The article aims to explore the attributes of quality and quality improvement including the process and specific actions associated with these attributes--that contribute enhancing quality in Iranian Virtual Higher Education (VHE) institutions. A total of 16 interviews were conducted with experts and key actors in Iranian virtual higher education.…

This paper follows undergraduate students' engagement with the concept of childhood presented to them during a year-long childhood and youth studies module. Through the application of "threshold concepts" as concepts which transform students' understandings of a subject, the challenges of learning new ideas or concepts of childhood are…

It is widely recognised that tertiary education does not provide all of the knowledge and skills required to succeed in modern societies. Personal and interpersonal skills--so-called "soft skills"--are also needed to complement professional skills and expertise, and become an essential part of an individual's personality. One way of…

In-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of BCom Entrepreneurship graduates, as well as a control group to determine whether the exposure to entrepreneurship education can enhance actual business start-up. Information was collected on how they experienced the learning approaches, and the value which they had derived from the degree. This…

Within the scope of this study, which deals with distance education method as a communication process, a focus group interview was conducted with voluntary students who were randomly selected from various areas/majors at the Department of Distance Education in Istanbul University in order to determine the relationship between their general…

Research shows that a surface approach to learning is more common among students in the natural sciences, while students representing the "soft" sciences are more likely to apply a deep approach. However, findings conflict concerning the stability of approaches to learning in general. This study explores the variation in students'…

This study considered the sources of facilitating experiences and strategies for thesis writing from doctoral students and graduates (N = 30). The sample was balanced between science and social science knowledge areas, with equal numbers of English as Second Language (ESL) participants in both groups. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used…

The aim of this paper is to discuss the value of service-learning to students. There currently exists a gap in this understanding. We apply mixed-methods research using a sample of higher education students to develop this discussion. We found that students valued service-learning for the opportunity that it provides to increase their personal…

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the pre-service teachers' opinions about science within the context of the basic elements of the education program, such as objectives, content, learning-teaching process and evaluation. The study was designed as a case study, one of the qualitative research methods. The participants of the study…

The central goal of this qualitative research study was to uncover major implicit assumptions that students with different levels of training in the discipline apply when thinking and making decisions about chemical reactions used to make a desired product. In particular, we elicited different ways of conceptualizing why chemical reactions happen…

Creativity is one of the important skills of the twenty-first century and central to higher education (HE). When we look closer into research on creativity in HE, however, it is not clear how university teachers conceptualise student creativity. How do teachers grasp, observe and express student creativity? Different methods such as interviews and…

This article describes a research study in which 10 early childhood education students participated in facilitated critical reflection experiences during a 7-week practicum. Students' critical thinking skills were quantitatively assessed using the Cornell Critical Thinking Test and qualitatively documented through analysis of daily, weekly, and…

This paper explores the transitions that a group of students, admitted from further education colleges as part of broader widening access initiative at a Scottish research-intensive university, made across the lifetime of their degrees. It investigates how they negotiate their learning careers beyond the first year, and how they (re)define their…

This article presents findings from a case study that explored creative persistence through a reconceptualization of what it means to "fail" within an educational setting. Participants included in-service teachers enrolled in a semester-long graduate level educational technology course who reflected that they were able to view their…

Students with disabilities face a number of obstacles to complete graduate education. Adult learners with disabilities are enrolling in online graduate programs at increasing numbers, yet they tend to graduate at lower rates than students without disabilities. Research indicates that students with disabilities tend to prefer and excel in the…