Education & Pedagogy

This study investigates the differences in degree attainment between students entering higher education through vocational qualification pathways and students entering through traditional A-level routes. The report also analyses how well students with vocational qualifications are prepared for and supported in their studies at higher education. The findings of this study have important implications for secondary and higher education relating to the marketing and regulation of qualifications, support for student success in higher education, and widening participation in higher education. Appended are: (1) Qualifications Coding Scheme; (2) Multi-Level Logistic Regression Specification; and (3) HEA Discipline Clusters.

This paper provides a scan of the literature to expand the knowledge base for the field of online, blended, and competency-based education. Authors seek to integrate the core ideas of personalized learning, blended learning, competency education, and standards. The goal of the paper is to explain the nuances of key terms used across the field of K-12 education related to personalized, blended and competency education, and how the ideas integrate in order to create new learning models. Read this paper to make sense of these terms and discover how they fit together.

This document provides students, parents, educators, administrators, policy makers, and the public with a set of common guidelines for environmental education. These voluntary guidelines are intended to aid state and local efforts to provide quality environmental education. The guidelines suggest expectations for learner performance and achievement in grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12; foster the development of effective and comprehensive environmental education programs and curricula; point the way toward using environmental education as a means for meeting the standards set by the traditional disciplines and providing students with opportunities to synthesize knowledge and experience across disciplines; and provide a common understanding of the aims of environmental education to ground collaborative educational efforts. (Appendices contain an annotated list of resources that informed the Guidelines.)(CCM)

Unequal opportunity shapes the patterns of access and success in postsecondary education. Only a concerted effort by federal and state policymakers, educational providers, and other interested stakeholders can bring about the changes that lead to more equal opportunity in postsecondary education. The research-based evidence in this report represents the knowledge base for the strategic direction of the Lumina Foundation as it works to improve postsecondary education. The report documents the extent to which inequity is present across four dimensions of postsecondary access and success: preparation; awareness; financial issues; and institutional responsibility. Information on these four dimensions will be a springboard for the Foundation's program and research agenda. (SLD)

This document presents a list of significant events in the modern history of higher education in the United States, focusing on facts that are relevant to the Greater Expectations initiative to improve higher education. The time sequence begins in 1945 with the "Redbook" produced by the Harvard Committee on the Objectives of a General Education, which offered a theory and prescription for teaching general education, and continues through the 1999 release of data by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement on undergraduate student movement among institutions. Interspersed among the highlighted events are statements about college enrollment in recent history, from the time when 18% of high school graduates attended college to 1990, when 75% of high school graduates enrolled in higher education within 2 years of graduation. (SLD)

This comprehensive set of standards is for the purpose of assessing the training of preschool through grade 12 communication teachers by accredited institutions of higher education. The standards were developed in alignment with several relevant professional organizations. Adoption of the standards by the National Communication Association designates it as the model to assess communication teacher education training programs seeking approval by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the state licensing agencies that have affiliated with that accrediting organization. This standards and guidelines document is divided into the following sections: Acknowledgments; Introduction; History; Program Focus; Evaluation and Portfolio Process; Format of the Guideline; Guidelines; Discussion of the Guidelines; and Resources. (NKA)

This document presents the hearing of the Subcommittee on Research, Committee on Science, House of Representatives, held May 2, 2001. The content of the hearing focuses on the educational improvement of science education at the K-12 level and includes the following speakers' statements: (1) Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Research, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives; (2) Education Department Chair, Phil Sadler, Science Education Department, Director Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; (3) Eugene Carl Schaffer, Education Department, Chair, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; (4) David Garner, Urban Systemic Program, Director, Oklahoma City Schools, Curriculum and Instruction Department; and (5) Carl Parravano, Merck Institute for Science, Director. (YDS)

The purpose of this paper is to provide a best-evidence synthesis of studies on preservice teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning and to describe their implications for teacher education. The studies that focus on preservice teachers' conceptions were grouped according to five themes. They include: (1) general orientations to teaching and education; (2) perspectives concerning diversity and multicultural education; (3) elementary and secondary contrasts; (4) gender constrasts; and (5) traditional and nontraditional contrasts. Although some patterns emerge within each theme, teacher educators must exercise caution in generalizing these findings to all teacher candidates. Within some of the presented studies, preservice teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning vary considerably. (Contains 37 references.) (AA)

Many societal trends and needs call for engineers to broaden their outlooks, have more flexible career options, and work closely and effectively with persons of quite different backgrounds. Yet the education and general orientation of engineers have been directed inward toward the profession, rather than outward toward the rest of society and the world. Engineering education should change to create a broader outlook and understanding in graduates and thereby engender capabilities for linkages and more likelihood of advancement into management and/or movement into other areas. The appropriate steps include moving the accredited professional engineering degree to the master's level and building upon a liberal education bachelor's degree that is analogous to pre-medical education. (Contains 14 footnotes.)

On October 20, 2008, the New Media Consortium announced the release of a white paper produced in conjunction with the Economist Magazine and in collaboration with Apple, Inc. This paper reports the results of a study of nearly 300 CIOs and technology leaders inside and outside of education to gain deeper insight into the wider impact of technology on both higher education and the job-preparedness of today's graduates. Appended are survey results.

This paper discusses the relevance of e-learning in the position of distance education in Nigeria. It commences by discussing the meaning of e-learning and distance education. It also discusses the historical background of distance education in Nigeria as well as the operations of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) as the first federal University in Nigeria dedicated to the provision of education through distance mode. Furthermore, the paper highlights the prospects and challenges of e-learning in the operation of National Open University of Nigeria. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

This manual describes the development of the surveys fielded in 2003 under the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES: 2003). It describes how the questionnaires were designed, how the samples were developed, data collection experiences, and file information needed to analyze the NHES: 2003 data sets. The surveys fielded as part of NHES: 2003 were the Parent and Family Involvement in Education survey and the Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons survey. Appended are: (1) NHES: 2003 Screener, Parent and Family Involvement in Education Questionnaire, and Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons Questionnaire; and (2) Summary of Weighting and Sample Variance Estimation Variables.

The Certification and Accreditation in Science Education (CASE) project is a joint National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)/Association for the Education of Teachers in Science (AETS) undertaking to develop standards for science teacher education that are consistent with the national science education standards and other standards projects, applicable to multiple levels of preparation based on research and performance, and that are flexible enough to allow for program variation and experimentation. During the years since the project's inception, science educators have grappled with their own conceptions of the CASE Network standards and how they will help guide best practices in science teacher education. This paper presents preliminary work on the implementation of the standards using a generative conception of portfolio development. (CCM)

This document was produced by the author(s) based on their research for the report "Schools, Vocational Education and Training, and Partnerships: Capacity-Building in Rural and Regional Communities," (ED495181) and is an added resource for further information. The contents of this support document include: (1) Introduction; (2) Capacity Building and "Capital"; (3) School-VET Partnerships in Rural and Regional Communities; (4) National and State Policies for VET and Rural Education; (5) Summary; and (6) References. [This document was produced with funding provided by the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training.]

This brief fact sheet presents the California Postsecondary Education Commission's (CPEC) positions and activities on (1) Higher Education Accountability (CPEC supports legislative efforts to establish an accountability framework and is pursuing its own system of accountability based on its data-gathering capabilities); (2) California's Evolving Workforce Needs (CPEC is studying the nexus between higher education and California's workforce needs in order to provide a research foundation for policy initiatives to improve alignment of education and workforce preparation); (3) Student Eligibility and Preparation (CPEC is currently studying the effectiveness of outreach programs to identify those programs that have been successful in increasing participation for underrepresented groups); and (4) Affordability and Educational Success (CPEC supports legislative and administrative efforts that help to alleviate these hurdles).