Warren Valentine was dissatisfied with his Year 7 students' accounts of change across the Tudor period. Fixated with Henry VIII's wives, they failed to reflect on or analyse the bigger picture of the whole Tudor narrative. In order to overcome this problem, his department created a "thought-map" exercise in which students had to re-work…

Pedagogic frailty has been proposed as a unifying concept that may help to integrate institutional efforts to enhance teaching within universities by helping to maintain a simultaneous focus on key areas that are thought to impede the development of pedagogy. These areas and the links that have been proposed to connect them are interrogated here…

This article is based on quantitative and qualitative data that have been generated since 2009 on the study skills needs of early years practitioners working in England. The research has identified that developing information technology skills appears to be a particular professional development need for these practitioners. The practitioners are…

This paper focuses on the preliminary design of a multifaceted computer-based mathematics resource for undergraduate and pre-entry engineering students. Online maths resources, while attractive in their flexibility of delivery, have seen variable interest from students and teachers alike. Through student surveys and wide consultations, guidelines…

This article develops the concept-mapping method as a tool for enhancing teaching quality in higher education. In particular, it describes how concept mapping can be used to transform abstract knowledge and understanding into concrete visual representations that are amenable to comparison and measurement. The article describes four important uses…

The development of teaching in higher education towards a more learner-orientated model has been supported by the literature on individual learning differences and on learning styles in particular. This has contributed to the evolution of university pedagogy away from a medieval transmission model than runs counter to contemporary understanding of…

This paper uses case study methodology to investigate the subject conceptualisation of two geography teachers at a mixed-ability comprehensive school in the UK. The research used concept-mapping and semi-structured interviews to explore the teachers' understanding of their subjects, within the case study framework. Teachers were asked to describe…

Pupils with autism often present significant challenges to teachers. They seem to have real strengths in visual processing but a cognitive style that encourages them to focus on detail rather than the overarching connections between concepts. Veronica Roberts, currently undertaking doctoral training at the Institute of Education, University of…

Evidence from several media illustrates the ways children attempt to fit their observations into their own, known constructs. The contrast is drawn between adult concepts and children's misconceptions and the argument made that children would have more control over their learning with a "bottom-up" approach to teaching rather than the…

Describes a study to investigate how effectively concept mapping can be used to focus children on their own learning in science and to provide a way of describing their own achievements. Findings indicate that some children were able to identify specific targets for future learning. Motivation and metacognition were the main areas of benefit. (PVD)

Describes the use of concept mapping in teaching complex notions in urban geography. Discusses the nature and characteristics of concept mapping, course context, three experimental exercises, and student responses in evaluations. Finds that concept-mapping techniques increased students' understanding. Emphasizes the continuing potential of this…

The purpose of this study was to compare traditional classification training for a set of abstract concepts with multiple-relations training consisting of inference practice and the use of a content diagram. To examine this, 200 undergraduate and graduate psychology students completed a Web-based tutorial covering the abstract concepts of a…

The "Handbook of Research on ePortfolios" is the single source for comprehensive coverage of the major themes of ePortfolios, addressing all of the major issues, from concept to technology to implementation. It is the first reference publication to provide a complete investigation on a variety of ePortfolio uses through case studies and…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…