The writing retreat has been positioned as an effective response to the pressure to "publish or perish" in higher education. An academic writing retreat is a professional development event that allows scholars to immerse themselves in writing for publication and to receive on-site support for that writing. In 2012, the Office of Research…

Focusing on an instrumental case study of urban agriculture on a wetland in Zimbabwe, this study explores how focus group discussion can be augmented with design thinking method to enhance public engagement. Design thinking, by virtue of being oriented toward solving complex problems was implemented prior to focus group discussion as a means of…

The focus of the research was students' perceptions of whether joint honours degrees represented a sound student learning experience and led to good academic and employability outcomes. In this minority mode of study for the United Kingdom, students study two academic subjects, rather than the more usual single subject. The qualitative methodology…

Institutions in many jurisdictions are in the process of implementing Open Educational Resources (OER). This short paper is based on a report commissioned by Contact North/Contact Nord as part of their Pockets of Innovation series to better understand the impact of OER implementations at diverse institutions. The investigation looks into 13…

International development organizations increasingly use "participatory development" approaches to improve the effectiveness of their programs. Participatory frameworks are commonly limited in scope and funder-driven; these top-down approaches to participation have proven to be both ineffective, and at times, contradictory in their…

The South African National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy was approved by the South African Cabinet in 2015. Given capacity and financial constraints, all services outlined cannot be implemented in a single step. Priorities must be set. We examine the budget implications (total cost and cost per child) and benefits of the four…

This paper presents a review of the family services that were offered by a sample of 121 English Sure Start Children's Centres in 2011 and 2012. Children's Centres are community based facilities that aim to improve outcomes for at-risk families and children through the delivery of a range of services largely aimed at families with young children.…

Since the end of apartheid, South African leaders have been working to transform all aspects of the racialized society into a nonracialized, nonsexist democratic state, including postsecondary education. This chapter examines the changing South African collegiate context focusing on access, persistence, affordability, accreditation, transfer, and…

This case study of a Ghanaian rural school district uses a community-based participatory action research to engage with municipal officials, a rural community, and its local school participants to codesign culturally sustainable education strategies. The study triangulated community meeting discussion, interviews, field notes and document analysis…

Because they are believed to be able to lower the costs of an education, e-books have been factored into the technology plans for community colleges and CEGEPs during the current decade. But adoption is a function of perceptions, which this study explored: (1) General perceptions of the CEGEP (collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, a…

Zambia has a large, autonomous community schooling system that formed during the nation's transition from a socialist economy. The community schooling system has expanded during the past 20 years to increase education access in remote areas. Estimates suggest that the number of Zambian community schools has increased from 100 schools in 1996 to…

Low- and middle-income countries often have limited resources, underdeveloped health systems and scarce knowledge of autism spectrum disorder. The objectives of this preliminary study were to develop and adapt intervention materials and to train a native clinician to implement a community-based parent-mediated behavioural intervention in rural…

The paper argues that access to public infrastructure plays a crucial role on the presence of private schools in a community, as it could not only minimise the cost of production, but also ensure a high return to private investment. Results using community, school and child/household-level PROBE survey data from five north Indian states provide…

Attracting and retaining teachers in regional, rural and remote (RRR) communities has long been highlighted as problematic in Australia. With predicted growth in classrooms across the nation, it is expected that there will be increased teacher shortages in RRR communities. Specific, contextual preparation for teaching has been advocated for…

"Millions Learning: Scaling up Quality Education in Developing Countries" tells the story of where and how quality education has scaled in low- and middle-income countries. The story emerges from wide-ranging research on scaling and learning, including 14 in-depth case studies from around the globe. Ultimately, "Millions…