Quality of Life of Children with Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Self‐Reports and Proxy Reports

This study aimed to explore how children with learning disabilities (LD) perceive their quality of life (QoL) and to compare self‐reports and proxy reports regarding their QoL. Children with LD, their typically developing peers, their parents and teachers responded to the child, parent, and teacher forms of KINDL^R Questionnaire for Measuring Health‐Related Quality of Life (Ravens‐Sieberer & Bullinger, 1998). Findings showed that children with LD reported significantly lower QoL scores than those reported by typically developing peers. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and t‐test results showed that agreement between child reports and parent‐proxy reports was either low or moderate on each QoL dimension. Findings of the study may be used to raise awareness regarding the social and educational needs of children with LD in Turkey.     

The entrepreneurial university and academic discourses: The meta‐synthesis of Higher Education articles

The innovative teaching, knowledge and technology production and societal service activities of academics are largely discussed within the entrepreneurial university discourse in Higher Education journals. Therefore, this research focuses on a meta‐synthesis of Higher Education articles to better understand the concepts of the entrepreneurial university and entrepreneurial academic. After the systematic elimination based on keywords and titles, 25 articles have been selected from the top 10 Higher Education journals in the SCImago Journal Rankings. Content analysis was performed on these articles to highlight the common operational areas in entrepreneurial universities and activities of entrepreneurial academics. The meta‐synthesis shows that, both for universities and academics, entrepreneurship is overwhelmingly characterised by the commercialisation of scholarly activities that enrich institutional income revenue as well as academics’ personal income. However, such an approach can distance universities from their mission of public good; so Higher Education administrators should create mechanisms that would allow both to take place in a balanced way.     

Strength,Weakness, Opportunity,Threat (SWOT) Analysis of the Adaptations to Anatomical Education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland in Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has driven the fastest changes to higher education across the globe, necessitated by social distancing measures preventing face-to-face teaching. This has led to an almost immediate switch to distance learning by higher education institutions. Anatomy faces some unique challenges. Intrinsically, anatomy is a three-dimensional subject that requires a sound understanding of the relationships between structures, often achieved by the study of human cadaveric material, models, and virtual resources. This study sought to identify the approaches taken in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland to deliver anatomical education through online means. Data were collected from 14 different universities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and compared adopting a thematic analysis approach. Once themes were generated, they were collectively brought together using a strength, weakness, opportunity, threat (SWOT) analysis. Key themes included the opportunity to develop new online resources and the chance to engage in new academic collaborations. Academics frequently mentioned the challenge that time constrains could place on the quality and effectiveness of these resources; especially as in many cases the aim of these resources was to compensate for a lack of exposure to cadaveric exposure. Comparisons of the actions taken by multiple higher education institutions reveal the ways that academics have tried to balance this demand. Discussions will facilitate decisions being made by higher education institutions regarding adapting the curriculum and assessment methods in anatomy.     

The Teaching of French as a Mother Tongue

The 14th International Week of Educational and Teaching Films organised this year, as in 1976, for ICEM, by the Belgian Ministry of National Education and Culture, took place from 17 to 21 April in the Quality Inn Hotel, Antwerp. It was attended by 80 participants, the strong European contingent being joined by North Americans, Kuwaitis, Australians and Japanese.     

DIRECT NON‐VIOLENT ACTION AND THE LAW

This article was delivered as the plenary address at the Massachusetts Association for Bilingual Education Annual Conference, November, 1986. The style of the speech has been preserved.     

Special education in Romania

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to give a closer view of the realities in special education in Romania, as part of the general reform in the educational system. It outlines the most important features of the past that have led to the present problems which Romania has to face, and presents the main categories of disadvantaged children in the context of social protection guaranteed by the present laws. Where available, data with respect to the years 1991 to 1993 are given.     

Television: The performance of nonresident students in the “economics U$A” telecourse

Abstract

Correspondence study represents the first and most persistent distance education format in American universities. Later called independent study, it enabled universities to disseminate instruction far beyond their campuses. Yet, national‐level leadership provided by the National University Continuing Education Association (NUEA) and its divisions has been relatively restrained. In contrast, leadership in the private correspondence school sector has been assertive, and sometimes even aggressive. The NUEA and its members shunned this approach, choosing instead to lead by persuasion and example. The NUEA developed standards of practice concerned primarily with replicating on‐campus teaching styles and values, rather than the promotion of distance education. With the abolition of its division structure, the NUEA's successor, the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA), has opted out of a leadership role in independent study. This paper concludes that the NUEA's initial attempt at leadership in distance education— while reasoned and principled—contained flaws that made failure inevitable.