Capping them off! Exploring and explaining the patterns in undergraduate capstone subjects in Australian business schools

Universities are increasingly offering capstone subjects as part of curricula to prepare final-year undergraduates for employment through consolidating and integrating their knowledge and skills while bridging the gap between academic learning and professional work. This study investigates capstone subjects offered by Australian business schools, drawing on national survey data collected in 2010 and 2011, complemented by interviews with associate deans teaching and learning instrumental in curricula design. Findings indicate the sector-wide use of capstone subjects in business disciplines, diversity in the patterns of offerings, and instances where subjects labelled as capstones do not meet the definition of capstones. We argue that these features are explained by a range of historic and strategic factors, such as the ad hoc development of subjects and a lack of understanding of the features of capstones. The findings of this paper inform the debate on the design, development, value and the use of capstone subjects identifying the implications for staff development and knowledge management in higher education.     

Impact of a play‐based curriculum in the first two years of primary school: literacy and numeracy outcomes over seven years

In 2000–2002 an innovative early years curriculum, the Enriched Curriculum (EC), was introduced into 120 volunteer schools across Northern Ireland, replacing a traditional curriculum similar to others across the UK at that time. It was intended by the designers to be developmentally appropriate and play‐based with the primary goal of preventing the experience of persistent early failure in children. The EC was not intended to be a literacy and numeracy intervention, yet it did considerably alter pedagogy in these domains, particularly the age at which formal reading and mathematics instruction began. As part of a multi‐method evaluation running from 2000–2008, the research team followed the primary school careers of the first two successive cohorts of EC children, comparing them with year‐ahead controls attending the same 24 schools. Compared to the year‐ahead control group, the findings show that the EC children's reading and mathematics scores fell behind in the first two years but the majority of EC children caught up by the end of their fourth year. Thereafter, the performance of the first EC cohort fell away slightly, while that of the second continued to match that of controls. Overall, the play‐based curriculum had no statistically significant positive effects on reading and mathematics in the medium term. At best, the EC children's scores matched those of controls.     

Complexities and Challenges of Researching Student Completion and Non-completion of HE Programmes in Europe: a comparative analysis between England and Norway

There is a growing interest in policy research on student completion and non-continuation and bodies such as the European Commission and OECD are focusing on the subject. There is also increasing national interest in the issue in many countries and they are looking to each other for input on effective policies. However, there are significant social, economic and educational differences between national systems across Europe, making this a very challenging project. The aim of this article is to study challenges and complexities in researching student non-completion of higher educqtion programmes in Europe. We use the case of two contrasting countries — England and Norway — to help to identify some of the differences, challenges and complexities that are relevant when creating an approach for analysis that can be used more widely to explore ‘non-completion’ across different countries in Europe and beyond.     

Technologies on the Horizon: Teachers Respond to the Horizon Report

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ beliefs regarding the integration of technologies from the 2011 K-12 edition of the Horizon Report into their local, public school contexts. Teachers read the Horizon Report and then participated in an asynchronous, threaded discussion focusing on technologies they would like to see integrated into their classrooms and technologies they do not see possible in the near term. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the discussion. Findings include the teachers’ desire to see mobile technologies integrated into their classrooms, and their belief that there are significant barriers to game-based learning.