- Glossary of education-related terms (D-F)
This glossary of education-related terms is based on how they commonly are used in Wikipedia articles. This page contains terms starting with D – F. Select a letter from the table of contents to find terms on other pages.
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Distance education : (or distance learning) A field of education that focuses on the pedagogy/andragogy, technology, and instructional systems design that is effectively incorporated in delivering education to students who are not physically "on site" to receive their education. Instead, teachers and students may communicate asynchronously (at times of their own choosing) by exchanging printed or electronic media, or through technology that allows them to communicate in real time (synchronously). Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason including the taking of examinations is considered to be a hybrid or blended course or program.*
Dunce : A person incapable oflearning . The word is derived from the name of the great schoolman,John Duns Scotus , whose works onlogic ,theology andphilosophy were accepted textbooks in theuniversities from the 14th century.*
Dyslexia : Said to be aneurological disorder with biochemical and genetic markers. Dyslexia was originally defined as a difficulty with reading and writing that could not be explained by general intelligence. One diagnostic approach is to compare their ability in areas such as reading and writing to that which would be predicted by his or her general level of intelligence, but some would say that it is not certain that intelligence should be a predictor of reading or writing ability; and also that the causes, effects and treatments of reading disabilities may be similar for all levels of intelligence.E
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Early childhood education : Covers theeducation of achild from the period from birth to eight years of age.*
Education : Asocial science that encompassesteaching andlearning specificknowledge ,belief s, andskill s. Licensed and practicing teachers in the field use a variety of methods and materials in order to impart acurriculum .*
Education policy : is the collection of rules, both stated and implicit, or the regularities in practice that govern the behavior of persons in schools. Education policy analysis is the scholarly study of education policy.*
Education reform : A plan, program, or movement which attempts to bring about a systematic change ineducation al theory or practice across acommunity orsociety .*
Education voucher : (commonly called a school voucher) A certificate by which parents are given the ability to pay for theeducation of their children at a school of their choice, rather than thepublic school to which they were assigned. These vouchers would be paid for usingtax revenues .*
Educational animation :Animation produced for the specific purpose of fosteringlearning .*
Educational counseling : Conducted by counselors inschool s and universities. It is intended to help children suffering from education-related traumas such as beatings and other forms ofcorporal punishment used in many countries. A more common application is with children who have been abused or bullied. The counselor works with the child to help him or her get over the trauma he or she has suffered.*
Educational evaluation : Theevaluation process of characterizing and appraising some aspect of theeducation enterprise.*
Educational film : Afilm or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods.*
Educational game s:Game s, includingvideo game s of this genre, designed to teach people, typicallychild ren, about a certain subject or help them learn a skill as they play. Some people call these types of gamesedutainment because they combineeducation andentertainment .*
Educational leadership :Leadership in formal educational settings. It draws upon interdisciplinary literature, generally, but ideally distinguishes itself through its focus on pedagogy, epistemology and human development. In contemporary practice it borrows from political science and business. Debate within the field relates to this tension.*
Educational organization :Organization within the scope ofeducation . It is a common misconception that this means it is organizing educational system; rather, it deals with the theory of organization as it applies to education of the humanmind .*
Educational perennialism : Perennialists believe that one should teach the things that they believe are of everlasting importance to all people everywhere. They believe that the most important topics develop a person. Since details of fact change constantly, these cannot be the most important. Therefore, one should teach principles, not facts. Since people are human, one should teach first about humans, not machines or techniques. Since people are people first, and workers second if at all, one should teach liberal topics first, not vocational topics.*
Educational programming language : Aprogramming language that is designed primarily as a learning instrument and not so much as a tool for writing real-world application programs.*
Educational psychology : The study of how humans learn ineducation al settings, the effectiveness of educational treatments, the psychology of teaching, and thesocial psychology ofschool s asorganization s. Although the terms "educational psychology" and "school psychology" are often used interchangeably, researchers and theorists are likely to be identified as , whereas practitioners in schools or school-related settings are identified asschool psychologist s. Educational psychology is concerned with the processes of educational attainment among the general population and sub-populations such asgifted children and those subject to specificdisabilities .*
Educational research :Research conducted to investigatebehavior al patterns in pupils, students, teachers and other participants in schools and other educational institutions. Such research is often conducted by examining work products such as documents andstandardized test results. The methods of educational research are derived chiefly from thesocial science s, and in particular frompsychology .*
Educational software :Computer software whose primary purpose isteaching orself-learning .*
Educational technology : The use oftechnology to improveeducation . It is a systematic, iterative process for designing instruction or training used to improve performance. Educational technology is sometimes also known as instructional technology or learning technology.*
E-learning : An approach to facilitate and enhance learning through, and based on, both computer and communications technology. Such devices can includepersonal computer s,CDROM s, Digital Television, P.D.A.s and Mobile Phones. Communications technology enables the use of theInternet ,email , discussion forums,collaborative software and team learning systems (see alsoonline deliberation ).*
Electronic portfolio : In the context ofeducation andlearning , an electronic portfolio, normally known as an ePortfolio or a digital portfolio, is a portfolio based on electronic media and services. It consists of a personal digital record containing information such as a collection of artifacts or evidence demonstrating what one knows and can do.*
Empirical knowledge : (or "a posteriori" knowledge)Propositional knowledge obtained by experience or sensorial information. It is contrasted with "a priori knowledge", or knowledge that is gained through the apprehension ofinnate idea s, "intuition," "purereason ," or other non-experiential sources. The natural andsocial science s are usually considered "a posteriori ", literally "after the fact," disciplines.Mathematics andlogic are usually considered "a priori", "before the fact," disciplines.* Engagement: The sentiment a student feels or does not feel towards learning or the learning environment.
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Epistemic theories of truth : Attempts to analyse thenotion oftruth in terms of "epistemic " notions such as "belief ", "acceptance ", "verification", "justification ", "perspective" and so on. There is a variety of such conceptions, and they may be classified intoverificationist theories and perspectivalist andrelativist theories.:Verificationism is based on a certain kind of mental activity: "verifying" aproposition . The distinctive claim of verificationism is that the result of such verifications is, by definition,truth . That is, truth is reducible to this process ofverification .:According toperspectivalism andrelativism , aproposition is only true relative to a particular perspective. Roughly, a proposition is true relative to a perspectiveif and only if it is "accepted" or "endorsed" or "legitimated " somehow by that perspective.*
Epistemology : (from the Greek words "episteme " (knowledge) and "logos " (word/speech)) The branch ofphilosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope ofknowledge . Historically, it has been one of the most investigated and most debated of all philosophical subjects. Much of this debate has focused on analysing the nature and variety of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such astruth andbelief . Much of this discussion concerns the justification of knowledge claims, that is the grounds on which one can claim to know a particular fact.* Exchange student: A
student (usually fromhigh school oruniversity ) who temporarily goes abroad and lives with a host family in a foreign country, and attendsschool there. That host family often also sends a child of theirs abroad, usually to the same country as the student they are hosting. In this way, the two students are said to have been "exchanged," essentially temporarily trading countries with each other, although the period of exchange may not necessarily be simultaneous. The main purpose of exchange programs is to increase cultural understanding, both for the student and the people in the host country he/she comes into contact with. Exchanges are often arranged by organizations created for this purpose, calledstudent exchange program s.Youth For Understanding andAmerican Field Service are two examples of these organizations.*
Experience : Comprisesknowledge of or skill in orobservation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in orexposure to that thing or event. The history of the word "experience" aligns it closely with the concept of "experiment ".:The concept of experience generally refers toknow-how orprocedural knowledge , rather thanpropositional knowledge . Philosophers dub knowledge based on experience "empirical knowledge " or "a posteriori" knowledge". A person with considerable experience in a certain field can gain a reputation as anexpert .*
Experiential education : (or "learning by doing") The process of actively engaging students in an authenticexperience that will have benefits and consequences. Students make discoveries and experiment with knowledge themselves instead of hearing or reading about the experiences of others. Students also reflect on their experiences, thus developing newskill s, newattitude s, and newtheories or ways ofthinking . Experiential education is related to the constructivist learning theory.*
Experimental analysis of behavior : The name given to the approach topsychology founded byB. F. Skinner . As its name suggests, its foundational principle was the rejection of theoretical analysis, in particular the kinds of learning theory that had grown up in thecomparative psychology of the 1920-1950 period, in favor of a more direct approach. It owed its early success to the effectiveness of Skinner's procedure ofoperant conditioning , both in the laboratory and inbehavior therapy .*
Expulsion (academia) : Removing a student from aschool oruniversity for violating rules orhonor codes .*
Extracurricular activities : Activities performed bystudent s that fall outside the realm of the normalcurriculum of school or university education. Extracurricular activities exist at all levels of education, fromhigh school andcollege touniversity education. Such activities are generally voluntary as opposed to mandatory, non-paying, tend to besocial orphilanthropic as opposed to scholastic, and involve others of the same age. Students often organize and direct these activities under faculty sponsorship.F
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Forbidden knowledge : (in contrast tosecret knowledge ) Used to describeforbidden books or other information to which access is restricted or deprecated for political or religious reasons. Forbidden knowledge is commonly not secret, rather a society or various institutions will use repressive mechanisms to either completely prevent the publication of information they find objectionable or dangerous (censorship ), or failing that, to try to reduce the public's trust in such information (propaganda ). Public repression can create paradoxical situation where the proscribed information is generally common knowledge but publicly citing it is disallowed.*
Functional illiteracy : Refers to the inability of an individual to use reading, speaking,writing , andcomputational skills efficiently in everyday life situations. Unlike anilliterate , a functionally illiterate adult could be able to read and write text in his native language (with a variable degree of grammatical correctness, speed, and style), but is unable like the first, even in his own cultural and linguistic environment, to perform such fundamental tasks as filling out an employment application, following written instructions, reading a newspaper, reading traffic signs, consulting a dictionary, or understanding a bus schedule.*
Future Problem Solving Program : (FPSP) An international academic competition. Over 250,000 students internationally participate in the Future Problem Solving program every year. Participating countries include theUnited States ,Canada ,Australia ,New Zealand ,Korea ,Malaysia ,Russia ,Hong Kong andSingapore .
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