This paper reports on a professional development activity (PD) for course leaders, which was designed within the European project Primas (2010-13, www.primas-project.eu). Primas aimed at the implementation of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in day-to-day teaching on a large scale. The focus is on the education of mathematics course leaders in…

Practical work is an essential component of science education. However, insufficient approaches towards practical work can limit the potential it has for promoting both students' motivation and situational interest. One suggestion to solve this problem is to use alternative forms of lab instruction which are both motivating and easy to comprehend.…

Bernstein describes a curriculum context as a system context that is regulated by strong and weak framing, which refers to the "degree of control teachers and pupils possess over the selection, organisation, pacing and timing of the knowledge transmitted and received in the pedagogical relationship" (1975, p. 89). In this article, we…

Students participate during service learning courses in a service project, which fits to a community need and has a link to curricular content. Students have a chance while engaged in the service project to apply curricular content in community practice, where they gain insights into civic engagement activities. Empirical studies revealed the…

This investigation contributes to understanding how teachers reflect on the other with a disability and on their own practices. Literature suggests that inclusion takes place when barriers are removed, allowing participation. However, scholars agree that teachers still struggle with pedagogical practices in inclusive classrooms. Hansen (Hansen,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to link two modes of governance (transactional and transformational) to organizational learning by examining the example of academic teaching. Consequently, the "transformational" strategies of best practices that have been used by German universities to achieve teaching excellence are interpreted as…

In order to reflect international reform movements in a system- and culture-comparative perspective, the following article investigates the early childhood education systems in Germany and in Hong Kong, with reference to the respective social and educational roots, pedagogical development lines, and basic educational approaches. In addition,…

Learning about scientific inquiry (SI) is an important aspect of scientific literacy and there is a solid international consensus of what should be learned about it. Learning about SI comprises both the doing of science (process) and knowledge about the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI). German reform documents promote inquiry generally but do…

Research on teachers' emotion display and the quality of the teacher-student relationship in higher education is increasingly significant in the context of rapidly developing internationalization in higher education, with scholars (and students) moving across countries for research and teaching. However, there is little theoretically grounded…

In this paper we consider the question of how quality assurance can have a real, positive impact on the quality of teaching and learning at universities, considering the realities of different systems--the system of control and the system of quality culture--in using the example of two universities: the KNITU-KAI in Russia and the TU Dresden in…

This study investigated Hong Kong and German children's perceptions of play and learning and their relationships. Forty-eight children (24 German and 24 Chinese) playing and learning in the classroom were observed and videotaped for five consecutive days. They were interviewed 3 times about their kindergarten experiences by using free- and…

It is widely assumed that the British are poorer modern foreign language (MFL) learners than their fellow Europeans. Motivation has often been seen as the main cause of this perceived disparity in language learning success. However, there have also been suggestions that curricular and pedagogical factors may play a part. This article reports a…

The European Language Portfolio (ELP) is an alternative assessment used in foreign language classes throughout Europe to support and record language learning. Directly linked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001) proficiency guidelines, it is designed to achieve an ambitious dual goal: document…

Increasing internationalization of higher education raises the question of how well institutions prepare their students to integrate into and benefit from cultural diversity on any university campus. The aim of this study was to assess an intercultural peer-to-peer training at Jacobs University Bremen, Germany, that aims to facilitate the…

In workplaces, innovative products and processes are required to address emerging problems and challenges. Therefore, understanding of employees' innovative work behaviour, including the generation, promotion, and realisation of ideas as components of this behaviour is important. In particular, what fosters innovation development and what triggers…