Discusses strategies for institutionalizing research, technological, and educational (RTE) cooperation in the context of recent Euro- Mediterranean relations. Examines social contexts that determine the process of creating a new Euro-Mediterranean cooperation policy. Describes the 1995 ministerial conference which examined RTE policies,…

This evaluation of higher education in Algeria was performed by means of open-ended interviews with eight graduates of the University of Constantine. From the beginning of the 1980s, it was found that all disciplines, including Economics, Law, Library Science, and Psychology, showed failures in academic training. A change of direction towards…

Traces the history of higher education in Italy. Discusses the nature and function of the Italian university; changes in Italy's system of higher education over the years; the issue of academic autonomy in Italy; and reform in Italian universities over the next few years (going corporate and walking the tightrope between autonomy and national…

Examines Malta's history of higher education, discussing: the relationship between Malta's socioeconomic and political history and educational development; Malta's system of higher education; notable reforms and counter-reforms; and implications of expansion (rapid increases in student enrollment, the boom of a graduate labor supply, and changes…

Describes higher education in Morocco, briefly touching on the country's socioeconomic history, then explaining Morocco's three types of postsecondary institutions: the public university system, the public non-university system, and the private system. Presents details about Moroccan universities, which are state institutions, focusing on…

Describes the current status of Palestinian higher education, examining Palestine's history and its impact on education. Discusses recent developments in educational policies, higher education programs, and educational finance. Explains that Palestinian higher education is characterized by poor governance and planning, inadequate finances, rapid…

Examines recent trends and developments in Portugal's higher education system, highlighting three trends: democratization (transforming the system from an enclave of the elite to one that allows mass access); diversification (offering two levels of higher education, including a non-university sector called the Polytechnic System), and…

Discusses the impact of globalization on higher education in the Arab World, particularly North Africa and the Middle East. The influence has been positive regarding the university's openness to the world and involvement in global intellectual and scientific activity and culture. However, globalization is also seen in the academia as tantamount to…

Describes a recurring error in standard analyses of educational performance, the "politician's error," that results from using percentage point differences as though they were percentages. This simple oversight results in the misinterpretation of trends over time, with implications for both policy and research. (SLD)

Reports on important learning processes that emerged during adult mathematics classes that used a teaching approach compatible with a social constructivist theory of knowing. Concludes that affective processes precipitated students' responsiveness, modifying the immediate learning context which influenced student thinking, creating a snowball…

Presents research on writing assessment situations in mathematics classes with high school students who are following a science-oriented curriculum. Emphasizes the importance of taking cognitive and didactic points of view into account for the analysis of students' work in problem solving. Contains 21 references. (Author/ASK)

Analyzes the interpretations of equality and the equal symbol of third grade children who participated in a year-long, whole-class socio-constructivist teaching experiment. Concludes that children expanded their conceptualizations of equality due to an active role in class discussions and the arithmetical tasks that took into account children's…

Reports the results of a study aimed at changing prospective teachers' attitudes toward mathematics using a mathematics preparatory program designed and implemented over three years and employing questionnaires and interviews. Results showed significant improvement of attitudes, particularly toward the satisfaction from and the usefulness of…

Reports on a study that examined potential links between mental models constructed by students, the organizational quality of students' prior geometric knowledge, and the use of that knowledge during problem solving. Suggests that the quality of geometric knowledge that students develop could have a powerful effect on their mental models and…

Utilizes a psychological-constructivist perspective to examine the transitions that students make from arithmetic to algebra in the context of problems that, from an expert's perspective, involve the concept of linear inequality. Reports that students who completed a transition to algebra operated at higher levels of reflective abstraction than…