THE LISBON CONVENTION ON THE RECOGNITION OF QUALIFICATIONS CONCERNING HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE EUROPEAN REGION: AN EXAMPLE OF SUCCESSFUL CO‐OPERATION BETWEEN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE AND UNESCO

On the eve of the adoption of the new Council of Europe ‐ UNESCO Convention, this article goes back to the first agreement between the two international organizations to step up their co‐operation in the field of academic recognition and retraces the different stages that led to the final completion of the legal text. It offers an overview of the entire process, analyzing the development of the basic concepts of the Convention, highlighting controversial issues, and demonstrating the complex process of consultation in a wider and diversified Europe that will be brought to completion at the Lisbon Diplomatic Conference. This article, in a slightly different form, will be presented as a background document at the Lisbon Conference.     

What publishers can take away from the latest early career researcher research

Key points

• Early career researchers (ECRs) consider journals the central form of communication – but are concerned about pressure to publish.
• ECRs want to share but currently accept the closed publishing system because of the need to build a traditional reputation.
• ECRs know – and appear to care – little about publishers but trust them as publishing and reviewing facilitators.
• Editors are criticized for not managing peer review with better selection of reviewers.
• Megajournals are not seen as the future journal form and criticized for lack of selectivity.
• ECRs want open access/science in principle but are circumspect about their contribution to it.
• ResearchGate is a key force for change as ECRs consider it a mainstay communication and reputation platform.

     

Using NCES national datasets for evaluation of postsecondary issues

The purpose of this study is to review 10 NCES databases that can be used for researching postsecondary issues and provide lesser‐known facts to using the datasets that are important but may not be widely understood. Issues addressed include: (1) access; (2) statistical issues; (3) database nuances; and (4) database training opportunities. A concise review of each database is also provided which includes: (1) a general overview of the survey; (2) formats in which the dataset is available; and (3) research areas (which include key variables that can be used as a basis for research themes along with examples of how the dataset has been used to answer research questions). The databases provide rich sources of information for national as well as international comparative analysis studies.     

Educating pre‐service teachers for a sustainable environment

The paper reports on an initiative to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for a sustainable environment. The initiative involved the training of pre‐service teachers to not only be aware of, or know about environmental problems and want to act for the environment, but also to be able to act for the environment. Small group community problem solving projects illustrate the nature of environmental community problems that could be acted upon. The process of the projects, including how the pre‐service teachers identified the community problems and conducted the projects, is described. Outcomes of the projects including reflections about what the pre‐service teachers have learnt in being involved with the projects show the nature of capacity building efforts possible to work towards a sustainable environment. Lessons learnt from the involvement in community problem solving projects are also highlighted.     

The memorial ceremony in Israeli schools: between the State and civil society

Exploring memorial ceremonies conducted in Israeli schools over the past decade, this paper discusses the school memorial ceremony as a potential site for struggle over national identities, and schools as the social arena of an encounter between the State and civil society. Analysis of 50 ethnographies (elicited from semi‐structured observations) revealed that school memorial ceremonies constitute a diversified interpretative field, which includes both canonic characteristics and elements of innovation and resistance. This ceremonial field is characterized by a tension between expressing ‘other voices’ of civil society and the process of cooptation into the national collective.     

Cognitive style and the acquisition and transfer of the ability to control variables

This study examined the effects of an instructional procedure designed to teach both field-dependent and field-independent sixth graders to control variables and to transfer this ability to novel tasks. Students were randomly assigned to either a treatment group taught with a special instructional procedure adapted from Case or a group where students freely explored science equipment without receiving feedback. Three posttest tasks administered approximately four weeks after the last training session served as retention and transfer measures. Results indicated that students receiving the special instructional treatment correctly tested significantly more variables on the posttest tasks than did students in the other group. Within-group analyses revealed that the special treatment was effective for field-dependent as well as field-independent students, while the other treatment was effective for only field-independent students.