In this large-scale study, higher education teachers' descriptions of their own learning were examined with qualitative analysis involving application of principles of phenomenographic research. This study is unique: it is unusual to use large-scale data in qualitative studies. The data were collected through an e-mail survey sent to 5960 teachers…

Ratings published by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) require selectivity in admission to educator preparation programs. NCTQ provides a list of citations to support the selectivity standard termed "strong support." A review of each citation in the list found little or no support for the standard. Original data was…

"Return on Investment in College Education" is the second publication in a series of informational briefings developed as part of The Guardians Initiative: Reclaiming the Public Trust, an effort to educate and engage trustees as advocates on key issues in higher education. What is the return on investment (ROI) in college education?…

Assessment and the measurement of learning are receiving increasing emphasis in American higher education. This is a case study that demonstrates a simple, inexpensive method of measuring freshman to senior "gains" or learning using a cross-sectional methodology. Seniors and freshmen within a four-year business program were both given…

Program assessment has been a topic of significance in higher education over the last decade. Initially, program assessment was implemented in response to concerns over the quality of college graduates' education and increasing competiveness in the job market for American college graduates. Recently, higher education institutions have been…

Management and professional business education is central to developing human talent that can help organizations be competitive in today's complex business environment. So the question for management educators is how do we know that graduates have the talent that business needs? Learning outcome assessment has been the process used by…

The increased complexity of today's work environment has made the need for soft skills, such as teamwork, communication, leadership, and problem solving, more salient than ever. Employers hire for these skills because it is increasingly the human resources that give organizations a competitive advantage. Therefore, academia must respond to these…

This paper identifies the various factors driving the outcomes assessment movement, contrasts the old paradigm with the model now espoused by regional accreditors, discusses the six-step process of student outcomes assessment, emphasizes faculty ownership of the process to prevent administrative usurpation, and proposes specific strategies to…

According to scholars, there has been a move toward a more professional or occupational focus in postsecondary education, a focus that Grubb and Lazerson suggest "undermines education's moral, civic, and intellectual purposes." The purpose of this study was to evaluate the public relations curricula of U.S. universities and colleges and…

There is a need for a questionnaire designed specifically to evaluate taught postgraduate (TPg) awards for quality assurance or enhancement purposes. Comparison of undergraduate and TPg awards suggests that as the former have broadened their ambit to better nurture generic graduate attributes, TPg awards have concentrated on advanced specialised…

A critical issue in educator preparation is how to ascertain if program graduates are sufficiently prepared to be effective through the acquisition of meaningful evidence of graduates' impact on their students. Challenges to proving specific impact of educator-preparation programs on student learning include identifying and following program…

In the face of increasing unemployment partly due to decreasing employability skills of Nigeria polytechnic students, many graduates of Nigeria polytechnic have a dwindle self-efficacy. 420 HND 2 polytechnic engineering students in north central states of Nigeria were surveyed. Data were collected using questionnaire consisting of 4 Likert-type…

The authors present a multidimensional assessment of the outcomes and benefits of an income tax preparation assistance (ITPA) service learning program. They measure the perceived proximate benefits at the delivery of the service program, the actual learning outcome benefits prior to graduation, and the perceived long-term benefits from a…

Students' level of engagement with general education and their grasp of its goals are a problem at many institutions. Academic advising, which is often viewed as having the "signpost" function of directing students to the completion of their course requirements, has the potential instead to be a place where students learn to approach…

Research shows that transition planning for students with disabilities is an ongoing process that requires the collaboration of students, families, and teachers to ensure a successful adult life for students after graduation (Clark, 1996; Clark & Unruh, 2010; Gil, 2007; Kellems & Morningstar, 2010). This study examined the insights of the…