This report and the companion backgrounder "Supporting Persons with Disabilities in Post-Secondary Education" represents the work of the "Foundational Learning and Diversity" sub-committee. Within the larger context and framework of "A Learning Alberta," the sub-committee focused on identifying priorities for…

Describes two Educational Testing Service projects conducted to identify skills that women acquire through life experiences which are helpful to success in occupations and vocational programs, and to develop materials for experience-job linkages: Project ACCESS (Assessing Competencies Concerned with Employment and School Success) and Project HAVE…

Presents four case studies illustrating how preservice middle school teachers negotiated their orientations toward teaching during three years of professional courses and internships. The article examines the conflicting influences of coursework, classroom experiences, and cooperating teachers' practice. All of the students experienced a degree of…

Investigates the revision strategies of Spanish native-speaker undergraduates writing in two different discourse types and in two time conditions by analyzing postwriting interview protocols. Results suggest that revision strategies may be initiated by past learning experiences and respond to the perceived nature of the task and the current…

Reports on a study that examined the nature of vocal jazz improvisation and the factors that influence achievement in improvisation. Participating subjects performed two jazz improvisation tasks that were measured for tonal, rhythmic, and expressive items. Correlating independent variables included jazz theory knowledge, jazz experience, and…

This article discusses college-level writing assignments designed to stimulate students to (1) explore initial student attitudes, (2) activate prior knowledge, (3) increase subject relevance, (4) clarify and organize course material, (5) connect new and previously known material, (6) improve critical thinking skills, and (7) develop and strengthen…

Describes the impact of the introduction of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) in the United Kingdom on the field of child care and education. Explains the structure of NVQs; how to get an NVQ accreditation; Child Care and Education NVQs; the NVQ assessment process; the roles of assessors and verifiers; how the NVQ system works; and the…

Agricultural development programs often produce unexpected results. This can be attributed to the fact that the target-farmers already have their own knowledge and competencies which, in turn, determine their practices. In order to be adopted, an innovation has first to be discussed, and then appropriated by a local group of farmers in their…

This study investigates conditions and factors that affect preservice teachers' decisions to use handheld computers in scientific investigations and explores aspects of student learning and classroom practices that would be affected by handheld-based science activities. A Handheld-Based Laboratory (HBL) was designed to model strategies for…

In view of the importance of recognizing and documenting the prior learning of adult students returning to higher education, a project was undertaken to research, construct a system, and write materials for use in assessing the experiential learning acquired by students seeking access to higher education. An extensive research effort was…

This paper describes how 13 Swedish preschool student teachers and one preservice leisure educator discussed their thoughts regarding their professional work, their life histories, and their ongoing studies in special education. What unified them was their professional education, which was based on their own participation. This project examined…

This paper discusses Aboriginal English speakers in Australia, noting the importance of recognizing prior learning and of recognizing Aboriginal English within the context of programs that understand the particular areas where Aboriginal English speakers need support to achieve outcomes in standard English. It defines recognition of prior learning…

Because most English language learners receive instruction in content-area classes, teachers of these classes need to understand the varying backgrounds of ELLs and their different levels of conversational and academic English skills. The authors have developed a research-based model for effectively delivering sheltered instruction to ELLs in…

Recently the Educational Testing Service (ETS) has modified its Student Instructional Report II (SIR II) for use in online distance education courses. The SIR II is a second-generation survey based on more than thirty years of experience with student evaluations (Centra, 1998; Centra and Gaubatz, n.d.). The e-SIR II is based on the highly…

TeamXchange, an online team-based exercise, is described. TeamXchange is consistent with the collaborative model of learning and provides a means of fostering enhanced student learning and engagement through collaboration in virtual teams experiencing periodic membership changes. It was administered in an undergraduate Organizational Behavior…