Curiosity is not prominent in investigations on democratic development. Nor is curiosity discussed in democratic education discourses. However, this article contributes to the present Special Issue the idea that the connection of curiosity and democracy should not be ignored. First, I show that curiosity's connection with democracy has,…

The interaction of visual exploration and auditory processing is central to early cognitive development, supporting object discrimination, categorization, and word learning. Research has shown visual-auditory interactions to be complex, created from multiple processes and changing over multiple timescales. To better understand these interactions,…

The purpose of this article is to share early results from an ongoing literature review intended to (a) explore the intersection of spiritual formation, aging, and lifelong learning, (b) situate this intersection within profound learning theory, and (c) develop a rich understanding and conceptual model which characterizes the qualities and…

Student agency is often mentioned as a key feature of feedback practices. Commonly, the concept of agency is used to refer to students' active role in the process of seeking, receiving, generating and acting upon feedback information. However, the notion of what student agency means is often taken for granted and rarely elaborated. The feedback…

In this article, Himley traces the development of Patricia F. Carini's philosophy of education and the descriptive processes she developed with others at the Prospect School in North Bennington, Vermont. The article introduces these big ideas through publications by Pat and others connected to Prospect--the person as active maker of meaning, the…

Reflection is a complex concept in medical education research. No consensus exists on what reflection exactly entails; thus far, cross-comparing empirical findings has not resulted in definite evidence on how to foster reflection. The concept is as slippery as soap. This leaves the research field with the question, 'how can research approach the…

Interest in creativity in mathematics education research is increasing, and the field of research is growing. Yet, research on creativity and the "notions" (we use this wording to accumulate understandings, beliefs, and ideas about the construct) of creativity that are addressed in empirical research are diverse and difficult to organize…

The testlet comprises a set of items based on a common stimulus. When the testlet is used in the tests, there may violate the local independence assumption, and in this case, it would not be appropriate to use traditional item response theory models in the tests in which the testlet is included. When the testlet is discussed, one of the most…

The focus of this study was to examine peer-reviewed 'draw-a-scientist' test (DAST) research studies conducted primarily in the USA. In a similar review of science education research into the 'nature of science views', it was found that race played a prominent role in that research agenda and therefore may be impacting DAST research as well. Using…

In operational testing, item response theory (IRT) models for dichotomous responses are popular for measuring a single latent construct [theta], such as cognitive ability in a content domain. Estimates of [theta], also called IRT scores or [theta hat], can be computed using estimators based on the likelihood function, such as maximum likelihood…

Lexism (the Othering of dyslexics) currently lacks a clear definition. In this conceptual article, I argue that Lexism does not require any such definition; indeed definitions generally can be unhelpful. To understand Lexism I provide examples of how we might use the concept in a series of hypothetical cases. Exemplars avoid the need for…

Notwithstanding its crucial role in facilitating desired outcomes of schooling, educational psychology researchers have recognized the conceptual haziness of student engagement as a multidimensional construct. With the main purpose of refining its conceptual definition, this paper aims to attain the following four goals. First, we seek to…

Although motivational theories agree that environmental factors (like interpersonal relationships and pedagogical practices) are crucial in shaping students' motivational development, few comprehensive conceptualizations of motivational contexts have been proposed. Instead, individual theories tend to focus on the contextual antecedents of the…

In this article I explore what the work of Laclau and Mouffe and Hardt and Negri has to offer career theory and models. There is value to engaging with key concepts from these political economists to inform and expand career guidance's capability to support social justice. The argument is made that the concepts offer novel and valuable resources…

In this paper, we utilize the readily known theory of the ideal transformer to furnish a self-contained qualitative explanation on the AC-powered Thomson jumping ring (TJR) experiment.