Background: Under the impact of globalization and the coming of the Information Age, there is a paradigm shift occurring in the engineering curriculum and academic structure. Apart from the creation of new programs for the emerging fields in engineering, the approach and orientation have also been shifted from objective-based/input-based education…

Background: Given rising expectations for higher education institutions to rely more on private sources of funding, there is a search for viable models and directions that promise success. But the models used by successful institutions are often unique and not applicable to institutions needing guidance. Aims or focus of discussion: The aim of…

Background: Because of the educational reform and decreasing birth rate in Taiwan over the past 20 years, higher technological and vocational Education (TVE) in Taiwan faces a severe student recruitment competition. Dailey (2007) indicates the need to develop marketing strategies in higher education is evident. TVE institutes are beginning to…

Background: As an instructional tool, teacher self-disclosure is used widely by teachers. While researchers abroad have conducted a number of studies, scarce literature on teacher self-disclosure has been found. Aims: This study aims to explore the Chinese pre-service teachers' perceived effects of teacher self-disclosure on student learning,…

Background: This paper is based on a graduate course entitled, "Toward an integrative approach to equity in higher education" offered at a Canadian university for the first time in 2002. The course attempted to integrate critical pedagogy theories with notions of embodied learning in order to develop an integrative praxis of educational equity.…

Background: Most previous research on beliefs on language learning (BALLs) has been focusing on tertiary level learners. Information of learners of other backgrounds is extremely lacking. Aim: To identify the BALL patterns of Chinese ESL learners undertaking vocational education in the Hong Kong context and to explore the possible influences on…

Background: From 2007 to 2008, serial researches were conducted on the Student Learning Experiences, Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment Practices of an MBA degree program offered by the Asia International Open University (Macau) in collaboration with the higher institutions of the Mainland. Aims: This paper reports the findings of a research…

Background: Teaching Games for Understanding has been promoted as an innovative curriculum model in the past decade in Hong Kong. It focuses on developing pupils' tactical awareness and decision making capability through integrating the cognitive and contextual dimensions of learning in physical education. Aims: This article reports a qualitative…

Background: In the early 1980s, the author of this article researched, in her M.Ed thesis, the state of adult education in Hong Kong with regard to its general support and delivery through university channels. At that time, adult education had a separate identity and, since, has generally become vocationalized, creditized or subsumed into…

Background: An important issue in the discourse on language rights is the degree to which they influence the development and implementation of language policies or perpetuate inequalities in many language situations. Skutnabb-Kangas (1996, 2002a, 2002b) and May (2000), for example, have argued that language rights offer a reasonable framework for…

Background: Cantonese-English mixed code is ubiquitous in Hong Kong society, and yet using mixed code is widely perceived as improper. This paper presents evidence of mixed code being socially constructed as bad language behavior. In the education domain, an EDB guideline bans mixed code in the classroom. Teachers are encouraged to stick to…

Background: Current education reform in the U.S. requires teacher preparation programs to educate the "teachers-to-be" according to the certification standards set forth by the state. So far, there are few empirical studies that directly investigate whether students perceive themselves to be well prepared with respect to the standards, although…

Background: Effective educational evaluations involve interviews, observations and nonverbal cue interpretations. Educators carry out these evaluative activities everyday as instructors, advisors or administrators, often relying on nothing but their intuition. These evaluations inform the future decisions. One must determine if students really…

Background: As the sole teacher provider in Singapore, the National Institute of Education (NIE) prepares all new teachers for the Singapore's Education System. In the last decade, NIE's enrolments for initial teacher preparation programmes have grown significantly. There has been a parallel increase in the number of career changers entering the…

Background: With the accession of the PRC to the WTO, Chinese education market is open to the educational service providers of the foreign countries. They are keen to offer MBA Degree programs to the Career Managers in the Mainland. Aims: This research studies program evaluation and so forth the quality assessment of a MBA degree program in the…