education Archives

Pushing boundaries: Peter McLaren on the importance of critical pedagogy inside and outside the classroom

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An interview with Peter McLaren on how critical pedagogy has evolved and where he sees this social movement and philosophy progressing.

Peter McLaren is Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies and Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice of the Paulo Freire Democratic Project at Chapman University in the USA. Regarded as one of the leading architects of critical pedagogy, McLaren re-envisions the philosophy of Freire in the context of contemporary issues, including the struggle of the LGBTQ community, […]

How medical schools can evolve to tackle gun violence

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Professor Hargarten studies the psychological and social issues of gun violence.

Despite the shocking levels of gun violence in the USA and in the Americas, medical practitioners are taught little more than dealing with the direct biologic outcomes of bullets. Like other public health burdens, each tragic event results from the interplay of complex behavioural health, environmental, and social issues. Understanding gun violence as a disease requires examining these complex issues […]

How can mathematics research increase effective instruction and student success?

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Elementary and middle school students in the US are underachieving in mathematics. Those without adequate understanding of basic mathematical concepts and skills after completing kindergarten go on to struggle throughout their maths education. So how can teaching maths be improved to enable children to learn best? Dr Jonathan Brendefur and colleagues at the Developing Mathematical Thinking Institute (DMTI) have developed […]

Research Outreach – Issue 131: Vaccines, nanotech, and new teacher troubles

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Research Outreach Issue 131 covers the spectrum of scientific research from long-range submarine sensors to using nanotechnology in nuclear fusion, as well as social issues such as building inner strength, and how to support new teachers when teaching ‘out-of-field’. We cover a number of positive new insights in the field of medicine, including a valuable approach to childhood vaccines that […]

Out-of-field teaching: New teachers survive under pressure

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Susan Caldis explores the transition for early-career teachers, especially the impact of out-of-field teaching for specialist geography teachers

It is the nightmare of many early-career teachers: to have to teach a subject that’s not your specialism to a class of students who sense your fear. In newly published research, Dr Susan Caldis from Macquarie University in Australia finds that out-of-field teaching is a major issue which particularly affects teachers as they transition from initial teacher education programmes into […]

Labour force projections: Egypt anticipates a resumption of demographic pressures

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Professor Ragui Assaad researches Egyptian labour force growth as a result of the coming of age of the ‘echo generation’.

Egyptian youths born into the ‘echo generation’ of 2006–2014 are not yet of working age, but when they do enter the labour market there will be a vast increase in the supply of workers. Professor Ragui Assaad, of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota in the US, has been estimating the effects of this increase. […]

When children’s storytelling says so much more

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Effective storytelling can be challenging.

We take for granted that our children tell stories. But what if they can’t? Oral storytelling is a bridge to literacy, yet many children do not develop this skill naturally. Research has shown that narrative skill at school entry predicts writing and reading comprehension up to ten years later. Narrative intervention is a form of language therapy and a classroom […]

Conceptual change: Learners’ response to contradictory information

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Professor Patrice Potvin researches conceptual change in science education

Misconceptions can get in the way of teaching efforts and increasingly pose a significant challenge to science teachers. To discern exactly what science education literature can teach us about learners’ response to anomalous data, Professor Patrice Potvin, from the University of Québec in Montréal, Canada, has carried out a critical and systematic review of science education research literature. In this […]

Understanding teaching excellence in STEM subjects

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Alfred Thumser conducted a survey among bioscience students to identify what they classify as teaching excellence in STEM subjects, and identified key areas that students value in their education

STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering, maths – are undeniably important if we are to meet the needs of our increasingly globalised world. So knowing what encourages uptake of these subjects to the highest level is of the utmost importance. Good teaching might be an obvious answer, however we don’t fully understand what constitutes ‘teaching excellence’ in STEM subjects. Dr […]

Linking maths to the real-world

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Research Outreach - using frontage issues to explain mathematical problems to students

Introduction In high school and at pre-university levels, most maths lessons focus on the abstract, which can turn learners off and lead them to believe that mathematics is not relevant to their daily lives. Since the beginning of the 21st century, educational administrators and teachers have been focusing on how mathematics can be applied in the real-world. According to Vassiliou […]