As the small states that line the Arabian Peninsula spend their billions of petrodollars picking up luxury hotels, first-class airlines, and high-tech weaponry, three of the emirates--Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar--have been engaged in a high-stakes game of one-upmanship involving universities, American universities in particular. Recent reports…

This study reviews the developments of 9 Chinese top universities supported by "985 Project" during 1997-2005 based on the analysis of a series of scientometric indicators, including the total number of publications indexed by Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, the cumulated impact factor of publications,…

In this article we--as academic developers in two different faculties within a large, research-intensive university--discuss the scholarship of teaching and learning as a strategy for institutional improvement of teaching and learning. We focus on three related issues. Firstly, how can individual engagement in the scholarship of teaching and…

It is neither easy to change teacher thinking, nor is it easy to influence teaching practice by handing teachers the tools to do this in a course. It is suggested in this paper that it is not enough to let teachers who teach take a course on teaching in higher education. The process of influencing teachers' thinking should include working with the…

This article explores the history and development of interdisciplinarity within the Australian context. Conditions and circumstances for the emergence of interdisciplinary approaches are explored with discussion identifying how these approaches impact and shape national curriculum, teachers' practice and pedagogy. Policies, proposals, and debate…

What is meant by the term "standards"? This article will use the definition of the National Academy of Sciences for their workshop on Assessing the Role of K-12 Academic Standards, "generally used to refer to both content standards, which describe material that students should be expected to learn, and performance standards, which…

Capstone design courses are an increasingly common component of engineering curricula nationwide, but how much do we really know about the current practices? How do capstone courses differ across departments and institutions? How have capstone courses changed in the past 10 years? This paper highlights data from a survey of engineering capstone…

The General Educational Development (GED[R]) Tests, established in 1945, helped determine soldiers' high school qualifications for the workforce, as they returned home from WWII. Because many soldiers dropped out of school to join the military, achieving a certain score on the test was a way for them to demonstrate that they had attained high…

This article critically examines the recommendations of two major Indian education reports--NCFSE 2000 and NCF 2005--prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training in India. The NCFSE 2000 has recommended an integrated teaching of geography as one component of the social studies. The NCF 2005 has reverted to the pre-NCFSE…

Who educates teacher educators? How are teacher educators educated and prepared for their roles and tasks? This article uses a review of a two-year full-time Diploma in Teacher Education (DTE) for teacher educators in Uganda to engage with these questions. The article begins with a presentation of the Ugandan teacher education context and a…

The paper explores shifts in the nature, volume, trajectory and content of aid to education in the wake of post-9/11 Western preoccupations with the rise of Islamic radicalism. The paper develops a framework for understanding the dynamics of how educational aid appears to be becoming increasingly politicized in strategic conflict and post-conflict…

This article argues that ESD should be integrated into lifelong learning and provides an example of how this might be done. It draws on a case study of a joint project between the Shangri-la Institute and the Bazhu community in Diqing, southwest China, to analyse a community-based approach to Education for Sustainable Development and assess its…

This article reflects on gender mainstreaming policies post Beijing and their impact on development cooperation and relations between the Global North and Global South. The analysis is based on an examination of gender equality politics in Sweden, their connection with an interpretation of gender mainstreaming and the application of this approach…

Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania and has strong links with its large rural hinterland. Working from the ideas and examples in "Learning Cities for a Learning Century," (Longworth, 1999) and through contact with other cities that have already implemented lifelong learning concepts, the city has, since 2001, started out on…

Louisiana has emerged as one of the most fascinating states in the nation for education reform. The state's creative response to rebuilding the New Orleans education system in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is now considered a potential model for reformers across the nation. Governor Bobby Jindal has carried the reforms further in pushing for…