A Motivational Intervention to Reduce Cigarette Smoking Among College Students: Overview and Exploratory Investigation

College counselors can play an important role in implementing brief strategies that will motivate students to stop smoking cigarettes. The authors provide an overview of motivational interviewing, a specific protocol that can be applied to college student smoking. The authors also present preliminary evidence of the success of this approach in promoting abstinence from smoking and a desire to change among college smokers.     

Are Student Evaluations of Teaching Effectiveness Valid for Measuring Student Learning Outcomes in Business Related Classes? A Neural Network and Bayesian Analyses

In this study we investigate the underlying relational structure between student evaluations of teaching effectiveness (SETEs) and achievement of student learning outcomes in 116 business related courses. Utilizing traditional statistical techniques, a neural network analysis and a Bayesian data reduction and classification algorithm, we find little or no support for the validity of SETEs as a general indicator of teaching effectiveness or student learning. In fact, the underlying structure appears to be non-linear and possibly negatively bimodal where the most effective instructors are within the middle percentiles of student course ratings, while instructors receiving ratings in the top quintile or the bottom quintile are associated with significantly lower levels of student achievement.     

Using machine-learning and visualisation to facilitate learner interpretation of source material

This paper describes an approach for supporting inquiry learning from source materials, realised and tested through a tool-kit. The approach is optimised for tasks that require a student to make interpretations across sets of resources, where opinions and justifications may be hard to articulate. We adopt a dialogue-based approach to learning whereby the student creates an external representation to reflect their current understanding of the task. This in turn prompts immediate feedback, designed to help the learner to see patterns or irregularities in their current perspective. Through the on-going feedback, the student is encouraged to make incremental changes to achieve a coherent outcome. In this approach, learners are encouraged to generate meaningful responses for themselves, rather than relying on feedback which explicitly provides an answer. This is aimed at prompting deeper processing and understanding of source materials in the context of the given learning goal.     

Encouraging the habit of seeing in student teaching

This article addresses how mentoring can move the student teachers' process of learning towards constructive teaching forms. An underlying assumption of such an approach is the need to understand what pupils know and say. The focus in the article is on how Sara, a cooperating teacher in Norway, encourages student teachers to start their student teaching by developing a mindset where seeing the kids is in focus. She does so by designing and taking care of natural learning situations, and by assisting them to develop their habit of seeing through their own teaching.     

Promoting Formative Assessment in Online Teaching and Learning

Using effective assessment techniques can improve an instructor’s understanding of student needs and support learner-centered classrooms. Evaluating student learning takes on a new meaning in online classroom environment where students and instructors do not share physical proximity. According to Garrison (2011), the assessment strategies used to determine student learning send “a very strong signal as to what is important and how they should approach learning” (p. 14). This paper describes formative assessment techniques used by two instructors in their respective online courses at the graduate level. The authors give suggestions in designing assessment activities to improve online teaching and learning by making use of student learning data.     

Religious schools in London: school admissions,religious composition and selectivity

While policy makers and school effectiveness researchers often insist that schools can make a substantial difference to student achievement, it is less clear whether school staff themselves really believe this. This paper draws on qualitative research in New Zealand schools where teachers, principals (heads) and trustees (governors) were asked how accountable they felt school staff could actually be for student outcomes. In contrast to official discourses about the responsibilities of teachers, the often complex responses of those interviewed illustrated relatively modest expectations of the ability of schools to affect student outcomes. The findings suggest that school staff have yet to take to heart the school effectiveness research catchcry that ‘schools can make a difference’ but that they also struggle to avoid a deficit approach without a stronger sociological understanding of the reasons for student failure.     

Does assessment for learning make a difference? The development of a questionnaire to explore the student response

Assessment for learning is a widely used term and the concept forms the basis of many teaching innovations in higher education. However, the definitions and scope of assessment for learning vary considerably. We describe a conceptualisation of assessment for learning that encompasses current thinking in a holistic way and which has been trialled and extensively refined in practice. A student questionnaire is presented which has enabled us to explore the student experience. Results indicate that the overall student experience is more positive in modules where assessment for learning approaches are used and students are more likely to take a deep approach to learning. It also demonstrates that the student experience is centred on staff support and module design, feedback, active engagement and peer learning. The full questionnaire is made available and its wider use in evaluation, enhancement and research is encouraged.     

Pursuing justice for refugee students: addressing issues of cultural (mis)recognition

In this paper Nancy Fraser’s conceptual tools are drawn on to theorise issues of justice in a culturally diverse primary school in Australia where approximately 30% of the student population are immigrant/refugees. The paper examines justice issues of cultural recognition in relation to refugee student identity, behaviour and assessment. Drawing on interview data from a study that sought to identify productive approaches to addressing equity for refugee students, the paper highlights the school’s efforts to remedy issues of cultural misrecognition associated with an equation of refugee student difference and marginality with deficit and lack. Such efforts relate to the school’s endeavours to create an inclusive and socially cohesive environment that supports a valuing of, and connection to, refugee student difference. These endeavours are theorised as highly productive in their capacity to disrupt the relations of cultural domination, non-recognition and disrespect that exclude and/or malign some refugee students at the school and broader level. The paper argues the importance of such an approach in light of the unprecedented diversity and complexity of the global context where schools are consistently challenged with new and changing equity concerns and priorities.     

浅谈篮球原地单手肩上投篮教材教法

篮球原地单手肩上投篮教材是新的《体育与健康大纲》中规定的一项基本教材,原地肩上投篮技术动作看似简单,但在实际教学中学生却难以掌握,很容易出现抓甩球、肘关节过度外张、投篮弧度低等问题.根据篮球教学的方式方法、篮球原地单手肩上投篮教材以及学生掌握篮球技术动作的特点,通过资料分析法、教学实践法对此教法进行研究.     

Student complainants – vexatious or vulnerable?

In December 2014, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) introduced the ‘Good practice framework for handling complaints and academic appeals’ which will inform external judgement on each university's approach to conflict management from the current academic year 2015–2016. The framework aims to improve the complaint process for higher education student complainants. However, based on the outcomes of one of the few empirical studies researching students’ complaints, the author argues that it is the wider experience for complainants that must be addressed and to do so effectively the sector must change the culture of concern surrounding complaints and recognise the vulnerability of a student body that expects guidance in all aspects of its engagement with the university. A positive institutional stance that seeks to learn from complaints and assumes a proactive approach to student communication will support both earlier conflict resolution and an improving experience for students in a scenario where academic failure now has lifetime ramifications in respect of future employment.     

Developing cohesion and building positive relationships through storytelling in a culturally diverse New Zealand classroom

Educational research highlights the importance of positive teacher student relationships and recommends teachers adopt teaching strategies that are more culturally inclusive, and allow for reciprocal teaching and learning where student prior knowledge is legitimized. Participants in this study experienced such an approach. Through a storytelling process they fostered empathy, compassion, tolerance and respect for difference. This paper introduces four interrelated factors that enhanced participant understanding of themselves, others and cultural perspectives: developing the ways of working, establishing a caring supportive environment, privileging student voice through personal stories, and enhancing participant connectedness and relationship change. These results have potential relevance for teachers and teacher educators who face the challenge of catering for the learning needs of culturally diverse students in their classrooms.     

Back to the Classroom: Lessons learnt by a teacher educator

This self-study focuses on the suitability of implementing the Communicative Language Teaching approach to teach English in contexts where the conditions for learning might be different to those implied by the original tenets of the approach. As a university-based teacher educator, the researcher promotes this approach in her methodology classes. She returned to classroom teaching to better understand the challenges faced by student teachers in implementing Communicative Language Teaching and to re-visit several assumptions of her understanding of the teaching and learning process.     

A triangular approach to integrate research,education and practice in higher engineering education

Separate approaches in engineering education, research and practice are not very useful when preparing students for working life; instead, integration of education, research and industrial practices is needed. A triangular approach (TA) as a method to accomplish this integration and as a method to provide students with integrated expertise is proposed. The results from the application of TA, both at the course and programme level, indicate that the approach is suitable for developing engineering education. The student pass rate for courses where TA has been used has been higher than for previous approaches, and the student feedback has been very positive. Although TA aims to take both theoretical and practical aspects of engineering as well as research and education into account, the approach concentrates mainly on activities and therefore leaves the goals of these activities as well as the values behind these goals uncovered.     

Creating a space for student voice in an educational evaluation

Evaluation research focusing on educational initiatives that impact on the learning and lives of young people must be challenged to incorporate ‘student voice’. In a context of conventional evaluation models of government-led initiatives, student voice is a compelling addition, and challenges the nature of traditional forms of evaluation. It requires a student-first approach where young people actively report on their experiences, rather than being represented by others. This paper presents an evaluation that draws on large-scale ‘student voice’ contribution. Using the context of a mental health programme that was piloted in secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand, this paper explores the importance of a student voice agenda in evaluations. More than 2500 students participated through national surveys and an in-depth case study across five school sites. By foregrounding student voice as an evaluation tool, the ethics of student involvement becomes complex. When authentic student ‘data’ can change or challenge official thinking, students’ voice(s) can either be foregrounded or silenced. Commissioned evaluations are often fraught with wider political agendas, but evaluation researchers have a duty to ensure student voice is represented if it is to inform ongoing government policy that impacts on the lives and learning of young people.     

The student experience of undergraduate students: towards a conceptual framework

While the term ‘student experience’ is used widely in universities, it is remarkably under-developed as a construct in the academic literature. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a conceptual framework for the student experience of undergraduate students. The approach taken is to identify the key influences that shape the student experience from the perspective of students. It does this by addressing two questions: firstly, what are the key influences that shape the student experience? Secondly, how do these influences shape the student experience? To do this the paper draws from a wide range of studies that provide substantial theoretical and empirical evidence as to how students experience university. Drawing from Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development, it identifies seven key sets of influences or microsystems that shape the undergraduate student experience. Then the paper considers how these influences shape students’ experiences drawing from the concepts of engagement and alienation. The paper concludes by proposing a broadly defined model for the student experience where learning and development take place as a result of meaningful interactions between the student and the key microsystems. The implications of this model for universities and for further study are also discussed.     

Final undergraduate project in engineering: Towards more efficient and effective tutorials

The paper presents strategies for improving the quality of student learning in the context of the final undergraduate project in mechanical engineering. Special attention is paid to particular situations where the lecturer is faced with the problem of supervising a number of individual projects at a time. An action research project has been conducted for a period of one academic year, and the outcomes of change in practice have been assessed on a batch of seven student projects. The results obtained show that a deep approach to learning can be fostered in students by a careful selection of project topics, together with a good balance of group and individual tutorials which can stimulate significant peer interaction. One additional positive aspect of the implemented approach is the more efficient way of managing the time of academic staff without interfering with effective learning.     

In between self-knowledge and school demands: policy enacted in the Swedish middle-year classroom

In this article, we focus on the interaction in a Year 5 classroom where students fill in a ‘self-evaluation form’ as a preparation for a forthcoming discussion on progress aiming at the production of an Individual Developmental Plan. Drawing on the theoretical concepts of fabrications and performativity, we understand this as an enactment of policy where both teacher and students become actors and subjects. From using document analysis together with conversation analysis as a methodological approach, we show how the ‘self-evaluation’ in interaction becomes a successful exercise in fabrications as teacher and student negotiate conceptions of the ideal student in relation to self-knowledge and school demands. The article is an empirically grounded contribution to the understanding of how policies are interpreted and made into being by local actors in everyday practices, in this case teachers and students in schools.     

Differential school effects among low,middle, and high social class composition schools: a multiple group,multilevel latent growth curve analysis

This qualitative case study of an exceptional school in the south of England challenges the hypothesis that transformational leaders significantly impact on student outcomes. Interviews with staff and students, together with classroom observation, confirm that the head, appointed in 1995, has played an important role in transforming internal processes and in changing the context of the school. Although the observed and reported behaviour of leaders, teachers, and students matches expectations from the literature, the consequences for student achievement are unclear. Background variables seem to explain most of the apparent improvement in student outcomes. An effectiveness framework that assigns disproportionate value to examination results seems to have created a leadership paradox, where heads reported to be transformational produce only limited gains in performance. The study concludes that the government's determination to assume a strongly positive relationship between leaders and outcomes has compromised the principle of evidence-informed policy-making and that we need a different approach based on a broadly defined, qualitative conception of student success.