Human Rights statutes prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability, which includes learning disabilities. As such, the pedagogical debate on whether to educate special education students in mainstream or segregated schools, is also an equality and human rights issue. The author attempted to analyze, by looking at current legal cases and…

We have investigated the conceptual understandings of seventy-eight 16-year-old Australian high school students' and their knowledge about several issues related to nuclear energy. As a result of their study of the physics topic Nuclear Technology, the students learned more about applications of nuclear technology, had better though still…

Many studies have been conducted to verify the effect of learner characteristics and motivation in traditional classrooms, but very few are found in online learning research. This study sought to identify what learner characteristics and motivation types affected a group of undergraduate students' learning and application of learning for a course…

This study represents a collaborative school university partnership. Using a mixed-method approach, the authors report on the motivational and psychological consequences of students choosing their groupmates in cooperative learning triads. 139 students in five science classes participated in this study. Classes were randomly assigned to condition:…

In this study, the authors plotted the Spanish language usage of 10 preschool-age children over the course of 3 years and assigned them to one of two groups: language maintenance and language loss. The authors then compared the groups' scores on structured tasks, language behaviors, and language usage/exposure variables. They found that children…

The most outstanding characteristic of language in education policy for South Asia (SA) is its multilingualism. All through recorded history the seven countries that constitute SA have been multilingual. For at least the first two decades of their existence as sovereign states the large nation states of SA failed to take into account this…

The main focus of this paper is an investigation, based partly on the results of a questionnaire circulated to a representative sample of participating primary teachers, of the experiential and holistic education practised by the Pushkin Trust, with particular reference to the impact of its work for children with special educational needs (SEN).…

This paper reflects our commitments as teacher educators to develop the skills, knowledge and interests amongst "nearly qualified teachers" to establish action learning as an integral part of their professional practice. We outline the development of an undergraduate unit that is endeavouring to achieve this at Edith Cowan University,…

This year sees the 40th anniversary of the first policy paper regarding the use of computers in higher education in the United Kingdom. The publication of this paper represented the beginning of the field of learning technology research and practice in higher education. In the past 40 years, policy has at various points drawn from different…

This discussion is a critical analysis of mainstream Western education. It explores the system's historical ties with industrial civilization, and considers how both have emerged from a mechanistic worldview, and how the education system has evolved to serve the interests of capitalism and colonialism. The corporate takeover of the education…

Why do so few students continue to participate in choral music through high school? How do home influences, peers, prior music experiences and teachers, self-perceptions of ability, and musical experiences outside of school contribute to decisions concerning participation in school music? This study attempted to identify some of the factors and…

This article argues that the use of the network metaphor can link together various different aspects of research into the use of advanced learning technologies based on computer networks. The idea of networked learning has become commonplace as an alternative to e-learning that stresses the interaction of learners, tutors and resources through…

This article reviews research on pedagogies associated with the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in primary and secondary schools. We propose a framework for examining pedagogical practices based on an analysis of the nature of pedagogy as revealed in the literature. In the light of this framework we discuss empirical…

Although Vygotskian principles involving the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) are hailed as tenets undergirding teaching and learning within a constructivist setting, these principals have not been implemented widely within school classrooms. Tharp and Gallimore, building on the notion that learning can be maximized when a teacher has a…

This article describes the design features of a mentoring program that evolved from a university/school system partnership. Findings from participant interviews suggest key issues to be considered in designing and implementing a school systemwide mentoring program such as recruitment of mentor teachers, incentives for mentor teachers, release time…