Drawing on research supported within the Scottish "Applied Educational Research Scheme" this paper explores the use of the Virtual Research Environment (VRE) in developing "communities of enquiry" in Scottish education and research. It focuses on the role of VREs in influencing collaborative working and educational research.…

A new, fast and effective colorimetric analysis of the artificial sweetener aspartame is presented for application in undergraduate laboratory courses. This new method incorporates the use of a modified biuret reagent for selective detection and analysis of aspartame in aqueous solutions. The modified reagent is less caustic than the traditional…

This study describes the improvement in 20 sixth grades students' reasoning abilities in the context of structured or semi-structured inquiries conducted during an after-school science club. The findings shed light on the improvement in student reasoning and on the specific areas of student difficulties. Overall reasoning skills showed more or…

Due to his work to determine how cholera was spread in the 18th century, John Snow (1813-1858) has been hailed as the father of modern epidemiology. This article presents an inquiry model based on his life and work, which teachers can use to develop a series of biology lessons involving the history and nature of science. The lessons presented use…

This article explores the concept of community of enquiry through an examination of 3 case studies: (a) a school-based community of enquiry involving pupils, teachers, and researchers; (b) a community of enquiry involving teachers from around 100 different schools in a Scottish local authority, together with policy advisers and researchers; and…

While the knowledge economy has reshaped the world, schools lag behind in producing appropriate learning for this social change. Science education needs to prepare students for a future world in which multiple representations are the norm and adults are required to "think like scientists." Location-based augmented reality games offer an…

Laboratory and demonstration have long been used to supplement lecture in chemistry education. Current research indicates that students are better served by laboratories which exercise the higher-order cognitive skills, such as inquiry-based laboratories. However, the time and the resources available to perform these recommended types of…

Leadership depends on the situation. Few social scientists would dispute the validity of this statement. But the statement can be interpreted in many different ways, depending, at least in part, on what one means by leadership. This article begins with a definition of leadership and a brief description of 3 historically important theories of…

In his keynote address, "Art the Effective Language", Ernest L. Boyer argues that education in the arts is crucial for five essential reasons: (1) The arts express what words cannot convey; (2) The arts are essential for stirring creativity and extending the student's way of knowing; (3) The arts integrate learning and create connections…

This paper reviews methods for conducting and reporting teacher research. Through three cases, the paper explores common and diverse methods employed in classroom inquiry. The paper recounts the history of teacher research and discusses common methodological characteristics as well as context-specific features of teacher research. The first case…

This document is a description of an inquiry oriented, hands-on, kit-based science program initiated by the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) in collaboration with the California Institute of Technology in its culturally diverse urban school district. Descriptions include the PUSD science program setting, the major components of the program,…

The teaching of inquiry paradigms that supplement traditional rational and empirical approaches is advocated in psychology training settings. This program proposal introduces hermeneutics, an inquiry paradigm focusing on the interpretation of meanings inherent in human action, into the curricula of psychology programs. Two curricula offerings are…

To account for coercive force in questions posed by counsel to defendants and witnesses, several levels of speech must be addressed. Forensic linguistics literature discusses the scale of coerciveness as reflected in the syntactic form of the questions. It is argued that this type of analysis fails to account for the inferences made by hearers…

Activities designed to improve student questioning techniques are described. For journal availability see annotation SO 504 171. (DE)

Gives illustrations for experiences designed to help intermediate (grade 6) children learn to follow directions. Activities, in the form of five stations contained in one classroom, were developed with each activity focused on a different approach to problem solving and observation. (PEB)