The purpose of this narrative inquiry qualitative study was to explore the formal (school-based) and informal (home-based) school involvement experiences of Hispanic immigrant parents with dominant Spanish language proficiency and to understand the personal, environmental, and social factors that influence the school involvement process of these…

Hobby activities can be viewed through the lens of informal, free-choice learning. A wide range of hobbies combine fun and learning-intensive practices, and can contribute to scientific literacy. Hobby learning involves clear goal orientation, persistence and effort, and often results in more richly and strongly connected knowledge; traits highly…

Purpose: This study aims to examine the process of informal learning of aviation instructors. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative instrumental case study design was used for this study. In-depth, multiple semi-structured interviews and document review were the primary approaches to data collection and the data were analyzed using constant…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of Latino males who engaged in an informal mentoring relationship and the impact of these relationships as it related to their pursuit of a postsecondary education. Methodology: The researcher conducted a qualitative approach to the study. The subjects in the present study…

This paper examines the knowledge construction processes involved when grades 7 and 8 South African students learnt about the concept of gravity while visiting an astronomy-related science centre. The literature on students' understanding of gravity identifies a number of alternative conceptions prevalent, several of which are mirrored in this…

This paper addresses the impact of teachers' beliefs about argumentation and their community of practice framed views of teaching on co-designing an environmental health afterschool club curriculum with researchers. Our team collaborated with a group of four middle school teachers, asking them to co-design a club that would facilitate (1)…

This single instrumental qualitative case study explores and thickly describes job performance outcomes based upon the manner in which self-directed learning activities of a purposefully selected sample of 3 construction managers are conducted, mediated by the use of Web 2.0 technology. The data collected revealed that construction managers are…

This paper reports on a research study of 28 literacy teacher educators (LTE) in four countries: Canada, the USA, England and Australia. It identifies three main forms of professional development: informal, formal and communities of practice and four spheres of knowledge: research; pedagogy of higher education; literacy and literacy teaching; and…

Collaboration (GDMC), an informal education program in 3D computer modeling and 2D interactive game design serving primarily African American youth aged 7 to 19 years in the Washington, D.C. metro area, transformed from a program designed and taught by adults to one designed and taught by youth. In Year 1, 8% of youth participants held a…

This qualitative study presents a group of five diasporic Chinese "xianshi" musicians in Hong Kong as an example, illustrating how they learnt and value their music throughout their lives, and examines the possible link between learning-practices and values. It is hoped that the lesson learnt from these "xianshi" musicians may…

Research studies about women business owners or women entrepreneurs are few, and previous research has focused on gender differences of business owners, traits of entrepreneurs, and reasons for and success of entrepreneurship. Very little research exists on female business owners/entrepreneurs discussing their informal learning and experiences'…

"The ability of this nation to provide a growing economy, strong health and human services, and a secure and safe nation depends upon a vibrant, creative, and diverse engineering and science workforce" (Blue, et al., 2005, p.4). To contribute to technological advancements, engage in global collaboration, solve complex problems, encourage…

In this paper I explore how my musical background, teaching skills, understanding and knowledge as well as music-making abilities and skills, have formed my current self as musician, teacher and researcher. An autoethnographical method is used to investigate my background, including the different modes of music education I received. From this…

This research targeted the learning preferences, goals and motivations, achievements, challenges, and possibilities for life change of self-directed online learners enrolled in a massive open online course (MOOC) related to online teaching hosted by Blackboard using CourseSites. Data collection included a 40-item survey, of which 159 MOOC…

This article, based on my PhD empirical study, was conducted in a qualitative and holistic approach. It had examined how students had used formal and informal strategies, styles and situations while improvising and composing for the research task. Eighteen research groups made up of a total of 40 males and nine females had participated in…