A computer analysis of written language variables and a comparison of compositions written by university students with and without learning disabilities

The utility of computerized analysis of variables cited as predictors of success in written expression was examined. The analysis of compositions written by 423 university students revealed a three-factor structure on 17 variables associated with written expression. A comparison of compositions written by university students with and without learning disabilities was conducted on the three factors identified as vocabulary/fluency, syntactic maturity, and vocabulary/diversity. Students with learning disabilities differed significantly on the factors labeled vocabulary/fluency and syntactic maturity. Students with learning disabilities were not as fluent in word production and in the number of different words used in their compositions as their non-learning-disabled peers. They did, however, produce longer sentences and T-units. The findings of this study suggest that emphasis on the postsecondary level needs to focus on expanding the use of written vocabulary skills, and that the T-unit may not be the best determiner of syntactic complexity at the adult level.     

浅论高校成人教育学生诚信教育与考风建设

在当前人们对教育越来越重视的大环境下,高校举办成人高等教育的自主权也逐渐增大,高校成人教育的发展呈上升趋势。同时,也存在一些不诚信现象,尤其是考试作弊现象严重。本文结合高校成人教育学生的实际,阐述加强诚信教育的重要意义以及主要做法,考试的重要性和考试作弊的危害性,探讨了新时期建设优良考风的具体措施。     

Views of cheating among college students and faculty

College students (N = 446) and faculty (N = 97) completed a survey examining views of cheating. Agreement was noted on most situations. When differences were noted, students tended to be stricter than faculty in their evaluations and were more likely than faculty to label a situation as cheating. Opinions and views of cheating were influenced more by behavior, whether “premeditated” or “opportunistic,” than by intention.     

大学生考试舞弊动因探析与对策探讨

大学生考试舞弊一直是众矢之的,但考试作弊之风却愈演愈烈。本文采用访谈的方法对当前大学生考试舞弊的主客观原因进行了系统的探析,并对抑制大学生考试作弊提出了对策。     

Circumstances surrounding cheating: A questionnaire study of college students

A questionnaire assessing beliefs and behaviors associated with cheating was administered to 365 college students. Circumstances rated most likely to increase cheating were low instructor vigilance, unfair exams, an instructor who does not care about cheating, and dependence of financial support and long-term goals on good grades. Circumstances rated most likely to decrease cheating were high instructor vigilance, fair exams, high punishment for getting caught, essay exams, widely spaced exam seating, and valuable course material. Principal components analyses revealed several factors underlying planned cheating: difficulty/negative consequences of cheating, pressures, instructor personality, social norms, and interest in the course. These factors relate to the determinants of behavior specified by the theory of planned behavior. Self-reports indicated that 83 percent of respondents cheated in college and that the two most common types of cheating were giving (58 percent) and getting (49 percent) exam questions to and from other students before an exam. Acts of helping someone else cheat were more commonly reported than corresponding acts of cheating for oneself. Students with high cheating scores tended to be male rather than female, to have a low goal grade-point average, and to believe that the prevalence of cheating in college is high.Both authors contributed equally to this research.A version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Ontario, August 1993.     

Primary and secondary perceived control: A comparison of adolescent students with and without learning disabilities

Abstract

In this study we compared the results of both a primary and a secondary perceived control measure completed by 93 regional and metropolitan students from Years 7–9 who were assessed as having learning disabilities and 102 students from the general student population. The Mastery Scale (Pearlin, Menaghan, Lieberman, & Mullan, 1981) was used to measure primary perceived control and The Children's Internal Coping Self‐efficacy Scale (Cunningham, 2002) was used to measure secondary perceived control. The students who had learning disabilities scored lower on both measures. These findings are discussed in relation to a need for interventions that give students who have learning disabilities strategies that address both primary and secondary aspects of perceived control.     

A comparison of regular program and vocational program junior high school students on affective dimensions

The hypothesis that young adolescents in vocational education programs would differ from young adolescents in a regular program along several affective dimensions was examined. The Today Form of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) was administered twice during the school year to 111 students in a vocational program and to 50 students in regular classrooms. Dimensions of Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility were examined. Significant main effects for all three dimensions were noted for school program (regular vs. CVAE) and for grade (seventh vs. eighth). Students in the vocational program and those in seventh grade scored higher on Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility. These differences persisted across time, with the exception of Depression, for which there was a significant interaction between time (pretest vs. posttest) and school program (regular vs. CVAE), with regular students reporting increased depression at the second testing.     

The effect of task alternatives on vocabulary knowledge: a comparison of students with and without learning disabilities

This study used a two-part task format to (a) describe the vocabulary knowledge of 10- and 12-year-old students with learning disabilities and (b) assess the effect of task alternatives on their vocabulary knowledge. We addressed these research objectives by comparing the performance of 24 students with learning disabilities to an equal number of their normally achieving peers. Vocabulary knowledge was first assessed through a production task. In the even the student's response was inaccurate or incomplete, an identification task assessing the same vocabulary term was presented. Results revealed that, compared to normally achieving students, students with learning disabilities are (a) significantly less able to construct fully specified responses to production tasks, (b) comparable in their ability to use pictorial responses to demonstrate vocabulary knowledge not accessible in production tasks, and, (c) when equated in reading achievement, only 10-year-olds are significantly poorer in composite vocabulary knowledge.     

A comparison of self versus tutor assessment among Hungarian undergraduate business students

This study analyses the self-assessment behaviour and efficiency of 163 undergraduate business students from Hungary. Using various statistical methods, the results support the hypothesis that high-achieving students are more accurate in their pre- and post-examination self-assessments, and also less likely to overestimate their performance, and, if they do so, the mean overestimation is lower than in the case of lower achieving students. The study did not find a strong difference in the tendency to self-overestimation between sexes, but in their pre-examination prediction, women seem to overestimate significantly more than men. An overall tendency among the students to overrate their own examination performance is also detected, as is a tendency to increase the accuracy of self-assessment after sitting the examination.     

大学生考试舞弊原因及对策

当前,高校考务管理中存在着一些不容忽视的问题,在学生中也不同程度地存在着考试作弊现象,严重地破坏了公平竞争的环境和良好学风的建设。高校应加强考务管理,改革学生评价制度,奖惩分明,以减少学生作弊现象,加强考风建设,树立良好学风。     

Motives of cheating among secondary students: the role of self-efficacy and peer influence

A survey research study was conducted with a sample of 100 secondary students from a local secondary school about the motives of cheating. The primary focus of this study was the interplay among variables of self-efficacy, peer influence and cheating. The results showed that students with low self-efficacy were more likely to cheat than those who perceived themselves as efficacious. It was further found that peers played a significant role in discouraging cheating by expressing disapproval and informing teachers of dishonest behaviour.     

Attributional patterns towards students with and without learning disabilities: a comparison of pre- and in-service teachers in China

This study aims to investigate the differences of attributional responses to students with and without learning disabilities (LD) between pre- and in-service teachers in mainland China. A total of 204 teachers (101 pre-service and 103 in-service teachers) were surveyed using vignettes and Likert scale questions to ascertain their responses to students with and without LD. Drawing from Weiner’s attributional theory, teachers’ feedback, frustration, sympathy and expectation were measured. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was executed to compare pre-service and in-service teacher responses regarding students with and without LD. The findings showed that pre-service teachers experienced significantly lower frustration than in-service teachers to students with and without LD. Moreover, the teachers gave more positive feedback but felt less sympathy to students with LD who exerted high effort. These findings implied that pre-service tended to foster a more positive attribution style. Implications and recommendations for research and practice are also presented.     

Collaborative cheating among chinese college students: the effects of peer influence and Individualism-Collectivism orientations

Abstract

This study addressed the neglected issue of the effects of peer influence and the cultural dimensions of individualism-collectivism on collaborative cheating. Survey data were collected nationwide from 2293 Chinese college students. The results revealed positive effects of peer influence on collaborative cheating attitudes and behaviours. Contrary to the assumptions of prior studies, horizontal individualism was the dominant inclination. Horizontal and vertical collectivism were generally negatively associated with, and exerted insignificant joint effects (with peer influence) on, collaborative cheating attitudes and behaviours; while horizontal and vertical individualism had significant direct and joint effects (with peer influence) on collaborative cheating attitudes. These unexpected findings may be partially explained by the rising individualism in the changing Chinese culture, and also by the different target groups of Chinese students in the prior research and this study (i.e. abroad versus domestic). These findings call for caution against making oversimplified assumptions about the links between culture and academic dishonesty.     

Social acceptance of students with Down syndrome and students without disability

We investigated the influence of teacher feedback on the social acceptance of peers with intellectual disabilities and peers without disabilities. A computer task was administered to 601 students in grades 3 and 4. Twenty-six per cent of the students attend an inclusive school; the others are in regular schools without students with special educational needs. Participants are introduced to ‘new’ virtual classmates, one student with Down syndrome (DS), and one control student with no obvious disability. Additionally, teacher feedback and feedback about fun playing with the new classmates is given. Social acceptance is evaluated by asking if one would like to sit next to him/her. Both feedbacks showed a strong effect. The child with DS was less socially accepted than the child without disability. No difference regarding the social acceptance of the students with DS was found between students from inclusive and regular classes. Students from regular classes rate the social acceptance of the student without disabilities significantly higher than students from inclusive classrooms.     

Examining student immobility: a study of Irish undergraduate students

This paper explores student mobility among Irish higher education students. It specifically focuses on the profile of ‘stayers’, that is, students who have no plans to study abroad, thus addressing an underexplored topic in existing literature on student mobility. The article aims to identify factors that impact on students’ decisions not to pursue study abroad. Drawing on a national survey of students, Eurostudent V, the findings demonstrate that immobility is predicted by mother’s level of education and family income, showing the salience of socio-economic factors. Age and language proficiency are also visible factors, with the main obstacles to mobility being finances, language barriers and not wanting to separate from family and friends. Trends are also visible in the education institution a student is enrolled in, with those in institutes of technology more likely to be immobile than those in universities.     

远程教育中成人学员考试作弊现象分析及思考

考务管理是电大教学管理的重要工作,也是检验教学组织和教学效果的重要依据。近年来,社会上不时曝光电大考生的作弊现象,极大地破坏了电大开放教育的公信力和社会形象。因此,加强考生诚信教育,提高考试管理工作者的职业道德,构建健康考试心理,逐渐成为考试管理工作中的重点内容。文章结合远程教育过程中成人学员的特点,对其在考试过程中的作弊心理和行为作出分析,并就远程教育中规范化考试管理提出相应的对策。     

The affective impact of field experience education on college students

Field experience education encompasses a wealth of undergraduate curricular opportunities, including cooperative education, internships, adventure learning, and study abroad. Studies of field experiences may be organized according to three stages of the experiential process: selection factors prior to the experience, immediate change due to the experience, and the persistence of change following the experience. Compared to traditional campus activities, field experiences appear to have some significant affective impact on college students. However, a knowledge of experimental design techniques makes obvious the need for a major revision of the manner in which field experiences have been evaluated.     

Ethics courses: Their impact on the values and ethical decisions of criminal justice students

Numerous articles and books advocate the importance of ethics as an essential component of a criminal justice curriculum. While there are several approaches suggested, one of the most popular methods of assuring coverage of this important topic is to add an ethics course to the curriculum either as a required or an elective course. Teaching students ethical theories, principles and providing them with the opportunity to discuss discipline specific ethics problems is thought to help contribute to the establishment of ethical practitioners.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of a semester long criminal justice ethics course on the students' value orientations, and their perceptions of both the seriousness of ethical violations and their likelihood of engaging in such behaviors. Our findings are consistent with the results of researchers evaluating ethics courses in other disciplines. Implications for criminal justice ethics education are discussed.     

A meta-synthesis of co-teaching students with and without disabilities

A meta-synthesis of qualitative research was conducted on co-teaching by general and special educators working with students with and without disabilities in primary and secondary general education classrooms. We sought to update the Scruggs et al., 2007 meta-synthesis to discern new knowledge, including co-teaching's impact on students and teachers. Although challenges are identified, co-teachers perceive that co-teaching can enhance their and their students' learning. Findings suggest that school personnel, researchers and policymakers can consider co-teaching as a learning context for co-teachers as well as a dynamic framework that can potentially foster effective instruction for all students in the co-taught classroom.