Sketching is widely used as a creative tool, playing a significant role in industrial design. Designers commonly use sketching to generate and evaluate ideas, leading to subsequent development of the most promising ideas. The current study examined the use of text in the idea generation sketching process among novices and experts. The…

Introduction. Grounded in Alexander's model of domain learning, this study presents an integrated micro-model of information literacy. It is predicated upon the central importance of domain learning for the development of the requisite research skills by students. Method. The authors reviewed previous models of information literacy and…

Contemporary office work is becoming increasingly challenging as many routine tasks are automated or outsourced. The remaining problem solving activities may also offer potential for lifelong learning in the workplace. In this study, we analyzed problem solving in an office work setting using an Internet-based, semi-standardized diary to collect…

Introduction: Use of the Internet for open Web searches is common among university students in academic learning tasks. The tools used by students to find relevant information for online assessment tasks were investigated and their information seeking behaviour was documented to explore the impact on assessment design. Method: A mixed methods…

The term "Scribble Stage" highlights how first efforts appear in student independent work. Age does not correlate with "scribble" work as does experience; upper grade students and even adults will often approach new materials and techniques in an experimental manner as a means to become familiar with them. Everyone is a beginner at the things they…

Increasingly PhD graduates who wish to take up traditional academic positions (full-time teaching and research leading to permanence) are unable to find such jobs. They end up in fixed-term appointments as post-doctoral fellows or researchers on others' grants. Few studies document their experiences and most that do draw on data from the late…

The process of learning new surgical technical skills is vital to the career of a surgeon. The acquisition of these new skills is influenced greatly by visual-spatial ability (VSA) and may be difficult for some learners to rapidly assimilate. In many cases, the role of VSA on the acquisition of a novel technical skill has been explored; however,…

This study explored the yearlong learning processes of two first-year secondary science teachers participating in an online mentoring program, through examination of their written dialogues within the program and other data. Using a case study method, this study (a) explored the patterns of written dialogues between the two new teachers and their…

In many countries, novice teachers, or those with fewer than four years of experience, have a higher turnover rate than do more experienced teachers. Using teacher employment data, we examine whether schools in an American whole-school reform model are better able to retain novice teachers. Using survey data, we investigate whether novice teachers…

The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which a professional learning community (PLC) of music teachers sustained growth as they sought to incorporate Comprehensive Musicianship Through Performance (CMP) in their teaching practices. Seven music teachers from a suburban school district in the upper Midwest participated in a PLC as they…

This study examined the anticipated overall teacher shortage, and the specific reasons why novice special education teachers leave the profession within three to five years. A review of the literature suggested that a 2.5 million teacher shortfall is expected; however, special education teachers leave their teaching assignments two and one-half…

Pedagogical considerations should be guided by empirical, brain-based research on the human information processing system. People build and organize knowledge into a network-like system that connects related information. As learning occurs, learners expand the network to accommodate new information. Instructional strategies can be used to maximize…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain participants' perceptions of elements of the induction process that met novice school counselors' personal and professional needs. Interviews of seven novice counselors and their principals over one school year were the primary data sources. Employing an abductive analysis process based on a developed…

In this paper, an automated lesson generation system for guiding beginners to learn basic dance movements is proposed. It analyzes the dance to generate a two-phase lesson which can provide a suitable cognitive load thus offering an efficient learning experience. In the first phase, the dance is divided into small pieces which are patterns, and…

This study investigated the perceptions of three alternative and three traditional route participants of their experiences prior to receiving teacher certification. It further investigated whether their experiences proved to be educative, mis-educative, or a combination of the two. Observations, interviews, and lesson plans were analyzed according…