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The article looks into the significant use of pseudo-science in science education. A pseudo-science is a systematic body of propositions, practices, and attitudes that gives the appearance of being a science but is not a science. Furthermore, the article has compared the differences between science and pseudo-science. Moreover, various approaches and ways in which the study of pseudo-science could be incorporated into science education has been presented through: (1) critical examination of historical cases of pseudo-science along with cases of genuine science; (2) comparison of contemporary research paper with pseudo-science research paper; (3) use of laboratory works and processes to expose the scientific pretensions of pseudo-science; encouragement of students to bring examples of pseudo-scientific thinking; (5) evaluation of textbooks; and (6) testing of students' ability to recognize cases of pseudo-science.

This paper discusses pupil choice in relation to foreign language (FL) planning as an instance of micro-language planning. Borrowing from established language planning theory (Haugen, 1983; Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997), FL planning is conceptualised and defined here as the consideration of those aspects of language planning that reflect social, pedagogical and linguistic issues with a particular emphasis on foreign language choice in relation to FL learning. The prime focus is foreign language planning (FLP) in the context of secondary schools situated within multilingual communities in England. One impetus for this is the requirement of specialist language colleges (regular secondary schools with specialist language status) both to diversify FL provision and to meet the linguistic needs of their communities. This has foregrounded the importance of language planning for those schools and communities. Drawing on qualitative case-study project data from across multilingual schools in England, it is posited that older pupils could contribute in a meaningful way to foreign language and curriculum planning processes. Pupil data highlighted in this paper could be categorised as meaningful and steeped in immediate experiences, reinforcing the credibility of the pupils and the data in the research and LP processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building upon past studies of curriculum textbooks in the US, this paper presents an analytical framework that classifies curriculum texts according to their representation of reconceptualized curriculum scholarship. It uses four indicators of the representation of curriculum scholarship in the analyses of eight curriculum texts published in the USA in the 1990s: the author’s stated intentions; the organization of the table of contents; the treatment of the forms of reconceptualism; and the ratio of curriculum and non-curriculum journal citations. The analysis finds that reconceptualized curriculum scholarship has been at least mentioned, if not extensively treated, in most texts since the mid-1980s, and that this approach is most comprehensively treated in books published in the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational institutions pay careful attention to the design of program curricula, which represent a framework to meet institutional goals and missions. Of course, the success of any institution depends highly on the quality of its program curriculum. The development of such a curriculum and, more importantly, the evaluation of its quality are complex and time-consuming processes. This traditional approach requires many cumbersome manual iterations, making it a long and error-prone process. To overcome these problems, this paper proposes a new curriculum support engine as an alternative approach. The proposed curriculum support engine is a Web-based application that helps in designing any program curriculum in real time. The engine incorporates several important features, allowing the verification of the proposed curriculum coherence and the generation of statistics necessary for academic and accreditation purposes. Useful viewing and editing tools are also provided. The proposed curriculum support engine is flexible and allows additional criteria that the curriculum designer can specify to be incorporated. In particular, the engine covers the Accreditation of Canadian Engineering Programs (CEAB), the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), and the Commission of Academic Accreditation of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of UAE (CAA-UAE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following paper describes the promise and reality of creating fraud and forensic accounting courses and curriculum. The project was supported by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Model Curriculum guidelines were developed in three main phases: (1) constituting a planning panel to guide the project and selecting the members of a technical working group of subject matter experts, (2) developing the curriculum guidelines, and (3) field-testing those guidelines. This paper provides background and motivation for the project, an overview of the project processes, and the educational guidelines (outcomes) that were developed by experts in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the policy and practice of choice, flexibility and differentiation within the 14-19 curriculum in England. After first locating these issues within contemporary curriculum policy it adopts a historical analysis tracing perspectives and practice since 1945. This narrative exposes complex oscillation in policy and practice in relation to curricular choice and differentiation, especially for 14-16 year olds. The paper ends by raising parallels between current and past policy and practice and suggests the need to engage in a more fundamental and informed curriculum dialogue in relation to choice, flexibility and differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When interactive computer technology is used in meaningful and connective ways, it both enhances and provokes the focus and purpose of art instruction and learning to be expansive and personally relevant. In this paper, we describe an approach to interpretation and curriculum design that requires users to make visual and conceptual associations among examples of visual culture, works of art, and content from various disciplines for the purpose of making meaning. A theoretical foundation for using hypertext authoring software to promote an empowering form of art education is provided, as are strategies for constructing rich interpretations of works of art and meaningful curricula. The use of hypertext authoring software by teachers and students to create interactive readings and on-going interpretations makes explicit their function as Type II applications. We believe that better ways of teaching and learning result from such interactive, hypertextual experiences with works of art, as they require users to make explicit various connections among various meaningful texts, experiences, and sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many indigenous minorities are in the process of revitalising their languages lost through such colonial policies as the use of colonial languages for instruction in schools. In these revitalisation movements, the indigenous language becomes a symbol of group authenticity. The literature suggests that indigenous populations define group authenticity as part of an oppositional identity relative to that of a dominant, or former colonising group and their language. This paper focuses on the case of Fiji, where English is the language of instruction in secondary schools but where the indigenous Fijian language has a strong presence, ironically, due in part to the historical use of the vernacular for academic instruction in mission schools. The paper explores the attitudes of indigenous Fijian secondary school students on English-language usage among peers and suggests that an indigenous group can define group authenticity independently of an oppositional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Psychological Association's Learner-Centered Principles provide empirically-based approaches to improving teaching and learning. However, in order to facilitate learner-centered, technology-rich instruction to K-12 students, teachers must be afforded opportunities to develop key understandings and skills, rarely evident in most professional development programs. In this paper, we synthesize empirically-based studies and recommendations for teacher learning and propose a learner-centered professional development (LCPD) framework to guide both professional development and empirical work on teacher learning. We describe LCPD components, discuss ways that technology can support LCPD, and highlight implications for research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This issue of MAI Review focuses on education policy and practice for Pasifika communities in Aotearoa New Zealand in the 21st century. It includes 11 papers which provide critically informed, evidence-grounded insights into Pacific Education; and many of the writers are optimistic in offering potential solutions to long-identified issues. The authors in this collection include a number of educators who are well-established as critical researchers and practitioners in the area of Pacific Education. It also includes papers from emerging researchers, who are characterised by an original and rigorous research approach and a topic of interest and importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Physical Education Review is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper an approach to the writing of evaluation questions is outlined and developed which focuses attention on the question of the effectiveness of an educational design for bringing about the learning it is intended to facilitate. The approach develops from the idea that all educational designs rely on instructional alignment, implicitly or explicitly, and succeed or fail to the extent to which the implementation of that alignment is effective. The approach to evaluation that is described, design-focused evaluation, utilises students' experiences of instructional designs and strategies and focuses questions on students' awareness of the effectiveness of those strategies for facilitating the intended learning outcomes. Detailed advice is given on the construction of items that fit with the approach described and that maximise the generalisability of the approach to most if not all educational settings and designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the significant models of learning theory in instructional design. This paper explores how could the learning theories in medical education be effective when adapted in instructional design. It investigates the various perspectives of learning which will be beneficial to instructional design learning.

The rationale for GRIMMATIK (coined from the brothers Grimm name and the German word for grammar 'Grammatik;' textbook forthcoming) is to offer a learner-oriented, research-based German grammar to intermediate and advanced students of German. Bringing together German grammar and the brothers Grimm fairy tales offers a different approach to learning and reviewing German grammar and it introduces students to the original German texts of the world-known and beloved fairy tales which were first published in 1812 as Kinder- und Hausmärchen (KHM). The GRIMMATIK method addresses a variety of grammatical elements in the analysis of selected brothers Grimm fairy tales. It is the student who finally constructs a reasonably simple form of German grammar, consecutively isolating the parts of speech, phrases, and sentence structure. Recognition of language patterns leads to paradigm segmentation and classification and eventually to internalisations of language rules and the acquisition of grammatical competence. This paper presents methods for using the Online Grimm corpus for German grammar learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the social meaning of subject choice in the post-16 context through a case study of Media Studies in a selective school. Students' accounts are discussed in terms of both their enjoyment of the subject and their negotiation of its ‘legitimacy’. The analysis of their comments in interviews stresses the subject's precarious position in a school where a relatively traditional hierarchy of subjects still prevails. It also considers the strength of family ‘projects’ in framing children's educational ‘choices’. Media Studies is discussed as a negotiable option primarily facilitating projections into a new middle-class sense of self-hood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the image of the teacher as a shaman. The shaman must suffer a wound in order to learn how to guide and heal others. Similarly, the teacher must suffer three types of wounds in order to maximize his or her professional, intellectual, and existential growth. These are the vocative wound, the interpretive wound, and the transferential wound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper brings a speculative, sociological perspective to the nature of ‘ability’ in physical education (PE) and asks why this aspect of embodiment, with notable exceptions, has received so little critical attention in the professional discourse of PE and associated research in recent years. It is suggested that thinking about ‘ability’ has become a taken for granted absent presence in the discursive practices of PE in the UK that variously helps configure attitudes towards the body, a sense of status, value, distinction, inclusion/exclusion and embodied self. Drawing on ideas from the theoretical work of Bernstein and Bourdieu the paper raises a number of issues about the ways in which ‘ability’ is constructed within the discipline that feed the various subcultures of the PE profession, influencing teaching in schools and teacher education. The paper suggests that unless greater attention is given to ‘physical education’, rather than the interest of sport and health, the profession is unlikely to make an impact either on the ‘abilities’ or other culturally informed differences that children and young people bring to schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years instructional design (ID) models have been a major focus of debate within the design community. The issue of creativity in ID is one area that has given rise to controversy. In this paper I present a topology of design questions and explore their potential contribution as a tool to promote reflection and designer discourse. First, I identify a topology of reflective action instructional design (RAID) questions. Next, I explore RAID within a community of design graduate students and its influences on design practices in terms of utility, originality, social contribution, and interest. Finally, I discuss ways to encourage reflection and designer discourse in design practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses an experiment in designing an effective one-semester high school Physical Science course. An approach that uses cooperative planning with the students was employed in the study. In proceeding with the study, the possibilities that the class could undertake within the scope of physical science was listed on a paper in the pre-planning stage. The teacher emphasized that democratic control of the class would prevail. The use of activity learning showed its value in the willingness and confidence displayed by students in demonstration work and term projects. The teacher gave anonymous evaluations half way through the course and during the term project presentations to determine the degree of satisfaction on the part of the students.

The article presents a strategy for developing a curricula for disadvantaged children through a programed instruction. This study aims to present an approach to language instruction for children of disadvantaged backgrounds. It also seeks to explain how would the curriculum use the discipline of programed instruction by a language and concept curriculum called Matrix Games. The relative contributions of research strategies for curriculum development is compared with the programed instruction. The paper's theme is explained in terms of the possibility of creating a curricula which differs from the academically oriented ones.

Social science disciplines have consistently been viewed for granted when contrasted with the physical sciences in the academia of Pakistan. The key objective of this research was to analyze the progress in the Social Science Education in terms of curriculum development, faculty increment and HEC policy Priority through content analysis. The Academic Dependency Theory was used for theoretical underpinnings. The qualitative research paradigm was used for this study. The relevant secondary data was gathered from books, articles, diaries, Bureau of statistics surveys, and other chronicled records of HEC and broken down appropriately. Applicable published and non-published information from 2003 to 2019 was chosen arbitrarily, of which approx. One hundred fifty articles were taken as sample. According to research findings, higher Education in Pakistan was designed without a solid policy and methodology. As a result, social science disciplines faced numerous challenges, including the defenseless instructional program development, a scarcity of skilled labor, dubious research frameworks, and inappropriate research projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) Program Information Tool. The program is created to let the programs in the instructional design and technology fields to share their program policies and procedures. There are at least 25 IDT programs in the United States which uses the Program Information Tool. The IDT Program Information Tool is designed to assist the benchmarking process. The program also includes program overviews, masters comprehensive, admissions policies, doctoral qualifying and preliminary examination procedures.

The study drew on Bernstein's theory and Moscovici's theory of Social Representations to investigate how children in classrooms with different types of structuration developed social representation of the curriculum. Comparable case studies were carried out in schools chosen to reflect three types of pedagogy according to Bernstein's typology. Twelve classrooms took part and ethnographic investigations were employed to compile a typology of recognition and realisation rules to map the range and type of curriculum structuration in each. Children's representations of the curriculum were investigated through specially designed tasks. Findings showed that as children gained experience of schooling they constructed more elaborate social representations of the curriculum regardless of the pedagogic mode and that classroom structuration became a feature of the junior rather than the infant children's representations. Older children in classrooms with performance pedagogies had two classifications for recognising classroom culture, while those in classrooms with mixed and competence pedagogies did not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives are inherent component of educational transactions, and have been in use explicitly since the early days of instructional design. The usage of objectives in education has resulted in many debates thereby supporting the conceptual development and terminological changes in the field. From educational objectives to learning outcomes it has seen many criticisms, but the continuous thinking has positioned the value of objectives on a stronger footing today than ever before. This paper reviews the conceptual development of 'objectives' and their usage in the educational literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we describe a case study of an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) integration module for pre-service teachers. In essence, we trace the history of how the module evolved into its current state of complementing both online and conventional forms of instruction. In particular, we recognize that such a historical trace of its evolution is important in understanding the social and cultural implications for the design of online learning. On-line learning may meet with initial resistance in traditional institutions including universities because an online culture requires time to evolve. Both logistical and pedagogical considerations need to be accepted by the community of learners and instructors. Without which, a ‘force-fit’ of online use may result and bring with it much frustrations to the learning community. Based on our experiences of the ICT integration course for trainee teachers, we discuss issues relating to curriculum changes, including formative and summative assessment. The success of online learning is in essence a progressive shift from summative to formative approaches and reaching a balance of both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addresses the issue of the need for the development of a post compulsory curriculum adequate to the demands of the 21st century in British education. Qualitative and quantitative issues involved in the development of a 21st century curriculum; Circumstances that can influence curriculum development efforts in the country.

Discusses the factors being considered in national curriculum-making in Australia. Trends in the Australian economy; Costs of education in relation to the outcomes of schooling; Integration of education and youth policies.

The article discusses the role of teachers in education curriculum development for science education in the U.S. In some schools, educational programs are offered which aims to suggest a variety of objectives for primary science and to show teachers how to develop more specific objectives, plan instruction useful in constructing effective education curriculum. Teachers are placed in vital decision making roles when it comes to curriculum development. They need to be exposed to many curricula and need to evaluate them, which therefore, science teachers would need to develop skills to make these evaluations.

The article discusses various issues related to the evaluation of curriculum. The article specifically refers to the International Clearinghouse Report which analyzed the nature and characteristics of 46 science curriculum projects. These curriculum projects were developed by groups of scientists, educators, teachers, and others. According to the author, there are two major purpose of curriculum evaluation. First, it helps in gathering information to improve a course. Second, it assists educators to take right decisions in curriculum planning and its effective use.

This article focuses on recent research that gives information about the four areas that influence curriculum decisions in the U.S. The four areas are the characteristics of learners, the process of learning, the effects of different tasks and methods, and the definition of various skills and abilities than can be viewed as outcomes of school learning. The distinction between social and psychological forces is arbitrary at times. The forces were classified as psychological within the framework of the alternative organization.

The article examines the scheme for the organization and classification of behavioral objectives in elementary school science. This strategy in science education could be used to aid the construction of an elementary science curriculum. The scheme includes a specific model that can be adapted to the needs of any given community. It explains: (1) how to select those behaviors desired for a given program; (2) how criterion measures can be developed to evaluate the program; and, (3) specific examples of a scheme for organizing and classifying the objectives into a workable hierarchy.

To better engage students in learning and equip them with analytical skills to work in clinical laboratories, the final-year curriculum offered in a 3-year diploma program at one of the polytechnics in Singapore was redesigned, from a modular system into a year-long program since 2006 using constructivist perspectives. The program started with a case-based learning approach, followed by experiential learning, and ended with a problem-based learning approach. After implementing the year-long program for 6 years, a study was conducted to review the program. Results based on a total of 15 interviews conducted at the end of each learning phases in the program show that the redesigned curriculum had enhanced student engagement and meaningful learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following publications emphasizing the need of a taxonomy for instructional methods, this article presents a literature review on classifications for learning and teaching in order to identify possible classifications for instructional methods. Data was collected for 37 classifications capturing the origins, theoretical underpinnings, purposes and uses, as well as degrees of documentation of these classifications. Using cluster analysis, the classifications were first grouped into three clusters according to their characteristics. A discriminant analysis identified three foci: narrow focus, holistic focus and versatile focus. Second, classifications were estimated whether they fulfill taxonomy validation criteria, which are used to judge classifications' internal consistency, meaningfulness to users, ease of navigation, and comprehensible content division. Only a small number of the reviewed classifications fulfilled more than one of the criteria, with the most criteria fulfilled being three. The article concludes that a classification of instructional methods is still needed as the reviewed classifications do not provide sufficient quality, purpose-related setup, or user orientation. Future classification efforts should involve the users in the development to ensure appropriate language and task orientation of the classification. An approach for performing user-driven development is outlined, and applications in a higher education setting and instructional design software are demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article identifies some key findings in pedagogical research over recent decades, placing them within a framework of logical curriculum development and current practice in quality assurance and enhancement. Throughout, the ideas and comments are related to the practice of teaching classics in university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Accounting Perspectives is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article provides information related to teachers who work with children from pre-K through grade 3. Early childhood educators are a diverse group. Some are veterans, some are new to the field. Regardless of the pathway to teaching in an early childhood classroom, certain dispositions or attitudes set these educators apart from teachers of older children and adults. Successful early childhood educators need patience and the ability to observe children, behavior, environments, colleagues, and families and to use what they discover to create an environment that supports children's learning.

The article presents a new approach to emergent curriculum planning for young preschoolers. The child-centered webbing helps educators keep the child as the center of emergent curriculum and in turn helps preservice students in the classroom keep children's interests and needs as the focus of their planning. Child-centered webbing is grounded in the emergent curriculum approach that is believed to support rich learning for young preschoolers. The approach builds on the expertise of those who have shown that webbing is a powerful tool supporting curriculum development.

This article describes data from the Community Mapping Project, a set of statistical activities and inquiry projects within a summer seminar for high school students. In designing the Community Mapping Project, we attempted to create conditions under which urban students themselves would come to recognize how mathematics is relevant to their lives and their communities. Using mixed methods, we analyzed the pre- and postassessments and final projects of 25 high school students to investigate what students learned from their experience. We also analyzed the data from video case studies to begin to understand how learning was organized. Our qualitative analysis revealed several tensions that emerged between the goals and norms of our instantiation of a culturally relevant pedagogy and the goals and norms of our mathematics pedagogy. We argue that how these tensions are navigated mediate what opportunity students have for learning statistics. This article provides some considerations and lessons learned that may help inform both teachers who wish to rethink their mathematics pedagogy, and the designers who wish to create culturally relevant curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Claims are frequently made that practice should be based on evidence. However, the nature of what should count as 'evidence' depends on purpose and context. In the case of curriculum development, decisions may rest on local and provisional evidence. This article takes an area of contemporary political interest - enhancing student employability - and illustrates the point with two examples of the use of survey methods for pedagogical purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this analysis of 58 empirical studies of high school block scheduling, the authors report findings in and across five groupings. Within groups, data were inconsistent regarding whether teachers' practices changed, but teachers believed that staff development was necessary to teach in a block schedule. Block scheduling appeared to increase student grade point averages and improve school climate, but the results regarding its effects on standardized test scores and attendance were inconsistent. Across studies, the findings indicated that (a) research studies omit key information; (b) teachers and students may view block scheduling positively (but their reasons are unknown); and (c) changes in teachers' practices are inconsistent. Many studies reported data that were collected over short periods of time. The authors of this analysis offer generalizations about block scheduling research, recommendations for further research, and a discussion of implementation issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal application of a suite of curriculum authoring tools (CATs) to inclusive classroom teaching practice in a secondary school setting. The study sought to establish whether the incorporation of the CATs into the teachers’ curriculum development and implementation covaried with improved implementation integrity of classroom teaching practice over time. A repeated measures design was used to establish whether those teachers with high levels of tool use also recorded higher levels of implementation integrity in their use of specific inclusive teaching practices. The effects of the tools were measured using 578 50-minute classroom observations gathered over a 2.5-year period. The results indicated that higher levels of implementation integrity in classroom practice covaried with the extent to which the tools were used for the design and implementation of curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the demand in schooling in the educational policy world. This demand refers to a multi-layered set of issues, not single dimension. Outcomes reflect complex interactions of both demand, supply and contextual factors. An intellectual from U.S. gave a conceptual discussion regarding educational supply and demand, the primary policy challenge of how to respond to urgent increase and accurate demands on the education system while giving assurance that the type of their response does not undermine the public objectives pursued through schooling, including those nation building and which move up recently.

Mental models are one way that humans represent knowledge (Markman, 1999). Instructional design (ID) is a conceptual model for developing instruction and typically includes analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (i.e., ADDIE model). ID, however, has been viewed differently by practicing teachers and instructional designers (Kennedy, 1994). In a graduate ID course students constructed their own ID models. This study analyzed student models for (a) what ADDIE components were included (by teacher, nonteacher), and (b) model structural characteristics (by teacher, nonteacher). Participants included 178 students in 12 deliveries of a master's level ID course (115 teachers, 63 nonteachers). Our conceptual ID model is presented, and the ID model task is described. Students most frequently represented design, followed by program evaluation, needs assessment, development, and implementation. In terms of structural characteristics, 76 models were characterized as metaphoric, 61 dynamic, and 35 sequential. Three interrelated conclusions and implications for ID learning are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary teacher education demonstrates the continued use of competency-based, personality-based and inquiry-based approaches. These approaches are commonly regarded as representing alternative paradigms for designing curriculum and pedagogy. From a Vygotskian perspective, characterized by the use of bridging concepts relating individual functioning and personal development to sociocultural process and setting, these approaches may serve to provide elements for a more comprehensive paradigm of professional development. Drawing on Vygotskian theory, a teacher-education environment offers support to trainee teachers for developing a professional identity. A central element is that trainees explore the practice of teaching for its underlying public meanings and as these meaning relate to their own structures of personal meanings. Such an exploration involves the shaping and testing of personally-meaningful action in professional practice. Commitment to meanings found to be valid and practicable constitutes the core of professional identity. The task students face in developing professional identity on the basis of an assignment of meaning to teaching needs an appropriate teacher-education environment. These conditions are worked out from a Vygotskian perspective on professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

History is an often unsettling and sometimes uncomfortable subject. It is controversial and often very sensitive. There is some consensus about its importance in the school curriculum but much less agreement about what it is for (Slater 1995: xi). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A distributed perspective offers a new and important theoretical lens through which leadership practice in schools can be reconfigured and re-conceptualized. However, contemporary discourse about distributed leadership theory remains a way of analysing rather than describing leadership practice. While the research suggests that distributed forms of leadership can assist capacity-building within schools, further work is needed to investigate the nature of the relationship between distributed leadership and improved school/student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, many authors have tried to describe, conceptualize, and visualize, and the instructional design or development possesses via a variety of process models. Most descriptions imply a rather homogeneous view of design, depicting it as an overall problem-solving process following general phases such as analysis, design development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE). However, researchers who have investigated how instructional designers actually work suggest that the process is much more heterogeneous and diverse than these ADDIE models suggest. This study collected case study data from 24 instructional designers in six different settings; they were identified as expert by their peers. The design process they used for a specific project were compared to four different paradigms created from the literature. The four paradigms and their underlying theoretical foundations are described and illustrated. Detailed results are reported, and reasons that designers did or did not use a particular paradigm are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The learning preferences of three hundred and thirty eight technology students enrolled in sub-degree programs at an Australian institution of Technical and Further Education were tested using the Canfield Learning Styles Inventory (CLSI). The results have been interpreted in a learning preferences framework and provide supportive evidence for the preferences factors of print-nonprint, collaborative, dependent, and autonomous learning identified by Sadler-Smith & Riding (1999). Although the research focussed on learning preferences the analysis also indicated support for the Wholist-Analytic cognitive style proposed by Riding & Cheema (1991). Gender differences were shown for the Interest subscales of the CLSI. Age-group differences were shown for several Conditions of Learning and Modes of Learning subscales. Implications for the design of training programs, and the skills that may need to be developed in technology learners to enable effective use of flexible delivery, are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]