Supporting a productive discourse is an important element of reform teaching, as it gives students opportunities to understand mathematical reasoning. In this study, the practices of an expert seventh-grade mathematics teacher are described to illustrate how she created and sustained a genuine mathematical discourse environment during the teaching…

Context: A concept map is a graphical and cognitive tool that enables learners to link together interrelated concepts using propositions or statements that answer a posed problem. As an assessment tool, concept mapping reveals a learner's research skill proficiency and cognitive processing. Background: The identification and organization of the…

If teacher value-added estimates (VAEs) are to be used as indicators of individual teacher performance in teacher evaluation and accountability systems, it is important to understand how much VAEs are affected by the data and model specifications used to estimate them. In this study we explored the effects of three conditions on the stability of…

This paper argues that all learners need teachers who are not only professionally qualified but also culturally competent. This is particularly so with teachers of indigenous students, who face the conflicting expectations of schools and those of their home cultures. References to Pacific students will be used to illustrate some of the conflicts…

This study examined the effects of educational technology training workshops on perception changes of mathematics teachers. Three perceptions, namely, pedagogical orientation, efficacy, and liking in relation to technology integration, were explored in this study. Two research questions were addressed: Do educational technology training workshops…

This article argues that the model of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in use at the Workers' College in South Africa may be seen as a form of "radical pedagogy." Drawing on documentary sources, focus group interviews with staff, and observations, it describes an educational philosophy which aims to build the competencies of activists…

In the changing global economy, employability skills increasingly are the focus of vocational education and training institutions. This paper explores the effect of academic disciplines, students' background characteristics and industry training on the acquisition of employability skills through competency-based training. A significant…

Many college students struggle with first-semester general chemistry. Prior studies have shown that a student's prior knowledge of chemistry, a cognitive factor, does not account for the total variance when measured by examination scores. This study explored the role of self-regulated learning (SRL) to identify the degree of success or failure of…

In South Africa the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) was conceptualised to address issues of social justice. The concept intended to increase the participation rate of historically disadvantaged groups in higher education and to improve the knowledge and skills base of the workforce in pursuit of global competitiveness. The conceptualisation,…

Throughout their lives, people are faced with various learning situations, for example when they learn how to use new software, services or information systems. However, research in the field of Interactive Learning Environments shows that learners needing assistance do not systematically seek or use help, even when it is available. The aim of the…

Everyday inductive inferences are often guided by rich background knowledge. Formal models of induction should aim to incorporate this knowledge and should explain how different kinds of knowledge lead to the distinctive patterns of reasoning found in different inductive contexts. This article presents a Bayesian framework that attempts to meet…

The failure to discriminate between a pattern consisting of four orthogonal bars and the same pattern rotated by 45 degrees has been interpreted in the literature as evidence against pictorial representations in honeybees. This study determines whether prior training can facilitate the discrimination. In Experiment 1, one group of bumblebees was…

Raising standards through inquiry-based science education (IBSE)--what are the challenges for pre-service teacher education? What do ongoing teachers and active teachers learn from each other when planning, conducting and evaluating minds-on and hands-on IBSE activities in the classroom? What do they learn "beyond" IBSE? The Bremen…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a ubiquitous problem-based learning system (UPBLS) on students' question-raising performance in field inquiry activities. An experiment was conducted on an elementary school natural science course. A total of 43 sixth and fifth grade elementary students divided into experienced and…

In this article, we examine the use of electronic textiles (e-textiles) for introducing key computational concepts and practices while broadening perceptions about computing. The starting point of our work was the design and implementation of a curriculum module using the LilyPad Arduino in a pre-AP high school computer science class. To…