Learning outcomes have become an integral part of the global trend in higher education reform and are employed in three interconnected areas: (1) quality assurance, (2) teaching and learning, and (3) transfer credit. The article touches briefly on the first two areas, but focuses discussion on employing learning outcomes in transfer credit. Using…

Despite its value in higher education, academic rigor is a challenging construct to define for instructor and students alike. How do students perceive academic rigor in their biology course work? Using qualitative surveys, we asked students to identify "easy" or "hard" courses and define which aspects of these learning…

Although many English language learners (ELLs) in the United States have knowledge gaps that make it hard for them to master high-level content and skills, ELLs also often have background knowledge relevant to school learning that teachers neglect to access, this author argues. In the Common Core era, with ELLs being the fastest growing population…

Instructional time for social studies in elementary classrooms has decreased since the passage of Goals 2000 and No Child Left Behind, with content contracted to align with reading goals. Consequently, opportunities for preservice teachers to observe and teach social studies lessons have diminished. This qualitative multiple case study examines…

A taxonomy of learning objectives generally refers to a schema to classify the levels of learning. In 1956, Benjamin Bloom, with a group of educational psychologists, created a taxonomy for classifying educational objectives using six major categories of thinking skills: (a) knowledge (recalling information), (b) comprehension, (understanding the…

A diploma mill is commonly recognized as an entity that will award a degree for substandard academic work. However, there is no universal agreement among different higher education institutions as to what constitutes minimum standard academic work or minimum knowledge and skills required of graduates. The author states that many of the negative…

The creation of a flexible education system, including procedures for the validation of previous education and other forms of knowledge should be one of the objectives of higher education institutions as well as other institutions that are engaged in adult education. To be effective, the system must be developed and implemented in partnership with…

A principal characteristic of the Canadian experience with e-learning is the uniquely Canadian feature of provincial jurisdiction over education. Canada is the only country that does not have a national department or ministry of education. Therefore, any investigation of e-learning in Canada must focus more on specific provincial initiatives in…

Training preservice teachers to develop a predisposition toward constructivist instruction is a major goal for many faculty in teacher education. One critical attribute of a constructivist teacher is a strong hold on pedagogical content knowledge. This study examined the prior knowledge of preservice science teachers and how that knowledge aligned…