Abstract

This study developed and validated Professional Development Scale for Master of Full-time Education (PDSM-FE) to assess the students’ training quality, using the methods of literature research, questionnaires, interviews and data statistics. The PDMS-FE includes three dimensions, namely, teachers’ professional disposition, professional knowledge and professional capability. Factor analysis was done on the 40 items developed in this study. 32 items were found to be factorialy valid. The PDSM-FE was also found to be reliable with a coefficient of 0.936. The results of administration show that the professional development of Masters of full-time education (MFE) at Capital Normal University is good. The dimension of professional capability is better than teachers’ professional disposition, professional knowledge. The professional development of the students who are from teacher education when they are still undergraduates is better than those who are not from teacher education. The professional development of female students is better than male students.

Using the methods of theoretical deduction and mathematic statistics, this paper develops an Evaluating Index System on University English Teachers’ Efficient Classroom Discourse (EISUETECD), which aims to help the in-service university English teachers to appraise the quality of their own classroom discourse, thus enhancing effective classroom teaching. The system contains three dimensions (26 indexes), namely language characteristics, language functions and interactive features. The data analysis shows that it possesses considerable content, structure, criterion related validity, homogeneity and retest reliability. So it can be used as a measuring tool for the relevant research directly.

Education is definitely related to values; therefore, in order to nurture them, it is necessary to initially determine the perception of values by individuals and groups. This study investigates the importance of the value of cleanliness as understood by the students in higher education in Turkey and Lithuania. It is based on a case study, the data being selected from the research conducted in both countries in 2011-2012 using the qualitative research methods, the semi-structured interview (Öcal, Kyburiene, & Yiğittir, 2012). The respondents included 32 students from Lithuania, and 40 students from Turkey. The study explores how the value of cleanliness was understood by students in both countries. The findings of the research not only reveal the difference in the perception of the value of on individual and social platforms but also the dependence of this perception on the society the respondents represented as well as the religion, traditions, and culture. However, the study revealed that in certain aspects, the perception of the value of the students from two different countries of different religion and culture has some features in common.

The paper presents the results of a perceived Continuing Professional Development (CPD) needs assessment conducted prior to the launch of Qatar National Continuing Medical Education (CME) / Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program which mandated the participation of all healthcare practitioners in CPD activities. The results of the survey showed higher preference of group-learning activities which (together with other factors) represented a challenge for the newly developed national system. Such challenge was mitigated by Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners - Accreditation Department (QCHP-AD) using several support strategies including close monitoring of Dentists participation in the National CPD program, stakeholder collaboration, healthcare practitioners training and promoting the concept of interprofessional education, the later showed to be highly effective for ensuring availability of CPD activities to dentists and achieving high rate of compliance with the national CPD credit requirements.

This article addresses the importance of commitment from higher education institutions to principles of sustainability. It analyzes the consequences of environmental management best practices at universities and the impact of successfully implemented “green policies”.  The focus of the essay is to show the effects of a successful sustainability policy at a public Mexican university and how its undoing, when top-down decisions are taken to reverse the consolidation of these process.