This article is based on one of the several case studies of recent graduates of a teacher education programme that is founded upon inquiry-based, field-oriented and learner-focussed principles and practices and that is centrally concerned with shaping teachers who can enact strong inquiry-based practices in Kindergarten to Grade 12 classrooms. The…

This paper explores why it is important for universities to integrate research and teaching at the present time and considers how it can be achieved. Political, institutional and disciplinary factors affect the relationship, whether the aim is to integrate teaching with research or to integrate research with teaching. So the article explores…

In this article, we investigate how mentoring relationships founded on inquiry as stance can work to emphasize the conditions that promote the development of teachers of science as inquiry. Drawing on data collected through semi-structured interviews, we have developed two narrative case studies based on the two mentoring relationships that exist…

The paucity of solutions to the persistent problem of youth entanglement with the school-to-prison pipeline demands that educational researchers experiment with research differently. In this methodological article, I briefly sketch the beginnings of an "intimate" approach to educational inquiry that researchers can use to connect with…

Curriculum top study (CTS) action research is a specific type of inquiry that combines curriculum topic study (Keeley 2005) with an examination of students' thinking using formative assessment probes (Keeley, Eberle, and Farrin 2005; Keeley, Eberle, and Tugel 2007; Keeley, Eberle, and Dorsey 2008; Keeley and Tugel 2009) and a variety of…

Devoting time to a professional learning community (PLC) can be frustrating or rewarding. The authors have experienced both of these outcomes and can share processes that may help make your PLC one that enriches your professional growth and improves your students' learning. In this article they provide guidelines to make your experience…

An important component of intermediate and college algebra courses involves teaching students methods to factor a trinomial with integer coefficients over the integers. The aim of this article is to present a theoretical justification of that which is often taught, but really never explained as to why it works. The theory is presented, and a…

This study examines the instructional steps I took, based on gaps between what was happening in a graduate literacy class I taught and what I had intended to happen. This study describes the ways that I re-imagined the class and what came about when I created a pedagogical approach that featured multi-genre inquiry. I define inter-discursivity as…

Educational researchers can incorporate benefits for themselves and teacher participants by planning for interactions between research, practice and teachers' professional learning from the outset of a project. However, the dual role of a researcher as a professional learning partner has rarely been explicated and theorised in studies of…

This article presents an examination of the effects of using an inquiry-based learning pedagogy to teach ceramics to pre-service teachers (my students) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. At the beginning of the study the students were asked to conduct experiments on the properties of clay. The results indicate that half of them were able to…

The displaying of a sense of wonder when responding to aesthetic experiences of natural phenomena has been identified as having a significant impact on an individual's learning in primary science education. This paper attempts to review the significance of the influence of "wonder" arising from students aesthetic reactions to exploratory…

In this theoretical essay, my primary task is to develop a methodology for engaging the conceptual normativity, or common sense ideas, at work in the popular discursive practices of modern society. To do so, I will draw upon theories associated with continental philosophy, Deweyan pragmatism, and sociological theory that trace their lineages to…

In this article, we explore two possibilities which arise from service-learning engagements, both from a narrative perspective. First, we consider the possibility that service-learning may be a sustaining experience for in-service teachers. And, second, we suggest that intentional inquiry into this experience for in-service teachers may foster the…

During the month of May, the author's eighth-grade physical science students study the six simple machines through hands-on activities, reading assignments, videos, and notes. At the end of the month, they can easily identify the six types of simple machine: inclined plane, wheel and axle, pulley, screw, wedge, and lever. To conclude this unit,…

WebQuests and the 5E learning cycle are titans of the science classroom. These popular inquiry-based strategies are most often used as separate entities, but the author has discovered that using a combined WebQuest and 5E learning cycle format taps into the inherent power and potential of both strategies. In the lesson, "Clash of the Titans,"…