Early Integration and Other Outcomes for Community College Transfer Students

The purpose of this study was to explore academic and social integration and other outcomes for community college transfer students. The study used Tinto’s (Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition, 1993) Longitudinal Model of Institutional Departure and Deil-Amen’s (J Higher Educ, 82:54–91, 2011) concept of “socio-academic integrative moments” to inform the selection and organization of potential predictors. We developed regression models for relationships between demographic and background variables of interest and perceived academic and social integration following the first six weeks at the receiving university. We also included these perceived integration scores in regression models for six outcomes (first and second semester grade point average, first and second semester earned hours ratios, and second and third semester persistence). Academic and previous college background explained the greatest amount of variance in predicting early integration and academic outcomes.     

Preparing Students for College: The Implementation and Impact of the Early College High School Model

As implemented in North Carolina, Early College High Schools are small, autonomous schools designed to increase the number of students who graduate from high school and are prepared for postsecondary education. Targeted at students who are underrepresented in college, these schools are most frequently located on college campuses and are intended to provide students with 2 years of college credit upon graduation from high school. This article reports on preliminary 9th-grade results from 285 students in 2 sites participating in a longitudinal experimental study of the impact of the model. These early results show that significantly more Early College High School students are enrolling and progressing in a college preparatory course of study. This expanded access, however, is associated with somewhat lower pass rates for some courses, suggesting the need for strong academic support to accompany increased enrollment in more rigorous courses. Implementation data collected on one school indicate that it is successfully implementing the model's components.     

Conceptualizing Justice: Revising the Introductory Criminal Justice Course*

Criminal justice is often criticized for lacking theoretical grounding. This article argues that the introductory criminal justice course should be reconceptualized in such a way that permits a critical assessment of theoretical bases underlying crime, law and justice. Doing so would better prepare students to understand key questions in the study of criminal justice and would also help give criminal justice greater credibility as a stand‐alone academic discipline. In addition to presenting the benefits of a theory‐driven introductory course, possible content and pedagogy are described.     

The Impact of Instructional Design on College Students’ Cognitive Load and Learning Outcomes in a Large Food Science and Human Nutrition Course

The effective design of course materials is critical for student learning, especially for large lecture introductory courses. This quantitative study was designed to explore the effect multimedia and content difficulty has on students’ cognitive load and learning outcomes. College students (n = 268) were randomized into 1 of 3 multimedia groups: text + graphics (Group 1–TG); audio + text + graphics (Group 2–ATG); or video + audio + text + graphics (Group 3–VATG). Participants answered a demographic survey and pretests before viewing 2 food science supplemental lecture materials (i.e., water mobility and amino acid structures) and completing the cognitive load instrument and post‐tests within a noncontrolled setting. Cognitive load scores were tabulated and compared using a 3 × 3 ANOVA and Tukey post hoc analysis across multimedia groups and food science supplemental lecture materials. Based on the post hoc, students in Group 1–TG had higher intrinsic cognitive load scores than Group 2–ATG (ANOVA, P < 0.05). Cognitive load and post‐test scores were tabulated and compared using a spearman correlation across groups. In Group 1–TG, students that reported less intrinsic cognitive load had higher post‐test scores. Also, students that reported more germane cognitive load had higher post‐test scores. In Groups 2–ATG and 3–VATG, students that reported less extraneous cognitive load had higher post‐test scores (ANOVA, P < 0.05).     

Impact of a Mentoring Experience on College Students’ Beliefs about Early Childhood Development

With the increasing demands placed on working families and the push downward of academics from the K-12 system, there is a critical need to provide high-quality early childhood programming for our nation’s children, particularly those considered at risk for academic failure. This study attempts to (a) understand the beliefs of college students about early childhood development and developmentally appropriate practices, and (b) determine if these beliefs change after their yearlong involvement in Jumpstart, a national intensive mentoring program for academically at-risk preschoolers. Surveys from this national program investigated college students’ beliefs about early childhood development and developmentally appropriate practices. Results indicate that a yearlong mentoring program positively impacts college students’ beliefs. These beliefs become less skills-based more and child-centered and constructivist.     

Impact of Process Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care on Academic Outcomes: Longitudinal Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis studies the association of pedagogical processes in early childhood care and education with outcomes in two academic domains: language and literacy as well as mathematics. It synthesizes evidence from 17 longitudinal studies in nine European countries with 16,461 children in regular center-based care spanning the period between ages 3 and 16. Results of a three-level meta-analysis provided small overall effect sizes for both global and domain-specific process quality, and indicated lasting associations with academic development over children’s school career (ES = .11, Cohen’s d = .22, and ES = .10, Cohen’s d = .20). Effects varied by outcome domain, type of process measure, and differences in adopted analyses, with important implications for pedagogical practice and future research.     

Smoothing the Transition to Postsecondary Education: The Impact of the Early College Model

Developed in response to concerns that too few students were enrolling and succeeding in postsecondary education, early college high schools are small schools that blur the line between high school and college. This article presents results from a longitudinal experimental study comparing outcomes for students accepted to an early college through a lottery process with outcomes for students who were not accepted through the lottery and enrolled in high school elsewhere. Results show that treatment students attained significantly more college credits while in high school, and graduated from high school, enrolled in postsecondary education, and received postsecondary credentials at higher rates. Results for subgroups are included.     

Impact of Early Alert on Community College Student Persistence in Virginia

ABSTRACT

Early alert systems have promised to be an integral component of a student success solution. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between the use of the early alert system and persistence for students taking developmental education courses and students taking college-level courses in the Virginia Community College System. A quasi-experimental, nonrandomized research design with matched-control groups was used to evaluate impact on student persistence. Data analysis was conducted using multiple binary logistic regressions. The results indicated the early alert system had a substantial and positive impact on developmental mathematics students, with minimal to no impact on developmental English and college-level students. Students enrolled in developmental English courses, experienced a positive, but much more modest impact. Finally, students in college-level courses experienced a very mild impact, in some instances positive and others negative.     

Evidence and Warrants for Belief in a College Astronomy Course

Science educators have argued that it is insufficient to be able to recite thetheories of science and not know how knowledge claims in science are justified, what counts as evidence, or how theory and evidence interact. We wonder, however, how much students' understandings of the nature of science vary with content. This paper draws on data collected in a university astronomy course. Data include three interviews and written work from twenty students, as well as written work from the 340 students in the class. This study provides us with evidence on how students' talk and writing about the nature of science differs depending on the particular scientific topic which is under discussion. The relationship between theory and evidence, warrants for belief, and nature of observation are described in various ways in the different disciplines discussed in the course.     

Assessing Early Intervention Outcomes: Beyond Program Variables

THE EARLY INTERVENTION field is witnessing some major shifts in the focus of efficacy research. The traditional preoccupation with the question as to whether early intervention works is giving way to greater concern with understanding how programs make their impact. While this is seen as a progressive shift, much of the focus has so far been placed on how specific dimensions of the intervention process contribute to outcomes. Little attention has been paid to extra‐program variables which impinge upon or interact with the intervention process to shape outcomes. This paper presents the perspective that an intervention program is only one of many factors with potential influence on child and family functioning. Consequently program efficacy must be assessed in relation to both program and extra‐program variables. A framework outlining five classes of “independent” variables and two classes of outcomes to be considered in efficacy research is presented. Regression and path analytic techniques are presented as two potentially useful tools for addressing the different kinds of efficacy questions currently being raised in the literature.     

论思想政治理论课教育教学对高校学生党建工作的作用

高校学生党建是高校党建中一个十分重要的组成部分.思想政治理论课教育教学作为高校学生思想政治教育的主渠道,在高校学生党建工作中起着重要的作用.思想政治理论课教育教学和学生党建工作具有内在的统一性.要努力抓好思想政治理论课课堂教学,改革教学方法,创新教学手段,提高教师素质,将思想政治理论课教育教学与学生党建工作互相结合,充分发挥思想政治理论课教育教学对学生党建工作的作用.     

Trainees Versus Staff: Exploring Counseling Outcomes in a College Counseling Center

Investigators compared counseling outcomes among nonpaid graduate-level trainees and professional staff at a college counseling center. Counseling outcomes for 331 college student participants were measured using the Outcome Questionnaire 45.2 (OQ45.2), employing a pretest–posttest design. The two groups of service providers did not differ significantly (p = .179; α > .05). A unique aspect of this study was the statistical control for the clients’ readiness to change. The implications for practice in college counseling centers suggest the use of graduate-level trainees as effective counseling providers and a method to cope with high demand for services.     

知识创新学应成为大学生的主课

知识创新能力是“知识创新学”教学中的一个主要内容。站在哲学的高度上来谈知识创新能力的构成系统，是很有价值的，对大学生的培养具有指导意义。     

非化工类专业"大学化学"精品课程的建设

＂大学化学＂课程是非化学化工类专业的公共基础课程.本文从课程体系方案、教学内容、教材建设、教学方法、多媒体教学等方面,介绍了＂大学化学＂精品课程建设的基本思路及教学实践.     

花卉艺术课:师范院校素质教育的一种模式

在目前教育体制由应试教育转向素质教育的改革大潮中,花卉艺术课是一门十分优秀的素质教育课程,但在我国的大、中、小学并未普及。在我国各级师范院校开设花艺课将有利于培养高素质的师资,为中小学素质教育的实施创造条件,进一步为全民素质的提高做出贡献。通过开设花卉艺术课的探索表明在师范院校开设花艺课是可行的,并提出了一种开设该课程的操作模式及有关的合理化建议。