Reports on an effort to improve articulation between science and education at Temple University. Describes the implementation of the cooperative controversy strategy into elementary science methods courses. Contains 26 references. (DDR)

Examines how the word "professionalization" is used within the social and political contexts in which teaching occurs, both historically and in current debates over educational reform. Argues that professionalization itself has no intrinsic meaning but is defined by the social, political, and economic relationships of a given society.…

In preparation for the centennial of Montessori education, school leaders have a unique responsibility--not only to the communities, but also to Dr. Montessori's memory--to revise the educational practices in a manner that is both respectful of her theories and responsive to a changing educational landscape. This article outlines one example of…

Research increasingly supports the theory that individuals' epistemological beliefs--their fundamental views about knowledge and how it is acquired--influence academic learning, thinking, and problem solving. This paper presents preliminary findings of an ongoing study of educators from Chile and Missouri involved in research projects. A total of…

This paper explores the nature and status of the mathematics reform movement (focusing on California's initiatives) in America's public schools, the connection between the reform movement and constructivist epistemology, the development of an assessment tool for measuring the degree of reform present in a secondary mathematics classroom, and the…

A discussion of reform in Australian higher education in the current context of rapid social, economic, and administrative change looks at several areas of concern: the direction of the institutions; an imbalance of management and substance; and a new conformism that encourages generic institutions based on an international model and inhibits…

Higher education's response to crisis must focus on developing institutions' competitive advantage. Technology is the basis on which institutional renewal must occur. American higher education is not using technology intelligently because it is driven by teaching, not learning. Today's technology fundamentally changes the relationship between…

Discusses the debates surrounding multiculturalism both as a politics of recognition and as a proposed epistemic position in the context of science education. Concludes that there are no reasons for linking a multiculturalist approach to science education with a non-universalist approach to science. (Contains 21 references.) (DDR)

Draws on realist theories of knowledge and epistemologies in the philosophy of science in order to argue that databases around the English school curriculum would benefit from such approaches. Reviews ways that knowledge has been conceived as social in educational thinking. Includes references. (CMK)

Two comparative studies of educational design in socialist states (Chile and Zimbabwe) shared remarkably similar conclusions despite disparate geo-cultural contexts and divergent research methodologies. Comparative analysis of the religio-political conflicts highlighted in each study's conclusion and the researchers' divergent epistemologies and…

Content analysis of task force reports on improving the undergraduate major in 10 liberal arts disciplines revealed that each discipline's epistemological character strongly influenced methodology, pedagogy, and curricular innovation, consistent with previous theory and research on disciplines. The role of these factors and pragmatic…

Suggests that a reductionist and mechanistic epistemology of present Environmental Education (EE) systems impedes the ability of EE to be an agent of environmental problem solving. Using an action research approach, presents EE as a transforming agent to enable epistemological change. (22 references) (Author/MCO)

Describes the evolution of the qualitative-quantitative debate, and suggests that educational researchers learn to live with the necessary tensions resulting from accepting elements of each approach. The proposed critical educational research model is illustrated through examples that go beyond a positivist-interpretivist split. (SLD)

Analyzes how practice in mathematics education might be reformed toward a professional practice. Argues that conventional school mathematics be replaced by a constructivist school mathematics based on children's use of their schemes of actions and operations in learning situations as illustrated through examples of the numerical schemes of…

This chapter explores some of the historical underpinnings of collaborative learning and highlights the issues involved in designing collaborative approaches including roots of collaboration in education, epistemological theory, reframing the student and teacher roles, and shared inquiry as a process of reform. (MLW)