Teaching Theories of Victimology

While there has been significant growth in victimology theories since its roots in the mid twentieth century, these developments have not been adequately transferred to victimology textbooks. This paper evaluates the representation of theories in victimology textbooks using a content analysis approach. It specifically examines the amount of space dedicated to theory, what specific theories are discussed, and the way theories are integrated into the text. Although these texts provide a solid foundation in the historical development of victimology, measuring victimization, and to a lesser extent, the criminal justice response and remedies for victims, students are often not given a framework for which to understand and explain patterns and risk factors of victimization. In light of the paucity of attention to theories of victimology, suggestions for teaching theories of victimology in ways that supplement existing texts and implications for future textbooks are discussed.     

Revictimization Through Education: Does Learning About Victimization Lead to Anxiety and Identification as a Victim Among College Students?

Researchers generally accept that victims may experience revictimization in the criminal justice system when they relive victimization experiences while recounting the victimization to criminal justice officials. In addition, scholars have drawn attention to the need to be sensitive in victimology courses and other courses focusing on victimization. In this study, the authors examine whether victims experience forms of revictimization when learning about victimization in college courses. Attention is also given to whether learning about victimization promotes self-identification as a victim. Our findings suggest that minor forms of revictimization may occur. A sizeable portion of the students reported learning that they were victimized in the past as a result of the course material. Implications for teaching victimology are provided.     

Teaching Victimology in America: From on the Job Training (OJT) to PHD

Within the field of victimology, teaching can occur at many levels: from on-the-job training of victim assistance practitioners; to agency-specific training, usually for one week to learn basic job competence; to more formal teaching for two years at the undergraduate level; or for four years at the baccalaureate level at a university; and finally, to advanced graduate work, leading to either a master’s degree or a doctorate degree in victimology or a related discipline. The dynamic evolution of victimology and victim services beginning in the early 1970s was followed by the education of university students interested in understanding victims and victimization, as well as the training of practitioners wanting to help relieve victim suffering and facilitate victim recovery. Victimology education and training offers a bright prospect both for those interested in studying victims, those hoping to find social solutions to interpersonal conflicts, and those wanting to help their fellow human beings.     

Constructing the case study in victimology

This article advocates the use of case studies to illustrate the importance of victimology in the criminal justice curriculum. The case study of a particular victimization introduces emerging issues in criminal justice, and illuminates the responsibility of the criminal justice system to prevent and react to crime. Academic programs are challenged to develop and maintain students' interest in this theoretical framework. Case studies in victimology promote interdisciplinary knowledge, critical thinking and precise writing skills. They also provide students with experience in research, investigation and integration of information.     

Online social support as a buffer against online and offline peer and sexual victimization among U.S. LGBT and non-LGBT youth

In today's technology-infused world, we need to better understand relationships youth form with friends online, how they compare to relationships formed in-person, and whether these online relationships confer protective benefits. This is particularly important from the perspective of peer victimization, given that social support in-person appears to reduce the odds of victimization in-person. To address this literature gap, data from a sample of 5,542 U.S. adolescents, collected online between August 2010 and January 2011, were analyzed. The main variables of interest were: online and in-person peer victimization (including generalized and bullying forms) and online and in-person sexual victimization (including generalized and sexual harassment forms). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth were more likely than non-LGBT youth to have online friends and to appraise these friends as better than their in-person friends at providing emotional support. Peer victimization and unwanted sexual experiences were more commonly reported by LGBT than non-LGBT youth. Perceived quality of social support, either online or in-person, did little to attenuate the relative odds of victimization for LGBT youth. For all youth, in-person social support was associated with reduced odds of bully victimization (online and in-person) and sexual harassment (in-person), but was unrelated to the other outcomes of interest. Online social support did not reduce the odds of any type of victimization assessed. Together, these findings suggest that online friends can be an important source of social support, particularly for LGBT youth. Nonetheless, in-person social support appears to be more protective against victimization, suggesting that one is not a replacement for the other.     

Interaction and cognitive engagement: An analysis of four asynchronous online discussions

Online discussion plays a unique role in face-to-face and distance teaching and learning. Interaction and student cognitive engagement during the online discussion are critical for constructing new understanding and knowledge. This article analyzes types of interaction that occur during online discussions, examines levels of student cognitive engagement in each discussion, and explores their effects on and implications for learning and teaching in higher education. By combining methods of social network analysis with qualitative content analysis, the article explores new methodologies for analyzing participation, interaction, and learning that take place online, and suggests areas for research in learning and teaching online.     

Introducing teaching cases with face-to-face and computer-mediated discussion: Two multi-classroom quasi-experiments

Two studies were conducted in multisection introductory child and adolescent development classes to determine effects of introducing abbreviated teaching case studies that were then discussed either in face-to-face or online formats. Students receiving teaching case studies in either format in both classes showed improved ability to critically analyze probe and final cases compared to control participants. Both case study groups in the child development class also showed increased application of psychological concepts in analyzing new cases. No differences in course knowledge were expected as a function of condition and none were found. Hypothesized case-related increases in efficacy for teaching also were not observed. Results were interpreted as supporting a case analysis approach in educational psychology classes and use of online methods for presentation and discussion of abbreviated cases.     

Learning in the practicum: engaging pre-service teachers in reflective practice in the online space

It is argued that online discussion is a useful tool for creating opportunities for learning in teacher education. In a project designed to improve the practicum in rural areas, researchers placed pre-service teachers (PSTs) in two different moderated online discussion forums: an unstructured personal blog space and a structured threaded discussion forum where discussion topics guided them to reflect on their practicum experiences in relation to theoretical components of their studies. Findings indicated a marked difference in the contributions made to each form of online discussion with significantly greater participation in the unstructured blog format. Using Kreber and Cranton’s hierarchy of reflection, analyses of both forums found that PSTs rarely engaged in high-level reflection. Examination of lecturer involvement in the forums suggests that their contributions did not sufficiently encourage PSTs towards optimum critical reflection. These results leave the researchers considering ways in which the practicum experience can better promote reflective practice in this crucial, component of teacher education.     

Transformational Journey of Educators in Technology: A Study of Tenured Business Faculty

ABSTRACT

Recent statistics show faculty in higher education question the value and legitimacy of online education as a viable educational format and are, therefore, less accepting of online degrees. The focus of this study was on business faculty and online education through the theoretical framework of transformative learning. Specifically, tenured faculty members who were initially resistant to teaching online – changed their perspective – and came to value and teach online business curriculum. To examine this phenomenon, a survey was distributed to business faculty worldwide. Qualified responses were received from 206 survey participants. The findings suggest that while business faculty, including those tenured, are resistant to teaching online and prefer to teach in a face-to-face environment, a perspective change toward teaching online resulted after spending time reflecting on various factors considered key to a successful entry to online teaching.     

网络课程在实验课程教学中的应用与实践——以《中药药剂学实验》教学为例

网络课程在高校教育教学中发挥着不可替代的作用。本文以《中药药剂学实验》网络课程建设与教学为例,从网络课程素材内容的设计、网络课程平台在教学中发挥的作用、实施效果和存在的问题,对网络平台在实验课程教学中的应用进行分析和探讨。结果证明,网络平台有利于教师和学生点对点教学,激发学生学习动机;让学生提交多媒体电子版实验报告,能提高师生和学生间的交流互动;借助网络平台有利于学生总结与回顾知识。通过调研学生使用网络平台的情况可知,网络课程在实验教学中应用,对学生学习兴趣及技能训练具有促进作用。     

The role of Internet use and parental mediation on cyberbullying victimization among Spanish children from rural public schools

Cyberbullying victimization research on individual and familial correlates is scarce in Spain. By building upon previous studies, this research examines the role of Internet usage and parental mediation in online victimization. Spanish children from rural public schools (10–12 years; n?=?1068) completed a self-report questionnaire which measured being cyberbullied, Internet use and parental mediation strategies. Logistic regression analyses examined the association among cyberbullying victimization, online activities, intensity and purposes of online communication, and restricting, evaluating and co-using parental mediation. The results show that Internet use, specifically online communication, increases the likelihood of cyberbullying victimization. Conversely, monitoring software installed on the computer, joint creation of rules regarding the time spent online and personal information shared help lessen the likelihood of online victimization. The results are examined in the light of previous research, while implications for practice and future research are considered.     

Supporting writing for assessment in online learning

This article explores some specific issues involved in online learning and assessment. It draws on data from a postgraduate course for professional educators, delivered globally online, and highlights the relationship between students’ online discussion and their written assessed work, arguing that we need to focus on both of these in terms of the writing demands they make on students. In so doing it utilizes a theoretical framework which conceptualizes writing as contextualized social practice. The paper illustrates the complexity of the rhetorical demands being made on students in these new environments of teaching and learning and, in focusing on writing, complements present approaches to online learning which have, to date, tended towards collaborative and constructivist perspectives. The article highlights the relationship between pedagogy, technology and assessment. It concludes with a discussion of the design of an online writing resource to support student writers on this particular masters programme.     

Comparing K-12 online and blended teaching competencies: a literature review

This article presents a synthesis of reports and research on K-12 blended teaching competencies compared with K-12 online teaching competencies. The skills needed to teach in online and blended environments are distinct from traditional teaching, but teacher education programs often do not equip preservice teachers for the new modes of instruction. Additionally, there is a dearth of research on blended teaching competencies. This review synthesizes 8 blended teaching documents and 10 online teaching documents. Seven global themes identified in both competency domains are (1) pedagogy, (2) management, (3) assessment, (4) technology, (5) instructional design, (6) dispositions, and (7) improvement. The top 20 blended teaching skills include flexibility and personalization, mastery-based learning, data usage and interpretation, learning management system usage, online discussion facilitation, and software management. The authors recommend that researchers collect more methodologically transparent data about blended teaching and that teacher education programs include the identified skills in curriculum.     

A Constructivist Model of Mentoring,Coaching, and Facilitating Online Discussions

This case study of an online graduate course determines the message characteristics of the instructor, volunteer teaching assistants, and students in online discussions, and proposes a mentoring, coaching, and facilitating model for online discussions. The researchers developed a coding system based on the literature of mentoring, coaching, and facilitating to identify the characteristics of conference discussion messages. The instructor fostered the development of volunteer teaching assistants into coaches and of student discussion facilitators into facilitators of learning. The proposed constructivist model fosters active learning, provides scaffolding for students to become facilitators of learning, and suggests creative ways for online instructors to manage different types of teaching responsibilities. Recommendations for further research are included.     

Putting in more: emotional work in adopting online tools in teaching and learning practices

This paper explores the emotional journey associated with changing one's teaching and learning practices and how this constitutes emotional work. The paper analyses the emotions evident in the data from a small-scale phenomenological study of lecturers who are using technological tools in their teaching, learning and assessment practices in one higher education institution. The discussion illuminates the nature and scale of the emotional work experienced by some lecturers when changing their teaching and learning practices to incorporate technology. It indicates that this challenge is so extreme that even the most committed advocates of online teaching practices may consider giving up and reverting to traditional ways of teaching. The paper identifies strategies that lecturers use to manage the anxieties they experience in their adoption of online tools.     

The Best and the Worst

Faculty workload is based on the amount of time spent on teaching, research, and service. The workload varies according to institutional focus, teaching field, type of course, course level, and instructional format. Compared with traditional face-to-face courses, online courses require a disproportionate investment of time and effort by faculty, necessitating special consideration when calculating faculty workload. The authors examine the workload for faculty teaching online courses in community colleges, specifically, the number of online classes taught per semester, class sizes for online courses, incentives for online instructors and how the workload for online instructors is calculated. Results indicate inconsistent practices within and between institutions; the workload for online instructors based on class sizes is less than, equal to, or more than that of faculty teaching face-to-face courses. Further investigations into common practices at other institutions and dialogue between administrators and faculty to discuss workload issues are recommended.     

Exploring presence in online learning through three forms of computer-mediated discourse analysis

This case study examined patterns in online communication using computer-mediated discourse analysis to better understand how teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence are manifested in an online learning environment. The findings indicate that study participants actively participated in the discussion. The instructor and facilitators displayed high teaching presence through posting encouraging social words and maintaining a positive emotional tone, which created an open communication environment for student discussion. To promote students’ cognitive development, the acts that their words described included to “inform” and “elaborate” to help students construct knowledge by providing factual information and extending or embellishing upon points made. Students displayed social presence by using more social and positive emotion words, and tone, which signaled that they were satisfied with the discussion. Students’ cognitive presence was manifested through making claims, providing information and elaboration on posted comments.     

学生投入在线讨论的影响因素研究

文章回顾近期或经典文献中关于在线讨论中学生投入的影响因素的研究,总结出得到11个学生投入在线讨论的影响因素。将它们经解释结构模型法进行层次分析,发现直接因素是:讨论平台和讨论社区成熟度;中层次因素是教师的反馈、教师的评价、学习者的学习能力、学习者的个性特征、讨论话题;深层次因素是教师教学组织方法、讨论的预期教学目标;根本因素是教师对待在线讨论的态度。     

Traversing the Divide Between High School Science Students and Sophisticated Nature of Science Understandings: A Multi-pronged Approach

This study investigated the effects of a multi-pronged approach of increasing the nature of science (NOS) understandings of high school science students. The participants consist of 63 high school students: 31 in the intervention group and 32 in the control group. Explicit/reflective NOS instruction was imbedded within authentic inquiry experiences and supported by online discussions. The students in the intervention group were prompted to engage in various discussions focusing on essential tenets of NOS in an online environment that assured student confidentiality. NOS views were assessed through multiple data sources including pre- and post-intervention questionnaires as well as students’ responses to online discussion prompts. Results show that the instructional intervention used in this study which combined explicit/reflective NOS instruction with intense inquiry exposure along with ample reflective opportunities in an anonymous online discussion format led to positive learning gains in participants’ understanding the NOS aspects assessed. Implications for enhancing data collection with high school students and for promising professional development opportunities for science educators are discussed.