In 2008, Fresno Unified and Long Beach Unified School Districts entered into a formal learning partnership, with the goal of preparing all students for success in higher education or for a career with significant growth potential. Though they were perhaps at different points on their growth trajectories, both districts were on similar paths, and…

The authors explore the relationship between general education prerequisite courses, used for schools of business admission, and predicted grade point averages (PGPAs) with the Major Field Test in Business (MFT-B). The MFT-B is designed to assess the general business knowledge of students at the end of their programs. There is no known literature…

In 1975, the Center for the Study of Community Colleges conducted a national survey of humanities faculty in two-year colleges. This paper summarizes the characteristics of 90 music instructors included in the total sample of 1,493 full- and part-time faculty. Findings of the survey include: (1) 19% of the music instructors had been students in…

Comprehension of statistics and research methods is crucial to understanding psychology as a science (APA, 2007). However, psychology majors sometimes approach methodology courses with derision or anxiety (Onwuegbuzie & Wilson, 2003; Rajecki, Appleby, Williams, Johnson, & Jeschke, 2005); consequently, students may postpone enrollment…

The "T-MEDIA" project analysed and documented how teachers exploit the use of projection technologies--data projectors and interactive whiteboards (IWBs)--to support learning in secondary-school subject lessons. The research involved collaboration between university researchers and four pairs of UK teachers (of English, mathematics, science and…

The authors present initial findings from a collaborative self-study exploring student engagement as a measure of teaching effectiveness. Focused on their college classrooms during one semester, the study pilots a peer observation model of the Instructional Practices Inventory (IPI) (Valentine, 2005). Data collection included IPI codes, anecdotal…

The Ministry of Higher Education in the Sultanate of Oman initiated recently a restructuring program for the General Directorate Colleges of Education aiming to replace the existing six colleges with more applied and highly IT assisted institutions. A particular emphasis is directed towards improving the learning methods by developing and…

As institutions of higher learning are increasingly held accountable for student outcomes, faculty are faced with the challenge to clearly articulate and assess what students should learn in their courses. We report on the assessment of a liberal studies learning outcome related to the nature of science, which involved 178 students from 41…

Even without a formal program for writing across the curriculum, Tidewater Community College in Virginia has sustained communication-across-the-curriculum activities for nearly 20 years. Faculty groups have routinely gathered both formally and informally to discuss ways to improve student writing, to incorporate communication and collaboration…

It has been suggested that research experiences are an important element that should be included in all undergraduate Biology curricula. This is a difficult suggestion to accommodate due to issues with cost, space and time. We addressed this challenge through development of a capstone project in which Biology majors work in groups to develop novel…

This article examines the phenomenon of graphic novels generally, and in particular, their utility in second-language contexts via the example of the graphic adaptation of Klaus Kordoris "Der erste Fruhling." This text lends itself especially to bridging thematic gaps in 20th-century German literature courses, as well as the "language/literature…

In 1975, the Center for the Study of Community Colleges conducted a national survey of humanities faculty in two-year colleges. This paper summarizes the characteristics of 70 philosophy instructors included in the total sample of 1,493 full- and part-time faculty. Findings of the survey include: (1) males dominated this field (84%) and 100%…

Drawing on data from nine focus groups in four countries, I argue for the need to develop a research agenda around the intersectionality of early career, gender and crisis. I first give a brief explanation of the background, methodology and limitations of the study. Second, I lay out some key conceptualizations and their own limitations and then…

As access to technology increases, educators must continue to study how to best integrate these resources to help close the writing achievement gap and prepare students for college and careers. This survey explores the levels of technology use in English classrooms at diverse, low-income high schools in Texas where 70 percent or more students are…

The paper reports on a study about how a group of Chinese university teachers and two groups of their English major students used personal "teacher" metaphors via a metaphor prompt "An English teacher is...because..." to represent their beliefs relating to EFL teachers' roles. Data sources also included follow-up individual interviews. The primary…