This paper describes a range of design techniques for standard compensators (Lead-Lag networks and PID controllers) that have been applied to the teaching of many undergraduate control courses throughout Italy over the last twenty years, but that have received little attention elsewhere. These techniques hinge upon a set of simple formulas--herein…

Market and accountability educational reforms have proliferated around the globe, along with high expectations of solving countries' school quality deficits and inequities. In this paper I develop an analytical framework from a critical sociology angle for analyzing the effects of these policies within schools. First I discuss conceptually the…

Thinking critically about the future is a mainstay of best practice in any organization, and an important aptitude for school leaders, yet many feel as if the world is changing too rapidly for traditional methods and timelines to be effective. As a result, many organizations are transitioning away from discrete moments of strategic planning and,…

The central concept behind Open Educational Resources (OER) is opening up the access to educational resources for stakeholders who are not the usual target user group. This concept must be perceived as innovative because it describes a general economic and social paradigm shift: Education, which formerly was limited to a specific group of…

This article explores a number of questions about visions of the future and their implications for environmental education (EE). If the future were known, what kind of actions would be needed to maintain the positive aspects and reverse the negative ones? How could these actions be translated into the aims of EE? Three future scenarios are…

When students are first introduced to the idea of radioactive decay, a large conceptual hurdle must be overcome. The thought that an object's age has no bearing on the chance it will "die" (decay in this case) on a particular day is completely at odds with biological notions of life and death. Through the use of a simple…

Modern technology increasingly creates new challenges in various professional development and practice. However, in teaching, the mere adoption of new or innovative technology is not enough to meet the students' learning needs and opportunities. Technology alone could not sufficiently bring about the desired changes in students' competencies and…

The broad goals of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) are: (1) to advance education for international understanding in the interests of peace, intercultural co-operation, mutual respect among peoples and observance of human rights; and (2) to improve education systems so that the right of all to education may be more…

Specialized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools create niche areas in an attempt to attract the best students, establish the school status, and justify their privilege to valuable resources. One Singapore STEM school does this in applied science learning to differentiate its curriculum from the national prescribed…

This study examined a novel mentoring model, "near-peer mentorship," that supports the development of mentee and mentor, incorporates established principles of mentoring, and offers unique opportunities to integrate research and teaching in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) internship. Using qualitative methods,…

Many students read for pleasure, but how many, stranded in an expansive library, would willingly reach for a mathematics textbook? One reason this scenario is so inconceivable is that mathematics textbooks are organized less as exercises in storytelling and more as how-to manuals. Unfortunately many mathematics teachers instruct accordingly. This…

Universities cater mainly for national audiences. But the days of splendid isolation are over. Students, graduates, faculty and staff vote with their feet. Institutions and system are, increasingly, involved in processes of regionalisation and globalisation. This article describes how a number of European initiatives are transforming the way…

With the ever-pressing twenty-first century demands, such as the need for new knowledge generation and application, schools today are aware of the necessity to change their structures, processes and practices to be relevant. In Singapore's centralized education system, the Ministry has introduced several decentralization initiatives in the hope of…

Careers in the 21st century are changing, but traditional education methods are not preparing students for these new jobs and demands. In this thought-provoking book, esteemed educator A.J. Juliani describes how we need to modify our classrooms to instill in students the drive for inquiry and innovation that they will need to succeed beyond school…

To a large extent, developments in the workplace and in (especially formal) education still take place independently from each other, regardless of a strong (market driven) demand to bring both closer to each other. The divide is especially visible when looking at developments towards e-working (telecommuting, …) on the one hand and developments…