Children develop and learn within dynamic contexts, yet the simplifying assumptions of common statistical methods often relegate such complexity to unexplained error. This chapter discusses ideas from the dynamic systems literature, which focuses on the interplay within and between components of complex systems, such as individuals and their…

James P. Lantolf is George and Jane Greer Professor Emeritus of Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics and former director of the Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Applied Linguistics in the same academic unit at Xi'an Jiaotong…

Bringing a complex systems perspective to bear on classroom-oriented research challenges researchers to think differently, seeing the classroom ecology as one dynamic system nested in a hierarchy of such systems at different levels of scale, all of which are spatially and temporally situated. This article begins with an introduction to complex…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) higher education is in need of improved teaching methods to increase learning for all students. Faculty professional development programs are a widespread strategy for fostering this improvement. Studies of faculty development programs have focused on program design and the impact of…

As our understanding of complex environmental issues increases, institutions of higher education are evolving to develop new learning models that emphasize synthesis across disciplines, concepts, data, and methodologies. To this end, we argue for the implementation of environmental science education at the intersection of systems theory and…

This exploratory study introduces the systemic approach and the explicit teaching of a meta-language to provide conceptual tools for students for the analysis and interpretation of multimodal texts. Equipping students with a set of specialised vocabulary with conventionalised meanings associated with specific choices in multimodal texts empowers…

Connectivism is receiving acknowledgement as a fresh way of conceptualising learning in the digital age. Thus, as a relatively new instructional framework, it is imperative that research on its applicability and effectiveness in a variety of educational contexts is advanced. In particular, a high premium should be placed on context-specific…

This article describes a departmental initiative designed to integrate the teaching of graduate and undergraduate sociology through research methodology and the completion of actual research projects. The goal was to develop a multilevel team approach within which faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates would view their work as part of a…

Policymakers and educators are increasingly expressing concerns that the U.S. is lagging behind other countries in educating the next generation of mathematicians and scientists. In response, the federal government, private foundations, and many "institutions of higher education" (IHEs) are encouraging STEM (science, technology,…

Critiques American research and teaching approaches to global and Third World history. In examining the two most predominant theoretical frameworks, Modernization Theory and the World-System approach, the author concludes that the latter currently provides the basis for the best understanding of the interdependence of the modern global community.…

Argues that a position should be taken on which future research initiatives on learning and instruction will be most worthy if grounded in general systems theory and multiple research methods are employed. Presents an application of general systems theory to research on learning and instruction, including a system of research methods and…

This book is devoted to a systems analysis of the teaching process in a single slum school classroom in which the teacher was a participant-observer researcher. The research approach used in the study is termed the "microethnography of the classroom" and is derived from social and behavioral theory. Chapters are devoted to the methodology of this…

Errors in second language learning are viewed as evidence of the learner's hypotheses and strategies about the new data. Error observation and analysis are important to the formulation of theories about language learning and the preparation of teaching materials. Learning a second language proceeds by a series of approximative reorganizations…

The impact of government policy initiatives on public-sector further education (FE) and FE lecturers in the United Kingdom was examined through a case study of a small group of full-time creative arts lecturers at a large urban FE college. A qualitative research approach was used. Data were collected through the following methods: participant…