The phenomenon of the use of a mobile learning (m-Learning) platform in educational institutions is slowly gaining momentum. However, the enthusiasm with which mobile phones have been welcomed into every aspect of our lives is not yet apparent in the educational sector. To understand the reason, it is important to understand user expectations of…

In many institutions of higher education worldwide, faculty members manage lessons based on information transfer whereas their students become passive listeners. According to international research, passive learning has disadvantages mainly because students do not engage in the lesson. The study introduces a new model for higher education called…

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of changing a laboratory physiology course for undergraduate students from a traditional step-by-step guided structure to an inquiry-based approach. With this aim in mind, quantitative and qualitative evaluations of learning outcomes (individual subject-specific tests and group interviews)…

Teacher tenure rights, first established more than a century ago, are under unprecedented attack. Tenure--which was enacted to protect students' education and those who provide it--is under assault from coast to coast, in state legislatures, in state courtrooms, and in the media. In June 2014, in the case of "Vergara v. California," a…

This article explores the application of Whitaker, King, and Vogel's (2004) best practices for the implementation of partnerships regarding school leadership preparation programs in 3 school district-university collaboratives located in urban settings with large minority student populations. The 3 partnerships studied include the Nashville…

This paper reports research on effects on teachers' classroom practices resulting from their engagement in sustained professional development and classroom teaching of a resource that embeds carefully designed dynamic technology within middle school mathematics (11-14 years). The research investigated the self-reported evolution of teachers'…

Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs) with their origins in OECD literature, propose to revolutionise education as we know it. ILEs draw on a large body of literature: constructivist learning theory; distributed leadership; personalised 21st century learning; blended learning (digital); and, future-focused education. Despite an increasing body…

For more than one hundred and fifty years, until 2008, California was an undisputed national leader in its commitment to adult education. The state's investment in adult learners topped $750 million, a sum greater than the combined total of every other state in the nation. However, for the past several years recession and fiscal crisis have left…

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and its 16 members work collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for all citizens of the West. By promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy among its members and their institutions, WICHE strengthens higher education's contributions…

Access to college has increased substantially over the last 50 years, but student success--defined as the combination of academic success and degree or certificate completion--has not kept pace. Student success, moreover, generally correlates with students' financial resources: Students from high-income families attend and complete college at…

In our digital age, students have dramatically new learning needs and must be prepared for the idea economy of the future. In "Getting Smart," well-known global education expert Tom Vander Ark examines the facets of educational innovation in the United States and abroad. Vander Ark makes a convincing case for a blend of online and onsite…

Professional vision helps the teacher decide where to focus attention and what interactions are most critical at the moment. Despite the importance of teachers' professional vision, the authors find that teachers do not always have opportunities to reflect on and further develop their professional vision. During instruction, a student's comment or…

In evaluating local policy implementation, workaround stories--accounts of deliberate efforts to evade, subvert, or even break rules or procedures in order to get the job done--are valuable evaluative indicators. By "backward mapping" (Elmore, 1979) from frequently mentioned workarounds, we can identify flawed elements of policy- or…

Calls for practitioners to "innovate" are common within higher education and universities, which go to some length to cultivate innovative learning and teaching cultures. The definition of innovation, however, is not clear cut and understandings of how innovations spread and innovative practices should be supported differ. This study aimed to…

Human action takes place under multiple pressures: limited time, patchy understanding and pre-existing commitments to important stakes. Understanding better how intelligent individual action and social order arise in these conditions was a lifelong focus for both Pierre Bourdieu and Karl Weick, articulators, respectively, of the concepts of…