Whirlwind growth in the technology sector has led to heightened demand for workers with specialized skills in coding and computer science. Projections for continued expansion of the sector feed a persistent fear that traditional educational offerings won't generate enough graduates with the skills the economy demands. Bootcamps focused on coding…

The HMIE publication, "External quality arrangements for Scotland's colleges," specifies that HMIE will produce a number of subject aspect reports over the four years 2008-12. These aspect reports complement in a subject-specific context the generic evaluations of learning and teaching in HMIE's reports of external review of colleges.…

This paper reports on work undertaken within a pilot study concerned with the design, development, and evaluation of online computer science training courses. Drawing on recent developments in e-learning technology, these courses were structured around the principles of a learner-oriented approach for use with adult learners. The paper describes a…

Every few years, there is a breakthrough in information technology, introducing a new concept that becomes widely used. This paper deals with the challenges IT (information technology) instructors face due to these rapid developments in the IT industry. More specifically, we are interested in the challenges instructors of the introductory IT…

In search of methods that improve the efficiency of teaching and training in organizations, several authors point out that mass customization (MC) is a principle that covers individual needs of knowledge and skills and, at the same time limits the development costs of customized training to those of mass training. MC is proven and established in…

With funding from NSF, the Prime the Pipeline Project (P[cube]) is responding to the need to strengthen the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pipeline from high school to college by developing and evaluating the scientific village strategy and the culture it creates. The scientific village, a community of high school…

To help the civil servants in both central and local governments in Taiwan operating administrative works smoothly under a new digitalized system launched in 1994, a series of courses related to information technology were offered free to them annually by the central governments. However, due to the budget deficit in recent years, the government…

Serious games use entertainment principles, creativity, and technology to meet government or corporate training objectives, but these principles alone will not guarantee that the intended learning will occur. To be effective, serious games must incorporate sound cognitive, learning, and pedagogical principles into their design and structure. In…

Many older adult have an interest in learning to use computers. The study reported in this article examined whether older adults' attitudes toward computers can be influenced by direct, customized computer training. Thirty older participants who registered for introductory computer courses offered at a SeniorNet computer lab completed the…

The recent publication of "Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians" highlights the importance of human capital as a means of improving the economic well-being of Canadians. This monitoring report looks at a subset of the issues in the document with a focus on the participation in training while unemployed. The report looks…

The purpose of this study was to assess structural knowledge change across a two-week workshop designed to provide high-school teachers with training in Java and Object Oriented Programming. Both before and after the workshop, teachers assigned relatedness ratings to pairs of key concepts regarding Java and Object Oriented Programming. Their…

Although computer-assisted interview tools have much potential, little empirical evidence on the quality and quantity of data generated by these tools has been collected. In this study we compared the effects of using Virre, a computer-assisted self-interview tool, with the effects of using other data collection methods, such as written responding…

Pedagogical patterns have been around since 1995, but several authors claim their impact is limited. However, these claims are based on authors' own observations and not on methodical evaluations of the use and dissemination of pedagogical patterns. This claim is in contrast to the vision of the creators of pedagogical patterns--they think…

Lack of accessibility in the design of e-learning courses continues to hinder students with vision impairment. E-learning materials are predominantly vision-centric, incorporating images, animation, and interactive media, and as a result students with acute vision impairment do not have equal opportunity to gain tertiary qualifications or skills…