Understanding how geologists conduct fieldwork through analysis of problem solving has significant potential impact on field instruction methods within geology and other science fields. Recent work has highlighted many aspects of fieldwork, but the problem solving behaviors displayed by geologists during fieldwork and the associated cognitive…

Project-based learning (PBL) is an effective approach to STEM education because it allows students to experience scientific inquiry by using their knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to solve realistic problems. PBL consists of four components: (1) posing and comprehending a driving question; (2)…

The aim of this article is twofold: first, to identify and address three central divisions in the field of authentic education that introduce ambiguity and at times inconsistencies within the field of authentic education. These divisions concern a) the relationship between autonomy and authenticity; b) the division between the two basic attitudes…

This article argues that one of the main goals of social or civic studies is to empower students. However, traditional teaching practices often have the opposite effect of disempowering students. Traditional teaching practices are understood to emerge from the history and context of public schooling, from early practices, which have been reified.…

This work concerns the professional development of UK teachers in their first year of teaching. It is interested in how the online discussions (ODs) these teachers undertook as part of the Master of Teaching contributed to this development process. The teachers worked in online tutor groups made up of teachers from different schools, phases…

This article outlines a qualitative narrative inquiry study conducted within Australia that focused on a group of female students commencing university, all of whom were the first in their family to pursue higher education. During 1 year of academic study, 17 women participated in periodic interviews as each moved through the year. By following…

Many changes in teaching practices (such as introduction of e-assessment) are initiated by school management, or by a lead teacher, but have direct impact on the learning designs of others. However, models of teachers as innovators, conducting evidence-based inquiry into their students' learning, view the teacher as initiator of change in their…

An Australian scholar in the Arts and Humanities responds to recent US models emphasizing civic-engaged learning as a way to renew the humanities in undergraduate education. Policy contexts and curriculum initiatives of kindred trends in recent Australian undergraduate education in the humanities are contrasted in this essay. The Australian…

Collaborative inquiry (CI) has emerged as a dominant structure for educator professional learning in the twenty-first century. CI engages educators in collaboratively investigating focused aspects of their professional practice by exploring student responses to instruction, leading to new understandings and changes in classroom teaching. However,…

Students from middle school to college have difficulties in interpreting and understanding complex systems such as ecological phenomena. Researchers have suggested that students experience difficulties in reconciling the relationships between individuals, populations, and species, as well as the interactions between organisms and their environment…

Inquiry-based teaching and learning are rooted in social constructivism and are central to curricular reform. Role theory and social constructivism provided insight into a commonly observed but insufficiently understood phenomenon in inquiry. Within inquiry, role shifts have been described as the switching of roles between students and teachers;…

This report demonstrates how one predominantly low-income school district dramatically improved student engagement in the classroom and increased high school graduation rates through project-based learning (PBL) and the effective use of technology. The report, which includes short video segments with educators and students, focuses on Talladega…

In this work we introduce the system for adaptive practice of foundations of mathematics. Adaptivity of the system is primarily provided by selection of suitable tasks, which uses information from a domain model and a student model. The domain model does not use prerequisites but works with splitting skills to more concrete sub-skills. The student…

In August 2010, the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) received a grant of more than $25 million from the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) program for a five-year study to validate its Leadership Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) model in three very diverse regions of the United States: rural North…

Decreasing motivation in science classes is often reported in many countries. Georgia, one of the post Soviet countries, has overcome the highly centralised educational system and nowadays implements a new national educational reform. National reforms demand more student-active and inquiry-based learning. Many Georgian teachers aren't ready for…