The deviant university student: historical discourses about student failure and ‘wastage’ in the antipodes

The emergence of academic development in Anglophone higher education was linked to post Second World War massification and concerns about student failure. These concerns were driven by increasing statistical investigations into student attrition and degree times to completion, particularly in Australia and Aotearoa, New Zealand. There was a dominant discourse about student ‘wastage’ (the deviant student). However, if we fast-forward to the late 2000s, we can see that these discourses have been replaced by discourses about university responsibility and teaching quality. Drawing on Foucauldian discourse analysis, this paper aims to trace the historical roots of contemporary teaching and learning dilemmas and to show how the responsibility for student failure was gradually shifted from perceptions of deviant students to perceptions of teacher ‘deviance’, which academic development units were designed to ameliorate.     

Undergraduates' orientations towards student–university relationships: Measurement and associations with student characteristics and engagement

This study explored students' orientations towards student–university relationships and how they differ with regard to student characteristics and engagement. We developed an instrument measuring student orientations and utilised it in a survey of Russian undergraduates. Using latent class analysis, we identified the following types of Russian students' orientations: instructivists, consumerists, constructivists, and students with mixed orientations. As the results showed, the majority of our respondents have consumerist or mixed orientations that mostly mismatch with the actual models of student–university relationships at Russian universities. We also found that students with these orientations are less engaged than instructivists and constructivists. These findings demonstrate the importance of seeking an optimal match between diverse undergraduate orientations and the actual educational model, which fits national and institutional contexts.     

Is mathematics anxiety a factor?: First-year university students provide answers

Abstract

South Africa finds itself with skills shortages in scientifically oriented professions. A major contributor to this has been students’ failure in mathematics. This study set out to identify students who self-reported mathematics anxiety and determine if this was a factor in their studies. Participants were 204 mathematics first-year students registered for degrees in Engineering, Information Technology, and Natural Science. Included in this group were Foundation Year students. Results indicated that the majority of students admitted to higher levels of anxiety. With respect to the different degree programmes, chemistry students reported higher anxiety. Specifically, a negative association was established between performance and mathematics evaluation anxiety. It is concluded that lecturers through investigations such as this can identify and isolate highly anxious mathematics students. Such students may receive remedial psychological help or at least, lecturers may revise their presentation methods to suit these particular students. The study also concluded that there are underlying problems within the teaching and learning of mathematics among the study sample. As is typical of this type of investigation, a number of questions remain unanswered such as what the sources of students’ mathematics anxiety are and how these relate to the variables investigated here. A follow-up study will focus more closely on these issues.     

Does homework design matter? The role of homework's purpose in student mathematics achievement

This study used a randomized pretest–posttest clustered design to examine the effect of 3 homework purposes (i.e., practice, preparation, and extension) on 6th graders' mathematics achievement and how this relationship was modulated by the amount of completed homework. A total of 27 mathematics teachers and their 638 students participated in this study. Once a week for six weeks, the teachers assigned tasks that had a specific type of homework purpose according to their treatment condition. At the end of the six weeks, the students completed a non-standardized mathematics achievement test. The results of multilevel modeling showed that after controlling for student characteristics and class-level variables, extension homework positively impacted students' mathematics achievement, while practice and preparation homework did not. These findings were not related to the amount of homework that was completed by the students. The findings highlighted the importance of the teacher's role in the first phase of the homework process (i.e., designing homework with a specific purpose) and provide important data for teachers and school administrators to reflect upon when conducting actual homework practices.     

Primary mathematics teachers’ goal orientations and student achievement

Primary mathematics teachers’ (N = 521) personal goal orientation and instructional practices were examined based on questionnaire responses. The teachers (grades 2 and 3) were oriented towards mastery goals and mastery approaches to instruction, and reported high teaching efficacy. Strong positive relation between performance orientation and performance instructional practices was established, and correspondingly between mastery orientation and mastery instructional practices. Positive relations between students’ (N = 9,980) basic mathematics performance (measured by paper and pencil tests) and both teacher mastery orientation and teaching efficacy were also found. Results indicate that mastery oriented teaching strategies are crucial for fostering basic mathematical competencies in primary students.     

Caring teacher and sensitive student: is it a gender issue in the university context?

While there is abundant scholarship discussing gendered discourse on care in early childhood and compulsory education, little exploration has been made to explore whether care might also be gendered in higher education. This article, based on data from a year-long narrative study, examines the conceptualisation of care and its effects on teaching and learning in the university context with a gender lens. It on the one hand reveals an implicit but persistent feminine ethic of care in the university context, and on the other hand delivers the hope of developing an ethic of care that values and de-genders care in universities with the demonstration of agency in the two sensitive students.     

The faith‐based schools debate: challenging assumptions and stereotypes

This study focused on value transmission in the family and assessed adolescents’ acceptance of the values their parents want to transmit to them (socialisation values), identifying some factors that may affect the level of acceptance. Specifically, actual value agreement between parents, parental agreement as perceived by adolescents, parent–child closeness and promotion of child’s volitional functioning, were considered as predictors. Participants were 381 family triads (father, mother and adolescent child) from northern Italy; the adolescents (46.2% male) were all high‐school students from 15 to 19 years of age. Both parents and their children filled out self‐report questionnaires. Findings showed a moderate level of acceptance in families, suggesting the presence of similarities as well as differences between parents’ socialisation values and adolescents’ personal values. All the predictors considered except parents’ actual agreement, were found to be significantly and positively related to acceptance. Implications for moral development are discussed and suggestions for education and future research are provided.     

The learning environment in clicker classrooms: student processes of learning and involvement in large university‐level courses using student response systems

To explore what social and educational infrastructure is needed to support classroom use of student response systems (Roschelle et al., 2004 Roschelle, J., Penuel, W. R. and Abrahamson, L. 2004. “The networked classroom”. In Educational Leadership 6150–54.  [Google Scholar]), this study investigated the ways in which student characteristics and course design choices were related to students’ assessments of the contribution of clicker use to their learning and involvement in the classroom. Survey responses of over 1500 undergraduates enrolled in seven large enrollment ‘clicker courses’ offered by three university departments are analyzed. A number of factors contribute to students’ positive perception of clickers: a desire to be involved and engaged, a view that traditional lecture styles are not best, valuing of feedback, class standing, previous experience with lecture courses, anticipated course performance, and amount of clicker use in the classroom. These results underscore the importance of considering social and communication elements of the classroom when adopting student response technology.     

The student departure puzzle: do some faculties and programs have answers?

University attrition prevention strategies are typically generic, centrally managed, whole of university strategies that have emerged from an examination of whole of university attrition data. This paper takes an intra‐organisational comparative approach, through the examination of faculty and program attrition rates of students who joined an Australian university in the first term of 2004. The faculty with the highest attrition had a rate two‐and‐a‐half times that of the faculty with the lowest rate, and in programs with 40 or more students enrolled the program with the highest attrition had a rate over five times that of the program with the lowest rate. The paper identifies five practical implications of these findings and concludes that investigating the causes of these differences will help in understanding student attrition. It also suggests that universities wishing to reduce student attrition may benefit from adopting integrated and situated strategies that take into account faculty and program differences.     

Classroom discipline and student responsibility:: The students’ view

There is, internationally, increasing interest in the quality of children's character. This paper examines, in 21 elementary and 21 secondary schools, the role of classroom discipline in promoting student responsibility for the protection of learning and safety rights in the classroom. The results indicate that teachers are seen by students to react to classroom misbehavior by increasing their use of coercive discipline, which inhibits the development of responsibility in students and distracts them from their schoolwork. Unfortunately, teachers fail to increase their use of more productive techniques, such as discussions, rewards for good behavior and involvement in decision-making. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

International student mobility in a German and Portuguese university: Which factors in the host institution matter?

In a globalising world, international mobility in higher education is an important phenomenon for students and higher education institutions. It is therefore essential to understand the factors that determine international students' satisfaction with higher education institutions that serve as hosts. Through research of an exploratory, quantitative nature, this study presents results from a survey among 289 incoming international students in two universities in Germany and Portugal. Our findings show that the factor we define as educational experience was an important determinant of student satisfaction. Furthermore, the appraisal of academic reputation is dependent on the university. We conclude that satisfaction with academic factors is more important for international students than satisfaction with non-academic aspects.     

How do student and classroom characteristics affect attitude toward mathematics? A multivariate multilevel analysis

This study investigated the effects of student and classroom characteristics on math self-confidence, perceived usefulness, and enjoyment of mathematics as multiple outcomes. A sample of 7th-grade students from 78 classes of 49 schools was studied. The data were collected using, among other instruments, an attitude questionnaire. The results of the multivariate multilevel analysis showed that the variance of the 3 indicators was situated mostly at the student level, and that the indicators correlated strongly at the class level. Higher prior mathematics achievement and positive parental beliefs and attitudes were significant predictors of higher scores across the 3 indicators. Each of the baseline indicators was significantly associated with its corresponding final indicator. At the classroom level, classroom assessment was significantly associated with less endorsement of all 3 indicators, higher levels of classroom modeling with greater endorsement of perceived usefulness of mathematics, and classroom questioning with greater enjoyment of mathematics.     

The contributions of teachers’ educational interest and relational goals to instructional quality and student interest in mathematics classrooms

This longitudinal study examined the relative importance of two key facets of mathematics teachers’ motivation (educational interest, relational goals) for student-reported instructional quality (cognitive activation, social relatedness, relevance support, rule clarity) and student mathematics interest. The sample comprised 50 mathematics teachers and their students (n = 959) from 30 secondary schools. There were three waves of data collection: at the beginning of the ninth grade (Time 1), at the beginning of the tenth grade (Time 2), and in the middle of the tenth grade (Time 3). Teacher motivation was assessed using both self-assessments and student reports, the remaining variables were based only on student reports. Multilevel structural equation analyses revealed for teachers’ Time 1 self-reported educational interest significant class-level effects on Time 2 instructional practices (i.e., cognitive activation and relevance support). The hypothesized effect of teachers’ Time 1 relational goals on Time 2 social relatedness was found to be significant only at the individual student level. In contrast, at the class level, only teachers’ Time 1 self-reported educational interest contributed significantly and indirectly to Time 3 student mathematics interest via Time 2 cognitive activation. In addition, we observed a cross-level indirect effect of Time 1 teachers’ class-level self-reported educational interest on Time 3 student-level mathematics interest mediated by Time 2 student-level relevance support. Overall, the results contribute to research aimed at identifying and comparing the unique effects of teacher motivation facets on instructional practices and student outcomes.     

Contextualization of mathematics: which and whose world?

We frame teachers’ contextualization of mathematics (CoM) as a classroom-based identity resource. We explore CoM in secondary classrooms in the segregated school landscape of the US, focusing specifically on schools that serve primarily low-income Black and Latinx students. We review literature that discusses commonly-cited affordances for CoM according to formative, affective, functional literacy, and critical literacy rationales and problematize those rationales relative to prior research. We analyze 58 lessons from 12 classrooms at 11 schools to reveal patterns in CoM relative to those commonly cited affordances. The formative, affective, and functional literacy rationales were frequently evident. Teachers draw largely on generic human experiences and marketplace contexts, positioning students as consumers or employees. There were few instances of CoM naming racism or inequality, and our analysis further reveals blind spots in these efforts. Our discussion considers the implications of these patterns.

     

Women and the Enterprise Culture: The Australian Experience∗

Abstract

Information Technology is often heralded as the key feature of employment in so‐called post‐industrial regions. If this is the case then it is vital that education and training for IT is properly conceived and based on a knowledge of actual working patterns involving IT in industry.

The research reported in this article, based on interviews and case‐studies of a range of employers using and developing IT, examines current practices with a view to their implications for education, training and recruitment. By studying IT in the workplace in one city undergoing many changes we hope to highlight some of the general issues in the relationship between education, training, and employment. More specifically, the words of the employees interviewed contain many important messages for both employers and trainers, particularly on recruitment practices, curriculum design and training strategies for the development of information technology.     

Perceptions of Chinese students in an Australian university: are we meeting their needs?

This short-term longitudinal study sought to identify the issues faced by a group of international Chinese students undertaking study in an Australian university. While the focus was on educational issues, socio-cultural and personal factors were also examined in an attempt to identify the sorts of strategies students used in settling into a new socio-cultural and educational context. Interviews conducted at the beginning and end of the first semester of study indicate a range of issues that are supported by previous studies. What has not previously been highlighted, however, is the emphasis on speaking and listening skills which students reported they needed to improve. Lack of proficiency in these areas was seen by students as hampering their active participation in class, leading to lack of confidence in approaching Australian students, and resulting in their inability to benefit from the “Australian experience”. Many existing academic support structures in Australian universities tend to emphasize support with written and study skills. While this is important because of the direct impact on assessment, it is perhaps now opportune to place some emphasis on developing strategies and programmes that will support the development of students' speaking and listening skills, with a focus on intercultural communication.