This is a summary and non-specialist account by one member of a small team involved in the development of an English language test, following the reorganization of that part of the Department of Education in Ireland which deals with the ELT sector. The article describes why and how the test was developed, the theoretical background, the structure…

This paper describes a case study concerning the teaching of logistics in the Computers and Electrical Engineering degree at FEUP. The logistics course is taken in the last semester of the degree and there are no lectures given by the teachers. All the learning strategy is based upon the autonomous learning capacity of the students, following the…

Higher education is increasingly recognizing the importance of developing students' skills for work during their university careers; however work-based placements within the social sciences, whilst growing in popularity, remain relatively rare and little is known about how students experience this type of learning. This article describes the…

Youth development programs are designed to ensure that young people experience healthy development, success in school, and smooth transitions to adulthood. However, ensuring that adolescents participate in these programs is a continual challenge, especially as they age. Exploring key issues related to recruiting and retaining involvement in youth…

Examined in this article is whether it is ethical for health educators to try to change the health behaviors of people who are informed about the risks of engaging in an unhealthy behavior, have the skills and confidence to change the behavior, but nevertheless choose not to change. Questions are raised about whether interventions for such…

Using Stuart Hall's concept of articulation, which sutures seemingly incongruent analytics, this article juxtaposes queer theorizing and postcolonial projects in order to contribute to the examinations of empire, education and decolonization. It foregrounds the queer approaches of working "within," "through" and…

This article addresses the question of whether higher education music courses adequately prepare young musicians for the critical transition from music undergraduate to professional. Thematic analyses of interviews with 27 undergraduate and portfolio career musicians representing four musical genres were compared. The evidence suggests that the…

Forty-five pregnant Latina adolescents and their mothers (23 English-speaking, 22 Spanish-speaking) were videotaped conversing about feelings and plans related to the adolescent's pregnancy. The prevalence of the mothers' messages about the daughter's reliance on the family unit (interdependence) and the daughter's self-sufficiency (autonomy) were…

The responsibility for addressing morality and moral education in the current moral climate is a daunting task for conscientious educators. What educational response can extricate us from the debilitating feelings of hopelessness and helplessness as we are confronted by horrific terrorist actions, controversial use of military might, displays of…

The perceived importance and the prevalence of academic development programs worldwide mean that it is critical that characteristics essential for the success of such programs be identified and incorporated. This article recognises the manifold perspectives on identifying such characteristics, but argues that if it is desirable that an academic…

The Activity Based Learning (ABL) is unique and effective to attract out-of -school children to schools. It facilitates readiness for learning, instruction, reinforcement and evaluation. ABL has transformed the classrooms into hubs of activities and meaningful learning. Activity-based learning, naturally leads to cooperative learning. Since group…

Research indicates that student control of their personal web space is an important factor that supports meaningful reflective learning within online web publishing contexts. The Penn State personal web space system allows for personal control of this learning space, although basic web publishing skills are required. The purpose of this study is…

Student learning and student development are part of a unified framework rather than separate interests to be pursued independently.

The development of a conceptual model that provides a theoretical framework for understanding the conative factors of desire, resourcefulness, initiative, and persistence in autonomous learning considered the related variables of gender, education level, age, and marital status. The relevance of these demographic variables is based on prior…

Physical education teachers can influence students' self-determination through the motivational strategies they use. In this study, the authors examined the relationship between teachers' perceptions of class average self-determination, the teachers' self-determination, and their reported use of 3 motivational strategies: autonomy support,…