This article is developed from the contents from one of the chapters the researcher has written as part of her PhD thesis. It discusses various methodological challenges the researcher had to face during the phase of data collection in the prisons of Kerala, India, and the strategies adopted to overcome these challenges. This article is intended…

Globalization has become one of the most recurrent concepts in social and political sciences. More often than not, however, the concept is handled without much of a properly articulated theory capable of explaining its historical origin and expansion. For education researchers attempting to elucidate how global changes and processes affect their…

Education is the foundation to almost all successful lives, and it is important that a high level of schooling be available on a global scale. Studying the trends in accessibility in education will allow educators to improve their own teaching techniques, as well as expand their influence to more remote areas in the world. "The Future of…

In this response to commentaries by Ali Sammel, Jhumki Basu and Alberto Rodriguez, I present my perspective on three important issues raised by the commentators. These issues relate to the role of a researcher in her field settings and society, the critique of science and science education as oppressive dominant discourses, and co-opting…

This paper provides a critical review essay of Ajay Sharma's "Portrait of a science teacher as a bricoleur: A case study from India." The main focus is two fold. First, arguments are presented to draw attention to how little advances in science teaching and science learning research have impacted teachers' practice and student…

In this paper, in response to Ajay Sharma's paper titled "Portrait of a science teacher as a bricoleur: A case study from India" and associated reviews, I address the value of bridging two narrative styles for describing teacher development, discuss questions of over-essentializing an Indian school context, propose that teacher and…

Investigates the nature of catastrophic volcanism and the rifting process. Describes two kinds of evidence: quantitative descriptions of rock melting and a wide range of observations. Discusses examples of continent growth in the North Atlantic, India and the Seychelles islands, and the South Atlantic. (YP)

Purpose: The paper aims to study how the present distance learning libraries can improve upon their existing services and introduce new ones to enhance quality of services to distance learners. Design/methodology/approach: The paper includes a review of literature on quality assurance in open and distance education in general and student support…

In this case study, we are able to take a close look at a situation not often encountered in the literature on ICTs in emerging economies: a private company from an emerging economy provided much-needed funding for a US NASA higher learning consortium through a contract for training and research and development in 3D visualization. This study…

Identifies and describes major sources of information on the life and work of Ranganathan, the leader of the Indian library movement and a major contributor to the fields of library and information science. (CLB)

Sixteen concept words related to "matter" were described as simple textbook definitions and 16 multiple-choice items were constructed for each concept definition. These materials were used to compare the ability of 1,635 Tasmanian and 826 Indian students to recognize the concept definitions and their attendant verbal labels. (JN)

Investigated the meaning that Hindi-speaking students (N=826) in India and English-speaking students (N=1,635) in Tasmania preferred when thinking about each of 16 key concept definitions associated with the theme "the nature of matter." Results show marked changes in the development of these preferences which raises issues for science…

The misconceptions related to the concepts of force and acceleration among college students are explored. Misconceptions are identified and their occurrence among a large percentage of students are observed. Provided are some implications for physics teaching and an eight-item test. (Author/YP)

The level of meaning (membership, partial association, or generalization) that English-speaking (N=1635) and Hindi-speaking students (N=823) preferred when thinking about each of 16 key concept definitions associated with the theme "the nature of matter" was measured for each concept. Results and implications for science instruction are…

Investigates the relevance and concomitant impact of sociocultural experiences upon the scientific literacy of 87 students, aged 13 to 16, concerning their comprehension and assimilation of scientific data involving solar eclipses. Results indicate that the students' nonscientific conceptions about solar eclipses, generated through sociocultural…