This article outlines the background to, and progress on, a project based on work carried out at the Open University UK (OUUK). The aim of the project is to articulate the attributes and expertise required by tutors of languages in distance education. A review of the literature on the roles and competencies required for tutors operating at a…

This article discusses the research approach adopted by one higher education institution in the United Kingdom (UK) to explore employers' and employees' responses to local skills, recruitment and training issues and how these responses were used to develop a curriculum for Foundation degrees. The article discusses skills issues, the varying…

The way that Open University students study technology (T100) and social science (D101) foundation courses was investigated using an inventory developed at Lancaster University. A comparison of study approaches of Open University and conventional university students, and data derived from student interviews were analyzed. The Lancaster inventory,…

Organisational change in UK higher education has resulted in control of the student learning environment passing from specific disciplines such as psychology to central management teams and university-wide course frameworks. This poses the general question of how disciplines can exert influence upon broad pedagogic issues, when their control…

This document contains four papers that examine four diverse topics from the field of adult education: multiculturalism, ageism, mathematics, and new paradigm research. In "Editorial Introduction," Roger Fieldhouse gives an overview of the papers and the experience of their authors. The first paper, "Multi-Cultural Perspectives on…

This discussion of educational technology and the role of computers is based on the author's experiences with the United Kingdom's National Development Programme in Computer Assisted Learning (NDPCAL). Highlights include curriculum development; teachers' roles; research and development; evaluation; control group experiments; instructional…

Critiques action research from a feminist theoretical perspective, identifying a duality between mainstream and antisexist action research. Argues mainstream researchers' rational distancing fosters self-deception among researchers about what action research can achieve and how it operates. Posits emotional engagement characteristic to antisexist…

Suggests a number of questions that can be used to structure a small-group discussion about the interpretation of visual images. Argues for the necessity of critical interpretation of visual information as an increasing degree of geographic information becomes visualized. Includes several teaching tips. (MJP)

A comprehensive overview of important contemporary issues in the field of reading research, this book presents 47 essays that examine literacy through a variety of lenses--some permitting microscopic views and others panoramic views. Essays in the book cover current methodology as well as cumulative research-based knowledge. Essays in Part I…

Inexpensive telecommunications, the spread of computing, and globalization are creating major change in the location of work within and between countries. Because no tools have yet been developed to investigate the new spatial employment patterns, a cluster analysis involving more than 50 variables and 206 countries was performed to group…

The IFLA/FAIFE World Report Series is unique. It is the only source based on a systematic data collection process that provides an overview of how libraries around the world are tackling barriers to freedom of access to information and freedom of expression. This year's edition includes 84 country reports which detail the extent of Internet access…

This article describes research with schoolteachers using participatory methods and reflective practice. These approaches have been used to enable teachers to establish their practice needs in relation to education for sustainability (EfS) and also maintain the integrity of their subject disciplines. The participatory methods are derived from…

This paper presents a collection of studies that examine interactions in preschool and school settings around the time of school entry. The studies are loosely organized around five themes: (1) differences between intended and experienced curricula, and intended and experienced patterns of interaction; (2) contingent and responsive nature of…

Data from the Work History and Attitudes survey of the Social Change and Economic Life research initiative (SCELI) enquiry of 1986-1989 and the first wave of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) were analyzed to determine their continuity and comparability with regard to employee attitudes in general and job satisfaction and work centrality…

The contribution of occupational profiling to explaining and forecasting job satisfaction were analyzed by using data on job satisfaction for 33,249 workers from waves 1-7 of the British Household Panel Survey. Overall job satisfaction gradients were defined for major and minor groups of occupations in the United Kingdom's Standard Occupational…