In this article we describe the evolving structure of the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), a sociotechnical interaction network (STIN) designed to support a Web-based community of in-service and preservice mathematics and science teachers sharing, improving, and creating inquiry-based pedagogical practices. Specifically, we apply activity theory as…

Our pre-university chemistry students face problems achieving sufficient quality in chemical inquiry. To try to enhance the quality of student performance in chemical inquiry, Dutch pre-university chemistry students (age 17) carried out an authentic research project on "Diffusion of ions in distilled water." The learning materials for this student…

This paper describes a professional development model with promise for supporting meaningful shifts in practice. We begin by introducing the theoretical principles underlying our professional development model, with a focus on explicating the interface between collaborative inquiry in a learning community (Lave, 1991, In L.B. Resnick, J.M. Levine,…

Societal changes in late modernity influenced what persons should learn and also influenced how education should change to support these new learning requirements. Particularly, the increasing instrumentalization of our society requires more autonomous and reflective learners. On the one hand this article describes three specific examples of such…

This study examines question asking about "causal" relations when students read scientific texts. We examine the influence of the length of causal chains and the knowledge of readers. Students from grades 8 and 12 read two short paragraphs that described natural phenomena. Length of the causal chain linking cause and effect in two key sentences…

The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council 1996, "National science education standards." Washington, DC: National Academy Press) and various other national and state documents call for teachers who possess science content knowledge, employ an inquiry approach in teaching, and engage in reflective practices. This paper…

In an increasing number of schools and school systems, active, hands-on science is gaining momentum and realizing remarkable gains in students' science, literacy, and mathematics standardized test achievement. Two recent major research projects have documented significant improvements in objective test results, which are supported by extensive…

Sixty-five teams of basic and secondary school students solved problem-solving tasks during a virtual hike in a Web-based inquiry-learning simulation Hiking Across Estonia. This environment provided learners with all necessary background information for problem-solving and tools for carrying out experiments. There were 25 tasks in certain order…

The experience of seven community college instructors was documented as they applied, for the first time, principles and characteristics of constructivist pedagogy to the design of learning activities. The instructors became a community of learners as they collaborated and shared their experiences among themselves. They reported improvements in…

This paper explores the results of applying a diagnostic questionnaire for measuring the dimensions of a learning organization in a resource squeezed service organization. The questionnaire was conducted as the first stage of an ethnographic study of workplace learning in an aged care organization. It was distributed to the 600 employees in nine…

The study of school leaders' feelings during and about their work suffers from inadequate academic definitions about the depth, character, and legitimacy of those feelings, as well as from limitations on the means of capturing and recording those feelings. This study pushes the definitions of administrators' stress into the areas of traumatic…

This study explored, described, and discovered meaning in the lived experiences of PhD students regarding two courses: Philosophy of Science and Qualitative Methods. The philosophical underpinning was constructivism. The phenomenological methodology employed a structured questionnaire to collect data. It involved mailed computer disks with…

The Digital History and Pedagogy Project (DHPP) is an interpretive/pedagogical collection of Web-based historical resources designed for use in inquiry-based learning in high school and university classrooms. It has been created by faculty and graduate students at a large urban college of education. This paper provides a rationale for the project…

In this article, the author asserts that if Teaching Artists "must excel both as educators and artists, mastering the theory and practice of both fields, as well as the unique theory and practice that lies at their intersections" (Larson 13), then teachers who embrace the arts must master the creative process and experience what it is…

This paper discusses ways in which examiners position themselves in relation to doctoral students' knowledge. The epistemological thesis of Habermas is utilized and its well-established connections with the world of formal learning re-stated. Against this conceptual framework, the examiner reports are appraised with a view to identifying the ways…