In this commentary, I argue that Kevin Tavin's (2008) use of Lacan's "objet a" in his "Studies in Art Education" commentary "The Magical Quality of Aesthetics" is not a helpful analogy or solution for art education's search for the role of aesthetics. I offer that a pragmatist and dialogic viewpoint may be more useful and, because it describes the…

This article focuses on issues of childhood identity and urban environment. It discusses how a performance art pedagogy inspired by nomadic and relational aesthetics can provide a framework to promote creative learning experiences that address migratory conditions and forms of public alienation lived by young people today. As Lefebvre (1991)…

Postmodern street art operates under a set of references that requires art educators and researchers to adopt alternative analytical frameworks in order to understand its meanings. In this article, we describe social semiotics, critical discourse analysis, and postmodern street performance as well as the relevance of the former two in interpreting…

Research has shown that the study of children's drawings can shed light on certain problems, allowing many invisible sides of children's school life to emerge. Based on the results of that research, this article will study whether the use of drawings, and art in general, could lead to the reduction of social and academic marginalization and to the…

Historically, the majority of studies on children's image making have emphasized the appraisal of children's graphic development and/or the artistic qualities of children's pictures, thereby assigning them the status of self-contained visual artifacts and objects of analysis in their own right. However, such a product-oriented paradigm of inquiry…

This article reports on a study of creativity in art education, and more particularly, what teaching and learning to be creative implies. The study employs Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of the habitus, symbolic capital, and misrecognition. These concepts are demonstrably relevant for understanding creativity as a kind of social reasoning that is…

Drawing upon Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, neuroscience brain research, and the practices of contemporary artists Ann Hamilton, Jasper Johns, Elizabeth Murray, and Oliver Herring, this article argues for the relevance of conscious and unconscious knowledge in artistic practice. Parallels drawn between Lacanian psychoanalytic clinical practice…

Reports on a two-year study designed to investigate how a Web-Based Integrated Science Environment (WISE) project called "Plants in Space" featuring classroom investigations enabled 5th grade students to increase their understanding of plant growth and development. Investigates two versions of the curriculum and considers how understanding of the…

Reports on a qualitative study in which preservice science teachers (PSTs) enrolled in an advanced methods course participated in a complex, data-rich investigation based on an adapted version of the "Struggle for Survival" curriculum. Uses the Galapagos Finches software and emphasizes giving priority to evidence and constructing evidence-based…

Explores the experiences of one teacher as she used the Internet on her own as a tool for changing her practice, and used it as part of a unit on nuclear chemistry. Suggests that reform by way of the Internet is complex and challenging and makes huge demands on teacher knowledge and time. (Contains 47 references.) (Author/YDS)

Investigates the use of the World Wide Web (WWW) as a research and teaching tool in promoting self-directed learning groups of 15-year-old students. Discusses the perceptions of students of the effectiveness of the WWW in assisting them with the construction of knowledge on photosynthesis and respiration. (Contains 33 references.) (Author/YDS)

Characterizes and classifies the way junior high school science teachers incorporate Web-based learning environments and materials into their teaching. Applies qualitative interpretive methodology and identifies four basic types of science teachers based on professional growth and beliefs about Web-based teaching: (1) the initiator and pathfinder;…

Focuses on the use of the Artemis web-based interface, which provides a digital library for students to search, organize, and evaluate science information related to project-based investigations. Describes high school science students' use of the scaffolding features embedded in Artemis. Reports that students relied upon the Organizational Feature…

Evaluates the scaffold designed as a dynamic modeling software tool called Model-It in terms of its ability to support learners' use of modeling practices. Discusses the continued empirical validation of types and instances of tool scaffolds. (Contains 50 references.) (Author/YDS)

Early science educators need a gradual introduction to peer review activities. Employs cultural sociology and activity theory to identify patterns of coherence and coexisting contradictions that create tensions to catalyze improvements in science education. (DDR)