In its recent report on the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP), an employment-based route to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England, the Government's Office for Standards in Education found that, although almost all trainees meet the standards required to qualify, too often they do so at an adequate level, rather than achieving the high levels of…

One area of science education that is, at times, neglected involves lessons on technological concepts of these principles--designing, testing, and quality control. Instead, a focus upon science concepts from a pure, and unapplied, perspective is the norm. Thus, while students may learn the equation "mass divided by volume equals…

There has been considerable debate about the impact of external quality assurance in higher education. This paper describes a discussion at the INQAAHE workshop in The Hague, attended by representatives of agencies, exploring the effects of external quality processes on institutions and programmes. The summary, probably for the first time,…

INQAAHE is working to improve the portability of degrees and credits across national boundaries. By defining "good practices" for quality assurance agencies, INQAAHE will promote mutual recognition among agencies in different countries and the acceptance of their accreditation decisions outside their own country. This will allow students and…

The globalization of education, with its multiple associations with the growth of the knowledge society, the increasing penetration of market forces in higher education and the treatment of education as an exportable good, supplied in different forms and by various providers, exerts the need for systematic quality assurance in higher education. In…

The "Fiscal Year 2008 Illinois Community College System's Performance Report" contains summary information about state and common institutional outcome indicators. External comparative benchmarks are cited whenever possible using the latest available data--national reporting typically trails what is available at the state level.…

Since 2005, the landscape of online teaching and learning has changed as well as the landscape of the academy, and continues to transform before our eyes. These changes are not only a product of technological innovation, but also a result of new and reconceptualized "values" of higher education, and so we must reexamine what changes to…

The paper seeks to accomplish four objectives. The first is to examine the need for e-learning in Africa's institutions of higher learning. The second is to discuss the policy, institutional, pedagogical, copyright, and quality assurance issues that need to be addressed. The third is to critically examine the advantages and disadvantages of…

The Universal Basic education (UBE) Programme could not have been introduced at a better time than now that the nation is in dire need of all round national Development. The major objective of the UBE programme is to provide free, universal and compulsory basic education for every Nigerian child aged 6-15 years. However, for the Universal Basic…

Assessing student perceptions and opinions of their university education is now standard in quality assurance processes for learning and teaching. In Australia, the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) has been institutionalised as a national survey of graduand opinion and is used as the key indicator of tertiary teaching quality. A little-used…

This study reports on the Hong Kong education quality assurance and school monitoring system. Three research questions were addressed: (1) Who controls the quality of school education in Hong Kong? (2) What strategies are used in the Hong Kong school education quality assurance process? (3) Agenda for Future Research on quality assurance and…

Many students find it difficult to learn the kinds of knowledge and thinking required by college or high school courses in mathematics, science, or other complex domains. Thus they often emerge with significant misconceptions, fragmented knowledge, and inadequate problem-solving skills. Most instructors or textbook authors approach their teaching…

This guide to self-evaluation and improvement builds upon the advice given in the publication "A Guide to Evaluating Services for Children and Young People Using Quality Indicators" (HMIE, 2006) (A summary of the quality indicators is reproduced in Appendix I). Local authorities, agencies and professionals who have responsibilities for…

Students, teachers, and authors need to access multimedia documents over heterogeneous networks. The efficient handling of time-dependent multimedia information such as audio and video in distributed systems requires considerable network and computing resources. The term Quality of Service (QoS) refers collectively to the specifications of these…

This paper reports on a proposed project to be undertaken to improve the morale, image, and service of the Bursar's Office at Nova Southeastern University. The project calls for: (1) a brainstorming meeting of the bursar's office staff; (2) bursar's office staff to offer suggestions to improve services; (3) the encouragement of teamwork and…