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This chapter reports on a research study that looked at the differences between online students and traditional classroom students taking a quiz. The study examined differences in actual test performance, perceived performance, test satisfaction, study habits, and time pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within higher education it would appear that a consensus is emerging which suggests that traditional methods of teaching and assessment are failing to impart to students the skills and abilities that they need to be effective employees in the modern world. Most careers in the modern economy place considerable emphasis on the application of knowledge rather than mere possession of that knowledge. Thus, staff who work in higher education need to find means of promoting learning that equip their students with the ability and confidence to apply their knowledge in a variety of circumstances. Problem-based learning (PBL) has evolved within this context. It is based on the understanding that the range of qualities required by students includes individual hard skills such as the ability to communicate effectively, to have confidence in manipulating numbers, and to use modern tools of information technology. In addition to these hard skills, attributes desired of graduates include taking responsibility for one's own personal development, working with and for other people, and the ability to solve problems in a systematic way. It is the last attribute that is seen as particularly important for students in higher education since they are the people who are most likely to move into positions that will require them to develop innovative solutions to complex problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breda Business School is one of seven faculties in Hogeschool Brabant, an institution providing education for nearly 12,000 students. The Business School offers a broad, practically oriented education to students wishing to prepare for middle and senior executive positions in both business and notfor-profit organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter reports on collaborative learning and innovation in the social sector in the Netherlands. It is aimed at the design of a methodology to better combat social exclusion and poverty. The research comprises a literature study on innovation and culture in the private sector. The transformation to the public sector leads to the concept of social entrepreneurship (Thompson, Alvy, & Lees, 2000; Thompson, 2002). The research is supported by an experiment in the area of social services for the poor in the Netherlands. This experiment is part of a longitudinal study on social entrepreneurship and culture change in the social services sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surrounded by complicated issues, globalization is heavily debated. Some critics, for instance, equate it with worldwide capitalism and focus on the unrestricted movement of capital and the increasing domination of nationstates by global financial markets and multinational corporations (Greider, 1997; Soros, 2002). They also warn against market values infiltrating domains of social practice where they do not belong, and ultimately against cultural homogenization resulting in the gradual disappearance of local cultures. What the critics envisage is a strong form of globalization that asks for the production of similar kinds of human beings on a global scale (Friedman, 1994). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of professional, continuous, and corporate education (PCCE)37 there is a recurrent complaint concerning the effectiveness of the educational process (Mintzberg, 1988; Mintzberg, 1996; Schön, 1983). Effectiveness is "the ability of a system to produce what it must produce." Therefore, in an effective PCCE system people should learn to do what they must do when working in their companies. Unfortunately this is not what one can observe; actual PCCE systems produce people who get a lot of knowledge but who are unable to put it into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web-based instruction is this century's most-talked about educational and training media. In an attempt to actualize the power of this tool, organizations are experimenting with innovative methods to improve their learning processes (Yoo, Kanawattanachai, & Citurs, 2002). The resulting courses offered over corporate and educational Intranets   also called Webbased instruction or WBI   present what can be a cost-effective alternative to face-to-face training (Fornaciari, Forte, & Mathews, 1999; Phillips, Phillips, Duresky, & Gaudet, 2002; Roberts, 1998). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM or Tec de Monterrey) is an educational institution with the goal of contributing to the development of the country and its society. In order to accomplish this, every ten years the ITESM gives an opinion poll to various companies, the ITESM graduates, the alumni employers, and the professors. Considering the national and international context, the employment situation in the country, the international education tendencies, and the most recent technological advances, the ITESM System establishes its mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital Media U (DM-U) is a European Union assisted project, run by MITER26 at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). It responds to the demand for skills development in Digital Media, a sector considered vital to the economy of the North West27 of England. Project partners include IBM, FD Learning, and Macromedia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) was created in 1984. Since its creation, considerable focus has been placed on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which now is an integral part of the "culture" of most faculty members and students. As a matter of fact, laptops became mandatory for students 18 years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web-based education is very popular. Research of the American Ministry of Education revealed that 56 percent of American universities offer their education (partly) by means of distance education via the Internet. Students seem to be very enthusiastic about e-learning; at least the number of students applying for online lectures is growing explosively (Tabs, 2003). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, entrepreneurship is of fundamental importance for our society (Thornton, 1999; Bruyat & Julien, 2000). Entrepreneurial companies contribute to economic welfare as they increase the innovative capacity of the economy. These enterprises also lead to more flexible markets and intensified competition. Moreover, through entrepreneurship, new businesses and jobs are created (De Clerck & De Sutter, 2003), an issue of utmost importance in today's global business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few years, ethical scandals have occurred in all too many companies around the world. Some of the prominent ones gaining extensive media attention include Adelphia, Arthur Andersen, Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom, all headquartered in the United States; Adecco and Parmalat in Europe; and Yukos in Russia. The impact of these and other scandals have been felt around the world. Oppenheimer (2001) describes how U.S. multinational companies, including IBM and Citibank, have contributed to corruption in Latin America. Additionally, Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcya Argentaria has been charged with money laundering, questionable cash transfers, and secret political campaign contributions in its Latin American operations (Dempsey, 2002). Also in Latin America, smaller companies, which represent the majority of businesses there, tend to resist pressures for greater transparency in financial reporting (Dempsey, 2002). Walerius (2004), in a commentary on Middle Eastern nations, observes that businesses are often the source of corruption and sometimes oppose efforts to eliminate corruption. Numerous other examples exist throughout the world   no nation or geographic region seems to be immune to corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of technology in today's teaching and learning has created an impetus on educators to differentiate between the applications of information versus knowledge (Sims, 2000, and Megarry, 1989). It is no longer sufficient to provide access and retrieval processes in online teaching, but more importantly there is an increasing need to facilitate the opportunities and processes for collaboration and complex thinking tasks such as critical thinking in order to ensure that knowledge is learned (Jonassen, 1997). There is minimal evidence to show support for communication and critical thinking learning processes in the classroom among international students where English is not their first language. Computer mediated communication can provide a social aspect to learning where interaction involves an exchange of information and requires participants to formulate arguments or reorganize material to arrive at new relationships or concepts (Graham & Scarborough, 1999). Electronically enhanced course components increase the capacity for scaffolding to take place, allowing students to experience the learning material in various modes and preserving class times for interaction and discourse (Schwartzman, 2002). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decennium, many universities have adopted innovative teaching and learning methods, such as problem-based and project learning. Due to these methods, students are developing skills in bridging the gap between theory and practice. They have exceeded the level of knowledge reproduction and entered the level of knowledge application. Critical success factors for these innovative processes include the use of real problems, the necessity to search for knowledge sources, and the possibility to work cooperatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business schools are under increasing pressure to enhance the learning capability and employability of graduates. Business professional institutes and employer organizations are demanding more than the technical knowledge and skills required to perform discipline/professional specific tasks. They want graduates who can demonstrate capabilities in communication, teamwork, risk taking, decision making, problem solving, critical thinking, analytical reasoning, visioning and innovation, leadership, ethical practices, appreciation of diversity, and a commitment to social justice. Evidence in literature and reports (Karpin, 1995; Kirby, 2000; Commonwealth of Australia, 2002; Nelson, 2002) and in test data (McCowan & Richardson, 1998; Employer Survey, 1998; DETYA, 2000) shows that the employability gap7 is closed when graduates possess these generic capabilities. What is important, however, is the increasing research showing that the strategies used to develop generic capabilities lead to improved learning, both in university courses and in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a learning society incorporating the concept of lifelong learning has been discussed in the higher education sector for many years now. The need for individuals to continue to develop personal and technical skills, knowledge, and understanding has been a prominent part of thinking within employment and education. Effective lifelong learning can ensure greater diversity in employability and personal fulfillment while meeting the needs of a changing economic environment. Employers benefit through having human resources at their disposal in the numbers and of the quality they require to meet their objectives. This is particularly demonstrated in the workplace through the desire for continuing professional development both from employer and from employee, and, accordingly, higher education must work hard to develop innovative approaches to the provision of relevant knowledge coupled with attractive and appropriate programs and qualifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Google (http://www.google.com) search for ‘e-learning'; brings up over 4.8 million results. This reflects the increasing view that e-learning somehow presents answers to a number of major problems facing both further and higher education. Specifically, the challenges that are presented by the rise in student numbers, the failure of funding to keep pace with that increase, the emphasis on meeting targets at all levels, and on the quality of the teaching and learning experience faced by the student learner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The area of entrepreneurship has been suggested as a key factor for business over the years. Business schools around the world offer courses and even complete degrees emphasizing entrepreneurship. However, the perception of an entrepreneur differs across cultures. The entrepreneurial lifestyle is perceived, rewarded, acknowledged, etc. differently across cultures based upon cultural norms. This paper presents results from a set of data collected over two years in three countries: United States, United Kingdom, and France. The analysis of over 900 questionnaires found support for the basic conjecture that the perception of entrepreneurship differs between countries and in the direction predicted by the Total Entrepreneurship Activity (TEA) report; the US students perceived the entrepreneurship lifestyle better than did students from France or the UK. The final section of the paper highlights the cross-cultural differences that were found and offers some ideas on why they occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Life-long learning" (OECD, 1996; Van Leeuwen & Van Praag, 2002), the learning organization (Senge, 1991), the organizational knowledge-base (Blackler, 1995; Gherardi, 1996; Von Krogh, Roos, & Kleine, 1998; Pawlowsky, 2001) or effective management of organizational competences and knowledge (Blackler, 1995) are considered as central resources and competitive advantages for all types of organizations as well as for successful individuals. Learning and knowledge management became buzzwords that resulted in a rise, within several disciplines, of publications exploring these activities; this increased level of publication arose within the 1990s and continued in the beginning of the third century (Easterby-Smith, 1997; Easterby-Smith & Araujo, 1999). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of student-centered learning as a paradigm in education at the expense of teacher-centered learning, has caused an important shift in research in learning processes: from the investigation of the impact of different instructional regimes, to the research of the influence of student characteristics and learning context on the learning process. An important element in this type of research refers to the interaction of student characteristics and context: different students perceive one and the same learning context in different ways, and develop, on the basis of these perceptions, different approaches to learning. This interaction is the focus of the so-called process stage in Presage-Process-Product or 3P models of learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present society is often considered as a knowledge or learning society in which the continuous advancement of the level of knowledge has become an important political and economic issue (Dijstelbloem & Schuijt, 2002; WRR, 2002). Increasing global competition and technological advancement have a decisive impact on the rate of product innovation in organizations and, by consequence, influence the work environment, the task complexity, and the expected performance of every individual employee. Knowledge and learning, rather than capital, are becoming the main resources of the new global economy in which the use and creation of knowledge are considered as the most important factors for sustained economic growth. Therefore, companies in the global knowledge economy focus on the improvement of their knowledge base and highly value lifelong learning activities. Successful companies are the ones that learn effectively, because they understand that knowledge is becoming their most valuable asset and therefore focus on knowledge creation and knowledge sharing for sustainable economic success (Nonaka, 1991; Davis & Botkin, 1994a, 1994b; Nonaka #x0026; Takeuchi, 1995; De Geus, 1997; Choo, 1998; Drucker, 1999). The business sector has discovered the value of knowledge and their interest in knowledge and learning is growing. In a knowledge society, learning is the key factor for the production and diffusion of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we discuss the potential implications of commonly used student ratings of teacher performance on faculty members' willingness to pursue innovative educational practices. Our fundamental contention is that student ratings of teaching are potentially detrimental to innovative education. In exploring this fundamental contention, we first examine the inherent evaluation and developmental challenges associated with student ratings. Next, we discuss the common uses, misuses, and abuses of student ratings from both an evaluative perspective and a developmental perspective. We then propose an alternative approach — one based on behaviorally anchored rating scales — for utilizing student ratings. This proposed approach can potentially limit the misuses and abuses of student ratings, and can promote their viability as useful and accepted tools for both evaluative and developmental purposes, especially for the latter. Finally, we conclude the paper with a statement of our beliefs regarding the dangers associated with adhering to a student-as-customer mode of teacher ratings — dangers which can discourage innovative educational efforts and pervert the educational process as well as undermine students' acquisition of the competencies they will need to function effectively in modern society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns about the lack of institutional and collegial support for implementing and sustaining educational innovations have frequently been mentioned in various forums at the annual EDiNEB Conferences. This raises two questions: (1) Is there, in fact, a lack of support for educational innovation? and (2) If so, why is there a lack of support? One possible answer is that these concerns reflect an organizational change process gone awry. However, little seems to have been done to systematically and formally document the educational innovation process from the perspective of managing organizational change, let alone systematically exploring how the change process has gone awry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of lifelong learning first came to prominence in the 1970s when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted it. It was argued that lifelong education should be part of the fundamental policy and underlying concept to be used for the educational policies of both developed and developing countries since it contributed to economic development and equality of opportunity in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality assurance is, among other things, concerned with initiating, maintaining and managing change, but not in a random way. Change that leads to improved quality is directed towards defined goals and undertaken in a systematic way. For this to take place in an organization within higher education there is a need for continuity and expertise. In many universities and other institutions within the higher education sector, Academic Quality Assurance Centers (AQACs) are established with the aim of supporting the academic staff in their pursuit of excellence. AQACs typically track development and research on teaching and learning in higher education and are active in such research and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contemporary and forecasted economic context is seen as experiencing dynamic change, which requires learning as a continuous endeavor. When confronted with a new context, which requires changing one's perceptions and behaviors and engaging in ‘new' learning, people may believe they don't ‘control' the change (Watzlawick, Weakland, & Fisch, 1974). Widespread and/or intense contextual change can destroy cultural, social, and/or psychological anchors. Under these conditions, individuals are more likely to continue habituated behaviors and retain biased perceptions because of the need to maintain intellectual and emotional stability. Maintaining a sense of stability is understandable. Stabilizing anchors are necessary if individuals, groups, and communities are to focus their energy on discovering and implementing positive responses to dynamic change (Watzlawick, Weakland, & Fisch, 1974). For the change initiator/facilitator/teacher the issue is how to present and maintain ‘anchors' that facilitate rather than hinder ‘new'; approaches to, processes of, and objectives for learning. In this chapter, Change Initiator, Facilitator, and Teacher as well as Learner and Student are used interchangeably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are confronted with several dilemmas. In this chapter we will discuss two of these dilemmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improvements in information and communication technology (ICT) have allowed greater access to inexpensive information than at any time in the history of mankind. Development of the printing press in 1456 meant that, from about the year 1500 onwards, material contained in documents laboriously created by scribes could be typeset into books made readily available to all who could afford them. Thus, the information doubling period decreased from 1,000 years, prior to this development, to a mere 250 years. The increasing availability of written materials also provided the impetus to improve human literacy, leading to the commensurate development of widespread education systems. Later, development of the telegraph, the wireless radio, and the telephone provided a further increase in information distribution and thus availability, such that by the early 20th century the information doubling period had decreased from 250 years to less than 100 years. The post-WWII developments of television, Xerox photocopying, and paperback book publication further reduced the postwar information doubling period to a mere 25 years. The advent of computers and the Internet have seen that information doubling period fall to an estimated 10 years in the mid-1990s, with speculation that the next doubling could take as little as 5 years (Gupta, 2000; Editors, 1999). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early 21st century is an exciting time, a challenging time for the individuals and institutions engaged in educating people to be responsible and productive participants in all kinds of social institutions, and especially in business organizations. Why are the challenges so great for the education of business professionals and business leaders? There are many answers to this question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]