Building learning around rich, instructionally sound contexts was an overarching goal during the development of the Contexts for Learning Mathematics series. Throughout the series context is used to set the stage for learning. It establishes a terrain that will intrigue children and ignite their imaginations. The contexts are situations children can imagine - either realistic or fictional - that enable them to reflect on what they are doing and apply mathematical thinking to their own world. Contexts for investigations are typically developed with stories and pictures. These are carefully crafted to involve students in meaningful investigations of the big ideas, strategies, and models that shape mathematical thinking. - The images and texts are engaging and include age-appropriate children using mathematics to solve real-world problems. - The numbers referenced represent landmark numbers or number relationships that are significant and telling. - The models and metaphors within a context make relationships and strategies more tangible and explicit. The contexts for the eight units in Investigating Number Sense, Addition, and Subtraction (Grades K - 3) are established through eight engaging read-aloud books (15" x 12") that meld humor, intrigue, and good math sense. To learn more visit www.contextsforlearning.com

Contexts for Learning consists of: Investigations and Resource Guides - workshop structure involves students in inquiring, investigating, discussing, and constructing mathematical solutions and strategies - investigations encourage emergent learning and highlight the developmental landmarks in mathematical thinking - strings of related problems develop students' deep number sense and expand their strategies for mental arithmetic Read-Aloud Books and Posters - create rich, imaginable contexts--realistic and fictional--for mathematics investigations - are carefully crafted to support the development of the big ideas, strategies, and models - encourage children to explore and generate patterns, generalize, and develop the ability to mathematize their worlds Resources for Contexts for Learning CD-ROM - author videos describe the series' philosophy and organization - video overviews show classroom footage of a math workshop, including minilessons, investigations, and a math congress - print resources include research base, posters, and templates

This volume brings together educational effectiveness research and international large-scale assessments, demonstrating how the two fields can be applied to inspire and improve each other, and providing readers direct links to instruments that cover a broad range of topics and have been shown to work in more than 70 countries. The book’s initial chapters introduce and summarize recent discussions and developments in the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of international large-scale context assessments and provide an outlook on possible future developments. Subsequently, three thematic sections – “Student Background”, “Outcomes of Education Beyond Achievement”, and “Learning in Schools” – each present a series of chapters that provide the conceptual background for a wide range of important topics in education research, policy, and practice. Each chapter defines a conceptual framework that relates recent findings in the educational effectiveness research literature to current issues in education policy and practice. These frameworks were used to develop interesting and relevant indicators that may be used for meaningful reporting from international assessments, other cross-cultural research, or national studies. Using the example of one particular survey (the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2015)), this volume links all theoretical considerations to fully developed questionnaire material that was field trailed and evaluated in questionnaires for students and their parents as well as teachers and principals in their schools. The primary purposes of this book are to inform readers about how education effectiveness research and international large-scale assessments are already interacting to inform research and policymaking; to identify areas where a closer collaboration of both fields or input from other areas could further improve this work; to provide sound theoretical frameworks for future work in both fields; and finally to relate these theoretical debates to currently available and evaluated material for future context assessments.

Now that learning is seen as lifelong and lifewide, what specifically makes a learning context? What are the resultant consequences for teaching practices when working in specific contexts? Drawing upon a variety of academic disciplines, Rethinking Contexts for Learning and Teaching explores some of the different means of understanding teaching and learning, both in and across contexts, the issues they raise and their implications for pedagogy and research. It specifically addresses What constitutes a context for learning? How do we engage the full resources of learners for learning? What are the relationships between different learning contexts? What forms of teaching can most effectively mobilise learning across contexts? How do we methodologically and theoretically conceptualise contexts for learning? Drawing upon practical examples and the UK’s TLRP, this book brings together a number of leading researchers to examine the assumptions about context embedded within specific teaching and learning practices. It considers how they might be developed to extend opportunity by drawing upon learning from a range of contexts, including schools, colleges, universities and workplaces.

What do we mean by the word ‘context’ in education and how does our context influence the way that we learn? What role can technology play in enhancing learning and what is the future of technology within learning? Re-Designing Learning Contexts seeks to re-dress the lack of attention that has traditionally been paid to a learner’s wider context and proposes a model to help educators and technologists develop more productive learning contexts. It defines context as the interactions between the learner and a set of inter-related resource elements that are not tied to a physical or virtual location. Context is something that belongs to an individual and that is created through their interactions in the world. Based on original, empirical research, the book considers the intersection between learning, context and technology, and explores: the meaning of the concept of context and it’s relationship to learning the ways in which different types of technology can scaffold learning in context the Learner-Centric ‘Ecology of Resources’ model of context as a framework for designing technology-rich learning environments the importance of matching available resources to each learner’s particular needs the ways in which the learner’s environment and the technologies available might change over the coming years the potential impact of recent technological developments within computer science and artificial intelligence. This interdisciplinary study draws on a range of disciplines, including geography, anthropology, psychology, education and computing, to investigate the dynamics and potential of teacher-learner interaction within a learning continuum, and across a variety of locations. It will be of interest to those teaching, researching and thinking about the use of technology in learning and pedagogy, as well as those involved in developing technology for education and those who use it in their own teaching. For practical examples of the way the Ecology of Resources framework has been used visit: http://eorframework.pbworks.com.

This book is the result of research from over fifteen countries, asking which background and environmental factors influence achievement in mathematics and science. This research is based on data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which was conducted under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in 1995 and 1998. In many countries researchers have started secondary analysis of the data in search for relationships between contextual factors and achievement. In these analyses two different approaches can be distinguished, which can be characterised by the metaphors of ‘fishing’ and ‘hunting’. In the ‘fishing’ approach, researchers begin with an open mind, considering all possible context variables as potentially influential. Applying analysis techniques such as regression analysis, Lisrel, PLS, HLM, and MLN, they then identify important factors within their countries or across a number of countries. In the ‘hunting’ approach, researchers hypothesise certain context variables and trace the effect of these variables on mathematics and/or science achievement.

Featuring the perspectives of more than 40 leading international researchers, theorists and practitioners in clinical education, Learning and Teaching in Clinical Contexts: A Practical Guide provides a bridge between the theoretical aspects of clinical education and the delivery of practical teaching strategies. Written by Clare Delany and Elizabeth Molloy, each chapter weaves together education theory, education strategies and illustrative learning and teaching case scenarios drawn from multidisciplinary clinical contexts. The text supports clinicians and educators responsible for designing and delivering health professional education in clinical workplaces and clinicians undertaking continuing education in workplace teaching. The book is divided into four sections, each addressing a key aspect of the learner and educator experience. Section 1 considers the learner's needs as they make key transitions from classroom to workplace, or recent graduate to competent clinician Section 2 focuses on the influence of workplace contexts and how they can be used as positive catalysts to enhance learning Section 3 highlights the role of workplace assessments as embedded processes to positively influence learning Section 4 provides an overview of the changing roles of the clinical educator and processes and models of professional development to build educational expertise - Demonstrates the integrated nature of three key threads within the field of clinical education: theory, method and context - Highlights theoretical frameworks: cognitive, psychological, sociocultural, experiential and ethical traditions and how they inform teaching decisions - Incorporates case studies throughout to provide a context to learning and teaching in clinical education - Includes practical tips from expert practitioners across different topics - Includes an eBook with print purchase on evolve