Adult secondary education learners approach the goal of college-level postsecondary education through three assessment gateways: (a) measures of adult education program learning gains, (b) a high-school equivalency exam, and (c) college placement tests. On the surface, the assessments in this sequence might appear to work in concert and point…

This paper explores the nature and role of those forms of tertiary education that have been variously described as "transition", "foundation" and "bridging" education. It argues that much of the relevant literature is grounded implicitly or explicitly in technicist and liberal functionalist discourses. It then reviews…

There is widespread concern that higher education is being compromised by being turned into a "commodity" to be "consumed". This article represents an initial attempt to explore the trends in both the UK and US, and considers how the law has responded to them. It argues, however, that there is an important distinction to be…

As the world economy continues to evolve, businesses and industries must adopt new practices and processes in order to survive. Quality and cost control, work teams and participatory management, and an infusion of technology are transforming the way people work and do business. Employees are now expected to read, write, and communicate…

This article outlines the experiences of a first-year writing program's adoption of large-scale portfolio assessment as part of its move from student-focused assessment to programmatic assessment. This research is an attempt to provide evidence to support the claims benefits associated with portfolio assessment and to chronicle the changes that…

This article discusses the development of a community college online information literacy course to match the general education guidelines for the California State University System, and describes blending information literacy skills into the core GE requirements for equipping students to become lifelong learners while gaining an understanding of…

This paper, originally given as an address to an African audience of students and academics, examines the functions of education in Africa and argues that the western-oriented approach at tertiary level is injurious to the intellectual development of students. It sets out an analysis of the processes at work in the University of Ghana which…

The Faculty Development Programs (FDP) were intended to increase substance abuse education in mainstream professional training programs by attracting and educating core faculty to teach about addictions. Five psychology faculty in the PhD program at the University of New Mexico participated in the only FDP funded within the discipline of…

Student volunteering is currently being promoted through the Higher Education Active Community Fund, which runs to August 2004 and may be extended further. This development of higher education's "third mission" has strong links with the government's agenda for citizenship and the active community. This initiative appears to have taken…

The number of technical writing courses and programs in institutions of higher education has increased over the years. However, during the academic year of 1980-81 a study concerning the subject in Kentucky's colleges and universities could not be found. A questionnaire was designed to determine how many of the 42 Kentucky colleges and…

While research in international technical communication has flourished during the last 10 years, there has been little published on technical communication programs outside the United States. This article addresses this need by describing 12 representative academic technical communication programs in Germany, including Germany's first master's…

The purpose of this study was twofold. The immediate objective was to collect survey data from students, both before and after program delivery, to assess the effectiveness of the field-responsive curriculum developed for this cohort. The second purpose was to pilot an approach to program evaluation on a tightly controlled basis to begin the…

This article discusses a business school professor's approach to teaching a University Seminar, the first course in the freshman year component of the liberal arts requirements at Seattle Pacific University. Drawing on Cardinal Newman's "The Idea of a University" (1873/1947), three theses shaped the design of the seminar. First, the…

In this article we examine a flexible curricular approach known as the "Option." The Option enables students to supplement traditional majors with a coherent set of courses and other educational experiences in a related, often interdisciplinary field. Options can act as curricular bridges between mainstream academic fields and problems of…

In "One Hundred Semesters", William Chace mixes incisive analysis with memoir to create an illuminating picture of the evolution of American higher education over the past half century. Chace follows his own journey from undergraduate education at Haverford College to teaching at Stillman, a traditionally African-American college in…