In this paper we explore how students can experience the relevance of mathematical modelling activities. In the literature we found that relevance is a connection among several issues (relevance of what? to whom? according to whom? and to what end?). We framed this concept in terms of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), a theory for…

Background/Context: Working towards social justice in education requires students' voices to be heard and understood (Mansfield, 2014). This is especially the case for students from marginalized populations. Prior research has shown the value and importance of students' voices for school retention, academic success, school inclusivity, and student…

Group work has been increasingly encouraged and applied in Vietnamese universities. However, very little has been known about how Vietnamese university students work in a group and what the conditions are that help establish an effective group. This study attempted to redress this gap. The research applied Bourdieu's social field theory to examine…

This paper shares the findings of a study conducted on a virtual inter-cultural global leadership development learning project. Mixed Methods analysis techniques were used to examine the interviews of U.S. and Uganda youth project participants. The study, based on cultural and social constructivist learning theories, investigated the effects of…

This mixed methods study explored the implicit leadership theories (ILTs) of children from Christian elementary schools in the Philippines, in response to the lack of importance attached to leadership ideas and leadership developmental experiences that occur in childhood. Jesus was the most frequently cited leader by the children who also showed a…

Building on narratives of students in adult education in Sweden, where the majority of the students are young adults, this paper argues that adult education has both negative and positive aspects in helping individuals to be recognised as valuable. Students, often part of the precariat class, have not always been able to survive in the job market…

This paper describes an aspect of reflective practice referred to as situated reflective practice. The overarching theory is derived from social theories of structuration and reflexivity. In particular, from Giddens' theory of structuration, which sees social life as an interplay of agency and structure. Discussion of the research reported here…

It is important to develop understanding of what underpins the engagement of students in online learning environments. This article reports on a multiple case study that explored student engagement in a set of postgraduate degrees offered on a fully online basis. The study was based on a theorization of student engagement as the exercise of…

This case study examines how one study abroad student oriented to social interaction during a semester in Spain. Using an activity theoretical approach, the findings indicate that the student not only viewed social interaction with his Spanish host family and an expert-Spanish-speaking age peer as an opportunity for second language (L2) learning,…

The current research is conducted in the context of Second Life (SL) users in Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The research uses the Symbolic Interactionism Theory (SIT), a social science based theory as theoretical framework to underpin it and help inform the research. The overriding purpose is to analyze evidence of…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was two-fold: to investigate the dialog about psychosocial aspects of health care in problem based learning (PBL) groups in a single medical school; and to describe the factors that learners and PBL facilitators identify as influencing dialog about these issues in PBL groups. Medical education is a…

Understanding and documenting how young children negotiate their relationships with their teachers is crucial, considering that early teacher-student relationships have important long-term implications for children's school success (Hamre & Pianta, 2001). However, the existing studies on teacher--child relationships focus primarily on the…

Case-based learning (CBL) is a constructivist pedagogy in which students read hypothetical accounts of real world situations and consider how they would respond if facing similar challenges. In physical education teacher education, research has shown that CBL has the potential to promote critical thinking, contribute to students' cognitive growth…

In the United States, there are approximately 400,000 foster youth. The state of California accounts for approximately 20% percent of youth placed in the foster care system. As a whole, this population is exposed to a multitude of risk factors while placed in the foster care system and as they emancipate. Re-victimization is not uncommon as youth…

Public relations educators are frequently challenged by students' flawed perceptions of public relations. Two contrasting case studies are presented in this paper to illustrate how socially-oriented paradigms may be applied to a real-client project to deliver a transformative learning experience. A discourse-analytic approach is applied within the…