This unconventional essay is the (slightly modified) transcript of the question-and-answer period of an AERA conference session on the topic of paradigm proliferation. Through responses to the discussants prepared questions and audience members' comments and questions, each panelist extends and defends the ideas put forward in her or his paper and…

Utilizing an integration of social-cognitivist and socio-cultural approaches, this study--comparing the interactive processes among peers and their mentor in two contrasting groups--was designed to explore the reasons why two learning groups, engaged in an inquiry-based learning project with comparatively sustained discussion, produced vastly…

This article uses a sociocultural approach to analyze how trajectories of identity development and learning intersect in actions carried out in a community of learners. The approach utilizes a framework for analysis with 5 aspects: the action, the agents, the goals, the cultural tools, and the scene. The study posits a distinction between mastery…

Reflection has long been an aspiration in education, from Aristotles Nicamachean Ethics, through Bacons (1605) Advancement of Learning and later articulated by John Dewey. Schon's reflective practitioner underpins the ethos in the professional training of teachers in the UK. This paper reviews approaches to reflection in learning and argues that…

Since Fall 2001, the faculty and leaders of the Teacher Education Program (TEP) at the University of California, Los Angeles, have participated in a collaborative inquiry project. This five-year research endeavor provides opportunities for teacher educators, assisted by university researchers, to study their own practice. This paper presents an…

Practitioner research is defined as systematic inquiry-based efforts directed towards creating and extending professional knowledge and associated understandings of professional practice. A review of "primary research" articles published in the "Australian Journal of Early Childhood" revealed that only a small number involved…

Recent work examining and expanding traditional accounts of a virtue has been used as the foundation for a virtue-based approach to epistemology. A similar approach to aesthetics yields some striking features, which coincide with contemporary philosophical concerns about the nature and definition of art. Those writing on virtue-based epistemology…

Inquiry learning is student-based exploration of an authentic problem using the processes and tools of the discipline. Often inquiry learning is presented in a fashion that mirrors the scientific method, proceeding from identification of a problem to reporting of findings. In post-secondary settings, these scientific-method inquiry exercises…

In this second of four articles discussing the introduction of action research to a class of pre-service teachers, Julian and Dianne state the purpose and context of our work, and revisit in detail the intense discussions we had prior to undertaking our two-tiered action research adventure. Specifically, we elaborate on the beliefs, values and…

In this article, the author brings to the foreground the most difficult of all teaching tasks--raising awareness. The author teaches cultural and linguistic diversity and hopes to instill a measure of tolerance in her students. She uses the Narrative Inquiry format to help uncover the many layers that surround discriminatory practices, and she…

One can easily identify the United States of America by the Statue of Liberty, France by the Eiffel Tower, Egypt by its Great Sphinx, and China by its Great Wall. What do these landmarks tell people about these places? What are the characteristics of the place and culture that are symbolized by these landmarks? These questions can serve as the…

In this article, the author describes how UNC Chapel Hill addresses the underlying conflicts between faith and reason in the wake of violence. In an effort to seek ways to improve the potential for respectful exchange of ideas on campus, the author, who works with faculty council, leaders, and colleagues, proposes a multifaceted strategy for…

This paper describes how interpretations of inquiry have changed during the 20th Century. These multiple meanings have resulted in (a) confusion among K-12 teachers of science and (b) various interpretations by science teacher educators. Suggestions are provided for preservice programs (both science and methods courses), professional development…

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to describe robust rationales for integrating inquiry-based learning into undergraduate science education, and to propose that digital libraries are potentially powerful technological tools that can support inquiry-based learning goals in undergraduate science courses. Overviews of constructivism and situated…

Amartya Sen's writings have articulated the importance of human agency, and identified the need for information on agency freedom to inform our evaluation of social arrangements. Many approaches to poverty reduction stress the need for empowerment. This paper reviews "subjective quantitative measures of human agency at the individual level." It…