Purpose: This paper seeks to analyse the effectiveness and impact of how Google currently trains its new software engineers ("Nooglers") to become productive in the software engineering community. The research focuses on the institutions and support for practice-based learning and cognitive apprenticeship in the Google environment.…

In this article I critically evaluate whether or not learning skills acquired in the university access programme enhance participation in academic practice. University access programmes have been developed with a view to preparing and empowering under-prepared students who did not meet the university criteria. The article claims that even though…

This essay recounts the authors' experiences as community college faculty members in a learning community (LC) linking first-year composition with a class in life-career planning and development. The authors begin with a learning community story shared recently over drinks with a group of community college English teachers. They use the story to…

This article examines the use of interim assessments in elementary schools in the School District of Philadelphia. The article reports on the qualitative component of a multimethod study about the use of interim assessments in Philadelphia. The study used an organizational learning framework to explore how schools can best develop the capacity to…

Background: Immersive virtual worlds are one of a range of different platforms that can be grouped under the concept of mediated environments, i.e. environments that create a metaphorical space in which participants can position themselves and be embodied. Synthesising the literatures concerning the various mediated environment technologies…

The paper describes and analyses the design and implementation of a higher education student placement program in the community services sector. Principally ideas about partnerships and social learning informed the design. The placement program represents a significant innovation in work-integrated learning, achieved through collaboration between…

This article describes the networks of experts involved in the fabrication of indicators and benchmarks supporting the Open Method of Coordination led by the European Commission. In studying international expertise, it explores the policy borrowing process and the transfer of knowledge between several agents and institutions at global level. Our…

This study investigated the effects and experiences of a mutual assessment framework (CoPf) in an online graduate course at a mid-west university. CoPf was integrated into the course structure as an innovative application of the standard e-portfolio assessment tool. Using a mixed method, the study first explored the effects of CoPf compared to the…

Network learning supported by 21-century technology is reweaving the fabric of how educators acquire and create new knowledge. At the Alaska Educational Innovations Network (AEIN), educators believe this has the potential to change how a profession looks at professional development. They have learned that using technology to support networks…

According to a 2010 report by ACT, "Only 31 percent of students are performing at a college-and-career reading level with respect to successfully understanding complex text" (p. 5). This statistic demonstrates what educators know: Middle and high school students face numerous challenges in reading, understanding, connecting to, and…

Throughout the 1980's, the notion of standards came to the forefront throughout the education world. Groups questioned how to define quality teaching. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards was developed to meet this need providing a voluntary national certification to identify accomplished teachers. Since its inception,…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine the common programs and practices that Beating the Odds (BTO) high schools in California are using to achieve high graduation rates. More specifically, this study identifies specific programs and practices that the high schools are using to address at-risk student behaviors as well as…

As concern grows about the level of college completion in the U.S., higher education leaders are seeking ways to help more students attain their educational objectives. This study sought to aid that effort by determining if a theoretical framework of sense of community developed by McMillan and Chavis (1986) influences students' decisions to…

This qualitative case study was designed to explore how master teachers in transfer high schools learn the competencies they perceive are required to engage at-risk students so that they persist and graduate. The study is based on the following assumptions: (1) The requisite teacher competencies can be defined and identified and, in fact,…

In October 2010, the Council of the Great City Schools released a major report on the academic status of African American males, "A Call for Change: The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools." The report was the first phase of the Council's efforts to recommit the energies of the nation's urban…