In the USA there is a contemporary discourse of crisis about the state of education and a parallel discourse that lays a large portion of the blame onto the poor quality of educational research. The solution offered is "scientific research." This article presents critiques of the core assumptions of the scientific research as secure argument.…

Calls for the quality of educational research to be monitored more carefully are examined in the context of the most widely used and trusted form of quality screening, namely, that afforded by peer review. The serious limitations of peer review for this purpose, especially in education, are outlined before discussing the place of peer review…

This theoretical paper examines current practice in work-based studies where recognition of prior unaccredited work is normally limited to around 50% of the total programme. The basis of this limiting concept is challenged and consideration is given to a number of factors that have contributed to it. Comparison is made with the current practice of…

Purpose: As funds have increased for the provision of in-home care, so too have concerns about the quality of services. In response, care management agencies and home-care providers have developed an array of monitoring activities designed to ensure the quality of services. In this article, we show how an area agency on aging both collected and…

This paper discusses the relevance of e-learning in the position of distance education in Nigeria. It commences by discussing the meaning of e-learning and distance education. It also discusses the historical background of distance education in Nigeria as well as the operations of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) as the first federal…

This paper discusses the relevance of e-learning in the position of distance education in Nigeria. It commences by discussing the meaning of e-learning and distance education. It also discusses the historical background of distance education in Nigeria as well as the operations of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) as the first federal…

Online delivery of programmes of Higher Education typically involves a distributed community of students interacting with a single university site, at which the teachers, learning resources and administration of the programme are located. The alternative model, of a fully "Virtual University", which assumes no physical campus, poses…

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of two trainings designed to increase the competencies of professionals to develop high quality positive behavior support plans for students that engage in problem behaviors that interfere with theirs and/or others' ability to learn. Training one consisted of training attendees on six key…

The Bologna Process presents both opportunities and challenges for teachers in the European area. As tensions surface between different forms of national legislation, accreditation and quality assurance, projects need to be developed that model ways of resolving problems within a European context. Utilising their links and network of contacts…

The purpose of this study was to examine how end-users participate in the evaluation of multimedia programs in North America. Questionnaires were sent to over 100 projects (26 returned) focusing on instructional objectives. Results are discussed in terms of graphics, the user/machine interface, costs, program design, quality indicators, such as…

An audit was conducted of the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Potsdam, evaluating controls over access to student accounts and the collection of revenue at remote sites for fiscal year 1997-98. The objectives of the financial-related audit were to determine whether SUNY's controls over access to student accounts were adequate enough…

An examination was conducted of the control chart as a quality improvement statistical method often used by Total Quality Management (TQM) practitioners in higher education. The examination used an example based on actual requests for information gathered for the Director of Human Resources at a medical center at a midwestern university. The…

This report begins with discussion of several issues in the field of quality assurance in residential services for individuals with developmental disabilities. The issues include definitions of key terms, the role of ideology, major types of quality assurance, and dimensions of quality assurance. The report takes the position that primary values…

This appendix accompanies a report on state vocational rehabilitation agency practices to control for quality and timelines in case management systems. The materials, related to quality assurance and case flagging, are representative of the variety of methods used by 42 states and Puerto Rico. (The states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas,…

The author analyzes the technique of using outside experts as an independent measure of academic leadership and institutional quality. Emphasis is placed upon necessity for maintaining objectivity in a highly subjective area. (DE)