STEM is the acronym used in England for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. STEM subjects are a central plank in developing the UK's skills base. Specialist knowledge in these subjects not only underpins many high-tech sectors--such as IT and engineering--but is also important for creativity and developing new ideas. This report…

The advantages of portfolios come from observing the student learning process and recording feedback. Students utilized their own learning portfolios to do learning assessment and self-correction. The research that has been done in Taiwan has shown that using a portfolio is effective in improving English speaking performances (ESP). The purpose of…

This study investigates whether the practice of answer changing on multiple-choice questions (MCQs) is beneficial to Gulf Arab students' overall test performance. The proficiency exam used in this study is the Michigan English Language Institute College English Test - Grammar, Cloze, Vocabulary, Reading (MELICET-GCVR), which was developed using…

Education, like experience in general, is not static but evolutionary. The writing classroom of the two-year college must and does function as a multicultural environment which replaces the traditional melting pot metaphor with images of mosaic and tapestry. Today, over 50% of college freshmen are enrolled in two-year colleges, and these include…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Maryland's Year 2 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation from approximately September 2011 through September 2012. Maryland's Year 2 accomplishments included implementing…

This research brief presents key findings and actionable themes from Student Support (Re)defined--a multi-year study that asked almost 900 students from 13 California community colleges what they think supports their educational success, paying special attention to the factors Africa Americans and Latinos cite as important to their achievement.…

As states begin to demand more rigor on their high-stakes tests--and the tests evolve to incorporate revised academic standards--many officials are gambling that an initial wave of lower scores will give way to greater student achievement in the future. Changes to statewide tests and subsequent plummeting scores sparked controversy and emergency…

This paper reports on school-university collaboration during an action research project, which aimed to build a writing pedagogy for students with Learning Disabilities in the trilingual, biliterate educational context of Hong Kong. The project was established through interpersonal relationships built from the ground up between stakeholders from a…

Aims to answer the following research questions: (1) Are general English ability and specific purpose English ability related to computer skills? and (2) Is general English ability transferable to specific purpose English ability? Subjects were third year science students enrolled in an English for academic purposes course. (Author/VWL)

Undergraduate students often have trouble interpreting cultures other than that with which they are familiar in a way that takes into account the symbols and meanings that explain behaviors, objects, and ideologies. Instead, many fall into the trap of making ethnocentric assumptions and coming to conclusions that are informed by their own cultural…

Creative posters in the classroom can inspire students to become engaged and motivated in learning art. Within the classroom, there are many places to put posters so that students can read them (especially when they get bored in the classroom) - on the cabinets, near the chalkboard, on the teacher's desk and any spare space on the wall. There…

A national survey of 1,493 humanities faculty at 156 two-year colleges was conducted in spring 1975. The colleges included in the sample were carefully selected in terms of locale, control, emphasis, size, and age, and the faculty sample included proportionate numbers of full- and part-time faculty members. This paper compares history instructors…

This paper reports on a two-year study conducted to evaluate cooperative learning or "group work" learning models in three courses at an Asian university. Data collection methods included a paired pre/post survey of learners, paired observations (early and late) of groups involved in assigned tasks, and two rounds of one-on-one interviews with a…

Enrollment statistics for the state of Connecticut are presented. Highlights indicate: (1) Total enrollment in all colleges and universities in the state increased by 7.7 percent in fall 1974 over fall 1973, the largest percentage increase since 1970. (2) This increase in total enrollment resulted almost entirely from an increase in the number of…

Active learning, which entails any class activity that "involves students doing things and thinking about the things that they are doing," stands as an important pedagogical practice. Discussion, the types of questions faculty ask students in class, role playing, cooperative learning, debates, and the types of questions faculty ask on examinations…