This article explores the development of a generative, research-based approach to mentoring initial teacher training students in a Training School/university partnership. Drawing on data from mentors, trainees and pupils it describes two phases of development, both of which use video recordings of participants' classroom practice to stimulate…

Previous research has indicated that university faculty members' attitudes towards students with disabilities varies depending on specific background qualities of those faculty, including gender, type of field (soft or hard science), and type of study (pure or applied). We examined epistemological beliefs as a possible mediator between faculty…

There is evidence that students' epistemological beliefs impact on approaches to learning and consequent learning outcomes. Epistemological beliefs have been shown to influence students' approaches to study and problem-solving, motivation and persistence in information seeking. There are also some preliminary research findings that suggest the…

This study investigated how preservice teachers' beliefs about the nature of knowledge influence how they learn from, and interact with, a case-based hypermedia system designed to highlight exemplary elementary literacy instruction. Specifically, we examined if teacher preparation students' epistemological beliefs influenced what cases they…

Although academic provision has become associated with professional education, knowledge is delivered through standard classroom methodology associated with liberal arts education. Elsewhere, a "practice turn" has elevated experience as a basis for knowledge. This article shows how practice became detached from theory and how through praxis they…

Although much is known about the differences between expert and novice problem solvers, knowledge of those differences typically does not provide enough detail to help instructors understand why some students seem to learn physics while solving problems and others do not. A critical issue is how students access the knowledge they have in the…

Personal epistemologies, individuals' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and how one comes to know, can facilitate and constrain cognition, motivation, and learning (Pintrich, 2002). They are especially relevant in teacher education because preservice teachers will become responsible for the knowledge and knowing of others. This study…

This study is an investigation of the epistemological beliefs and study habits of students undertaking first-year courses in Biological Chemistry and Biochemistry. In particular, we were interested in the relationship between students' epistemological beliefs about learning and knowledge, approaches to learning, and achievement. The study adopted…

To meet the challenges of fast-paced globalization and a more demanding high-tech environment of the future, it is imperative to train students for equipping with relevant abilities and competencies, especially in online literacy and communication skills, and assist them to build correct technology attitude and belief. Student teachers'…

Using a life notes methodology (Bell-Scott, 1994; Dillard, 2000, 2006; Simmons, 2007), I use personal narratives to describe my epistemological influences on my approach to educational practice, research, and the preparation of school leaders. Second, I share personal accounts of how my social justice lens expanded to be inclusive of lesbian, gay,…

Case studies are put to a variety of uses in investigating environmental and sustainability issues in higher education. These uses include: to document, describe (in detail), contextualize, investigate and/or explain information that characterizes and qualifies what is of interest in this area. The focus of the case study is often an event, a…

In this paper, the researcher will examine various points of view of the different epistemological schools of thoughts in the first section of the paper. This will be followed by the analysis of the knowledge base and pedagogical reasoning in the second section. The third section of the paper will be devoted to examine the modern pedagogical…

This study infused computer modeling and simulation tools in a 1-semester undergraduate elementary science methods course to advance preservice teachers' understandings of computer software use in science teaching and to help them learn important aspects of pedagogy and epistemology. Preservice teachers used computer modeling and simulation tools…

This article addresses the themes of this special issue by examining the disciplinary dimensions of learning and teaching within undergraduate courses in the areas of biology and history. Key ways of thinking and practising that biology and history lecturers wished to foster in their students are identified. It presents a relational view of the…

This paper argues that competency-based training in vocational education and training in Australia is one mechanism through which the working class is denied access to powerful knowledge represented by the academic disciplines. The paper presents a modified Bernsteinian analysis to argue that vocational education and training students need access…