This manuscript addresses adoption and the related gifts and challenges faced by adoptees. Challenges such as the search for identity, reconciliation, and identifying how they belong are also discussed. This manuscript also addresses common myths and misconceptions about the adoption experience. A creative intervention, using super heroes and…

Objective: The authors aim to inform readers of the theory that when newspapers, film, and television describe suicidal deaths, additional suicides may result by virtue of contagion or copy-cat effects; to review data that support and refute this theory; to present some promising and recommended ways to prevent copy-cat suicide; and to cite…

Over the course of history, scientists have constructed models and equations that provide insight into the motions of the heavens. However, research indicates many people hold alternative conceptions that, to them, explain the same observable phenomenon. Science educators have found that students learning about lunar phases may hold misconceptions…

This article examines final-year teacher trainees' conceptualisation of inclusive education through the employment of a questionnaire and the analysis of eighty career entry development profiles. Three main research questions are addressed. How do trainees define inclusive education? What factors do they believe are inherent in its success? Do…

Conceptual change researchers have made significant progress on two prominent but competing theoretical perspectives regarding knowledge structure coherence. These perspectives can be broadly characterized as (1) knowledge-as-theory perspectives and (2) knowledge-as-elements perspectives. These perspectives can be briefly summarized in terms of…

Fifth-grade students with learning disabilities (LD) and their typically achieving (TA) peers participated in an 8-week investigation about 19th-century U.S. westward migration. During their investigations, the students analyzed primary and secondary sources to understand the experiences of these emigrants and Native peoples. The analysis of…

Despite the widespread belief in a positive influence of research on education, the empirical evidence is lacking (Hattie and Marsh 1996). Several authors have questioned the appropriateness of the operationalisation of both aspects of the relation between teaching and research. This article takes a closer look at the research questions in…

Calculators used widely by students, teachers, scientists, engineers and many others provide an interesting case study of a compelling technology that has helped change the way many professionals work. They not only help in enhancing problem solving skills of most individuals, but also help visualise solutions to problems in a better way. Research…

The purpose of this research was to determine the pre-service primary mathematics teachers' competency of pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics. The data were collected by means of four open ended problems from the participation of 45 primary mathematics teacher candidates. Teacher candidates' responses were analyzed based on pre-determined…

The publication and distribution of "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" (Freire, 1974) was a landmark event in the field of education. Since its original publication and subsequent translation into many languages, Freire has influenced millions of people worldwide as the corpus of his work has been disseminated during the past 30-plus years. For…

Higher education policy is seeking, in the interest of "quality assurance", to reward teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Academic language and learning (ALL) advisers, who work closely with students to improve their performance in their courses of study, have much to contribute to SoTL. ALL advisers who adopt…

Research shows that many students hold misconceptions related to plant functions (Hershey 2004). Some of these students will become teachers with little content understanding to identify their students' misconceptions about plants (Amir and Tamir 1994). The literature on teaching about plants doesn't help; it contains frequent errors,…

Recent research on principles of best practice for designing effective multimedia instruction has rarely taken into account students' alternative conceptions, which are known to strongly influence learning. The goal of this study was to determine how well students of quantum mechanics could learn "vicariously" by watching a student-tutor dialogue…

This paper reports on research concerning Greek in-service Primary teachers' perceptions about environmental issues and attitudes towards Education for Sustainable Development. A questionnaire with multiple-choice and open-ended questions was used in order to gain more comprehensive understanding of their thoughts. The analysis of data revealed…

Animations of molecular structure and dynamics are often used to help students understand the abstract ideas of chemistry. This qualitative study investigated how the features of two different styles of molecular-level animation affected students' explanations of how sodium chloride dissolves in water. In small group sessions 18 college-level…