The "College English Teaching Reform Project", issued by the Chinese Ministry of Education aims to strengthen the practical English instruction and improve the English language proficiency of the college students (Ministry of Education, 2007). However, the problem of "naturalness" in handling English by the college students…

This paper is designed to contribute to the discussion on how to conceptualise and study contextual influence in local school development. We propose a theoretical framework and an empirical illustration to supplement former research on rural school research. Focusing on what the school perceives as important in its community may explain why…

Language is the single best predictor of later success in school and beyond. Using new findings in the science of learning, this article outlines 6 basic principles that will help parents and caregivers interact with children in ways that grow important language skills. Creating environments that nurture these principles gives every child a chance…

Where the veracity of a statement is in question, listeners tend to interpret disfluency as signaling dishonesty. Previous research in deception suggests that this results from a speaker model, linking lying to cognitive effort and effort to disfluency. However, the disfluency-lying bias occurs very quickly: Might listeners instead simply…

Washback has been defined as an effect of assessment on teaching and learning which may be negative or positive. This study investigated the washback effect of multiple choice question (MCQ) format of assessment on learning of concepts in physical sciences (chemistry) as compared to constructed response tests (CRTs). This study collected…

Technology is a catalyst that is reconfiguring every profession, from finance to medicine to media. Old verities about "useful" skills are disappearing into the cloud. Many students give the existential question "What do I want to be?" a simple response: "Employed." It is not obvious what skills that will require in a…

This study forms part of a wider comparative research project investigating the mechanisms and outcomes of school-based curriculum (SBC) development in kindergartens between the two neighbouring cities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, under the umbrella of 'one country, two systems'. This comparison will help to clarify how sociocultural contexts may…

Many studies in science education acknowledge the positive effects of context-based learning on students' interest and attitudes. However, little is known about the design criteria of contextual situations generating these effects and how facets of students' situational interest are affected while learning in a contextualised setting. This paper…

This article begins with a theoretical discussion of the characteristics that a task should feature to be regarded as a mathematics problem suitable for pre-primary students. Those considerations are followed by a report of a classroom experience in which three problems involving quotative or partitive division were posed to pre-primary school…

The environment in which faculty development centers operate has changed significantly. As a result, centers are asked to play a more important role in contributing to institutional strategic initiatives, assess outcomes of programs, and enhance faculty scholarship success. In the past, assessments have focused on attendance and satisfaction…

Objective: A Bingo club was selected for the design and delivery of a health intervention (Well!Bingo) in order to engage with older women living in areas of socio-economic disadvantage. In the light of our experience, we discuss the significance of the setting in relation to a typology of health promotion settings. Design and Setting: The…

Models of achievement goals suggest that different tasks and contexts influence the goals students adopt at a given time. However, many studies of achievement goals rely on measures assessed at the class level, analyze results with a variable-centered approach, and employ self-report questionnaires, which may reduce understanding of the contextual…

The article presents a basic strategic framework for research on the authorship of their own lives in people with disabilities (AOL-PwD). This issue corresponds to the humanistic approach to the exploration of the phenomenon of disability, which stresses subjectivity, agency, well-being, independence, and satisfaction with fulfilling…

Effective professional development (PD) interventions that promote high quality teacher-child interactions are important mechanisms to support social-emotional and cognitive development in early childhood. One PD intervention that has shown to be effective is MyTeachingPartner (MTP); however, previous research has suggested that both teacher and…

As documented in the National Academies' 2020 astronomy decadal survey report, harassment and discrimination continue to be problems in astronomical employment and educational settings. In order to document the types of harassment and discrimination in astronomy and the context in which these behaviors occur, this report describes an analysis of…