as possible. This paper reports the representations of young learners' beliefs about foreign language learning as identified…

This article draws on a longitudinal and qualitative study of students in a master's program in engineering. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze annual, semi-structured interviews with ten students, from the first semester until one year after graduation. The program enjoys a high status and has a reputation of being…

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in language learners' beliefs in second language acquisition (SLA). Nonetheless, few studies to date have investigated the extent to which learners' beliefs develop, and the factors that contribute to this development have not been examined seriously. Employing a naturalistic inquiry, this…

This research seeks to examine the characteristics and goals of students enrolled in gerontology doctoral education. The authors seek to identify the unique characteristics of scholars enrolled in the interdisciplinary study of aging and elicit discussion on the ways in which these scholars will contribute to the growth and development of the…