Background: The teaching and learning of skills in a classroom setting are often thought to require a resource-intensive approach. Purpose: This study explores the impact of a relatively basic and short communication skills teaching session on postgraduate students' self-perception of their skills. Methodology/Approach: Data was gathered using a…

This article reports on the differential impact of a curriculum intervention on students' understanding and practice of virtue. The research is germane given Ofsted's new requirement that its inspectors should assess how the curriculum in all schools in England and Wales supports students' character development. Results are reported here for a…

The relationship of expected and actual difficulty of items on six mathematics question papers designed for 16-year olds in England was investigated through paired comparison using experts and testing with students. A variant of the Rasch model was applied to the comparison data to establish a scale of expected difficulty. In testing, the papers…

Based on the growing support that relates reading comprehension with morphological awareness, a short intervention was designed and piloted to see if instruction in morphological analysis could improve reading comprehension or vocabulary with primary school students. The intervention was piloted with a small group focusing on pre- and post-test…

This study investigates the impact of a professional development programme for teachers that encourages more cognitively challenging, practical, and interactive science lessons. Using a Randomised Controlled Trial, its impact was measured by pupil learning outcomes. Pupils aged 9-10 at 42 primary (elementary) schools in Oxfordshire (England) were…

This article presents a systematic instructional design procedure to develop a Computer-Assisted Vocabulary Acquisition (CAVA) software in a consistent and reliable way. The design process involves ADDIE fundamental elements: Analyse, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. This article will describe in detail each of the five ADDIE…

This study contributes to teacher educators' pedagogical content knowledge by drawing on phenomenography-variation theory to (i) research and describe qualitative differences in Beginner Teachers' conceptions of pupils' understandings of subject content and, (ii) provide evidence of the effectiveness of an instructional strategy that might be…

Achieving fluency in important mathematical procedures is fundamental to students' mathematical development. The usual way to develop procedural fluency is to practise repetitive exercises, but is this the only effective way? This paper reports three quasi-experimental studies carried out in a total of 11 secondary schools involving altogether 528…

Background: Behaviour support plans (BSPs) are at the core of positive behavioural support for challenging behaviour, but nonadherence to BSPs is common. Generally, nonfluent component knowledge prevents learners achieving fluent application and retention of information, and we hypothesised that this may apply to staff learning BSPs. Method: We…

Busuu (https://www.busuu.com) is one of several existing Social Networking Sites for Language Learning (SNSLLs). According to Álvarez (2016), it has all the features an SNSLL should have. However, once Busuu migrated to a mobile compatible platform in 2016, it lost some of the social aspects of a Social Networking Site (SNS) determined by Boyd and…

Previous research suggests impaired metacognitive monitoring and mathematics under-achievement in autism spectrum disorder. Within educational settings, metacognitive monitoring is supported through the provision of feedback (e.g. with goal reminders and by explicitly correcting errors). Given the strength of the relationship between…

Previous studies in both typically and atypically developing children have shown that approximate number system (ANS) abilities predict formal mathematical knowledge later on in life. The current study investigated whether playing specially designed training games that targets the ANS system using nonsymbolic stimuli only would improve preschool…

A key influence on motivation to take part in lifelong physical activity is experience of physical education during the school years. Curriculum-based dance is important for providing a pathway into extra-curricular dance because, for many young people, physical education is their only opportunity to experience dance. A sample of 362 adolescents…

This paper overviewed some of the research that had already been conducted in schools to support student wellbeing and reported back on research that the author had conducted in her own school, evaluating an intervention that aimed to help Year 12 students cope better with stress. The results showed a small but significant improvement in students'…

Schools are places where children can learn behaviour, skills and attitudes that have lifelong relevance. In England, despite the continuing emphasis on attainment, there are clear moves to consider also the wider and non-cognitive outcomes of schooling -- such as pupils' development of trust, critical thinking and civic-mindedness. However, there…