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I've found that phrase "Educational pearl" on this page and have no idea what it means. Can someone explain it for me please?

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Would you care to summarise the context for those of us who don't fancy opening arbitrary PDFs? – user1579 Jun 20 '11 at 14:49

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It is a "pearl of wisdom," or some sort of good, concise advice, which you could apply to education. In this case, they are talking about an effective method for teaching computer science.

I had thought that it might be intended to have a double meaning with the Perl programming language, but they don't mention this language in the article.

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Thank you, now it's clear. – serguis Jun 20 '11 at 15:10
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It seems that the word pearl, in this context, refers to an official term, i.e. pearl. The title and abstract hint that this "Educational Pearl" is one of many. Perhaps "Educational Pearl" is merely the title of a series of which this publication is a part. (cf. scheme2006, list of publications)

It is possible that there is some meaning intended for the use of "pearl" to describe these documents, but it seems that the meaning would be hidden from the casual browser of any one of these publications. Perhaps it has some meaning to the faculty and students at this institution.

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Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "Pearl", 2.b.:

A precious or valuable thing; a virtuous or highly esteemed person; a fine example or type; a pertinent or wise saying (freq. in pearl of wisdom).

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This is a term of art in academic publishing. Medical publications, educational magazines, legal publications, often have "Practical Pearl" sections and these are understood to be "professional tips" for and by experts. I haven't seen the usage outside of these contexts; i.e., it's not lay-speak. – The Raven Jun 20 '11 at 15:06
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It's interesting to note the implications here: it's a pearl, rather than a gem - this has all the implications of pearl formation: a beautiful thing coming from a small, irritating seed, which has had to grow over time to become precious and valuable. Whether these are actually part of the etymology of the phrase is unknown to me, but I find this interesting to consider.

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