This article describes an initiative to evaluate the impact of educational psychologists' (EPs') casework. Previous studies have often focussed on evaluating processes or reducing outcomes to measurable units. The authors argue that qualitative research methods can be used to illuminate EP effectiveness. They describe a real world and…

In this article, I use the process of self-reflection to examine how my biography influenced my teaching experiences in a particular school context. Drawing on these experiences and the work of scholars in this area, I contend that such self-knowledge is critical for teachers' successful socialization and retention in diverse schooling…

One-to-one interviewing is one of the most powerful ways of exploring young children's thinking. While there are a few studies which report the use of this pedagogic strategy by preservice teachers, more are needed. This paper describes an early childhood mathematics education assignment which preservice teachers in a teacher-education college in…

This eight-year longitudinal study deals with the effects of an intense inner-city cultural immersion experience on fifth-year secondary students. Over 250 preservice teachers were given orientations to the inner-city setting and were placed in one of two select inner-city high schools. Approximately 30 students took part in the one-week cultural…

National educational organizations highlight the importance of preparing preservice teachers to work with diverse families. As teacher educators in an interdisciplinary early childhood teacher education program, we developed a project using eco-maps to help students learn about children and their families. We analyzed students' written reflections…

This paper explores the concept of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers in Scotland in an education system undergoing change. It considers the curricular and political changes which affect the nature of CPD considered appropriate and relevant for teachers. This article reports on one small-scale qualitative study into…

Meeting the needs of children with disabilities requires strategies for engaging each and every child as an individual and facilitating their participation as a member of a group. The use of the project approach meets the needs of individual children by building on an awareness of children's interests and high expectations. All early childhood…

There has been extensive discussion of the difficulties experienced by tertiary students when writing using sources in both first- and second-language (L1, L2) writing literature; however, few studies have reported on instructional interventions that aim to assist students to master this complex academic literacy. The action research study…

Between March 2007 and February 2009, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) funded a Learners Journeys project at the University of Hertfordshire. This was part of their second phase of investment in research into the Learners' Experiences through their E-Learning Programme and was known as LXP2. STROLL (STudent Reflections On Lifelong…

We examined epistemological and ontological world views using self-report surveys, brief written reflections, and an extended written action research project for a sample of 16 graduate students enrolled in an education class at a large university on the West coast of the USA. We made two predictions. We anticipated that the majority of students…

Students are making an increased use of the Web as a source for solving information problems for academic assignments. To extend current research about search behavior during navigation on the Web, this study examined whether students are able to spontaneously reflect, from an epistemic perspective, on the information accessed, and whether their…

Meta assessment goes beyond assessment in that it examines not only the elements of assessment but also the necessary and sufficient conditions as well as the needs of the assessment. Meta assessment in education tends to be the domain of course designers, planners and policy makers but rarely that of students. This article examines the role of…

We propose that the advent and ubiquity of new media tools and social networking resources provide a means for professional, networked learning to "scale up." We preface our discussion with a review of research that has led us to argue for professional learning communities, document the policies and practices of professional development…

This paper is a situated biographical reflection on the author's Hong Kong teaching experience written using a narrative inquiry approach, describing attempts to generate innovative pedagogical practices. The journey explores how autocratic, traditional Chinese cultural expectations in Hong Kong education have nurtured a commonsense belief in…

Instructors in academic settings may be naturally inclined to view their students from the outside, their style of communication, their level of competence and engagement, or their punctuality with attendance and assignments. Consequently, they risk missing the rewards afforded by the view from the inside. Autobiography can be an important means…