Post-productivism is a contested concept, and some argue that it should be abandoned. In this paper, a more focused definition for post-productivism is suggested. Evidence for change in forestry and agriculture that could be categorised as post-productivist is presented, in relation to both the narrower definition and to characterisations…

Background: Those engaged in research might argue that we are involved in a process of explaining the world to others and to ourselves. The way in which we go about that process differs. The kind of questions we are concerned about answering will determine the approach we use, the information we gather and how we analyse the data. Some research…

Members of "Primary Science Review" Editorial Board explain what drew them to science. Alan Peacock, "PSR" Editor, emphasises the need to preserve children's sense of wonderment about the world. Robert Collins, a science educator in the Faculty of Education, University of Strathclyde, thinks people are "secret science…

A qualitative study probing the connection between a high school English teacher's lived experience and beliefs about teaching students identified as having a disability using interview story method was undertaken. Struggles with family quickly emerged as a dominant storyline in the participant's discussion of her beliefs about teaching such…

This article reviews didactical and psychologically based research on teachers' work and teacher thinking, narrative educational inquiry and studies of change in teachers' work and places them in the context of sociological theory about expert work and symbolic capital. The work of Abbott on the structure of expert work and knowledge, and Bourdieu…

This paper examines the articulation of goals and means of sociological instruction in course syllabi. Three questions guide this inquiry. First, do sociology instructors articulate common learning goals? Second, what pedagogical means do instructors commonly employ to meet these goals? Third, to what extent have sociology instructors incorporated…

This paper explores the idea of thinking skills approaches as tools for pedagogical inquiry and in so doing seeks to develop the link between the promotion of inquiry-based learning, which is a central tenet of thinking skills, and inquiry-based teaching as an approach to professional development and school improvement. The first part of the paper…

Despite growing interest in evaluative inquiry as a trigger for development of organizational learning capacity, there exists a paucity of empirical research in this area. This is particularly the case in the context of schools, where systematic inquiry to support decision making and problem solving is hardly a mainstream activity. The purpose of…

A two-year ethnographic observation of an inner-city high school in Los Angeles, USA, indicated that the principal, who was extremely dedicated to at-risk students and possessed a unique style of mentoring, played a major role in students academic achievement. We--the principal and the researcher who observed the school--inquired about the…

Perceptual and cognitive biases are significant factors influencing ethical judgment, conduct, and learning. These biases inhibit the quality of students' personal engagement, inquiry, and learning on cases and exercises assigned in business ethics courses. The purpose of this article is to describe certain common biases involved in the perception…

For the thirty-fifth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the national AECT Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

The chapters in this book reflect the work of science and mathematics educators who have worked for many years at the international level. As members of the International Consortium for Research in Science and Mathematics Education, their work provides readers with issues, models, practices, and research results that have applicability and…

Achieving national standards for science education for all students requires that the research agenda for inquiry-oriented instruction be well informed by current knowledge of successful and unsuccessful teaching practices in typical classrooms. Given the persistent lack of data about the nature of teacher behavior in inquiry-oriented teaching and…

This paper takes the position that philosophy is a critical avenue with which to approach a study of schooling, and that study of philosophy and philosophy of education will provide a framework needed for inquiry into schooling that is foundational, diverse, and critical. Processes of philosophical inquiry include the following: (1) conceptual…

By blending elements of inquiry with the components of portfolios, learning and thinking in teacher preparation courses can be extended and possible tensions between "covering content" and allowing "open-ended investigation" can be mitigated. Over the years, the author mused about how she might nudge graduate students in her…