Education & Pedagogy

This booklet attempts to explain distance education in a short and readily understandable way. It tells what distance education is as well as what it is not. Users of distance education are described. Other topics include the basic system and subsystems of distance education; ways of communicating; what makes distance education materials good; distance education material design, production, and distribution; services needed to back up distance education materials; student assessment; how to run an efficient system; and how to start a distance education system. The booklet also focuses on choosing an organizational model, special problems of managing a distance education system, costs of distance education, and how distance education works. Sources of additional information and a selected bibliography are also provided. (YLB)

This book, on the theme of the current status of physical education in colleges and universities and its problems and potentials, includes papers in the following categories: (1) Physical Education and Higher Education: Missions and Potential; (2) Physical Education: Is it Central to the Mission of Higher Education? (3) Social Science and Physical Education: Theoretical and Practical Issues; (4) Physical Education: To Save or Not to Save?; (5) Images, Perceptions, and Decision Making in Physical Education; and (6) Physical Education: Research, Professional Preparation, and Outreach Education. The final section discusses the future of the National Association for Physical Education in Higher Education. (JD)

The Danish education system undergoes constant alterations due to the changes in the Danish society but maintains characteristic features through each educational reform. Section 1 provides a main outline of the education system for primary and lower secondary education, general upper secondary education, vocational education, and higher education. Section 2 describes vocational education and training as a highly developed democratic and dynamic system. Section 3 focuses on higher education and the contributory influence of students and the technical and administrative staff. Section 4 looks at Danish agricultural education, training, extension, and research. The fifth and final section presents internationally promising Danish research and education programs in the environmental area. (CK)

Lithuania has achieved steady expansion of participation in education, substantially widening access to early childhood education and care and tertiary education, coupling this with nearly universal participation in secondary education. However, if Lithuania's education system is to help the nation respond effectively to economic opportunities and demographic challenges, improvements in the performance of its schools and its higher education institutions are needed. Improved performance requires that Lithuania clarify and raise expectations of performance, align resources in support of raised performance expectations, strengthen performance monitoring and the assurance of quality, and build institutional capacity to achieve high performance. This orientation to improvement should be carried across each sector of its education system. This report assesses Lithuania's policies and practices against best practice in education from across the OECD and other countries in the region. It analyses its education system's major strengths and the challenges it faces, from early childhood education and care to tertiary education. The table of contents provides the following: (1) Foreword and Acknowledgements; (2) Acronyms; (3) Executive Summary; (4) Assessment and Recommendations; (5) Education in Lithuania: Raising Performance for a Resilient Lithuania; (6) Early Childhood Education and Care in Lithuania; (7) Primary and Lower Secondary Education in Lithuania; (8) Upper Secondary Education in Lithuania; and (9) Tertiary Education in Lithuania.

A National Business Education Association (NBEA) survey (spring 1979) sought to gather information and views from NBEA members regarding the status and need for career education in business programs and to identify the types of assistance members needed to further their active participation in career education. The survey focused on four topics: (1) career education in the schools, (2) integration of career education into business education, (3) attitudes toward career education, and (4) needed assistance. Findings indicated that about half of the respondents worked in school and school districts where career education programs existed. Seventy-five percent integrated career education on a daily or weekly basis. The most frequent problems anticipated in increasing time spent on career education included not enough instructional time, lack of money, and low priority of career education integration. Attitudes toward career education were mostly positive, and respondents favored their continued and increased participation in career education. Respondents wanted services and materials of all kinds related to what and how they taught and regarded NBEA as a suitable agent for them. Career education information needed included information on instructional materials and teaching techniques. State education agencies, NBEA, and local school districts were preferred as sources of career education information. (The questionnaire is appended.) (YLB)

Educational research conducted in education faculties and departments in Arab universities is reviewed as a preliminary for further research to improve the schooling system in the Arabic world. The focus is academic research conducted by university graduate students for master's and doctoral degrees. Covering the period 1946-1978, this review lists samples drawn from more than 530 research problems under the following broad categories: teaching in different subjects and levels (elementary/secondary education), vocational and technical education, teacher education, evaluation, psychological studies, educational economics, illiteracy and adult education, and research methodology. Specific issues and problems under each category are identified. Eleven additional areas of research, including comparative education and school administration, were also surveyed. Overall, the following trends were found: there are many interdisciplinary research problems; new innovations in ministries of education attract researchers; new ideas or philosophies adopted by a state are reflected in research; there is an increasing interest in the areas of illiteracy and adult education, vocational and technical education, and special education (retarded and gifted); and there is more research coming in the areas of physical education, art education, music education, home economics education, and nursing education. (SW)

This monograph is intended to present the structural image of adult education/further education in the Federal Republic of Germany. It first covers such areas as the size of the country and its individual states and population and employment. Following a survey of the educational system, legislation concerning adult education/further education is described for each of the states. Expenditures on further education and focal points of research in the framework of adult education are also briefly addressed. Attention is given to reform and reform tendencies in the sphere of adult education/further education. The implications of cultural federalism and pluralism are then discussed for adult education. The largest section of the monograph describes adult education institutions, including closed adult education (adult education in the public service, enterprises as providers of further education), institutions of open further education (trade union adult education, the German Trades Union Federation-DGB, "Work and Life" institution, the German Office Employees' Trade Union), denominational adult education (in Catholic institutions, in Protestant institutions), folk high schools (Volkshochschule), adult education and its institutions in rural districts, and other establishments (radio and television stations, distance study, second chance education.) (YLB)

Describes the Transforming Education through the Arts Challenge (TETAC) initiative. Discusses issues to be addressed if change in arts education is to be achieved, specifically teacher preparation, professional development, networking, and standards and accountability. (CMK)

States that the concept of the continuity of education can be examined in relation to (1) the individual, (2) the educational processes, and (3) the organizational structure of education. Examines the principles that govern the construction of a system of continuous professional education. (CMK)

The extended university program of the University of Tennessee College Pharmacy is presented. Included in the discussion is information on the program's history, goals, service programs, and the five educational programs: undergraduate education, continuing education, postgraduate academic education, interdisciplinary education, and public education. (JMD)

Traces educational trends in the Netherlands from the 16th century to the present. Characterizes Dutch education in the 19th and 20th centuries as a system of quality, comprehensiveness, and thoroughness. Contemporary trends include bilingual education, modernization, politicization in higher education, emphasis on lifelong learning, and vocational guidance. (DB)

Problems in the Nigerian Universal Primary Education scheme including a high dropout rate and early formal school termination indicate that career education should be built into the program. A sequence for and advantages of introducing career education into primary and secondary schools are outlined. (JMF)

Presents major issues involved in the controversy over whether sex education should be offered in public high schools. Topics discussed include the campaign against adolescent pregnancy, realistic sex education, relationship of sex education to public health programs, government role in developing and funding sex education, and various approaches to sex education. (DB)

The theme articles discuss cooperative education as an integral part of a well-rounded educational program. They indicate that cooperative education-supervised occupational experiences may serve the needs of students and industry and provide the bridge between education and the real world of work. (JOW)

Traces the process by which nursing education obtained funds under the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 and identifies the role of the Federal Board for Vocational Education in establishing the precedents that led to health occupations education as a part of vocational education. (SK)