How the dominance of the two medieval universities, namely, (1) The University of Oxford; and (2) The University of Cambridge, was gained and maintained is the subject of the institutional histories by Gillian Evans. She has long been a thorn in the side of successive Cambridge Vice-Chancellors' aspirations to turn that institution--at which she…

From 2011, the new curriculum for introducing English to Japanese primary schools will be fully implemented in the form of "foreign language activities". This innovation forms part of the government's plan to cultivate "Japanese with English abilities", a development based on the awareness, particularly in the business sector,…

Contemporary test-based reforms are often grounded in the claim that test performance is the key to international economic competitiveness. However, this oft-repeated assertion lacks empirical support. According to the World Economic Forum, the United States' recent loss of economic competitiveness standing is due to macroeconomic instability…

The authors list economic concepts and issues covered in the children's books published by Theodor Geisel and discuss his treatment of concepts that appear most often and that are treated in greater depth. Some concepts are sophisticated and taught as formal concepts only in college-level economics courses. Others are basic and used in economics…

This article describes a secondary analysis of variables from the National Longitudinal Transition Survey 2 (NLTS-2) database. Specifically, students with intellectual disability (ID) were compared to students with other disabilities regarding post-school transition goals listed on their IEPs/Transition Plans, contacts/referrals made to outside…

Several instruments have been developed to gauge student perceptions of their classroom environment as greater attention has been given to the relationship between student achievement and student perceptions. One widely used instrument to assess those perceptions is the Classroom Environment Scale (CES), a 90-item measure for secondary level…

It comes as no surprise that the prices being charged for college tuition are out of control. Stories about the staggering price of tuition are commonplace in popular media. Although the supposed explanations for this phenomenon are attributed to issues such as financial aid, lack of government support, and the state of the economy, none seem to…

"Internationalisation" is generally defined as increasing cross-border activities amidst persistence of borders, while "globalisation" refers to similar activities concurrent to an erosion of borders. Study mobility is viewed as the most visible component in this framework in Europe with ERASMUS as the largest scheme of…

With the advent of the post-industrial 21st century knowledge-based economy and the demands of global competitiveness, Canada's community colleges are under increased pressure to extend their historical mandates (of career-related education and regional economic development) by incorporating "research", especially "applied…

Students readily see kindness as a mark of the good teacher. Yet the concept of kindness is singularly silent in accounts of teaching excellence, student satisfaction or professional values. It seems to have little place in a world driven by competitive individualism. In this article, the author discusses kindness, which extends beyond the private…

Higher education traffics in reputations. To thrive as an institution means keeping up with competitors while setting yourself apart. But as good as colleges have become at building brands, the game is shifting to social media, where there is perpetual motion and little control. Data from the Center for Marketing Research at the University of…

School education in Germany is under the responsibility of the federal states and as a consequence average grades differ widely across regions. Since school leavers apply nationwide for admission to university, regional provenance may thus matter a lot for the success probability in the admission process. Using a comprehensive dataset of the…

This article presents the findings of a single case study of the United States Open University (USOU), including factors affecting its demise and success. Interviews were conducted with administrators, board members, associate faculty, and staff who played a major role in the planning and operation of the USOU, and pertinent documents were…

Since launching in 1999, National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, has grown from a band of 21 overcaffeinated friends, as founder Chris Baty calls them, to the more than 119,000 hopeful writers who joined in 2008. While most participants simply want to finish, 36 novels begun through NaNoWriMo have been published, according to its Web site,…

The binomial distribution is used to predict the winner of the 49th International Shooting Sport Federation World Championship in double trap shooting held in 2006 in Zagreb, Croatia. The outcome of the competition was definitely unexpected.