This paper advocates the development of high-level research capability in some students in their undergraduate Bachelor of Education course. The rationale for this viewpoint is presented in relation to three questions: "What is educational research?" "Why should universities develop high-level research capability in some pre-service teacher…

This paper is a reflective account of the experience of designing and teaching a philosophy module as part of a research training programme for students studying for research degrees in education. In the course of the discussion, I address various problems and questions to do with the relationship between philosophy and educational research, the…

During the past few years the authors have developed a new approach to the teaching of physical science, a general education course typically found in the curricula of nearly every college and university. This approach, called "Physics in Films" (Efthimiou and Llewellyn 2006 Phys. Teach. 44 28-33), uses scenes from popular films to illustrate…

Current information indicates colleges and universities are experiencing decreased enrollments in basic instruction programs for physical activity. One factor responsible for this phenomenon is many universities' decision to eliminate required participation in physical education courses in order to graduate with a college degree. Another factor…

The purpose of this article is to describe how preservice teachers are prepared to make on-the-spot instructional decisions at the University of Northern Iowa. On-the-spot instructional decision making, also known as "improvisational" or "interactive teaching", occurs in three distinct episodes: an initial assessment of…

Learner analysis and needs assessments are basic elements of all instructional design models and are of concern to those designing distance education courses. Mismatches between students' expectations and actual course features may impact learning. This investigation surveyed 249 geographically dispersed online students for the course features…

Studies of the influence of conventional methods courses on preservice classroom teachers (PCTs) have provided mixed results. The purpose of the study described in this paper was to break new ground and examine the effects of a critically oriented 6-week methods course and a 9-week early field experience on one class of 24 PCTs. Data were…

Purpose: This paper aims to appraise the delivery of an enterprise education course to a cohort of Polish students evaluating its impact in encouraging entrepreneurial activity. The Polish economy continues its expansion with adoption of free market economies post communism. To encourage this growth, entrepreneurial activity must be encouraged…

This article describes an in-service training program in action research designed for mature teachers returning to college to upgrade their teaching diplomas and complete their BEd degrees. The initial impetus was the need to develop a student-oriented pedagogy based on and enhancing the extensive professional experience of these teachers,…

This study investigated student perceptions of using instant messaging software for online interactive chapter discussions in a graduate teacher educational technology course. The criterion instrument was a 47-item scale that measured Chickering and Gamson's (1987) first four principles for good practice in undergraduate education, yielding…

Background/Context: Teaching, leading, and learning are inextricably connected to emotions. Yet, the significance of emotions is rarely addressed in educational settings, and when it is, the relationship between emotions and curricula is most often framed by of an overly individualistic behavior model that focuses on the management and regulation…

In the context of hybrid instruction, this study was designed to explore whether gender has an influence on learners' preferences for synchronous or asynchronous modes of computer-mediated communication, and whether this decision impacts learners' self-efficacy (SE) towards knowledge acquisition. The participants were 180 teacher-education…

This article described the experiences of an inservice professional development program for teachers with a focus on online synchronous discussions. Transcripts of six online synchronous discussions containing 3600 messages from an online teacher professional development course were analyzed. In addition, the researchers interviewed 10…

Critical thinking and knowledge construction have become essential competencies for people in the new information age. In this study, we designed an interactive learning environment involving three forms of interaction: individual reflections, group collaboration and, class discussions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to…

A purpose-built blend of teaching and learning activities was used with trainee teachers on a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, and subsequently evaluated in a cyclical action research study, over a period of two years. The purpose of the blend was to engender the formation of a learning community, by giving them access to each…