Retired professors and professional activity: A comparative study of three types of institutions

This study compares the professional activities of retired professors from liberal arts colleges, a comprehensive university, and a major research university. Results show that a large majority of faculty continue to perform professional roles and that strength of ties to colleagues and professional organizations outside the institution are correlated with professional activity at all types of institutions. Major differences among institutions are: (1) liberal arts college and research university faculty show consistency between pre- and postretirement professional activity levels, whereas comprehensive university faculty do not; (2) university faculty show higher levels of participation in a number of professional activities than do liberal arts college faculty; (3) rated importance of research or other creative work is related to professional activity for comprehensive university faculty and rated importance of consulting and university service are related to professional activity for research university faculty.     

A comparison between traditional and constructivist teaching in college biology

Two large sections of introductory biology for nonmajors were given the same course information with two different teaching styles. One group (N=86) was presented material in the traditional teacher-centered manner of lecture and laboratory while course information was given to the second group (N=98) in the student-centered, constructivist format. Learning was assessed in both groups with the same evaluative instruments and the results compared. This analysis revealed that the experimental (constructivist taught) population did significantly better than the control (traditionally taught) population. Furthermore, the students in the experimental group maintained a better attitude throughout the semester and enjoyed the introductory course more than the students in the control population.     

Race and sex differences and similarities in the process of college entry

This study evaluates the process of college entry for race and sex groups as predicted by an elaboration of the Blau and Duncan (1967) status attainment model. Four important observations were derived from the study. First, sex differences among blacks, which have not been previously examined, were less pronounced than sex differences among, whites. Secondly, race effects were more influential than sex in affecting the process of college entry. Thirdly, for all groups the effects of race, sex, family status origin (SES) and standardized test performance on college attendance were substantially mediated by school process variables (e.g., high school rank and curriculum), by significant others influences, and by student educational expectations. Fourthly, the net effects of structural background variables (e.g., SES and standardized test performance) on college attendance were much stronger for blacks (particularly for black males) than for whites.This research was supported by the Russell Sage Foundation and the National Institute of Education. The author wishes to thank the reviewers and the following persons for their invaluable advice contributed to this document: James McPartland, Karl Alexander, Bruce Eckland, Walter Allen, Edward McDill, and Richard Cramer.     

Predicting genetics achievement in nonmajors college biology

Students enrolled in a non-majors college biology course were pretested to determine their level of intellectual development, degree of field independence, mental capacity, amount of prior genetics knowledge, and amount of fluid intelligence. They were then taught a unit on Mendelian genetics. The only student variables found to not account for a significant amount of variance on a test of reading comprehension and/or a test of genetics achievement was amount of prior genetics knowledge. Developmental level was found to be the most consistent predictor of performance, suggesting that a lack of general hypothetico-deductive reasoning ability is a major factor limiting achievement among these students.     

Rereading metaphors as cultural texts: A case study of early childhood teacher attrition

This article revisits a phenomenological case study in which I used metaphor to explore, over a seven-year span, the blossoming and wilting of an early childhood teacher’s career due to the complex interplay between a range of personal, relational and contextual influences (Sumsion 2002). Following Kamler (2001), I now bring a critical lens to my rereading of Sarah’s metaphors as cultural texts that reflect the cultural storylines, positionings and practices that Sarah perceived were available to her. I argue that deconstructing these cultural texts draws attention to the limitations of discourses commonly available to preservice and early career teachers. Implications for teacher educators are discussed.     

Mentoring in literacy education: a commentary from graduate students,untenured professors,and tenured professors

This commentary continues a dialogue which began among literacy teacher educators attending an alternative format session about mentoring in the academy at a national conference. Literacy teacher educators participated in an informal discussion centered on the nature of mentoring in the academy for doctoral students, untenured professors, and tenured professors. Doctoral students focused on their changing identities and roles in the academy, their concerns about navigating the political infrastructure of academia, and the importance of assuming a proactive stance towards obtaining mentoring, especially for part‐time doctoral students. Untenured professors focused on the ways they were inventing and reinventing themselves within the power and politics of academia and their need for more holistic mentoring during these turbulent times. Tenured professors were able to embed mentoring experiences into their scholarly work and find ways to benefit or learn from mentoring experiences. These mentors also found comfort in more informal mentoring that included self‐initiated endeavors centered on mutual interests. Our commentary draws on these discussions as well as the professional literature on mentoring to describe the importance of mutual trust and reciprocity in mentoring throughout all stages of academia with attention to cultural and linguistic diversity.     

Understanding cellular respiration: An analysis of conceptual change in college biology

This study explored and documented the frequencies of conceptual difficulties confronted by college students seeking to understand the basic processes of cellular respiration. Using concept maps, clinical interviews and an open-ended instrument, viewpoints were elicited from 100 (novice) introductory biology students before and after relevant instruction in cellular respiration and from 100 (experienced) students enrolled in advanced biology courses. Chi-square analyses revealed significant differences among groups in the frequencies of scientifically acceptable and alternative conceptions. The findings suggest that novices harbor a wide range of conceptual difficulties that constrain their understanding of cellular respiration. Furthermore, many of these difficulties persist after instruction and new ones arise. Often these conceptual problems remain intact among experienced students despite well-planned, repeated instruction at advanced levels.     

论高校图书馆与大学生信息素质教育

文章针对高校大学生信息素质的现状,以及高校图书馆开展信息素质教育的可行性,阐述了高校图书馆在大学生信息素质教育中的作用和对大学生进行信息素质教育的应对措施。     

High school preparation for college biology in Israel

The study reports the results of a questionnaire on the opinions of biology, medical and agricultural students regarding the nature of the contribution of high school biology to their study of biology in the university. It was found that most students value the contribution of high school biology to their learning, understanding and retention of new material. Students who specialized in high school biology and who studied an inquiry-oriented program in high school had definite advantages over the others. High school experiences were found to influence achievement in college biology to the extent to which the university courses were based upon prior knowledge.     

批评方法:文学人类学的一个研究维度

近年来,人们对文学人类学研究的介入呈现出多视角、多学科背景的趋势.文章从批评方法的维度对文学人类学研究的态势进行了阐述.     

Adolescent personality and school and college performance: A follow-up study

This study reports correlations between the High School Personality Questionnaire and various indices of school achievement and compares the validities with prior studies. Three achievement scores are utilized: a self-report of high-school grades, a parental report of high-school grades several years after the testing, and actual college grades several years after the testing. In all cases, the results were similar and substantial, and consonant with typical values from earlier, nonlongitudinal studies.     

Emeritus professors: Correlates of professional activity in retirement

The major purpose of this study was to investigate correlates of professional activity of professors in retirement. The investigation focused on a number of variables related to the nature of academic work, including professional role orientation, professional affiliations and contacts, material supports, department, and the state of knowledge in various fields. Sixty-four University of Iowa emeritus professors who continued to reside in the Iowa City area during the entire year, and thus had opportunity to maintain University contacts and use University facilities, were interviewed. The most striking finding was the high degree of consistency between level of professional activity during the preretirement career and level of professional activity in retirement. Significant correlates of professional activity in retirement included rated importance of research or other creative work, strength of ties to colleagues and professional organizations outside the University, contacts with former students, and departmental membership in the older, traditional professions.This article is based in part on the author's Ph.D. dissertation submitted to the Department of Higher Education at The University of Iowa and was partially supported by a 1978 Research Award in gerontology from the Multidisciplinary Gerontology Center of The University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and The University of Northern Iowa. The author wishes to acknowledge the valuable suggestions made by Professors H. Bradley Sagen, Department of Higher Education, and Hallowell Pope, Department of Sociology, throughout the study.