Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is based on the principle that valuable learning, worthy of recognition, takes place outside formal education. In the context of higher education, legislation provides an enabling framework for the implementation of RPL. However, RPL will only gain its rightful position if it can ensure the RPL candidates'…

Students in higher education are being taught pedagogically. Moreover, pedagogy has long persisted as the basis for the entire educational system. Education is, however, discovering that adults learn differently than children learn even though they have been taught as children were taught. Students tend to behave dependently when they are in a…

The chapters in Part IV of "Handbook of Distance Education" (2007), "Policies, Administration, and Management," focus on the ways in which policies encourage or hamper the integration of distance education into mainstream educational institutions. The authors provide insights and perspectives into the key policies, roles, structures, processes,…

This study examines the stress factors associated with college persistence among a sample of four undocumented Mexican immigrant women from a small rural community in the Rocky Mountain region. Using Chicana feminist epistemological techniques to analyze data collected from in-depth interviews, this study yielded four major findings that include:…

Students in their first year of university face a number of transition issues that can make realising their academic potential difficult. In the sciences, first-year courses cover a large amount of material across broad subject areas, which can make them troublesome for students without background knowledge, and students need to adapt to typically…

A diploma mill is commonly recognized as an entity that will award a degree for substandard academic work. However, there is no universal agreement among different higher education institutions as to what constitutes minimum standard academic work or minimum knowledge and skills required of graduates. The author states that many of the negative…

The central place of the learning environment and the personal characteristics of the learner in influencing whether students adopt deep or surface approaches to learning is well evidenced in the literature (for example, Marton & Saljo, 1976; Biggs, 1987; Entwhistle, 2001; Ramsden, 2003). For this reason, tertiary educators are constantly…

This study investigated patterns and effects of cognitive tools usage during engagement with an open-ended hypermedia learning environment. Seven technical institute students engaged in problem-solving tasks concerning anatomy and physiology. They used 16 cognitive tools embedded in a hypermedia system and their tool use patterns and corresponding…

The Model of College Outcomes for Adults explains why adults might do as well as traditional students, despite limited participation and involvement in traditional residential learning experiences. The model's six components are prior experience and personal biographies; psychosocial and value orientation; adult cognition; life-world environment;…

The purpose of this study was to investigate distance learning variables and their possible contributions to successful distance learning receptivity. The variables used in this study included gender, age, computer experience, learning style, and students taking an educational technology (EDTC) course and students taking a statistics (non-EDTC)…

This book presents papers, written in both English and French, from a symposium entitled "Promoting Learner Autonomy: New Insights." After "Introduction" (Leni Dam), the eight papers include the following: "Examining the Discourse of Learner Advisory Sessions" (David Crabbe, Alison Hoffman, and Sara Cotteral);…

Demonstrates the usefulness of classroom assessment in reducing the number of underprepared students. Recommends that faculty use classroom assessment techniques very early in the semester to determine students' knowledge level. Maintains that a vast dichotomy exists between teachers' assumptions regarding students' knowledge and what they…

This report explores the development of modular education and its application in the Dutch Open University. The origins of modular education are examined from the first applications in American higher education and the development of electives and the credit system to the role of modular instruction as the basis of higher education curriculum.…

High demands on learners in Web-based learning environments and constraints of the human cognitive system cause disorientation and cognitive overload. These problems could be inhibited if appropriate cognitive tools are provided to support learners' cognitive processes. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors influencing the use of…

Empirical evaluations of learning with hypertext have shown contradictory results. Adaptive hypertext was introduced to solve some problems when learning with hypertext. This paper reports on two empirical studies comparing different forms of adaptive hypertext. In the first experiment, four treatments were realized by a combination of adaptive…