The successful establishment of a purpose-built innovative school designed to support new ways of teaching and learning in the senior secondary years, particularly in the area of science and mathematics, required a comprehensive and research-based professional development policy and program. Planning professional learning opportunities for the…

After providing a brief review of three other approaches to assessment of preschool children (DSM-IV diagnoses, "Zero to Three" diagnoses, and temperament scales), this paper focuses on the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA). The empirically based assessment paradigm provides user-friendly, cost-effective, reliable,…

This article discusses the relationship among an individual's cognitive style, attitude to learning, and his or her achievement in the context of computer aided learning (CAL). The results of a small-scale study involving 32 students (18 male and 14 female) studying their first electronics module during an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Design and…

Although the literature on social networks has made a considerable contribution to the sociological imagination in recent years, it has been largely ignored in conventional course materials. Such an omission is curious, considering social networks' intuitive imagery, broad theoretical relevance and extensive empirical application. This article…

This paper outlines briefly some of the factors and forces that have led to the multiplicity of approaches to and the dis-integration of the objectives of environmental education. It traces the evolution of the understanding of the concept of action competence, and of its application in environmental education research and practice in Portugal.…

Today's high-end cell phones have the computing power of a mid-1990s personal computer (PC)--while consuming only one one-hundredth of the energy. Even the simplest, voice-only phones have more complex and powerful chips than the 1969 on-board computer that landed a spaceship on the moon. In the United States, it is almost universally acknowledged…

In an instructional environment, online communication tools such as e-mail, listservs, chat rooms, and instant messaging cultivate personal bonds with and among students and promote extended dialogue about important topics. In comparison to these communication tools, however, instructional blogging offers additional opportunities to engage…

This article presents the author's personal view of interactive digital television and describes how he used digital television to learn. The author describes how he was simulating digital TV while watching analogue TV. The author stresses that interactive digital television has great potential for education and training in the twenty first…

National priorities set by an Australian ministerial taskforce provide clear guidelines to develop pedagogy that integrates ICT. Although these guidelines do not specifically address rural and regional school needs, the two priorities: promoting pedagogic leadership and creating new learning environments, are of particular interest. But how are…

This study examines how social studies preservice teachers use pedagogical and technological applications and skills employed during their teacher education program, specifically the methods block. Data were collected from the methods course experience through student teaching and then through case study research with first-year teachers. Results…

A long-term, 2 year in-service provision to develop pupils thinking capability was provided for 91 secondary schools during the period 1998-2002. The science teachers involved reported that the in-service experience impacted on their pedagogic practice. The evidence was gathered through reflective surveys and interviews. The in-service programme…

Broad (1999) observed that "troubled borders crisscross the geography of teacher preparation in English" (p. 373), calling for collaboration where preparation is a university responsibility (Gregorian, 2001). This research documents a three-year complex case study that addressed the question: What happens when English, education, and high school…

The psychiatric community has only recognized Asperger Disorder (AD) as a distinct syndrome since 1994. Therefore, for most early childhood educators, AD is still a new diagnosis. The majority of the children with AD are being educated in the general education classroom although it's not uncommon to see specialized placements. Unfortunately, due…

The development of a science education that includes a focus upon the nature of science suggests the need for "pedagogic tools" that can be used to engage children with the procedural understandings that are central to the scientific approach to enquiry. This paper reports on a collaborative action research project that focused on the…

The availability of user-friendly tools for designing learning environments resulted in an innovative shift of design focus. This shift has been noticed from a user-centred, although passive and reactive, design approach to a participatory, at responsibility and self-directedness directed, design approach. This latter innovative and promising…