This research investigated Grades 5 and 6 science workbooks for the degree to which they promote scientific inquiry abilities, opportunities that students had to acquire these abilities and the obstacles hindering students from implementing them. A document review technique and a constant comparative method were applied sequentially. A total of 58…

The purpose of this study is to explore students' self-regulation and teachers' influence in science and to examine interplay between ethnicity and gender. Analysis of data from seven Oslo schools (1112 sampled students in the first year of high school) shows that the ethnic minority students reported using learning strategies in science more…

Understanding the science in a "socio-scientific issue" is at the heart of the varied definitions of "scientific literacy". Many consider that understanding evidence is necessary to participate in decision making and to challenge the science that affects people's lives. A model is described that links practical work, argumentation and scientific…

This paper considers conceptions of the term "academic identity" amongst lecturers delivering higher education business programmes (HEBPs) in further education colleges (FECs). A brief look at leading authors' work on the subject of identity is considered first, which then moves on to offer a preconception of the term "academic". The data were…

Innovations in assessment practice have become widespread in Higher Education (HE) throughout the world. Taking a case study approach, this paper examines the nature of students' assessment preferences at one English university, and compares the views of UK students with a sample of learners from a number of other countries studying at the same…

Problem-based learning (PBL) and Context-based learning (CBL) are often cited as having a positive impact on student learning. However, the discourse of these innovative teaching approaches often centres on gifted and/or experienced learners. The aim of this article is to report on the development of resources for a mixed ability cohort of…

The impact of national education policies on programme design practice in post-compulsory education tends to be marginalised in scholarly literature. This paper reviews and analyses the literature to explore how neo-liberalist discourses introduced in tertiary education and qualifications policies in New Zealand since 1989 continue to influence…

The new requirements for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) courses for the Learning and Skills sector mean that mentors now have a more significant role in the formal assessment of their mentees' practical teaching. This research looks at the emerging dilemmas and challenges and investigates the changing and complex relationship in institutions…

Fascinated by the diversity of composition in effective work groups in Further Education (FE) classrooms, I studied group formation and composition in level 3 Biology classes over an academic year. Using information from the class teacher, observers and students, the importance of effective work groups (defining effectiveness in terms of…

This paper reports findings from the first year of a UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), "Widening participation: Diversity, isolation or integration in Higher Education?" Over a three-year period this project will explore issues of diversity and integration, social cohesion and separation, equality and discrimination as…

As a means of achieving scientific literacy goals in society, the last two decades have witnessed international science curriculum redevelopment that increasingly advocates a "new look" inquiry-based approach to learning. This paper reports on the nature of the student-experienced curriculum where secondary school students are learning under a…

There are continuing educational and political debates about "inquiry" versus "direct" teaching of science. Traditional science instruction has been largely direct but in the US, recent national and state science education standards advocate inquiry throughout K-12 education. While inquiry-based instruction has the advantage of modelling aspects…

A recent reform initiative in the Malaysian educational system has sought to develop "Smart schools", intended to better prepare students for adult life in a developing economy and to increase the flow of young people prepared for scientific and technological careers. The study reported in this paper examined lower-secondary science teaching,…

The literature is replete with studies about the importance of context in relation to teaching and learning. Major international studies such as PISA, among others, attempt to develop an understanding of achievement in science learning in a variety of educational contexts. Here we explore the influence of educational context itself on science…

The link between absenteeism and students' academic performance at university is perpetually a hot topic for teaching academics. Most studies suggest the effect is negative, although the strength of this effect is in dispute. The issue is complicated further when researchers draw their inferences from different angles, such as the removal of a…