An increasing number of students are studying abroad requiring that they interact with information in languages other than their mother tongue. The UK in particular has seen a large growth in international students within Higher Education. These nonnative English speaking students present a distinct user group for university information services,…

Recognition of the huge variation between professional graduate degree programmes and employer requirements, especially in the construction industry, necessitated a need for assessing and developing competencies that aligned with professionally oriented programmes. The purpose of this research is to develop a competency mapping framework (CMF) in…

This exploratory study investigates lecturers' and students' understanding of the concepts and language underpinning higher education strategies of developing employability skills. While a solid grounding in discipline-specific knowledge and skills is what most graduate degrees aim at providing, employability skills are increasingly becoming an…

The purpose of this study was to explore the career development process of three experienced string instrument teachers and how they understood their career development. The following questions guided this interpretative phenomenological case study: (a) How do the string teachers in this study learn to teach? (b) What sort of phases are involved…

Evaluative performances, such as conservatory examinations and competitions, frequently play a significant role in piano instruction in many parts of the world. Many students participate in these performances as a result of the perception that a program of instruction that is focused on standardized curriculum and evaluation practices will be of…

This article presents a case study of student-initiated use of Facebook Groups in doing a team project for an online journalism course. Drawing upon the concept of affinity space and a theoretical taxonomy of asynchronous online discussion, the present study triangulates classroom observation, semi-structured student interviews, and microanalysis…

This study aimed to explore student and staff perceptions of academic, personal and social factors influencing the international postgraduate student experience at a UK University. Focus groups were conducted with international students enrolled in a Master in Public Health programme (n = 10). An in-depth survey containing open-ended questions was…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline the findings from a small-scale, exploratory, study of principals' instructional leadership practice in Malaysian primary schools. The dimensions and functions of instructional leadership, explicitly explored in this study, are those outlined in the Hallinger and Murphy's (1985) model.…

While study success and completion rates are important issues in educational policy, research highlights the particular relevance of the first year in higher education (HE) for students' future academic performance and achievement. In Germany, the recent reform of degree programmes appears to have created new challenges related to students'…

Religious Studies (RS) is expected to impact students' personal development as well as enabling acquisition of knowledge and understanding of religious and philosophical traditions. But to what extent does this actually occur? As part of a larger quantitative investigation of the effects of A Level RS in students' beliefs, values and worldviews…

This paper aims to provide an account of how school leaders in Kazakhstan learn about leadership and management, and what strategies are in place to support leadership development. The paper draws on empirical data collected over three years, derived mainly from interviews and focus groups with school leaders and teachers. The findings suggest…

While many teachers in American pre-service programs struggle to develop experience and awareness of multicultural issues (Sleeter, 2001, "Preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools: Research and the overwhelming presence of Whiteness." "Journal of Teacher Education," 52(2), 94-106. doi:10.1177/0022487101052002002),…

This paper stems from research in Australia examining pre-service teacher and mentor teacher experiences on the practicum. The paper focuses on findings from the research, highlighting the tendency among the pre-service teachers to either valorise or demonise their mentor teachers, reflective of what we describe, following Kristeva and Britzman,…

The aim of this study is to investigate adolescents' perspectives on mental healthcare services. Based on theoretical perspectives concerning barriers for help-seeking, individual interviews were carried out in order to obtain the adolescents' perspectives on knowledge of services for mental health problems, potential barriers for help-seeking,…

International concern about youth suicide has led to a growing consensus that schools are a potentially important location for suicide prevention efforts. The present study investigated the experiences and perceptions of teachers regarding a role in youth suicide prevention through semi-structured interviews which were analysed using…