This article is based on sessions at AUA Conferences in 2006 and 2007, which looked at some factors to take into account when considering the structure of the administration. Roughly, "administration" is defined as the "non-academic" management and operations that support the delivery of teaching and learning, research, and enterprise--in old…

Universities have long struggled with balancing their core instruction, research, and service missions with the win-at-all-costs mentality of spectator sports. Indeed, much has been written about the athletics-academic debate. Unfortunately, the athletics-academic debate often masks the complexity of characterizing athletics programs as either…

When, if ever, should social studies teacher educators and K-12 teachers seek to inculcate specific values, attitudes, and beliefs in their students? To address this question, the author offers a case from his own practice as a social studies teacher educator, illustrating how he promoted critical and divergent thinking during the first half of…

Although the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme is offered by many high schools in the United States and considered to be challenging and rich in content, the curriculum has not been analyzed to determine its alignment with college readiness standards or state educational standards in the U.S. The research methodology employed by…

In this paper, the issues involved in aligning national and meta-frameworks are explored and analysed. The exploration is timely, given that two qualifications meta-frameworks are currently being developed and implemented in Europe: the question is now how relationships should be established between these new reference tools and national…

Reinforcement-based interventions, the most frequently used treatments for school-age children, rely on accurately identifying stimuli that will serve to reinforce appropriate classroom behavior. Research has consistently demonstrated that the results from a forced-choice pairing procedure are the best predictors of reinforcing stimuli.…

This study examines cognitive and social processes in group interactions that shape collaborative learning in science classrooms. Three small groups of students were observed while working collaboratively on explaining the burning of a candle under a jar. The learning environment served as a context for examination of conceptual convergence, a…

Colleges and universities can never be too prepared, whether for physical attacks or data security breaches. A quick data slice of over 7,000 US higher ed institutions, using the Office of Postsecondary Education's Campus Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool Website and cutting across public and private two- and four-year schools, reveals some…

Creativity has been defined in many different ways by different authors. This article explores these different definitions of creativity; the relationship between creativity and intelligence, and those factors which affect creativity, such as convergent and divergent thinking. In addition, the article explores the importance of computer technology…

The UK educational assessment landscape is changing, characterised by attempts to create more flexible pathways through learning. This has led to attempts to formalise the comparative relationships between different general and vocational qualifications. The National Qualifications Framework (NQF), the Framework for Achievement and the Framework…

For most of the past decade, IT leaders in higher education felt on top of things. Challenges were usually comprehensible and addressable, doing reasonable things yielded reasonable results, and for the most part, IT was a substantial contributor to institutional progress. But these days, IT leaders rarely feel on top of things. Instead, some days…

There is in higher education a powerful discourse of "independent learning". While there may be pedagogical rationales to support the desirability of increased independence at the tertiary stage, it may also serve other institutional agendas, such as functioning as a way for academic staff to "manage" the frustrations…

The authors examine an institutional assessment model for general education that effectively incorporates instructor-driven strategies. This article is informed by the perspectives of a teaching librarian and a departmental faculty member at the University at Albany, State University of New York. As instructors, they both participated in mandated…

The Commission initiated a funding to review national funding models for higher education led by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS). Each institution contributed to the cost of the study and participated in the effort. NCHEMS' key recommendation is to move the funding discussions for higher education away from a…

The purpose of this briefing paper is to review common approaches to performance evaluation in accountability systems, in order to recommend a workable approach for California Community colleges, as the system seeks to meet the requirements of district-level accountability required by AB 1417. The recommendations within this paper capture commonly…