Much of the literature on children's participation distinguishes sharply between "informal" and "formal" forms of participation, which although analytically convenient, may limit possibilities for theorising. This paper examines tensions and links between children's informal and formal participation, and looks at how…

Social media allows for a wealth of social interactions. More recently, there is a growing use of social media for the purposes of health education. Using an adaptation of the Networked student model by Drexler (2010) as a conceptual model, this article conducts a literature review focusing on the use of social media for health education purposes.…

Throughout the world, and for many decades, science-rich cultural institutions, such as zoos, aquaria, museums, and others, have collaborated with schools to provide students, teachers and families with opportunities to expand their experiences and understanding of science. However, these collaborations have generally failed to institutionalize:…

The purpose of this study was to explore the motivations of adults in choosing to participate in community orchestras. This paper identifies many of those motivations and examines the reasons and implications of why the adults in the study chose to continue to play in community orchestras. The investigation was conducted in 2007 via a case study…

The article reports on a 2-year higher education music programme for young rock musicians in Sweden called BoomTown Music Education. The pedagogical philosophy behind this programme is developed from the findings of two Swedish music education researchers, and the programme exemplifies how knowledge about popular musicians' learning strategies in…

Chicanas and Mexican women share a history of colonialism that has (a) sustained oppressive constructions of gender roles and sexuality, (b) produced and reproduced them as racially inferior and as able to be silenced, conquered, and dominated physically and mentally, and (c) contributed to the exploitation of their labor. Given that colonialism…

This article discusses children as contributors to sustainable ecological development. The aim of the article is to develop a framework for researching two questions: What are the prerequisites for children to become responsible environmentalists? What actual and potential influence do children have on their family's consumption? Three theoretical…

This theoretical paper attempts to clarify design issues that the field of education has encountered in the context of OER (Open Educational Resources), Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and increased emphasis on informal learning, as examined through the lens of the Interaction Equivalency Theorem. An overview of the core concepts of the…

In both formal and informal settings, not only science but also views on the nature of science are communicated. Although there probably is no singular nature shared by all fields of science, in the field of science education it is commonly assumed that on a certain level of generality there is a consensus on many features of science. In this…

This paper explores stakeholders' views on the desirability of collaborative continuing professional development (CPD) and examines potential barriers. It draws on two projects which each explore perceptions of CPD for teachers in Scotland. The data include interviews with key informants and with practising teachers as well as survey data from…

This paper describes the flexibility of Personal Response Systems (PRSs), (also known as "clickers" or electronic voting systems (EVS)), as part of strategies to support students' learning in science. Whilst variants of this technology began to appear 12 years ago, there is now a steadily increasing adoption of these systems within higher…

In this knowledge-based economy, corporations invest millions of dollars in training and expect a return on that investment; similarly, employees have a vested interest in wanting to further their knowledge and their ability to contribute. The types of e-learning strategies and instructional methods being employed elude the use of asynchronous…

In this paper, I suggest that it is perhaps time to consider the pedagogy of popular music in more extensive terms than conventional rock band practices have to offer. One direction in which this might lead is the expansion of the informal pedagogy based on a "garage band" model to encompass various modes of digital artistry wherever this artistry…

Learning is a lifelong process. Many countries in the world, basically the European and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, have adopted it as an important vehicle for human development. They have also made it a policy agenda for meeting the human capital need for twenty first century for economic prosperity.…

The informal learning that older (age 50+) men experience in Australia has been the subject of a suite of recent, intensive, mixed methods research projects in community-based voluntary organizations. The purpose of the research was to examine where men are learning in these contexts beyond work and formal education rather than to assume and…