This study explores the mental images at the microscopic level of matter created by 22 preservice science teachers in Oman. Participants were encouraged during a guided imagery session to construct mental images for a scenario written about the explanation of the reaction of sodium in water. They were then asked to describe what they envisioned in…

Imagination is what the U.S. was built on and what it requires to achieve and maintain its status in the future. In this article, the author says that there is a failure of imagination in education in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era. Scores on tests do not translate into creativity or imagination; nor do such tests and the curriculum that…

In this article, the author discusses how students create their arts projects by responding to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner." In creating their arts projects, students incorporate film, painting, performance, and other arts in their imaginative and innovative responses to Coleridge's classic work. The author discusses…

Play is a complex phenomenon that occurs naturally for most children; they move through the various stages of play development and are able to add complexity, imagination, and creativity to their thought processes and actions. However, for many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), the various stages of play never truly develop, or occur…

Play, particularly children's sociodramatic play, is the cornerstone of early childhood classrooms in the United States. Early childhood educators learn and expound mantras of "the value of play," "play-based programs," "children learning through play," and "play as child's work." They strive to promote the importance of making a place for play in…

Professors from American University and artists and educators from Imagination Stage, a children's theater and arts-education organization in nearby Bethesda, Maryland, have combined their intellectual and artistic strengths over the past 12 years to create an arts-integrated educational program for elementary and secondary schools throughout the…

This article presents a speech delivered by the author for the Kent M. Christiansen Memorial Lecture series in April 2008 at Arizona State University. The author discusses why he thinks that approaches to academic advising theory and research that arises out of the humanities can be of great value to practitioners in the field of academic…

Real learning often can't be quantified, and a corporate-style preoccupation with "data" turns schooling into something shallow and lifeless. Ideally, attention to learning signifies an effort to capture how each student makes sense of the world, so teachers can meet them where they are. "Teaching is mostly listening." (It's the learners who…

In this essay, Simon Marginson focuses on self-determining academic freedom in universities, and especially the conditions and drivers of the radical-creative imagination that is manifest in sudden intellectual breaks in knowledge. Marginson's objective is to establish foundations in political philosophy for a sociological study of the effects of…

There are hundreds of ways to develop creativity among children, youths and adults. Developing new ideas and ways of teaching creativity should also incorporate youth's interests and hobbies. The article presents the main information about the new way of developing creative abilities, especially creative imagination, the Role Play Training in…

A number of theorists, including Charles Taylor, Arjun Appadurai and Dilip Gaonkar all associated with the University of Chicago based journal, "Public Culture," have developed the idea of social imaginary. Their notion of imagination departs significantly from traditional philosophical and sociological analyses that view imagination as an…

Ireland is in the grip of a postmodern cultural deconstruction on many levels. The traditional "grand narratives" are increasingly viewed with suspicion and disenchantment as Ireland struggles to understand its evolving identity. There is a growing need for comprehensive interdisciplinary research that will facilitate teaching and…

This article introduces a sociology role-playing game (RPG) used to demonstrate the broad range of social forces, institutions, and structures in a semester-long series of in-class and homework assignments. RPGs and other simulation games have been frequently suggested as a useful teaching methodology because of their unique ability to allow…

The authors investigate the nearly ubiquitous cultural icon for girls' play, the princess. They survey historical instances of princess play from the beginning of the American republic to the New Millennium, look at the literature concerning princesses in various periods, and discuss the individual recollections about princess play of a number of…

The authors explore how children's play can support the development of the foundations of mathematics learning and how adults can support children's representation of--and thus the "mathematization" of--their play. The authors review research about the amount and nature of mathematics found in the free play of children. They briefly…