There has been a recent upsurge of interest in exploring how choices
of methods and timing of instruction affect the rate and persistence
of learning. The authors review three lines of experimentation—all
conducted using educationally relevant materials and time intervals—
that call into question important aspects of common instructional
practices. First, research reveals that testing, although typically used
merely as an assessment device, directly potentiates learning and
does so more effectively than other modes of study. Second, recent
analysis of the temporal dynamics of learning show that learning is
most durable when study time is distributed over much greater periods
of time than is customary in educational settings. Third, the interleaving
of different types of practice problems (which is quite rare in
math and science texts) markedly improves learning. The authors
conclude by discussing the frequently observed dissociation between
people’s perceptions of which learning procedures are most effective
and which procedures actually promote durable learning.

This article examines the economic effect of education in terms of
its impact on the earnings of workers in an information technology
(IT)–diffusing economy, based on data from Hong Kong’s 2006 bycensus
and survey on the usage and penetration of IT in industries.
Education enhances the productivity of workers and increases their
lifetime incomes. However, technological advances, if deskilling, may
exert an adverse effect on workers’ earnings. The analysis of the
economic effect of education is complicated by the increasing application
of technologies in the workplace. This study shows that the
earnings effect of education and the interaction between education
and IT penetration in the workplace are positive and significant,
whereas IT by itself brings about a significant negative earnings effect.

This article discusses the potential of Google Scholar as an alternative
or complement to the Web of Science and Scopus for measuring
the impact of journal articles in education. Three handbooks on
research in science education, language education, and educational
technology were used to identify a sample of 112 accomplished
scholars. Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus citations for
401 journal articles published by these authors during the 5-year
period from 2003 to 2007 were then analyzed. The findings illustrate
the promise and pitfalls of using Google Scholar for characterizing
the influence of research output, particularly in terms of differences
between the three subfields in publication practices. A calibration of
the growth of Google Scholar citations is also provided.

Research on the racial identities of White future teachers has
assumed and circulated an overly simplified, and ultimately unhelpful,
conception of White racial identity. An alternative is needed, which
the authors develop with reference to scholarship that explores
White people’s participation in blackface minstrelsy. They argue that
at the core of White racial selves is a profound ambivalence that must
be accounted for if future research is to better illuminate what the
racial identities of White future teachers mean for their development
as educators.