Alternative certification programs (ACPs) have been proposed as a viable way to address teacher shortages, yet we know little about how teacher knowledge develops within such programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate prior knowledge for teaching among students entering an ACP, comparing individuals with teaching experience to those…

The question of students' post-graduation plans is a critical one for the field of engineering as both industry and higher education institutions seek to understand how to increase the production of highly-skilled individuals for the STEM workforce. Despite the concern, there are but a few empirical studies that examine how students' academic…

Identifying academic misdemeanours and actual applied effort in student assessments involving practical work can be problematic. For instance, it can be difficult to assess the actual effort that a student applied, the sequence and method applied, and whether there was any form of collusion or collaboration. In this paper we propose a system of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of Constructivist Learning Environments (CLEs) through the use of laptops supported within 1:1 e-learning education in Malaysian schools. The main objectives of this study were to investigate (a) different possible gaps between constructivist theory and classroom practices in Malaysian…

The findings from this qualified phenomenological research study involved 20 secondary general education teachers who taught inclusion classes. The research study investigated the lived experiences and perceptions of teachers through in-depth interviews and using a modified van Kaam method of data analysis, Atlas.ti 6 software, and Microsoft Excel…

Early adolescence can be a difficult experience for many youth. This complex phase of development occurs as children transition to middle school. Within middle school, adolescents are faced with new challenges including ever changing peer groups and different educational and behavioral expectations. These challenges have been recognized as having…

Since the American Revolution free public education has been a discussion of political debate. The purpose that such an institution should play in society is a debate fervently argued when the founding fathers wanted to build a republic based on meritocracy. The problem this study addresses is the undefined relationship between the goals of…

This article begins to unravel the question, "What curricular materials work best under what kinds of conditions?" The authors address this question from the point of view of teachers and their ability to implement mathematics curricula that place varying demands and provide varying levels of support for their learning. Specifically, the…

Students love outdoor activities and will love them even more when they build confidence in their tree identification and measurement skills. Through these activities, students will learn to identify the major characteristics of trees and discover how the pace--a nonstandard measuring unit--can be used to estimate not only distances but also the…

Self-contained ear-level devices delivering altered auditory feedback (AAF) for the application with those who stutter have only been recently developed. The paper examines the first therapeutic application of self-contained ear-level devices in three experiments. The effect of the device on the proportion of stuttered syllables and speech…

This paper reports on the use of an electronic voting system (EVS) in a first-year computing science subject. Previous investigations suggest that students' use of an EVS would be positively associated with their learning outcomes. However, no research has established this relationship empirically. This study sought to establish whether there was…

Background: Teacher reports of disobedient behaviours in children with intellectual disability noted in previous investigations represent a mismatch with the typical personality profile associated with intellectual disability. We hypothesise that this contradiction arises from the frustration experienced by children with intellectual disability…

This paper investigates large differences in employer satisfaction with vocational education and training (VET) between 2005 and 2007. Employer satisfaction was measured using the Survey of Employer Use and Views of the VET System, which was first conducted in 2005 and repeated in 2007. It measures employer satisfaction with vocational…

Many public and private colleges give out substantial amounts of financial aid in excess of students' demonstrated financial need to attract the most talented students in a competitive marketplace. These colleges see merit aid as an investment in institutional quality. Since top students are in high demand, colleges may have to bid against each…

Literature clearly demonstrates that there has been a large increase in the time devoted to teaching oral communication skills within medical curricula worldwide. In contrast, the ability to communicate with patients through written means does not appear to be a feature in many programmes, despite its fundamental importance in creating…