The present study explores the formation and benefits of communal cohorts within an EdD program. Data were gathered through focus groups and surveys. Findings include the roles of participants, activities, and shared spaces in developing communal cohorts, and the importance of the communal nature of cohorts in realizing their benefits.

This study explored learning which occurred when mature distance education students co-developed an open educational resource (OER) with their lecturers using Smith's critical reflection as a method to guide reflection on their learning. This study is significant since student learning on the co-development of an open educational resource could…

This exploratory qualitative case study investigates how graduate students in education experience, attribute, and combat academic boredom. Three areas of concern are addressed: (a) the contributing factors to boredom, (b) how attributional style (internal vs. external) relates to coping with boredom, and (c) the differences between combating…

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework posits that a collaborative online teaching and learning process can be achieved through three interdependent dimensions of presence: cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence. Emotion is considered an important factor in successful online learning. This study explored non-traditional…

Each year there seems to be an increase in the number of mature students enrolled in my Bachelor of Education (BEd) classes. These mature learners experience stress. As there is a need to better comprehend the experiences of the adult learner enrolled in a one-year intensive tertiary education programme, I enrolled in university as a student, and…

This article explores from a sociological perspective how MA students of Education perceive the impact of their teachers' research activities on the quality of teaching and learning in higher education in the UK. It originates from a qualitative research design, from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 43 postgraduate (MA) students of…

Distance education is not a new concept for all kinds of learners in the modern societies. Many researchers have studied traditional distance education programs for adult learners in the past, but little research has been done on Web-based distance education (WBDE) for adult learners. There are also many popular online universities in the U.S. or…

Universities worldwide are developing peer mentoring programmes to assist first-year students' transition into university life. Awareness of the mentees' experiences in the mentoring programme--the successes and challenges--contributes to ongoing planning for successful transition for first-year students. Also, understanding the mentors'…

This volume contains papers submitted to the 12th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), held in Sofia and Nessebar, Bulgaria, in June 2014, and papers submitted to the 2nd International Partner Conference, organized by the International Research Centre 'Scientific Cooperation,' Rostov-on-Don,…