The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is based on a quantitative and accumulative understanding of time, which increasingly frames academic practices and notions of learning in higher education (HE). By example of a recent Danish policy reform, the article explores the connections between the ECTS, new institutional…

This paper analyzes the phenomenon that reducing hours of EFL instruction to non-English majors in Chinese universities gets no response. It first depicts the phenomenon, pointing out that this phenomenon differs greatly from people's response to similar events that happened in the past. It then analyzes the complicated underlying factors from…

In 2012, senior fellow at the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence Grant Lichtman visited dozens of schools and interviewed hundreds of educators about what they see as the future of learning and of schools and published his findings in "#EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education" (Jossey-Bass, 2014). Since then, he has been…

This paper identifies common timetabling issues and options as experienced in Australian universities, and develops a rationale to inform management decisions on a suitable system and the associated policies, procedures, management structure and resources at the University of Newcastle, to enable more effective timetabling in line with the needs…

Congress completed the fiscal year 2011 appropriations process on April 14th, 2011, finalizing annual funding for nearly all federal education programs through September 30, 2011 at $68.3 billion, up $4.2 billion from the prior year. Making sense of the federal education budget and the appropriations process can be a frustrating task for education…

Why do a trimester schedule? With the advent of block scheduling, many high schools conducted research on utilizing that plan in a trimester format. There appeared to be three issues that most schools faced: (1) How to provide substantive instructional time that was not fragmented?; (2) How does the school climate contribute positively to…

This study describes an evaluation of the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) reform model in first-semester general chemistry. PLTL was implemented in place of one-third of the available lecture time, maintaining the same amount of structured class time under the reform. The evaluation demonstrates that classes implementing the PLTL reform at the…

Purpose: The aim of this article is to examine the empirical literature on irrationality and identify a set of concepts to help administrators cope with irrationality in decision making. Design/methodology/approach: This analysis is a synthesis of the selected research literature on irrationality. Findings: A set of seven concepts and propositions…

High school block scheduling is in its earliest stages. Although time structures have changed, usage has not. Block schedules are threatened when curriculum standards and student mobility are ignored, courses are improperly sequenced, funding for increased personnel needs is inadequate, performing-arts instruction is not accommodated, and…

To determine if and how using immersive virtual platforms might further educational purposes, the report examines three graduate, teacher-education, online courses that were conducted in part in Second Life (SL). By studying students' SL-related debriefings and assignments, by considering the type, format, and scheduling of SL events, and by…

Administrators must research diverse scheduling alternatives and their effects and requirements. Successfully modifying school time boils down to a six-step recipe: believing in improvement-directed change, involving all key stakeholders, selecting the appropriate schedule, developing clear expectations, bridging the theory-practice gap, and…

Describes a committee's efforts to revamp schedules to improve their high school's elective course options, provide equitable teacher-preparation time, and use instructional time productively. From three viable schedules (a four-period block, alternating-day schedule; a five-period trimester with a flexible period; and a modified trimester plan…

In 1999, after a series of far-reaching reforms aiming at decentralisation, deregulation and increased local autonomy in Swedish education, the Government decided to introduce a five-year experiment, which would develop these reform efforts even further. Even though Swedish compulsory schools already were the most autonomous in Europe with regard…

This report explores key issues in the debate about restructuring educational time to enhance student learning. Its central framework was derived from proceedings of a symposium conducted in June 1994 by the Policy Support Program of the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development. Part 1 describes the developments that led to the…

Recently, a five-year trial period without a set timetable for compulsory school education in 79 municipalities was concluded in Sweden. The overall idea of the trial was to facilitate local participation, local time governance and flexible learning. Within the pilot trial, each individual pupil's school activities were supposed to be designed to…