Adult Students at Two-Year Colleges: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Adults constitute a continually increasing proportion of students at two-year colleges. While adult students presumably have special needs, little is known about them. This study focused on the characteristics and needs of 17,137 students enrolled in 100 randomly selected two-year colleges across the country, separately for different age levels. Using a wide variety of variables collected at entrance, after one term, at graduation, and three years after graduation, differences by sex among the following four age groups were ascertained: age 19 or younger, 20–24, 25–39, and 40 or older. Major trends with age, differences among age groups, and interactions between age and sex were found for a number of variables: abilities, grades, attrition, self-perceptions, aspirations and goals, competencies, job values and preferences, satisfaction with and rating of various aspects of the college, expressed needs for help, extracurricular participation, outside work during school, postgraduate jobs obtained and how obtained, job satisfaction, percent going to and graduating from four-year programs, and preference for entering a two-year program if they had to do it all over again. Adult students do have many special needs that vary with age level. We think a repeat of the study but comparing across other groupings of adults would be desirable, even though extreme diversity also exists within such groups. Another consideration is that many new kinds of adult students will in the future be entering postsecondary education in large numbers.     

Subjectivity and Schooling in a Longitudinal Study of Secondary Students

This article addresses the question of how to interpret the relation between the production of subjectivity and the effects of different forms of schooling. Two kinds of problem are explored. The first is the immediate empirical and historical one of understanding how gender and class subjectivity takes shape and is embodied by Australian secondary-school students. This is investigated through close readings of interviews with two young people who are participants in a qualitative, longitudinal study of Australian secondary-school students—the '12 to 18 Project'. The article thus examines the developmental and longitudinal aspect of identity formation, and addresses the impact of feminism on gender change. The second problem is how to theorise the subjectivity schooling relation, and this is explored through an analysis of the interactions between individual biographies and the aspirations and discursive practices of different schools. After considering some contemporary approaches to subjectivity, the discussion proposes a return to Bourdieu's notions of habitus and social field and, through an analysis of the two case studies, illustrates how habitus is formed over time.     

Predicting Academic Success: A Longitudinal Study of University Design Students

This article presents a longitudinal study, over eleven years, of the academic progress of a cohort of design students (n = 475) at a major Australian university. The students were from four different spatial design disciplines: architecture, industrial design, interior design, and landscape architecture. The article identifies cognitive variables that may predict future academic success. This research uses regression analysis to identify correlations across a range of variables, in particular exploring the relationship between university entrance scores, subjects studied at school (art and graphics) and academic success as defined by university grade point average and time to completion. This study shows that prior knowledge in art and graphics is not a useful predictor of future academic success, while university entrance scores and first year performance are related to ongoing academic success. These results suggest that for the design disciplines explored here, discipline‐specific prior knowledge is not an important requirement for university entrance.     

The Development of Preschoolers’ Living Kinds Concept: A Longitudinal Study

Given limitations in the integrative scope of past research, basic questions about the organization and development of preschoolers’ living kinds concept remain open to debate. This study was designed to address past limitations through use of a longitudinal design, extensive stimulus set, and alternate indices of understanding. Thirty‐five English‐speaking 3‐year‐olds from middle‐class families in Albuquerque, NM participated in four testing sessions over 1 year. Indices of understanding included statements that preschoolers generated about various living and nonliving objects, biological properties they attributed to the objects, and their characterization of objects as “alive” or not. Results reveal a multifaceted picture of developmental change in preschoolers’ living kinds concept involving both the construction and elaboration of a core biological understanding.     

Results and Implications of a 12-Year Longitudinal Study of Science Concept Learning

This paper describes the methods and outcomes of a 12-year longitudinal study into the effects of an early intervention program, while reflecting back on changes that have occurred in approaches to research, learning and instruction since the preliminary inception stages of the study in the mid 1960s. We began the study to challenge the prevailing consensus at the time that primary school children were either preoperational or concrete operational in their cognitive development and they could not learn abstract concepts. Our early research, based on Ausubelian theory, suggested otherwise. The paper describes the development and implementation of a Grade 1–2 audio tutorial science instructional sequence, and the subsequent tracing over 12 years, of the children’s conceptual understandings in science compared to a matched control group. During the study the concept map was developed as a new tool to trace children’s conceptual development. We found that students in the instruction group far outperformed their non-instructed counterparts, and this difference increased as they progressed through middle and high school. The data clearly support the earlier introduction of science instruction on basic science concepts, such as the particulate nature of matter, energy and energy transformations. The data suggest that national curriculum standards for science grossly underestimate the learning capabilities of primary-grade children. The study has helped to lay a foundation for guided instruction using computers and concept mapping that may help both teachers and students become more proficient in understanding science.     

随风潜入夜,润物细无声——网络交往对大学生道德情感影响的质的研究之一

本研究是一个大学生在网络交往过程中情感变迁的小型个案,提供了一幅真实、细致的图景,通过见微识著的方式,获得网络交往对大学生道德情感影响的新理解。进而提出了减轻网络交往对大学生道德情感负面影响的干预对策。     

对大学生童年时代游戏记忆的纵向比较研究

采用成人对游戏回忆的方法，对童年期儿童游戏类型、动机、从游戏中学到什么、对成人的影响与10年前被试进行纵向比较．以探讨过去的10年里。中国儿童游戏活动的变化、发展，并对3个不同专业的大学生的童年期进行的游戏进行比较．探讨游戏对儿童发展的多方面作用。结果表明：两组被试在游戏年龄、游戏类型、游戏的动机等方面都有显差异。这对我国目前开展的素质教育有着重要的意义．可为教育与心理工作提供参考并为幼儿园和小学教师提供教育的依据。     

非洲留学生汉语学习观念的社会语言学调查

非洲留学生是在粤留学生中的一个很有特点的群体,其语言学习背景相对复杂,学习汉语的动机和观念与欧美留学生有所不同。该文在实际调查的基础上,运用spss11.5统计学软件,对非洲留学生的学习观念进行社会语言学分析,主要从外语学能、语言学习难度、语言学习性质、学习和交际策略、动机这五个方面对非洲留学生的汉语学习观念情况进行分析探讨。     

Cultural Differences in Maternal Beliefs and Behaviors: A Study of Middle-Class Anglo and Puerto Rican Mother-Infant Pairs in Four Everyday Situations

This study examines cultural patterning in situational variability in mother-infant interactions among middle-class Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers and their 12 to 15-month-old firstborn children. Forty mothers were interviewed regarding their long-term socialization goals and childrearing strategies, and videotaped interacting with their infants in four everyday settings: feeding, social play, teaching, and free play. Results suggest that: (1) Anglo mothers place greater emphasis on socialization goals and childrearing strategies consonant with a more individualistic orientation, whereas Puerto Rican mothers place greater focus on goals and strategies consistent with a more sociocentric orientation; (2) coherence was found between mothers' childrearing beliefs and practices, with Puerto Rican mothers more likely to directly structure their infants' behaviors; and (3) situational variability arose in mother-infant interactions, but this variability showed a cultural patterning consistent with mothers' long-term socialization goals and childrearing beliefs.     

Hurricane Katrina: A Longitudinal Study of the Achievement and Behavior of Displaced Students

This study examined the achievement and behavior of Mississippi children displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The analysis disclosed differences in achievement and behavior between displaced and nondisplaced students. Those who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina had lower academic performance and were more likely to engage in negative behaviors than nondisplaced students. These gaps preexisted Katrina and, in most instances, did not change significantly during the first 2 years following the storm. However, rates of suspension and expulsion increased among these students, while rates of nonpromotion decreased.     

The Mentoring of Counseling Students: A Concept in Search of a Paradigm

The author suggests uniform domains and specific behaviors necessary to become “mentoring” supervisors in counselor education. The proposed paradigm was derived from Anderson and Shannon's (1988) work in teacher education.     

Early Acceleration of Mathematics Students and its Effect on Growth in Self-esteem: A Longitudinal Study

The Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) database was employed to examine the educational practice of early acceleration of students of mathematics on the development of their self-esteem across the entire secondary grade levels. Students were classified into three different academic categories (gifted, honors, and regular). Results indicated that, in terms of the development of their self-esteem, gifted students benefited from early acceleration, honors students neither benefited nor were harmed by early acceleration, and regular students were harmed by early acceleration. Early acceleration in mathematics promoted significant growth in self-esteem among gifted male students and among gifted, honors, and regular minority students. When students were accelerated, schools showed similar average growth in self-esteem among gifted students and regular students and a large effect of general support for mathematics on the average growth in self-esteem among honors students.     

Psychological Distress Among Nursing,Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Students: A Longitudinal and Predictive Study

In this study, we present longitudinal data on changes in psychological distress among 232 Norwegian undergraduate students of nursing, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy. Psychological distress was assessed by applying the 12‐item version of the General Health Questionnaire. Nursing students became substantially more distressed during the three years of their programme compared to physiotherapy and occupational therapy students. Multivariate analyses showed that the students’ levels of psychological distress at the beginning of the study was the most important predictor of psychological distress at the end of the study. Other significant predictors were qualities of the individual student’s personal life, clarity in educational structure, subjective experience of study workload, and level of support in student milieu.     

Early Acceleration of Mathematics Students and its Effect on Growth in Self-esteem: A Longitudinal Study

The Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) database was employed to examine the educational practice of early acceleration of students of mathematics on the development of their self-esteem across the entire secondary grade levels. Students were classified into three different academic categories (gifted, honors, and regular). Results indicated that, in terms of the development of their self-esteem, gifted students benefited from early acceleration, honors students neither benefited nor were harmed by early acceleration, and regular students were harmed by early acceleration. Early acceleration in mathematics promoted significant growth in self-esteem among gifted male students and among gifted, honors, and regular minority students. When students were accelerated, schools showed similar average growth in self-esteem among gifted students and regular students and a large effect of general support for mathematics on the average growth in self-esteem among honors students.     

当代高职学生就业观念与能力调查分析

本文主要针对高职学生就业观念与能力状况进行了认真分析,并从教育主体方面提出了具有可操作性的建议。     

A Test of Gottfredson's Theory Using a Ten-Year Longitudinal Study

Occupational aspirations of a longitudinal sample of students were examined over a ten-year time period, from second to twelfth grade. Hypotheses from Gottfredson's theory of career development (1981, 1996) and from social learning theory (Lent, Brown & Hackett, 1994) were examined. The social value of children's occupational aspirations increased into the early high school years and started to fall by their senior year in high school when internal, unique personal factors were more evident in occupational aspirations as Gottfredson would predict. Through eighth grade, about 40 percent of boys and up to 20 percent of girls held occupational aspirations that could be classified as fantasy. Social learning theory suggests that children would relinquish fantasy occupational aspirations with age because of self-awareness and knowledge of the world of work. This change was evident as a significant shift toward more realistic occupational aspirations occurred during the late high school years.     

浅谈如何引导学生树立正确的人生观

随着我国各项事业的迅速发展,社会规范、社会文化、价值观念以及传统的教育方式也日益受到影响,导致了我国青少年学生在人生观形成过程中出现新的问题。对学生进行理想教育是引导学生树立正确人生观的一个重要途径。     

Becoming a Counselor: A Longitudinal Study of Student Cognitive Development

This study investigated the cognitive development of counseling students during their training program. Results suggest a need to emphasize student cognitive development as strongly as skills development in graduate programs.     

基于新型学习理念的学生党支部建设研究

学习型学生党支部建设是构建学习型政党和学习型社会的根基之一。相比于中西词源和心理学视角下的概念,知识经济时代的学习内涵已经不断丰富和拓展。学习型学生党支部的学习,是一种以共同愿景为基础,由源自个体、进而互相影响、升华成团体行动的行为模式。它强调团队学习、创造力转化、与时俱进和持续开放,与一般意义的学习在内容、形式、结果三方面存在区别。构建学习型学生党支部应注重＂书本学习、党群互动、实践学习＂。