Many postsecondary institutions, and community colleges in particular, require that students demonstrate specified levels of literacy and numeracy before taking college-level courses. Typically, students have been assessed using two widely available tests--ACCUPLACER and Compass. However, placement testing practice is beginning to change for three…

This paper explores the situated nature of the epistemological values of a social science discipline as it finds expression in a particular department. Although it explores Becher and Trowler's anthropological conception of disciplinary "territories" and tribes ([1989]/2001) it finds deeper resonances in Trowler's more recent notion of "teaching…

Although the importance of communicative competences in the workplace is conjured up in most discussions, there is little empirical research (in Germany) describing formal and informal communications in companies and branches with a high percentage of immigrant workers, particularly in the production sector. The study group "Deutsch am…

Using a qualitative research approach, this article explores teachers' roles in infants' play and its changing nature in an infant group care setting. Three infant teachers in a child care center were followed over three months. Observations, interviews, ongoing conversations, emails, and reflective notes were used as data sources. Findings…

Within the field of higher education, there are situations where the learner is not well served in a classroom setting. Problematic issues such as scheduling, critical mass, time, pace and location have the potential to be counterbalanced by e-learning. Within this, the asynchronous nature of today's online learning environments and computer…

This article examines the outcomes of an eight-month professional development initiative, designed to support six Writing Project teachers' classroom inquiry projects, each focused on improving an aspect of student writing. We begin by introducing the genesis of these classroom research projects as well as the structure and content of the support…

This article explores service learning via the lens of activity theory. Through this lens, it is identified as a form of "boundary work" in higher education, with educators identified as "boundary workers". Drawing on the data from a recent study, this paper analyses service learning as an often contradictory and tension-filled practice. The…

The amount of time that people, especially young people, spend on communicative activities in social media is rapidly increasing. We are facing new arenas with great potential for learning in general and for language learning in particular, but their impact on learning is not yet acknowledged as such in educational practice (e.g., Conole, 2010;…

This paper reports on a case study investigating students' participation and learning presence in an educational blog implemented as a cross-thematic inquiry activity exploring and debating on the acid rain problem. Twenty-one secondary education students (14-15 years aged), coming from two separate classes, were involved. The content and…

This article describes the use of self-study as a frame for professional learning that grew out of a professional development program for teachers examining their practice in a dual-language K-4 school. Located in the center of the rural state of Iowa, the school's development of a bilingual program for native speakers of both English and Spanish…

The poor success rate of policy for curriculum change has been widely noted in the educational change literature. Part of the problem lies in the complexity of schools, as policy-makers have proven unable to micro-manage the multifarious range of factors that impact upon the implementation of policy. This article draws upon empirical data from a…

At present a new era has evolved in the education sector by means of ICTs. Different ICTs are now set to become instrumental to help expand access to education, strengthen the relevance of education to the increasingly digital workplace, and raise educational quality by, among others, helping make teaching and learning into an engaging, active…

PEPNet gets frequent requests for information about interpreter/speech-to-text position development. Determining or analyzing a salary is often part of this challenge and the people at PEPNet trust the information in this paper will be helpful to postsecondary programs. This is the sixth survey produced by PEPNet-Midwest and the University of…