This article is a reflection of the author's experiences teaching a course titled 'Women In Islam' [WIS] in an English Department at a medium, public, Masters granting, Liberal Arts university in the Midwestern United States. This paper argues for the importance of teaching WIS through a multi-genre, interdisciplinary, and global approach. The…

In the final article of the special issue, we offer a reflection on the ideas presented by the authors and recommendations for future research on implementation and assessment of Global, International, and Intercultural (GII) competencies in higher education. Themes identified from the articles include the intersection of GII competencies and…

This commentary paper examines the issue of contract cheating in higher education, drawing on research and current debate in the field of academic integrity. Media coverage of this issue has reflected significant concerns in the field about students' use of custom academic writing services, along with sector and national calls for action that…

In this article, Hartley notes the difficulties of using questionnaires to assess the efficiency of new instructional methods and highlights nine issues that researchers must consider. Hartley continues the discussion about the use of questionnaires and suggests that psychology teachers can help improve the teaching of psychology by drawing…

This paper reflects on the work done at a large UK university to redesign assessment procedures in a way that was intended to contribute to an improvement in assessment literacy for staff. Existing practice was reviewed and showed that changes in assessment processes were needed to make the organization of assessment more consistent and more…

This article is a forum response to a research article on self-reporting methods when studying discrete emotions in science education environments. Studying emotions in natural settings is a difficult task because of the complexity of deciphering verbal and non-verbal communication. In my response I present three main points that build on insights…

In this article, the author argues first, that critical-thinking skills do exist independent of disciplinary thinking skills and are not compromised by interaction effects with the major; and second, that standardized tests (e.g., the Collegiate Learning Assessment, or CLA, which is his example throughout the article) are the best way to measure…

In the discussion of mean square difference (MSD) and standard error of measurement (SEM), Barchard (2012) concluded that the MSD between 2 sets of test scores is greater than 2(SEM)[superscript 2] and SEM underestimates the score difference between 2 tests when the 2 tests are not parallel. This conclusion has limitations for 2 reasons. First,…

This paper puts forward the case that one of the factors constraining principled learning-oriented assessment practices is lack of trust. It examines a number of assessment dimensions in which trust or distrust plays a role. These issues are illustrated via a discussion of two different iterations of the same module taught in a teacher education…

The article focuses on how the present vocational education and training (VET) system in Australia might be modified to better accommodate possible VET futures change. It begins with the premise that VET's role is to contribute to skills acquisition through "formal" education and training. The authors propose a simple VET futures role…

This essay is a contribution to the literature of critique of higher education policy and management. It offers a general discussion of problems arising from the proliferation of mechanisms of audit and quality assurance within the context of concerns about dependence on quantitative measures of values. It argues that uncritical dependence on…

This paper argues that recent work in philosophy complements the discourse of psychologists and educationists on such questions as the differences between behavioral and conceptual learning, the nature of the latter, the formation of general ideas, and the stability and transferability of knowledge. Conclusions about both teaching methods and…

The ranking of universities today is traceable to the pioneer efforts of the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education in 1970 when it started the classification of US Colleges and Universities. But the present-day ranking of universities in a form of league table at national levels was started in 1983 by the US News and World Report, and was later…

This paper concentrates on the public and formal processes of reporting achievement. The topic is significant because employers, managers and graduate schools all use warrants when making selection and governance decisions. Should those warrants turn out to have, as we argue, local meanings, then selection and governance practices, amongst others,…

In September 2006, the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education issued an indictment of American higher education. Costs are too high, said the panel formed by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, graduates rates too low, and learning outcomes a mystery. Moreover, "compounding all of these difficulties is a lack of clear,…