Recently, the federal finance minister’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth recommended the creation of a national organization — the FutureSkills Lab — to serve as a laboratory for the development and measurement of skills. This proposed laboratory represents a significant and progressive advance that can increase Canada’s global competitiveness and offer its citizens the economic […]
Tag: Skills
Skills
These are the words of former US President Dwight Eisenhower about how one plans for battle. One reason “I like Ike” is that his words capture HEQCO’s philosophy of planning. He understood that plans are useless when they get too specific, try to predict the future with certainty, and prompt fights over every comma in […]
This week, we released a study examining the relationship between the supply of graduates from six regulated professions – medicine, law, teaching, architecture, engineering, nursing – and the labour demand for these graduates. The historical evidence provided in that analysis is clear – we never get it right! We either oversupply or undersupply. This conclusion […]
To gain a better understanding of current learning outcomes assessment practices used across Canada, we surveyed provosts and VP academics in colleges and universities. This infographic highlights some of our key findings. Click here for the full report. University | College
One of HEQCO’s keynotes from the recent Transitions conference, Paul Tough, has a great piece in the June issue of The Atlantic on how kids learn resilience. This is familiar ground for him—Tough’s bestselling book, How Children Succeed, explains how qualities like perseverance, curiosity and self-control are just as crucial to a child’s success as […]
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Nicholas Dion – Numeracy is not math
While the terms math and numeracy are often used interchangeably, they refer to quite different things, and the distinction plays an important – if often implicit – role in defining the scope of the conversations we have about numeracy skills. In brief, while math is conceptual and abstract, numeracy is the practical application of mathematical […]
Learning outcomes assessment is no longer a sad substitute standing on the sidelines hoping for a chance to play when the game is out of reach. It is now a key member of the starting line up. Today, you can see its footprint in virtually every space of the education sector, from the rarefied heights […]
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Greg Moran – No change for no change’s sake
One of the benefits of working at HEQCO (and let’s face it, there are many) is that staying abreast of postsecondary education literature is part of the job. Although the volume can be overwhelming, much of this writing is provocative and helpful. Occasionally I run across something that simply provokes. In a recent opinion piece […]
In last Thursday’s budget, the Ontario government announced significant changes to the way student financial aid will be packaged to encourage greater participation of students from low income families. These changes come after years of research from HEQCO, and other organizations, about the inhibitory effects of a high tuition sticker price and loan aversion on […]