Towards a more effective model for distance education

What is the most effective model for academic distance education, given that drop-out numbers in traditional distance education institutions are too high and the demands from the various stakeholders are changing? In this paper this question is answered from the perspective of the Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL). The OUNL has planned to redesign its educational model from the traditional guided self-study model towards a model of active online learning. In essence this means that education will be less content driven; more focus is put on activating students to engage with real world problems supported by tutors and peers using distance media. The drivers for change, the change process and the resulting redesign of the educational model are presented in this paper.

Vocation in the insertion of the university student and the graduate

The work plan aims at deepening the analysis of the theoretic assumptions which support the practice in Vocational Guidance: analyzing the incidence of endogenous and exogenous factors both in the election and studying of a particular course of study and in the occupational resolution of the graduate. This analysis enables the revision and the new theoretic conceptualization which is afterwards transferred to the course, and to different groups and provincial institutions where the practice of Vocational Guidance occurs, as well as to other schools in the Northwest provinces of Argentina. Semiotic analysis, statistical elaboration and the research-action approach which, while surveying data renders a service to the milieu, provide the base for the project. Said project focuses on the following individuals: 1) freshmen, who offer us the following aspects to be considered: a) factors which either favor or hinder the insertion of the students attending the first years of the course; b) the conditions making up the learning situation in each subject, from the teaching point of view; c) the influence of institutional dimension in the insertion process; 2) graduands: the characteristics of the situation following graduation from University, those of the labor field and the different ways of gaining access to it are investigated. This analysis is carried out in the courses of study of Psychology and English (education of Professionals in English and English for Professionals).

Vocation in the insertion of the university student and the graduate

The work plan aims at deepening the analysis of the theoretic assumptions which support the practice in Vocational Guidance: analyzing the incidence of endogenous and exogenous factors both in the election and studying of a particular course of study and in the occupational resolution of the graduate. This analysis enables the revision and the new theoretic conceptualization which is afterwards transferred to the course, and to different groups and provincial institutions where the practice of Vocational Guidance occurs, as well as to other schools in the Northwest provinces of Argentina. Semiotic analysis, statistical elaboration and the research-action approach which, while surveying data renders a service to the milieu, provide the base for the project. Said project focuses on the following individuals: 1) freshmen, who offer us the following aspects to be considered: a) factors which either favor or hinder the insertion of the students attending the first years of the course; b) the conditions making up the learning situation in each subject, from the teaching point of view; c) the influence of institutional dimension in the insertion process; 2) graduands: the characteristics of the situation following graduation from University, those of the labor field and the different ways of gaining access to it are investigated. This analysis is carried out in the courses of study of Psychology and English (education of Professionals in English and English for Professionals).

Vocation in the insertion of the university student and the graduate

The work plan aims at deepening the analysis of the theoretic assumptions which support the practice in Vocational Guidance: analyzing the incidence of endogenous and exogenous factors both in the election and studying of a particular course of study and in the occupational resolution of the graduate. This analysis enables the revision and the new theoretic conceptualization which is afterwards transferred to the course, and to different groups and provincial institutions where the practice of Vocational Guidance occurs, as well as to other schools in the Northwest provinces of Argentina. Semiotic analysis, statistical elaboration and the research-action approach which, while surveying data renders a service to the milieu, provide the base for the project. Said project focuses on the following individuals: 1) freshmen, who offer us the following aspects to be considered: a) factors which either favor or hinder the insertion of the students attending the first years of the course; b) the conditions making up the learning situation in each subject, from the teaching point of view; c) the influence of institutional dimension in the insertion process; 2) graduands: the characteristics of the situation following graduation from University, those of the labor field and the different ways of gaining access to it are investigated. This analysis is carried out in the courses of study of Psychology and English (education of Professionals in English and English for Professionals).

Validation of a Spanish version of the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (DELES) in Spain

The aim of this study was to examine the validity of the Spanish version of the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (Sp-DELES). This instrument assesses students’ perceptions of virtual learning environments using six scales: Instructor Support, Student Interaction and Collaboration, Personal Relevance, Authentic Learning, Active Learning, and Autonomy. Further, the Sp-DELES includes an additional scale that assesses students’ Satisfaction with their classes. The original DELES has been used in at least 27 independent studies with strong reliability and validity. For this study, we sampled 265 students from the University of Alicante enrolled in various hybrid and distance education courses taught by the Department of Health Psychology. We analysed the Sp-DELES for validity using principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation, and for reliability using Cronbach’s alpha. The Sp-DELES exhibited good reliability (Cronbach’s alpha for the scales ranging from 0.86 to 0.97) and the original six-factor structure was replicated and accounted for 72.9 % of the total variance. Overall the results are consistent with those of the original English-language version of the instrument. The Sp-DELES has proven to be a reliable and valid instrument for assessing psychosocial learning environments in tertiary-level hybrid and distance-education settings.

Medical faculty and students, 1865

Standing in front of the class (from left) are Abram Sager, Alonzo Palmer, Corydon Ford, Moses Gunn, and Silas Douglas (source: Not Just Any Medical School by Horace W. Davenport). On verso: March 1865. Dr. J. Ballard, then at 20 ... Gift of Dr. Elmer Belt, Los Angeles, Calif.

University education in Ireland and "ultramontanism" : being an examination of arguments lately published by James L. Whittle, A.B., Trinity College, Dublin, G.E. Cairnes, M.A., professor, Queen's College, Galway, and Sir Dominick Corrigan, Bart. /

Mode of access: Internet.

Proceedings : 1980 National Outdoor Recreation Trends Symposium : held at the New England Center for Continuing Education, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, April 20-23, 1980.

Mode of access: Internet.

A compendium of references to publications on spatial analysis applied to natural resource management as authored by U. S. university faculty members /

Cover title: Spatial analysis applied to natural resource management.

Cataloging and classifying audio-visual materials; a guide to the preparation of films, filmstrips, slides, and records for use in the Materials Center of the School of Library Training and Service, Florida State University.

Mode of access: Internet.

Resources for the implementation of total quality management (TQM) : in education, in nonprofits, and in the service sector /

Includes index.

Motion pictures for teacher education : a manual for use in pre-service and in-service teacher education /

Cover title.

The Fiscal impact of an Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) for Illinois' higher education faculty and administrators /

"February 1995."