On-line teaching material in health psychology was developed which ensured a range of students could access appropriate material for their course and level of study. This material has been developed around the concept of smaller "content chunks" which can be combined into whole units of learning (topics), and ultimately, a module. On the…

Doctors training to become general practitioners (GPs) enter new "communities of practice". For instance, they initially experience various types of isolation, need new skills and knowledge and find the organisation of general practice different to hospitals. "Communities of practice" concepts help explain some of their…

The article draws on the findings of a longitudinal study of an opportunistic sample of full-time further education trainee teachers attending an English new university. The study commenced in 2002 seeking to examine the processes through which trainee teachers entered the profession. Initially the research explored the routes followed and…

This study examined what preservice teachers found surprising about their field experience. Seventy-two preservice teachers completed an open-ended questionnaire during the final field experience seminar of the academic term. Data were content analyzed using inductive coding. Four themes of surprises emerged. The preservice teachers were (a)…

Fostering undergraduate research has increasingly become a focus of four-year institutions. Thus, given the maturity and capabilities of a substantial number of community college students, Virginia Community College System (VCCS) faculty can help students prepare for the baccalaureate by providing them with opportunities for actual research. With…

Teachers' conceptions of teaching, and broad approaches to teaching reported by teachers are both commonly found to range from teaching as information transmission, through to teaching as supporting students' own knowledge constructions. Further, conceptions and approaches have been found to correlate, suggesting that there might be some…

Public schools have increasing numbers of its teachers fitting into one demographic, white and female, while the numbers of African American teachers decrease (Ladson-Billings, "Crossing over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms". San Francisco: Josey-Bass" [2001]). Furthermore, African American collegiates…

In this paper, we present a case study of a beginning chemistry teacher who enrolled in a project aimed to contribute to the development of teachers' knowledge of models and modelling in science. The project consisted of a series of institutional meetings in combination with an action research project the teacher conducted in her own classes. By…

This article reports on an empirical study exploring Ghanaian teachers' understandings of teaching, learning and assessment. It argues that received views of poorly trained teachers with untheorized and badly reasoned professional practices may mask a more complex situation. In defining learning, teachers in the study reproduced models consistent…

Pre-service teachers who had completed their practicum or student teaching and in-service teachers in their first 3 years of teaching (n = 218) completed open-ended surveys about their beliefs and fears of school violence and rated their fears for such acts as use of weapons and the likelihood of those acts about their fears about schools and…

This paper presents the findings of a small-scale research project about student teachers' perceptions and experiences of environmental education. The context of this study is a pre-service teacher education faculty in rural New South Wales, Australia. A combined methods approach was applied, with a survey designed from rich data elicited through…

Being a first-year teacher in New York City is not easy. The author received much of the same preparation and advice that he and his colleagues give their students. But even the best education courses and a positive student teaching experience do not seem to be enough to take the edge off of a year he remembers barely surviving. The author…

This research project aimed to establish the attributes that are sought by schools in New South Wales when they are selecting new language teachers. The research provided some insight into the decision makers' "wish lists" of desirable attributes. The findings of the project include useful data for employers, teachers, teacher educators,…

Rote teaching and learning have their place, but not in a music course and an art and design course in which two dozen students at Queensborough Community College (QCC) enrolled together. In addition to a shift toward increasing cultural relevance in their courses, QCC began to explore a learner-centered pedagogy that would better respond to the…

Educators exert a tremendous influence on gifted children's academic and social-emotional development, thus their perceptions of these students is critical. Many factors are associated with a successful classroom experience for the gifted child, and the classroom teacher plays a vital role in that success. The teacher influences not only the…