Applying the ECTS System to the Childhood Education Teaching Degree in Andalusia

This article presents the research conducted as part of a Pilot Experiment regarding the application of the ECTS to the Childhood Education Teaching Degree taught at the University of Cordoba (Spain). It analyses the Experiment, which was carried out in the Education Faculty over the course of three academic years (2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07). The research questions were: (1) How much do the students taking part in the Pilot Experiment know about the different competences? (2) How much time do the students need to prepare each subject? and (3) What are the methodological skills used by lecturers as a means of improving autonomous learning? Several tools were used: Initial Student Assessment for the ECTS Pilot Experiment in Childhood Education, and three Likert Scales: a) Competence Assessment Scale for UCO's Childhood Education Teaching Degree, b) Competence Achievement Assessment Scale for UCO's Childhood Education Teaching Degree, c) Assessment Scale for Subject Methodology in relation to the Application of ECTS and the organisation of Focus Groups. The most important conclusions were: (1) The specific professional competences established in the educational profile of this degree course are very highly rated by the students; (2) According to the students, the workload for certain subjects, in terms of the number of hours devoted to them, is excessively high and not proportional to the number of credits they account for, and (3) There has been an acceptable level of exchange among teaching staff regarding the instruments and methodological strategies used to promote students' autonomous work.     

Prescription for learning? Meeting the development needs of the pharmacy profession

This article explores the use of open learning to meet pharmacists' continuing development needs in the UK—a topic that the researchers first explored in 1996. First, it sets those needs in the context of the changing role of the pharmacist within the health care team. Second, the authors report the findings from a one-year study conducted in 1999–2000 by the Scottish Council for Research in Education of continuing professional development (CPD) provided by the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education at the University of Manchester. Data were collected from a 10% sample of registered pharmacists, telephone interviews with some employers and focus group meetings with a sample of pharmacists and tutors. Changes in pharmacists' attitudes to, and uptake of, CPD over the period are highlighted, the most significant of which is the growth in informal learning, an approach that now requires to be incorporated into an integrated model of CPD.     

Counseling Taiwan Chinese in America: Training Issues for Counselors

This article examines cultural influences on Taiwan Chinese in America who seek counseling. Typical counseling struggles, effective counseling strategies and theoretical approaches, and training implications are addressed.