Since 2006, the details of bodies making up our solar system have been revised. This was largely as a result of new discoveries of a number of planet-like objects beyond the orbit of Pluto. The International Astronomical Union redefined what constituted a planet and established two new classifications--dwarf planets and plutoids. As a result, the…

Every aspect of higher education today is pressed to become more accountable and more transparent. The field of continuing education (CE) is no different. CE professionals, responsible for the operations of university-based CE units, are constantly challenged to use data and "evidence" to make and justify decisions. Indeed, one measure of the…

Recent research on the learning process has shown that students tend to learn in different ways and that they prefer to use different teaching resources as well. Many researchers agree on the fact that learning materials shouldn't just reflect of the teacher's style, but should be designed for all kinds of students and all kind of learning styles.…

There are many different models or approaches to doing program evaluation. Fitzpatrick, Sanders, and Worthen classify them into five general approaches: (a) objectives oriented, (b) management oriented, (c) consumer oriented, (d) expertise oriented, and (e) participant oriented. Within each of these general categories, of course, reside many…

In this paper I argue for a property-driven approach to phonological typology. Rather than seeking to classify or label languages, the central goal of phonological typology is to determine how different languages systematize the phonetic substance available to all languages. The paper focuses on a very murky area in phonological typology,…

As a basis for a systematic approach to investigating the effects of written corrective feedback, this article presents a typology of the different types available to teachers and researchers. The typology distinguishes two sets of options relating to (1) strategies for providing feedback (for example, direct, indirect, or metalinguistic feedback)…

The forms of students' political participation in the administration of higher education in Spain have evolved throughout history. Spain has developed from a period characterised by the corporatist model of Sindicato Espanõl Universitario--as a single syndicate of students controlled by the Franco Regime--towards the emergence of a student…

GreatSchools.org neatly ranks more than 136,000 traditional public, private, and charter schools nationwide on a scale of 1 to 10, based on state test scores. But what often draws readers are the gossipy insider comments posted by parents, students, and teachers, and the star ratings those commenters contribute. The growth of online school rating…

This paper explores the proposition that teaching of critical thinking (CT) should include: (1) identifying and addressing the many environmental variables acting as barriers to our human thinking, i.e., an open system approach, and (2) utilizing the interrelatedness of the CT building blocks, i.e., creative thinking techniques, levels of…

(Purpose) The purpose of this article is to provide a detailed description of the pronouns in Akebu. Akebu is a language spoken in South-West Togo and in the neighboring towns in Ghana. Akebu belongs to a group of languages formerly called "Togo Remnant Languages", now (Ghana Togo Mountains, GTM). The native Akebu speakers call their…

This document covers the data terms used in the "Students and Courses 2009" publication and its associated data tables. The primary purpose of this document is to assist users of the publication to understand the specific data terms used within it. Terms that appear in the publication are listed in alphabetical order with the following…

Higher-order thinking is an instructional strategy supported by research. Often referred to as critical thinking skills, it is more than simple recall of facts or information. It is a function of the interaction between cognitive strategies, meta-cognition, and nonstrategic knowledge when solving problems. Higher-order thinking is based on the…

Plant families are the level of the taxonomic hierarchy that many biologists use to organise their understanding of plant diversity. Consequently, from many perspectives, it is very useful to be able to recognise the major plant families "on sight". To this end numerous books and web sites have described and illustrated plant families,…

Habituation of looking time has become the standard method for studying cognitive processes in infancy. This method has a long history and derives from the study of memory and habituation itself. Often, however, it is not clear how researchers make decisions about how to implement habituation as a tool to study processes such as categorization,…

Teaching by inquiry is touted for its potential to encourage students to reason scientifically. Yet, even when inquiry teaching is practiced, complexity of students' reasoning may be limited or unbalanced. We describe an analytic tool for recognizing when students are engaged in complex reasoning during inquiry teaching. Using classrooms that…