Across the spectrum of academic disciplines, history is one of the few to be organized largely on the basis of the nation-state. With a few notable exceptions, only since the 1960s have American historians begun to see the limitations that this nation-bounded approach has imposed on the field. Since then a movement to internationalize the study…

This paper raises issues motivated by considering the "identity" of problem solving. This means that we are concerned with how other mathematics education topics impinge on problem solving, and with themes that naturally arise within the problem-solving agenda. We claim that some of these issues need more attention by educational research, while…

Despite growing interest in evaluative inquiry as a trigger for development of organizational learning capacity, there exists a paucity of empirical research in this area. This is particularly the case in the context of schools, where systematic inquiry to support decision making and problem solving is hardly a mainstream activity. The purpose of…

A two-year ethnographic observation of an inner-city high school in Los Angeles, USA, indicated that the principal, who was extremely dedicated to at-risk students and possessed a unique style of mentoring, played a major role in students academic achievement. We--the principal and the researcher who observed the school--inquired about the…

Perceptual and cognitive biases are significant factors influencing ethical judgment, conduct, and learning. These biases inhibit the quality of students' personal engagement, inquiry, and learning on cases and exercises assigned in business ethics courses. The purpose of this article is to describe certain common biases involved in the perception…

Although various governmental and professional organizations recommend that teachers use an inquiry-based approach to science education, most teachers do not use this pedagogy. Lack of content knowledge and/or insufficient skills in planning inquiry-based lessons may contribute to teachers' reluctance to utilize this methodological approach. This…

Inquiry. It's a word that every teacher has heard repeatedly since the publication of the National Science Education Standards. Given the challenges of teaching core content, preparing students for inquiry may seem like a daunting task. Yet there are many different approaches to inquiry. Examining the nature of the scientific method and reducing…

The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) what effect the use of interactive computer-based simulations (ICBSs), the use of laboratory inquiry-based experiments (LIBEs), and the use of combinations of an ICBS and a LIBE, in a conceptually oriented physics course, have on science teachers' beliefs about and attitudes toward the use of these…

The emphasis in both the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and "Science for All Americans" is on "science as inquiry" and inquiry-based science instruction as a way to accomplish the goals of science literacy. The NSES considers science as inquiry as a part of the content of science and include science as inquiry…

In this article, the authors show how two first year teachers a continent apart--Kim in the village of Tununak on the Bering Sea in Alaska and Chris in Beaufort, South Carolina, on the Atlantic Ocean--were able to take inquiry stances on their classrooms. In particular, through analysis of e-mails written in Chris' and Kim's first years of…

To assess the status and the trends of subject matters investigated and research methods/designs and data analysis procedures employed by educational researchers, this study surveyed articles published by the "American Educational Research Journal (AERJ)," "Journal of Experimental Education (JEE)" and "Journal of Educational Research (JER)" from…

We conduct research workshops twice each semester in our cell biology lecture course. Instead of solely analyzing data obtained by others, students form groups to design research questions and experimental protocols on a given topic. The main focus is the process of scientific thinking, not simply obtaining a correct product. (Contains 3 tables…

An action research study investigated how the multiple tasks found in WebQuests facilitate fifth-grade students' literacy skills and higher order thinking. Findings indicate that WebQuests are most successful when activities are carefully selected and systematically delivered. Implications for teaching include the necessity for adequate planning,…

This paper explores four issues that have emerged from the research on social, cognitive and teaching presence in an online community of inquiry. The early research in the area of online communities of inquiry has raised several issues with regard to the creation and maintenance of social, cognitive and teaching presence that require further…

An integrated learning object, a web-based inquiry environment "Young Scientist" for basic school level is introduced by applying the semiosphere conception for explaining learning processes. The study focused on the development of students' (n=30) awareness of the affordances of learning objects (LO) during the 3 inquiry tasks, and their ability…