Most history teachers will, at some point, recognise the tension between teaching an engaging history course while at the same time meeting the requirements of an exam specification. Mark Fowle and Ben Egelnick reflect here on how they approached teaching a formal requirement of an exam specification. Rather than see "controlled…

Since online learning burst on the scene in the late 1990s, predictions of traditional higher education's obsolescence and disruption have been steady fare in the trade and popular media. This time the change is shaping up to be more profound than most had envisioned. As alternatives to the degree system (and the accreditation/financial…

In this webinar, Dr. Carol Tomlinson of the University of Virginia presented the research base supporting the practice of differentiation and described the characteristics of effective differentiation. She led a discussion of how quality preparation can build and strengthen teachers' knowledge and skills in implementing differentiated instruction…

Focusing on the challenges of training counseling psychologists, Ridley and colleagues offer in this issue a review and critique of microskills training, the dominant training model in counseling psychology graduate programs. Recognizing the role of higher order cognitive and affective functions in expert practice, they propose a hierarchical…

Western Governors University was conceptualized in 1995 at a meeting of the Western Governors Association, and founded soon after in an effort to increase degree production in higher education at a lower cost. It has expanded significantly over the past few years, driven both by increased demand for online education and by drastic state budget…

In this essay, John F. Ebersole describes how, during his tours of the higher education conference circuit throughout the spring of 2013, as both a participant and observer, he came away with a good sense of the issues occupying the attention of American higher education during this period. Ebersole shares ten of the most common themes and…

This study is interested in understanding the configurations of knowledge underpinning three examples of curriculum policy texts in the specific case of the school subject of geography. The three policy texts are the 1991 Geography National Curriculum (GNC), the "Opening minds" curriculum and the GNC 2007. I start with the proposal that…

Discusses Michael Collins' critique of competency-based education and differentiates among competency-based education (CBE), competency-based adult education (CBAE), and adult performance level (APL). (JOW)

Ten adult educators react negatively to "A Critical Analysis of Competency-Based Systems in Adult Education" by Michael Collins that appeared in the Spring, 1983 Adult Education Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 3 (EJ 279 024). (JOW)

Points out that man lives in a three-dimensional universe with three-dimensional problems. A competency-based curriculum cannot get the job done by itself. A type of thinking which transcends that required for a competency-based curriculum is called for. (JOW)

The article briefly discusses the criterion, referenced approach to student assessment, examining some of its advantages and its limitations. The author concludes that it is one useful approach among others and must be viewed with an informed and critical eye. (DLS)

Skill/competency approaches to workplace-based policy seek to assess and train for discrete individual competencies with the goal of increasing employability and productivity. These approaches have become increasingly prominent across a range of advanced capitalist countries. A substantial critique has emerged over this same period regarding…

Discusses the definition of competency, how to select competencies, competency analysis, how to identify competencies, and the changing role of human resource development. (JOW)

Considers competency-based adult education from a psychological and philosphical perspective in light of the historical delivery of adult basic education as a federally funded, state administered program. (JOW)

Pennsylvania's attempt to implement competency-based education in the public schools is a well-meaning but misguided effort to improve the schools. It will succeed only in diverting vast amounts of time, energy, and intelligence away from more important and more attainable goals. (Author/IRT)