The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Summit, held in Sydney on 5 November 2015, was hosted by the New South Wales (NSW) Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli, on behalf of his Education Council colleagues. It was attended by just over 100 experts, thought leaders and STEM professionals from industry, government…

Determining the writing skill level of students commencing tertiary education is a key element in predicting their likely study success and in providing appropriate writing development opportunities. Writing tests constructed around written instructions often assume high levels of reading and comprehension skills, which in some instances impose…

Young people face financial issues at an earlier age than their parents. Decisions about higher education, the need to be able to manage online payment facilities or even mobile phone plans require a level of financial literacy. PISA 2012 offered an opportunity to collect information about the financial literacy of Australian 15-year-old students,…

The provision of public resources to manage the expansion of the higher education system in the Philippines has been inadequate, and this has given rise to many private providers entering the HE domain. The proper regulation of higher education in the country is important if the Philippines is to respond to the challenge of producing the skills it…

An outcome-based approach to teaching and learning focuses on what the student demonstrably knows and can do after instruction, rather than on what the instructor teaches. This outcome-focused approach can then guide the alignment of teaching strategies, learning activities, and assessment. In organic chemistry, mastery of organic acid-base…

This article summarises the practical requirements for new science A-levels in biology, chemistry and physics for first teaching from September 2015. It discusses the background to how the new approach was reached and how OCR has seen this taking shape in our assessment models. The opportunities presented by this new approach to practical…

In the "Adults Learning" autumn issue, the journal staff asked key players in the learning and skills sector what they thought should be at the top of new skills minister Matthew Hancock's in-tray. The new minister shares that his job in the further education and skills sector is to rise to the challenge and play his full part in giving…

Reform of vocational education and training (VET) in Europe is complex, especially at a time of economic crisis. Cedefop raises awareness and provides analysis and advice to policy-makers at European level and in Member States to help them decide on policies and actions. Cedefop's work supports the European policy agenda for VET and lifelong…

In the twenty-first century, Australian musicians increasingly maintain "portfolio" careers, in which they combine diverse employment arrangements and activities. Often, these incorporate industry sectors outside of music. This career pattern is widespread but not well understood, largely because of the limitations of existing research.…

Involvement in a number of action-learning programmes and associated development opportunities has led the Professional Development Centre Limited to question the relevance of a strict adherence to the "rules" of action learning as described by Reg Revans. A deliberate focus of one such programme to a financial services organisation…

Reliable and consistent time series are essential to any kind of economic forecasting. Skills forecasting needs to combine data from national accounts and labour force surveys, with the pan-European dimension of Cedefop's skills supply and demand forecasts, relying on different international classification standards. Sectoral classification (NACE)…

The Biennial Report presents a selection of UNESCO-UNEVOC's activities during 2014 and 2015. The activities contributed to UNESCO's sectoral priorities and programmatic objectives and assisted Member States to provide equitable, inclusive and quality education and promote lifelong learning for sustainable development. Importantly, the selected…

Note-taking in lectures is often taken to be the distinguishing characteristic of learning at university. It is typically assumed that this is a commonsensical skill that students either have or will learn through trial and error. The data from a research project in one New Zealand university suggest that taking good notes is not a skill that…

Research data cast doubt on the assumption that the best universities in Russia are of a high quality and are graduating students who are well educated and ready to contribute to the development of the Russian economy and society. The dominance of Moscow in Russian higher education is not providing the benefits for Russia that it should be…

A critical review of research to date suggests a need to explore the development of graduate student research capacity from the standpoint of graduate students. Six members of an interdisciplinary graduate student colloquium at the Centre for Youth and Society (Victoria, Canada) offer their perspective. Our research involved four phases, each…