This article describes a four-credit semester program at Elliot Lake Secondary School in the late 1990s. This New Trails program is based around physical education and leadership, geography, Native studies, and English credits. The students are outside much of the time. The students become certified in the use of GPS and in map and compass work,…

The type and amount of student interaction with major socializing agents on campus--faculty and their peers--determine the impact of college on students. Much of the research on postsecondary education links the quality of peer interactions directly to student learning outcomes and satisfaction with the college experience, and Alexander Astin went…

With the tendency of low-income African American and Latino children identified at-risk for school readiness and school success compared to their early-childhood counterparts, Head Start personnel are challenged to examine the role of family strengths in the promotion of academic success for these populations. This article provides a rationale for…

After 10 years of organizing the Cybertech robotics competition, this paper presents this unique and innovative educational experience of teaching engineering at Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM), Spain. Cybertech is not only a well-known robotic contest in Spain due to the "Robotaurus" bullfighting, but is also a whole academic…

Open education resources (OER) are taking centre-stage in many higher educational institutions globally, driven by the need to raise institutional profiles, improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning and achieve universal access to education. Many academics attracted to the idea of turning teaching materials into OER have, however, found…

Over the past six years, the authors have been project leaders for three distance education initiatives in Cape Verde and Mozambique: (1) a blended learning master's degree in multimedia in education for faculty in Cape Verdean public higher education institutions (2005-2008); (2) a teacher training programme for 1375 elementary teachers provided…

Student success is at the heart of both institutional effectiveness and the community college mission, yet measuring such success at community colleges is problematic. This article highlights three efforts to grapple with this problem--a multistate work group of system- and state-level policymakers to create an improved set of student success…

This article describes how the author, in an effort to build some common language about "good writing" and to teach effective revision strategies, involved her students in an action research project using the Worse/Better Writing Strategy developed by Andrews-Beck. In her dissertation, Andrews-Beck described a worse/better writing strategy that…

In this article, the author reports the appointment of Zina Watkins to the Office of Correctional Education. Zina Watkins is a recent graduate of the prestigious Presidential Management Fellows Program--a program designed to bring the best and brightest to federal service. He also relates how pleased he was for receiving an invitation to…

This article describes the underlying theological and educational issues which were addressed when incorporating an item of religious content within the "Gift Approach" to Primary Religious Education. It suggests that the significance of laying bare this process is in demonstrating how theological concerns (whatever the religion) will always be a…

The Video Game Development program is designed and developed by leaders in the Austin video game development industry, under the direction of the ACC Video Game Advisory Board. Courses are taught by industry video game developers for those who want to become video game developers. The program offers a comprehensive approach towards learning what's…

The integrated online planning and budget development system at Baton Rouge Community College is an innovative approach to systematically link college strategic priorities and unit plan objectives with financial resources. Using two industry standards (Microsoft Access and Sungard Banner), a user-friendly program was developed that has facilitated…

Wouldn't it be great if all your teachers were as good as your best? Teaching is often an isolated profession in which teachers work behind closed doors, doing their own thing. Peer coaching is a collaborative, ongoing process that can increase the effectiveness of all your teachers. This "Focus On" is designed to lead a faculty into the…

Obesity, poor health, and limited physical activity are major health concerns. The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) improves the health and well-being of limited resource families and youth. Additionally, EFNEP leads to public savings. Research shows that better health is associated with reduced health care costs, less…

Pursuant to section 22.30.7-109(1)(a) and (d) C.R.S., online programs in Colorado are required to submit an annual report to the Colorado Department of Education's (CDE) Unit of Online Learning. As per the "CDE Rules for the Administration, Certification and Oversight of Colorado's online programs," individual program reports were…