The European Autism Information System project highlighted the lack of systematic and reliable data relating to the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in Europe. A protocol for the study of ASD prevalence at European level was developed to facilitate a common format for screening and diagnosing children across the EU. This is the first study…

This experimental study is aimed at examining the effect of involving pupils in primary education in setting assessment criteria and standards on their appraisal of a peer's work and their peer feedback style. It is expected that our intervention will lead to (1) a criteria-referenced appraisal and (2) more final vocabulary, which is associated…

This paper aims to examine whether and how the US-based Quality Matters (QM) Higher Education Rubric-Design Standards for Online and Blended Courses apply to the Chinese higher education environment. Suitability and matchability of QM Standards are respectively examined through a questionnaire and course reviews at Fudan University, a leading…

Recently, public administration graduates are exposed to new set of challenges because of globalization, virtual world and using modern technology as a base of all today's dealings. It imposes PAD at faculty of economic and administration faculty to prepare its students to confront these changes in organizations in the community. Therefore, the…

Raising the quality and profile of teaching and student learning is something universities across the UK are aspiring to achieve in order to maintain reputations. Currently, the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) provides a standard by which academic staff can gain professional recognition for their academic practice and many UK…

Face-to-face computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) was used extensively to facilitate learning in classrooms. Cloud services not only allow a single user to edit a document, but they also enable multiple users to simultaneously edit a shared document. However, few researchers have compared student acceptance of such services in…

Inconsistency in the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) has led to dissatisfaction amongst students and is an issue across the Higher Education sector. This paper outlines research undertaken in one faculty within one university to ascertain staff and student views on minimum standards within the VLE; how the VLE could reduce student…

This study makes a contribution to the development of empirically based, domain-specific teaching standards that are acknowledged by the professional community of teachers and which, therefore, have a good chance of being successfully implemented and used for professional development purposes. It was prompted by the resistance on the part of many…

Education aiming at students' competence development asks for new assessment methods. The quality of these methods needs to be assured using adapted quality criteria and accompanying standards. As such standards are not widely available, this study sets out to examine what level of compliance with quality criteria stakeholders consider…

Literature shows that feedback that is specific, immediate and goal-oriented is effective on (pre-service) teachers' performance. Synchronous coaching gives this kind of feedback. Due to immediateness of feedback, pre-service teachers can suffer from cognitive load. We propose a set of standardised keywords through which this performance feedback…

The International Civil Aviation Association has developed a set of Language Proficiency Requirements (LPRs) and a Language Proficiency Rating Scale, which seeks to define proficiency in the language needed for aviation purposes at six different levels. Pilots, air traffic controllers and aeronautical station operators are required to achieve at…

The Angoff method is a widely used procedure for setting pass scores in vocational examinations, in which the awarders estimate the performance of minimally competent candidates (MCCs) on each test item. Within the context of some UK vocational examinations, the procedure consists of two stages: after making the first round of estimates, awarders…

This article reports on two related studies carried out to link the State examination of Dutch as a second language to the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR). In the first study, key persons from institutions for higher education were asked to determine the minimally required language level of beginning students. In the…

The implementation of the ISO 9000 international quality management system in education has become a debated trend. Building on the literature, this study did not attempt to end the debate over ISO 9000 in education but looked at the problem with a new perspective. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that relate to the time required…

VALEURTECH is a pilot project under the European Commission's Leonardo II programme. It includes 35 partners from higher education institutions and professional organizations in eight European countries and has the major objectives: of (a) setting up a homogeneous "labelling" process, such as a diploma supplement, based on a common…