Developing online learning communities is a promising pedagogical approach in online learning contexts for adult tertiary learners, but it is no easy task. Understanding how learning communities are formed and evaluating their efficacy in supporting learning involves a complex set of issues that have a bearing on the design and facilitation of…

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, together with the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, set in motion policy changes that have allowed many thousands of children and youth with disabilities in the United States the opportunity to gain the educational and vocational skills needed to transition to living, working, and participating as…

The American penal system of placing criminal offenders in institutions has evolved from two major goals: (1) to punish offenders as an example to the rest of the community, and (2) to rehabilitate offenders into the community. Since the mid-1960's there has been a trend toward placing offenders in the community and away from isolating them in…

A project developed and published a handbook for coordinators of nontraditional occupations (NTO) programs for adult women in postsecondary vocational-technical institutions and a guide for women considering NTO career options. Information about successful elements of postsecondary programs for adult women in NTOs was collected both from a…

This document, one in a series developed to provide technical assistance to 22 Long-Term Care Gerontology Centers, discusses the rationale for the development of gerontological education as well as the content and program focus of career training and continuing education. The next section examines the current literature on education for long-term…

The first year of a project to develop, evaluate, and disseminate a system for occupational program planning in community colleges is discussed. The focus of the first year was the development of the system. This report of the first phase is divided into three parts. In part 1, materials and concepts important to the development of the system are…

Developed for those actively involved with planning the future of two-year postsecondary educational institutions, this publication synthesizes information from the literature with the knowledge and practice in the field regarding the impact of the new adult majority. Chapter I summarizes the issues. Chapter II provides an overview of some of the…

This essay examines characteristics of high risk students, institutional problems related to their presence in schools, and various solutions to these problems that have been implemented at the secondary, junior college, and collegiate levels. Areas discussed in which high risk students may differ from other students include cognitive ability,…

Based on a review of existing literature and interviews with more than 50 individuals at television stations and colleges, this report describes the state of the art of telecourses. Following an introductory chapter, 13 chapters discuss the following aspects of telecourses: (1) definition and scope; (2) the institutional environment; (3) the…

This study was conducted to identify and document the most widely used strategies for the recruitment, retention, and placement of students in vocational education programs not traditional for their sex. Nearly 100 pieces of literature related to sex equity in vocational education found in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)…

A project was undertaken to develop a curriculum for a course in computerized legal education that could be used at Highline Community College in Midway, Washington. As part of the curriculum development effort, project staff reviewed relevant literature, visited colleagues at the University of Washington and the University of Puget Sound Law…

A sample of industrial teacher educators (n=392) responded to a questionnaire on technology teacher education reform, two segments of which focused on the nature of technology and on the subject matter of technology education. A literature review had shown that a philosophical discussion continued to characterize the field of technology education;…

Improving the quality of learning is basic to raising academic standards. Research on postsecondary learning improvement has provided a base of practical knowledge to guide faculty and planners. Successful learning improvement programs share two essential characteristics: they are more comprehensive in the range of students' needs met, and they…

This research synthesis reviews how employers, educators, and professional and labor organizations have adapted general work readiness, industry core, occupational cluster, and specific occupational skills to design and implement a skill standard system. Its primary goal is to describe and analyze a continuum of alternatives for conceptualizing…