ICT and adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL

Mellar, H., Kambouri, M., Sanderson, M., and Pavlou, V. (2004) ICT and adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL. London: NRDC. Available at: http://www.nrdc.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_258.pdfResearch report for NRDCThis project set out to obtain a picture of present teaching practice in the use of ICT in adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL within formal provision. (http://www.nrdc.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_258.pdf

Introductory programming: a systematic literature review

As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming. This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research

Promoting academic excellence amongst the engineering students

This paper describes activities carried out by the College of Engineering at Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) in order to promote academic excellence amongst the engineering students and to enhance their academic standings. The issues affecting the academic performance are briefly discussed. The activities involve all students majoring in Electrical, Mechanical and Civil Engineering at UNITEN. The discussions highlight some examples of the orientation and motivation programs, student support system, engineering related enrichment activities and outcome-based education. The objective of this paper is to share the experiences gained when conducting these activities and how they benefit the students

Emergency Management Training for Transportation Agencies

State transportation agencies have a variety of responsibilities related to emergency management. Field personnel manage events--from day-to-day emergencies to disasters--using the Incident Command System (ICS) as their organizational basis. At the headquarters level, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) coordinates the use of resources across the department and its districts, with other state departments and agencies, and through the federal Emergency Support Function 1. District-level EOCs coordinate with the department. In extreme events, the transportation department may only be able to deliver limited essential services in austere conditions, so a continuity of operations/ continuity of government plan (COOP/COG) is essential. This research applied the principles of andragogy to deliver ICS field level training, EOC training and COOP/COG training to state transportation agency’s staff in all districts and at headquarters. The data supports the need for adult-oriented methods in emergency management training

Teaching Substantive Environmental Law and Practice Skills Through Interest Group Role-Playing

Most law students take their first introductory course in environmental law during their second year of law school. The traditional first-year curriculum does little to prepare students for the complex statutory and regulatory models for most environmental regulation. Law students at the end of their first year often have had little exposure to statutory interpretation. Further, they often have no exposure to administrative law and regulatory implementation. These students may expect statutes to provide clear statements of rules rather than guidelines for administrative rulemaking. They also tend to view the lawmaking and interpretive process through the traditional lens of congressional legislation and common-law-style judicial interpretation in a bipolar scheme of implementation--where the regulatory agencies and the regulated industries are the only players. In fact, environmental regulatory programs constantly evolve through a complex interaction of legislative amendment, administrative rulemaking, and judicial interpretation. Influencing these programs are the multipolar interaction of regulated industries, environmental groups, state agencies, and federal regulators. Law students accustomed to the bipolar model of common-law legal development and who expect statutory law to consist of a simple reading of clear statutory texts can find this interest group pluralist model of law development bewildering. One way to help give context to this complex interaction is to place students in the roles of the various advocates and decision-makers in the environmental law processes. Assigning students to adopt the perspective of various distinct players in the regulatory process, such as agency lawyer, industry lawyer, and environmental NGO lawyer, helps make this complex interaction more accessible to students. This also provides an introduction into the skills of statutory interpretation and regulatory implementation. At Pace Law School, we have had considerable success integrating this approach into an Environmental Law Skills course. This course combines a comprehensive study of the Clean Water Act (CWA) regulatory program with skills-based exercises in administrative rulemaking, judicial review, regulatory permitting, negotiation, and enforcement. The course was added to the curriculum in the 1990s in response to the growing recognition by the legal academy that the traditional case-oriented method of instruction failed to result in law graduates with basic competencies expected of lawyers. The course has been refined over the years to incorporate the Carnegie Report\u27s more recent critiques: the legal education\u27s failure to foster students\u27 development of their professional identities and their understanding of lawyers\u27 role in representing clients. By integrating role-playing, problem solving, and doctrinal instruction, the course seeks to engage students in active learning and professional identity development. The course also seeks to implement recommendations for the improvement of legal instruction contained in Professor Stuckey\u27s influential 2007 report, Best Practices for Legal Education. In particular, the course seeks to “teach doctrine, theory, and practice as part of a unified, coordinated program of instruction” as recommended in that report

Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health

Based on a literature review and interviews with digital learning experts, explores how digital games can foster skills and knowledge for better academic performance and health. Makes recommendations for government research, partnerships, and media