This paper examines the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which has become a major and influential component of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) educational work. This measure of comparative performance of educational systems of member and other nations is based on tests commissioned by the…

The UK higher education community is well served for news and policy discourse by the weekly "Times Higher Education" ("THE"). "THE" also provides a window into the conduct of this community. Concern about the contribution of research to the wider society beyond academe has risen along with its scale and cost. Views…

In the debate on vocational training in Europe the sectoral approach has been referred to for some time now, as the authorities expect that this will ensure, above all, a greater involvement of the social partners. But it remains unclear exactly what is understood by the term "sector". It is used in discussions as a standard, pragmatic…

While many universities now include summer school and other intensive courses as part of their annual programme offerings, undergraduate summer school courses were initiated in one South Australian university by its regional campus. Originally designed to give students who had failed a course the opportunity to catch up, they also enabled students…

Regional adult education and training providers have been required in recent decades to adapt to funding structures rather than engage with their local communities. This has meant providing education programs that are funded based on national or State and Territory based policy frameworks, often linked to human capital development. Adult education…

This paper presents a European Community supported project which investigated whether the use of electronic and mobile technologies in the hands of young learners might engage them in learning activities and start to change their attitudes towards learning. The mLearning system was implemented in a Europe-wide network of 14 schools with over 500…

At a time when many regions are grappling with economic challenges and universities are struggling to demonstrate their public value, the question of how regions and universities might partner effectively begs to be addressed. This qualitative case study examines the engagement of six land-grant institutions in regions not proximate to their…

Educators have identified four categories of "productive pedagogies" that are considered to lead to authentic student engagement and learning in the classroom. This study was designed to explore and extend these pedagogies in the context of learning in natural environments, in particular, through the programmes of Queensland…

An engaged metropolitan university can play a critical role in transforming its region by using its resources for the solution of problems and the improvement of the citizens' lives and livelihoods. California State University, Fresno has impacted its region through university-led collaborations and partnerships such as the Fresno Regional Jobs…

With "basic education" now firmly a part of the current development discourse, this paper discusses how a selection of donors in Pacific education relate to this notion in terms of shifts in their development policy, their financial commitment and their underlying political agenda. With Levesque's (2001) notion of "perception…

An account is given of the setting up of the Regional Resources Centre based on the University of Exeter. (Author)

Outlines in brief the various systems and programs for continuing professional education for Soviet physicians. (JB)

"Reports on the region-wide communicating power of TV in Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula." (Editor)

Portland Community College has a firmly rooted career and technical education (CTE) partnership with its service area high schools. However, the partnership was continuing to operate as it had for many years. Given the rapid pace of change in the region's workforce, Oregon's secondary and postsecondary educational initiatives, and a shared…

This paper describes a practical experience of adapting the teaching of a course in Computer Technology (CT) to the new demands of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). CT is a core course taught in the first year of the degree program Technical Engineering in Management Computing in the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of A…