Primary science education is a concern around the world and quality mentoring within schools can develop pre-service teachers' practices. A five-factor model for mentoring has been identified, namely, personal attributes, system requirements, pedagogical knowledge, modelling, and feedback. Final-year pre-service teachers (mentees, n = 211) from…

The impact of high quality teaching on student achievement has been well documented; however, there remains a need to more fully understand the factors that predict effective teaching. This study utilized Fenstermacher and Richardson's (2005) model of teacher quality to investigate teacher effectiveness within a preschool special education…

How do you refute the erroneous claim that all ratios are fractions? This book goes beyond a simple introduction to ratios, proportions, and proportional reasoning. It will help broaden and deepen your mathematical understanding of one of the most challenging topics for students--and teachers--to grasp. It will help you engage your students,…

The Diagnostic Teacher Assessment in Mathematics and Science (DTAMS) was developed to measure the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of middle-school teachers. Its reliability and validity were initially established by reviewing national standards for content and use of expert question writing teams and reviewers. DTAMS was…

This article explores the effects of continuing professional development (CPD) on teachers' and pupils' experiences of learning and teaching science in primary classrooms. During 2006-2007, quantitative and qualitative data were elicited from two primary teachers in Scotland using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and video-stimulated…

The Pew Internet and American Life project characterizes the millennials--the first generation to come of age in the new millennium--as the first "always-connected" generation. Significant aspects of culture are changing as a result. A changing world where all students are connected all the time has substantial educational implications. Despite…

This paper describes an approach to conceptualising and performing Web 2.0-enabled learning design. Based on the Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge model of educational practice, the approach conceptualises Web 2.0 learning design by relating Anderson and Krathwohl's Taxonomy of Learning, Teaching and Assessing, and different types…

Project-based science (PBS) curricula have project- and inquiry-based aspects that leverage the strengths of urban students from ethnic and racial groups underrepresented in science careers, potentially impacting positively these students' science achievement and attitudes and thus their college and career plans. We aimed to determine the extent…

This paper investigates the enrolment trends and the critical factors that impinge on students' choice of physics as major field of study. The data were generated from primary and secondary sources. Primary data was acquired based on a semi-structured interview with 14 sophomore and 11 senior students and five instructors of the department of…

The "MustLearnIT" European-funded research project with partners in Greece, Poland, Cyprus, Finland and the UK aimed to investigate ways of teaching and learning modern foreign languages (MFL) to early learners in small/remote primary schools where there were no specialist MFL teachers. This was to be carried out through new technologies…

This paper reports on the design and the implementation of the Technological Pedagogical Science Knowledge (TPASK), a new model for science teachers professional development built on an integrated framework determined by the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model and the authentic learning approach. The TPASK curriculum…

This article uses the framework of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK; Mishra & Koehler, 2006) to analyze findings across projects from the U.S. Department of Education's Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) initiative. Approaches such as mentoring methods course faculty, teachers, and creating technology-rich…

This article questions the basic assumptions of pedagogical content knowledge by analyzing the ideas of Jerome Bruner, Joseph Schwab, and John Dewey concerning transforming the subject matter. It argues that transforming the subject matter is not only a pedagogical but also a complex curricular task in terms of developing a school subject or a…

The authors report an empirical pilot study of current models of elementary science instruction that utilize science specialists, and make a call for the participation of schools and districts that use a specialist model to assist in collecting the descriptive data needed to create the foundation for future research on the use and impact of…

Effective professional development engages, rather than bypasses, teacher thinking. This article describes strategies to heighten teachers' awareness of the difference between procedural knowledge and conceptual understanding. (Contains 6 figures.)