Higher education, an integral part of China's nation-building project, is a critical element in China's strategic policy initiative of building national strength through science and education. One way to achieve this goal is to develop a higher education system of international stature. Perhaps more than any other country, through national…

The study of naturopathy in Australia has undergone a number of significant changes that have impacted dramatically on scholarly and academic practice. Naturopathic education has shifted from apprenticeship style with a charismatic teacher, to several private colleges offering advanced diplomas/degrees with Government accreditation, and into the…

In the United States, people think of elementary and secondary education as fundamentally different from higher education. The first two levels are where students are expected to learn the building blocks for lifelong learning, while college is meant to confer higher-order thinking and more-specialized skills. How students are treated flows…

Students with disabilities who engage in high rates of challenging behaviors require educators who employ function-based thinking and have a particular sensitivity to the wide range of factors that influence student behavior. In essence, educators working with special needs students need to know what makes their instruction "special"; they must…

The acronym STEM--the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and math--now a familiar term in education, is evolving into STEAM--STEM plus "A" for art. Educational researcher Martin Storksdieck's studies have shown that infusing art into STEM allows for "a different way of perceiving and knowing and dealing with the world, as a means to…

Why didn't China celebrate its stunning PISA performance? Why does Singapore blame its education for its inability to cultivate creative and entrepreneurial talents? Why don't the world's top scorers in international tests have the same level of entrepreneurial activities and capabilities? This essay uncovers the inconsistency between academic…

This paper presents a review of Jane McGonigal's book, "Reality is broken" (Reality is broken: why games make us better and how they can change the world. Penguin Press, New York, 2011). As the book subtitle suggests it is a book about "why games make us better and how they can change the world", written by a specialist in computer game design. I…

This article describes an instructional lesson the author developed to help students use parody to read and write original poetry. The author begins this article with an introduction to parody and a rationale for using it as an instructional strategy. Then, he describes materials and procedures he used and he shares samples of student writing. He…

The aim of this article is to encourage a greater emphasis on creativity across and between varied fields of endeavour. It has been written to underline the interdisciplinary significance of creativity and the role of creativity in truly enhancing achievement. There is a reinvigorated awareness of the need for "big thinking", a global…

Purpose: Agricultural advisory services are perceived by many actors involved in rural development as a key driver behind innovation processes in agriculture. However, changes in national and global contexts cause dramatic changes in the orientation of advisory services, their organisation and their methods of intervention. This article aims to…

Governments across the world are investing large amounts of money in scientific research, often with the belief that such investments will increase economic growth--yet the scientific evidence for this belief is, as Colin Macilwain notes, "patchy." Science agencies are charged with identifying and funding the best science, yet there is little…

In the author's talks on education across the country, parents and teachers often ask about products and programs that purport to teach young children to read and to do math. In his 40-plus-year academic career in the field of early childhood education, the author has reviewed a large number of published curricular materials and activities for…

The evidence-based practice (EBP) movement has been extremely influential over the last 20 years. Fields like medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing, psychology, and education have adopted the idea that policy makers and practitioners should use interventions that have demonstrated efficiency and effectiveness. This apparently…

Purpose: The paper aims to share experiences in Thailand's higher educational reforms in which academic excellence cannot be sustained without proper financial and fiscal consideration. The overall goal is to disclose the experiences and future issues facing public universities. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on actual involvement…

This article explores the usefulness of podcasts as a pedagogic tool.1 It situates the adoption of podcasts for learning and teaching within the context of a brief history of e-Learning itself and briefly reviews the suggestion that e-Learning and social media suit the construction of a new learner--the digital native. While treating much of the…