pedagogy Archives

Steering STEM education development through play

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Chelsea Cutting and Tom Lowrie explore the importance of play and intuition in children’s early connections with STEM learning.

The growing importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for learning at school and beyond is placing increased emphasis on building the framework for their experiences in early childhood. However, designing the learning progressions children experience during this time undervalues a remarkable fact: children’s connection with STEM is intuitive. Chelsea Cutting of the University of South Australia’s Mount Gambier-based […]

Making organic chemistry fun, meaningful, and accessible

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Using relevant day-to-day examples and applications, Dr Irosha Nawarathne aims to make organic chemistry meaningful and accessible.

Many undergraduate students perceive organic chemistry modules as make-or-break courses in their university career. They often resort to rote memorisation, which not only alienates them but prevents them understanding the discipline in depth. Social and economic factors may also be significant barriers in the study of this fundamental subject. With examples drawn from her extensive teaching experience, Dr Irosha N […]

Research Outreach – Issue 133: Bee farming, electrical eye activity, and IP disputes

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In the last issue of 2022, Research Outreach contains a sparkling array of articles covering the latest studies into topics such as intellectual property, health and gender inequality, and an eye-opening experiment on detecting vision problems in alcoholics. We feature some fascinating interviews, talking to leaders in their fields about the importance of critical pedagogy and how a programme assessing […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Diverse Horizons: Investing globally in social and environmental sustainability

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Tony Marshall has founded both Diverse Horizons, Inc. and The Diverse Horizon Foundations to provide multiuse community-based facilities to provide educational opportunities around environmental sustainability and social equality.

The issues of climate change, environmental degradation, and social inequality are growing ever more challenging. Considering these problems, global goals for sustainable development have encouraged treaties such as the Paris Agreement and the proposed Green New Deal. Mr Tony Marshall, the Founder, President, and CEO of his corporations Diverse Horizons, Inc. and The Diverse Horizons Foundation, has been diligent in […]

Intergenerational mobility and school inequality in the US

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a group of school children outside school

Children of different income groups attend schools of different quality. To understand how unequal school opportunity contributes to differences in social mobility and human capital, Professor Jean Hindriks, Head of the Economics School of Louvain at UCLouvain, Belgium, and Dr Andreu Arenas, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Barcelona, have extended the classical Becker-Tomes-Solon parent-child transmission model to […]

Peer observation and review improves university science teaching

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STEM subjects in higher education are often taught by staff who have little or no formal training in how to teach. The Peer Observation and Review of Teaching (PORT) program provides a means for university academics to improve their teaching through feedback from their peers. Helen Georgiou and co-workers from the University of Sydney have investigated the effectiveness of the […]