This study aimed to investigate how well gender, socio-economic status of family, and socio-cultural influences (perceived parents' achievement goals, and perceived teachers' achievement goals) predict middle school students' task value beliefs in science. Background Characteristics Survey, Motivated Strategies for Learning…

This research gave voice to teaching assistants, exploring their experiences and perceptions. A small-scale case study approach was adopted, which aimed to interpret and explain human actions and thought through descriptions, capturing first person accounts. Qualitative data was collected from two focus group interviews. Participants were employed…

The new Secondary Curriculum (implemented in 2008) saw greater emphasis on creativity within the National Curriculum for England. Since this term has been boldly stated, how have teachers and pupils responded to it in the classroom? This study draws on responses from a range of pupils in different Key Stages (2 (pupils aged 7-11), 3 (pupils aged…

The first part of this study shows that there is increased support for using video games in the classroom from different stakeholders, namely students, teachers and parents. The potential role that video games can play in the classroom learning process needs to be more well defined. There is a dire need for research work under experimental…

This study reports the relationships between coping styles of Australian teachers and the classroom based classroom management techniques they use to cope with student misbehaviour. There is great interest internationally in improving educational systems by upgrading the quality of teachers' classroom management. However, the relationship between…

This study examined first-year teachers' (FYTs) experiences at high poverty and non-high poverty schools, exploring their emotional responses to critical incidents. Twenty-eight FYTs were interviewed. The results highlighted the influence of FYT's interactions with students, coworkers, administrators, and parents on their emotions. FYTs at high…

This research investigates who students, parents and teachers believe is responsible for student learning. Thirteen focus groups were conducted with Year 9 and 10 students, and parents and teachers from three diverse New Zealand secondary schools. Differences were found with respect to whom the three stakeholders thought were responsible for…

Students and academics have always used different sources of knowledge to generate and to interpret academic and social behaviours, but it is asserted that the increasingly diverse environments of 21st century higher education lead to greater levels of complexity in learning, teaching and assessment and to a consequent shift in the ways in which…

This research examines the practices used in assessing students' competencies in the European Higher Education Area. The main objective is to describe the current situation in the Spanish universities, concentrating upon the following questions: what are the most common assessment practices used by academics; how do university academics evaluate…

Building on findings from existing qualitative research into public perceptions of reliability in examination results in England, a questionnaire was developed and administered to samples of teachers, students and employers to study their awareness of and opinions about various aspects of reliability quantitatively. Main findings from the study…

The present study explored the association between child internalising and externalising problems in schools and demographic factors (sex and age), school functioning (academic performance and adaptive functioning) and teacher-reported student-teacher relationship quality in a cross-sectional study using structural equation modelling. The study…

This paper reports on a year-long research study: four teachers of English, their Year 8 (13-14 year old) classes (110 students) in urban, secondary schools and a university teacher educator investigated the contexts for students to develop dialogic, exploratory talk in small groups. Assuming a Vygotskyan perspective, the study adapted a pedagogic…

The paper is based on interviews with a sample of 200 teachers from the Limpopo province about their life histories, particularly those aspects related to their choice of teaching as their first career path, and their expectations, experiences and perceptions in this regard. It argues that current approaches to teacher education in South Africa…

Two departments in a secondary school in England participated in "lesson study" projects over a five-month period to explore its usefulness as a vehicle for professional development. Through a cycle of two research lessons, conducted separately in each department, teachers identified challenges that inhibited the learning of their…

Collaborative learning can, if designed and implemented properly, contribute to student learning outcomes and prepare them for teamwork. However, the design and implementation of collaborative learning in practice depend on beliefs of lecturers about teaching and learning in general, and collaborative learning in particular. One hundred and…