This article reports a study on the responses of a group of 49 Western Australian middle school teachers to a year-long professional learning experience, entitled the "Making the Links" Project. This project was established to help teachers of various learning areas adapt their practices to significant changes in the educational context.…

Researchers in the fields of humanistic psychology, counseling, organizational change, and implementation science have been asking a question that is at the heart of today's early care and education quality improvement efforts: When it comes to changing one's behavior, what makes a person ready to change? Although the concept of readiness to…

In this article, the authors consider the power and limitations of responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) for reducing the need for ongoing and intensive services for the segment of the school population traditionally identified as having a learning disability in mathematics. To assess the robustness of RTI, the authors describe four studies with…

This article reflects on the first phase of a research project aimed at the empowerment of Information Technology (IT) teachers in black rural schools in the North-West province of South Africa. In order to empower these IT teachers, the first phase aimed at understanding their unique challenges and needs. Qualitative research methodology was used…

The Indicators of Successful Inclusion Scale (ISIS) was developed to measure pre-service and practicing educators' beliefs regarding factors that contribute to educating students with disabilities in general education classrooms. The measure was designed to assess teachers' beliefs and attitudes related to inclusive education and to consider their…

This article presents an interview with Sir John Daniel outgoing President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning. Sir John Daniel's term as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) ended on May 31, 2012. Readers of "Distance Education" will know of Sir John's work at the Tele-universite (Directeur des…

This paper presents the results of an interview-based study of the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) among dyslexic students. Interviews were carried out with 12 informants who had been formally diagnosed as dyslexic. The informants were either enrolled in a university or college programme, or had graduated less than a year before the…

Knowledge tracing (KT)[1] has been used in various forms for adaptive computerized instruction for more than 40 years. However, despite its long history of application, it is difficult to use in domain model search procedures, has not been used to capture learning where multiple skills are needed to perform a single action, and has not been used…

Arm swing in human walking is an active natural motion involving the upper extremities. Earlier studies have described the interrelationship between arms and legs during walking, but the effect of arm swing on energy expenditure and dynamic parameters during normal gait, is inconclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of…

College representatives typically start accreditation visits by talking to the visiting team about their institution's culture of assessment. Too often, however, the speakers lack an understanding of what that truly means. To determine whether an assessment culture exists--that is, whether the predominating attitudes and behaviors that…

Open Source Software (OSS) presents many benefits to both the private and the public sectors, and has proven to be a viable solution in schools. Although a policy mandating the use of OSS exists in the Western Cape province of South Africa, very few schools in the province have adopted OSS. The education system in South Africa is currently facing…

This study examined the adoption of information technology (IT) emerging technology by higher education institutions with a focus on non-research and research based institutions categorized by Carnegie Mellon classifications that are members of EDUCAUSE, a higher education non-profit organization, whose mission is the use of IT in higher…

Over recent years, educational institutions have been making increasing use of virtual environments to set up collaborative activities for learners. While it is recognized that teachers play an important role in facilitating learner collaboration online, they may not have the necessary skills to do so successfully. Thus, a small-scale professional…

It is widely acknowledged that social conditions are directly associated with health and well-being. Significantly little is known about the impact of changing social conditions, including the transition to higher education, on young people's health and well-being. This qualitative research investigated perceptions and factors that influence…

Since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the retention of African American students at predominately White colleges and universities continues to be problematic. Although many of these institutions have implemented retention programs for African American students, few have incorporated a comprehensive program that utilizes multi-program…