Explores the interface between skills used outside college and those perceived as relevant to studies in college, based on a survey of mature part-time undergraduate students. Respondents also rated personal abilities and characteristics of mature students and offered suggestions for integrating their skills and experience into the study programs.…

Explores the value of action research as a tool for educational practitioners to examine and potentially improve their own practice and thus enhance student learning. Discusses the relationship between feedback, formative evaluation, action research, and other educational research; and provides examples of evaluation enquiries from India and…

Describes functionality and user interface issues associated with the design of an automated system that provides a visually based online index to multimedia information for higher education. Topics include online lectures; bibliographic access; and the need for a hypermedia system that presents an integrated view of the materials with graceful…

Evaluates implications of replacing traditional modes of small group teaching with information technology-facilitated virtual seminars based on a case study of undergraduates at Nottingham Trent University (United Kingdom). Highlights include the tutor's role; impact on staff; colleagues' attitudes; student attitudes; and equality of student…

Describes the introduction of a computerized peer assessment system as part of an undergraduate module in computer studies in the United Kingdom. Analyzes student responses to modification of the tutor-student relationship to a student-student relationship for assessment purposes, discusses plagiarism and the Web, and investigates effects on…

Describes the development of a Learning and Teaching Conference at the University of Brighton; discusses the value of the conference as a staff development initiative and for disseminating good practice and raising the profile of learning and teaching; reports on feedback from participants; and reflects on experiences of running the conference.…

Discusses the need for college graduates who are prepared for employment and skilled in teamwork, outlines a rationale for the development of groupwork in higher education, and describes a program sponsored by British Petroleum in 10 institutions in England and Scotland to provide academics with professional development in teaching groupwork…

Discussion of theories of facilitation in teaching focuses on citizen participation and the role of the facilitator in town planning. Highlights include hierarchies of learning; student-centered learning; facilitating community participation; information technology skills and interpersonal skills; and a rationale for participation. (LRW)

Examines the effectiveness of active learning implemented in two undergraduate programs at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Discusses student attitudes and the Study Process Questionnaire that measured student approaches to learning and reports that active learning helped in the development of independent learning skills and the ability to…

Reports a study of Masters students in records management distance learning course. The 28 students shared a common experience of being a distance learner, though not a common experience of use of information technology (IT). Students benefited from the opportunity to combine employment with study. Drawbacks centered on distance from university…

Presents Part 2--teaching and information services department (ISD) staff perspectives--of a study in the use of information technology (IT) on Masters students in records management distance learning course. Findings showed students' experience had many parallels with that of the teaching and ISD staff when considering the potential of IT with…

Describes examples of videoconferencing usage in higher education: project management, dissemination, lecture courses, keynote lectures, small groups, orals and interviews. Gives an account of staff and student experiences in each example, in the context of a collaborative project. Presents evaluation results, leading to a generally favorable…

Presents the development and application of a new content analysis scheme that focuses on evaluating videoconferencing to support remote tutoring of small groups. Despite an element of subjectivity, the proposed scheme is thought to provide a useful tool capable of identifying the educational impact of variations within a videoconference learning…

Proposes a framework for further research and development in the field of computer-aided learning for students with autism. The framework is based around the core deficiencies of autism, namely a social impairment, a communication impairment, rigidity and inflexibility in thinking and a theory of mind deficit. Presents proposals for computer-aided…

In social work the ability to verbally support assessments undertaken in the workplace is an important skill which is not usually assessed. This case study describes the experience of using posters for assessment and includes feedback from students who chose the option of presenting a poster and those who did not. (Contains 8 references.)…