Comprehensive support for peer relationships at secondary transition

Peer relationships represent a major source of concern to children transitioning to secondary school. They also offer a potentially important source of support to adjustment and academic progress. However, strategies to support peer relationships at secondary transition have received little attention in previous research. This semi-structured interview study obtained accounts of current practice from staff in a small but nationally representative sample of English secondary schools. A theoretical approach to thematic analysis indicated substantial use of evidence-based strategy types, while a complementary inductive analysis highlighted issues in work with parents. There were many similarities across schools in the content of their support for peer relations at transition, however important process differences were found between high and low support schools in the quality of strategy implementation. A framework is presented to support this aspect of educational psychologists’ work with schools in promoting successful transition to secondary school.     

How to facilitate freshmen learning and support their transition to a university study environment

Most freshmen enter universities with high expectations and with good motivation, but too many are driven into performing instead of true learning. The issues are not only related to the challenge of comprehending the substance, social and other factors have an impact as well. All these multifaceted needs should be accounted for to facilitate student learning. Learning is an individual process and remarkable improvement in the learning practices is possible, if proper actions are addressed early enough. We motivate and describe a study of the experience obtained from a set of tailor-made courses that were given alongside standard curriculum. The courses aimed to provide a ‘safe community’ to address the multifaceted needs. Such support was integrated into regular coursework where active learning techniques, e.g. interactive small groups were incorporated. To assess impact of the courses we employ the feedback obtained during the courses and longitudinal statistical data about students' success.     

The transition from a university college to a university: a United Kingdom study

Tertiary Education and Management - As a result of policy changes, nearly all university colleges in the UK have been redesignated as universities. This transition was studied in one such...     

An empirical study on gender differences in the perception of support during transition to university

Research has highlighted the importance of members of staff knowing their students and one way of achieving that is to ask them to predict students' responses to questions about the teaching process. To this end, student responses to open-ended questionnaires were content analysed to produce a questionnaire about factors that contribute to productive seminars and lectures. A total of 148 psychology students ranked the factors in order of importance and 13 members of academic staff predicted student responses. Results indicated that, despite some differences, members of staff were reasonably accurate in their predictions of student responses. It was also seen that student views were relatively consistent across student levels. The importance of the findings in relation to teaching practice are discussed.     

大学通识课程建设:亟待走出误区的藩篱

我国大学通识课程建设,长期以来深受美国通识教育发展思想的影响。由于中美教育发展之间的不同与差异,我国当前通识课程建设正在面临着很多误区:自身特色不鲜明,盲目模仿痕迹突出;与通识课程相应的政策和制度保障不力;通识课程的目标尚有待完善;对通识课程中的核心课程重视程度和开发不够。我国当下对通识教育本真涵义的体认尚需进一步加强。有鉴于此,我国通识课程建设的整体思路亟需全面转换和科学确定。     

Fostering organizational change through deliberations: the deliberative jury in a university setting

Universities in Europe face a variety of reform initiatives, and university reform can be seen as a wicked problem that should be resolved through collaborative efforts. In Finland, there has been considerable resistance to proposed reforms, with university personnel complaining that they have not been heard. Students, on the other hand, seem reluctant to participate in the debate. The situation does not lend itself to the collaborative resolution of wicked problems. Organizational changes are liable to failure, if wicked problems are not addressed effectively. This article presents a deliberative jury method in a university setting as a participative way to solve wicked problems and to pave the way for change. The method is tested through two cases in a Finnish university. These cases suggest that students and staff working together can devise and explore more comprehensive solutions to wicked problems, overcome the participation dilemma and generate change in their organization.     

Engaging postgraduates in a peer research group at the research proposal stage in a Malaysian university: support and challenges

Due to the increasing workloads for supervisors and the challenges in research proposals for postgraduates, the study focused on engaging 15 postgraduates in a Malaysian public university in a peer research group. The data was collected from observations of the group meetings, video-recorded peer feedback and follow-up interviews. The qualitative analysis of the data indicates that the research group supported the postgraduates through peer feedback practices, learning how to present proposals and defend themselves and finding directions in research proposals. Although their engagement was challenged by initial reservations of some postgraduates to present their proposals and provide feedback and issues related to provision, reception and reliability of peer feedback, these challenges were minimized through mentoring and instructional strategies. While peer research groups represent a valuable pedagogical support that complement supervisors’ support to postgraduates in developing their research proposals, the value should be maximized by integrating supervisors in research groups.     

Institutional support for peer contact in distance education: An empirical investigation

Two hypotheses derived from Keegan's theoretical framework of reintegration in distance education formed the focus for this investigation. Opportunities for peer contact and support were re‐integrated into an existing distance education program for the purpose of affecting achievement, self‐perception of learning achievement, final academic standing (including non‐completion), and attitudes. The analysis was conducted in two parts; one based on an experimental sample and the other based on a larger general sample. No significant differences were found between levels of the experimental variable, but peer contact was found to significantly discriminate between levels of both course completion and final academic standing in one of the targeted courses based on the general sample.     

Using peer effects to explain retention rates in a private university

This study identifies factors associated with freshmen retention rates at a mid‐size private university. A key finding from our analysis is that roommates' academic efforts, residing on an honours floor and membership in co‐curricular groups increase retention. We also confirm many standard results in the literature regarding the impact on retention rates, such as student motivation and ability, and financial aid. We show that a timely housing application, closer proximity to home, a higher number of schools on a student's Free Application for Federal Student Aid and peer effects impact freshman retention. Our results suggest that a more sophisticated dormroom assignment algorithm matching students' abilities and interests could be considered to increase freshman retention rates among private institutions.     

中国摄影教育任重而道远——转型时期的中国摄影教育的转型诌议

本文就社会转型对摄影教育产生的影响从几个方面进行探讨。通过分析摄影教育从办学模式到生源的转变;从数字技术对传统技术的冲击到市场经济条件下的人才培养要求等变化,探讨摄影教育如何适应社会的转型;提出转型时期的中国摄影教育应以社会需求和市场需求为主导,从课程的设置、师资、教材等方面入手,努力提高摄影教育的水平,不断顺应社会的发展,从而培养出新一代适应市场需求、基础扎实、知识面宽、动手能力强、综合素质高的应用型人才。     

Peer to peer support: the disappearing work in the doctoral student experience

This paper reflects on the importance of study groups in contributing to a positive postgraduate experience and explores specific concepts, such as ‘disappearing behaviours’ in contrasting the ‘official’ languages of universities with the beneficial behaviours found through study groups. Additionally the paper advocates the systematic inclusion of strategies such as study groups in the postgraduate experience. Funding arrangements and research frameworks for higher education in Australia focus on student progress and completion, as well as comparison of research quality within and between universities. As a result, there is a significant emphasis on timely completion of postgraduate degrees. This paper posits that there is an apparent contradiction between the indicators of success in this area, such as completion rates and annual progress reports and the positive contribution that study groups can make to the doctoral student experience.     

实行学分制是高校教学改革的必然趋势

本文回顾了学分制的产生及发展，研究、分析了目前高校教育管理模式的特点及分制实施过程中存在的问题，并提出了实行学分制的几点建议和设想。     

Gender peer effects in university: Evidence from a randomized experiment

Recent studies for primary and secondary education find positive effects of the share of females in the classroom on achievement of males and females. This study examines whether these results can be extrapolated to higher education. We conduct an experiment in which the shares of females in workgroups for first year students in economics and business are manipulated and students are randomly assigned to these groups. Males tend to postpone, but not abandon, their dropout decision when surrounded by more females and perform worse on courses with high math content. There is also a modest reduction in absenteeism early in the year. Overall, however, we find no substantial gender peer effects on achievement. This in spite of the fact that according to students’ perceptions, both their own, and their peers’ behavior are influenced by the share of females.     

Susceptibility to peer influence during middle school: Links with social support,peer harassment,and gender

The present study explores concurrent relations between social support, gender, susceptibility to peer influence, and peer-based aggression and harassment in a socioeconomically and racially diverse sample of 774 seventh and eighth grade students. Results indicate that students perceiving lower support from their family or school were relatively more likely to be highly susceptible to peer influence, and to have friends who they believed were also highly susceptible to peer influence. Further, higher susceptibility to peer influence was associated with increased involvement in relational aggression and sexual harassment, both as a perpetrator and as a victim. Gender moderation effects were also found. The negative association of school support and susceptibility to peer influence was found greater in girls than boys. Girls who were highly susceptible to peer influence, or who had friends who were highly susceptible, had a relatively greater risk for involvement in relational aggression and sexual harassment, as compared with boys. Implications of these results for educators and school-based mental health professionals are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.     

高校图书馆如何开展阅读疗法

大学生心理健康问题频出,大学生心理健康教育开始备受重视。在高校开展阅读疗法非常必要,通过建立阅读疗法工作室、成立阅读疗法研究小组等方式在高校图书馆实施阅读疗法,能够帮助大学生拜托心理疾病,促进其身心的健康成长。     

Mentoring as service-learning: The relationship between perceived peer support and outcomes for college women mentors

This study examined whether peer support was related to psychosocial outcomes for college women serving as youth mentors in the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP), a service-learning mentoring program. The outcomes assessed were college students’ ethnocultural empathy and their sense of competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Data included questionnaires completed by YWLP mentors (YWLP; n = 227) and college women with (CS; n = 230) and without (no CS; n = 105) alternative community service involvement. Results showed that YWLP mentors’ level of perceived peer support was associated with stronger outcomes in autonomy as compared to the CS group and in ethnocultural empathy as compared to both comparison groups. These findings extend the literature on effective support for college service-learning participants.     

The effects of autonomy support on student engagement in peer assessment

Although peer assessment is widely implemented in higher education, not all students are highly engaged in it. To enhance student engagement in peer assessment, we designed and developed a web-based tool, autonomy-supportive peer assessment (ASPA), to support students’ need for autonomy when they conducted peer assessment. Students’ sense of autonomy, and their behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement in peer assessment were examined via interviews and surveys. We also examined students’ academic performances, including their improvement from initial to revised essays and the quality of feedback they provided. Survey results indicated that the ASPA group (1) experienced a slightly higher sense of autonomy than the non-ASPA group, and (2) spent much more time on each evaluation criterion than the non-ASPA group. Interviews suggested that both the ASPA and non-ASPA groups were engaged in peer assessment. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in behavioral, emotional, cognitive engagement, and academic performances.