Despite its presence on many colleges and universities and substantial financial investment in higher education, very little research has explored whether and how participation in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) shapes college students' experiences and development. Using data from interviews with 20 cadets in one U.S. Army ROTC…

With constantly changing needs in a global economy, more flexibility in educational accountability for states and districts, and a focus on high standards for all students, state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) are increasingly defining what skills, competencies, and knowledge graduates should have by developing a…

Rapidly eroding financial support and tuition increases that outpace inflation threaten the viability of an education that considers civic engagement as foundational. Simultaneously, institutions of higher education are increasingly perceived by the public as market-driven entities existing for the economic benefit of the individual, the upward…

This article presents a model that is based on Eyler and Giles' Five Elements of Citizenship, where students learn about Volunteer UCF through marketing strategies, participate in one-time service or educational events, and then pursue continuous involvement based on their positive experiences. Students transition to leadership roles by serving on…

The last 10 years has seen a dramatic increase in the number of parents in the United States choosing to homeschool their children instead of sending them to public school. One report had the number increasing by 61.8% from 2003 to 2012, with the total number of homeschooled children reaching nearly 2 million (Snyder, T. D., and S. A. Dillow.…

In this preliminary study, the Global Engagement Survey (GES) was used to assess developmental outcomes in undergraduate students enrolled in a multi-year community-based global learning program. Statistically significant growth was observed on the Civic Efficacy (CE) scale of the GES (p = 0.01). The GES appears to have significant utility in the…

The success of educational systems in shaping youth into citizens capable of facing global, national, and personal challenges has been associated with students' ability to develop human values and competencies. This study, therefore, maps the extent to which key human values associated with the three levels of consciousness--namely,…

Integrating community-based learning (CBL) into graduate education has gained attention in higher education during the past decade because CBL allows students to inculcate professional values and ethics, situate academic knowledge and understanding in contexts, and practice academic citizenship through serving communities with disciplinary…

Trends in curriculum reform recognise the need to develop skills and competencies in addition to specifying what knowledge should be taught and when. However, a balance between skills and knowledge is sometimes difficult to achieve. In this paper which takes mathematics as the focus, we consider reform currently underway in Wales, from the…

To obtain a better understanding of country-specific policies, a country-specific literature review was undertaken. The search entailed key-terms focusing on relevance and the three higher education relevance dimensions. The main outcomes of the country-specific literature review are discussed in this chapter. We do so by analysing the typically…

Ten years ago, in "Kappan," the author published a detailed account of the old-fashioned and unengaging instruction used at his son Max's Chicago elementary school. Now he updates readers with a reflection on Max's high school years, describing a curriculum and teaching practices that desperately need an overhaul. Thanks to its…

This qualitative study addressed the formation of student identity (servant and civic) as well as how students formed community through experiencing difference in a service-learning classroom. An interpretive qualitative study of five high school students was conducted in a service-learning program at Willow Falls High School, a public high school…

The terms "solidarity" and "ethical travel" were used to frame a one-week study abroad program to Guatemala. The students involved came from a Canadian university and were primed through pretrip meetings and program materials to expect their trip to produce good feelings of connection and support. However, many of the students…

Europe's knowledge economies need high-level skills, the capacity to innovate and to support democratic societies. In this perspective, the main objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relevance of higher education and how this is promoted in various countries in Europe and beyond. The evidence, conclusions and…

Europe's knowledge economies need high-level skills, the capacity to innovate and to support democratic societies. In this perspective, the main objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relevance of higher education and how this is promoted in various countries in Europe and beyond. The evidence, conclusions and…