In every course, instructors expect students to learn; therefore, we attempt to be present for learners, and provide enriched learning environments which nurture this learning. However, in online courses developing such environments can be more difficult (or, at the very least, may come less naturally and require more conscious effort on the part…

The number of international students seeking educational opportunities at Ontario colleges of applied arts and technology (CAATs) has grown at an unprecedented rate in the past 10 years. It appears that as the number of the international college students has increased, colleges have also been relying more heavily on educational agents to recruit…

Community colleges were created to respond to the specific needs of their local community, yet the growing transnational connections established between institutions seem to give the "local", a global outlook. Based on a survey to which 39 of Québec general and vocational colleges (CEGEPs)--81% of the population--responded, this article…

Engaging in an online course has traditionally been perceived to be a lonely experience, with students busy viewing video lectures, working on problem sets and interacting intermittently with others using asynchronous technologies. More recently, over the past 6-7 years, online courses have become recognized as viable delivery vehicles for online…

Post-secondary institutions across North America have noticed a concerning trend in terms of increased student mental health crises on campuses. Consequently, many colleges and universities have been working to develop responsive and comprehensive mental health frameworks. While broad studies have illuminated the high rates of student mental…

Initial plans for this project arose from a need to address issues of professional development of science and technology teachers that went beyond the norm available within school board settings. Two teams of 4 teachers responded to an invitation to participate in a collaborative action research project. Collaborative action research was chosen in…

Since their creation, community colleges have had a mandate to be responsive to their communities, often through relationships with local business. As globalization and technological advancements increase pressure on small businesses (SMEs), the role of colleges in helping these SMEs to innovate in order to survive becomes clearer. Relationships…

This study evaluates the impact of a College to University Pathway Program in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at The University of Ontario Institute of Technology. The findings support the assertion that Pathway students perform as well as or better than students who enter university directly from secondary school. This finding is…

This exploratory qualitative study focused on 1) the learning needs of Aboriginal adult learners residing in selected First Nations communities in rural Alberta and 2) the potential for increasing access to e-learning education. Through open dialogue with First Nations community leaders, Aboriginal adult learners, and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal…

While studies focused on student GPA scores, transfer credits and the nature of articulation agreements help to inform research related to the transfer student experience, studies investigating the students themselves are still very limited. This study extends the direction modeled by previous literature that has gathered perceptions and comments…

The existing literature on women re-entry students reveals that women students concurrently struggle with family, work, and sometimes health issues. Women students often do not receive adequate support from their partners or from other sources in helping manage the multiple roles that compete for their time, and often face constraints that affect…

With the advent of the post-industrial 21st century knowledge-based economy and the demands of global competitiveness, Canada's community colleges are under increased pressure to extend their historical mandates (of career-related education and regional economic development) by incorporating "research", especially "applied…

Applied undergraduate degrees have become regular offerings at community colleges across Ontario, including the Bachelor of Applied Arts in Early Childhood Leadership and the Autism and Behavioural Science Graduate Certificate at Fanshawe College, both of which include coursework related to applied research. In collaboration with community…

This Ontario-based qualitative study examined secondary school and college textbooks' treatment of trigonometric representations in order to identify potential sources of student difficulties in the transition from secondary school to college mathematics. Analysis of networks, comprised of trigonometric representations, identified numerous issues…

This paper reports and discusses the results of a study that was undertaken to determine factors that influence choices that secondary school students make between enrolling in community college or university, and in particular whether or not those choices are affected by the degree of "articulation" within a public system of…