Experiment at Parkhead Centre

A centre where pupils suspended from secondary schools can 'cool off' before returning to the ordinary classroom appears to be a successful approach to disruptive behaviour, writes Alex Swailes, Head of Parkhead Centre, Ashington, Northumberland     

Teaching French Literature at a distance at university level

How does one teach literary analysis and sensitivity at a distance? Examples of the approach of the French National Centre for Distance Education are given for the French Literature examinations at the two‐year degree level (Diplôme d'Etudes Universitaires Generates).     

Counselling as a dialectical process

This paper attempts to merge the dialectical perspective within the framework of counselling psychology. Both objective and subjective approaches to counselling are reviewed and a synthetical solution is proposed which falls within the all-encompassing dialectical perspective. Dialectical psychology's emphasis on process, change and values is seen as having implications for research (e.g., biographical or historical) and practice (e.g., eclectic counselling).     

Creating a Solution-Focused Counselling Team

The present paper outlines the process through which a local authority Psychological Service developed a team of educational psychologists able to provide intensive, short-term counselling to children and their families. The rationale, the operational procedures and current evaluations are provided. It is hoped that this article will inform and assist other Psychological Services to develop similar approaches.     

Counselling in a Discursive World

Dominant psychological theories receive ongoing criticism for their reliance on deficit-based models of human being and an adherence to individualistic notions of social action. Recent offerings from the fields of discursive psychology and community psychology provide counsellors with alternative conceptual and practical resources for strategic engagement. This paper briefly introduces both areas and suggests how they may contribute to counselling in educational settings. An example is given showing how discourse works through language to construct and inform accounts of school exclusion. The primary question for each of us, counsellors and community members alike, is whether prevailing constructions promote (or discourage) the mental health of school communities.     

Research and teaching at a research university

This paper examines tensions between the research and teachingcomponents of the faculty role. It does so by reporting resultsfrom a case study of committed undergraduate teachers at aresearch university. Having agreed that research was the dominantelement in the university's academic reward system, samplemembers were cross-classified along two dimensions: First, theirown adaptation to the reward structure, as indicated by theirfive-year records of involvement in funded research; second,individuals' stated attitudes and beliefs toward the teaching andresearch roles. Although the 11 active researchers (ARs) withinthe sample reported somewhat more positive attitudes towardsresearch than did the 18 less-active researchers (LAs), we foundconsiderable overlap across, and variation within, the twosubsamples. Particularly noteworthy were the presence of a strongallegiance to the historic teaching mission of publicuniversities among both groups and, among the LAs, anoppositional cadre of politically adept senior faculty who hadachieved some success in preserving or expanding the place ofundergraduate teaching in the reward systems of their departmentsand colleges. The paper concludes by considering the case studyfindings in light of both recent theoretical work on intrinsicmotivation and the future of the teaching role.     

Girls' Groups and Boys' Groups at a Municipal Technology Centre

This article describes the Swedish initiative of municipal technology centres from a gender point of view. These centres provide after‐school technology education for children aged 6–16. By means of an ethnographic study, the effects of the use of single‐sex groups in increasing the interest of girls and boys in technical activities have been studied at one of the centres. The importance of the gender of the teacher relative to the gender of the pupils is also considered. The results show that single‐sex groups meant different things to boys and girls, and that the teachers’ way of “doing” femininity and masculinity, respectively, in the different groups was of some importance. The results indicate that single‐sex groups alone do not break down gender barriers. However, there are lessons to be learnt from a leisure‐time activity that provides a different setting from that of single‐sex science education in ordinary schooling     

Establishing a Counselling Service for Teachers

This paper is about the experience of preparation for incorporation in a sixth form college. The purpose of the paper is to take an analytical and reflective view of recent practice and developments which may have applications for all education managers facing externally imposed change. Its focus is on communication and consultation structures, the changing balance of power as institutions become independent of local authorities, and industrial relations in a new culture. It concludes that, without a full understanding of internal processes and structures and a strategy for strengthening them, colleges will continue to be ill‐equipped for survival as incorporated institutions.     

Heuristics for planning university study at a distance

A model was developed at Murdoch University, Western Australia, to describe distance students’ perceptions of their aims and plans for studying a course. The model follows Polya's Heuristic and Newell & Simon's General Problem Solver of students’ plans and sub‐goals for achieving those plans.

Verbal reports of four students were described using the model, and showed that students’ goals were different from those of the course academic, and that student goals influenced how they planned and organized their study. Implications for the formalization of the model for understanding student behaviour are discussed, as is educational relevance for design of external courses.     

Faculty perceptions of academic freedom at a GCC university

Massive oil revenues are currently fueling a surge in the number of educational institutions in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, presenting leadership at all levels with many unprecedented questions. In particular, the growth and reform of higher education challenges the delicate balance between academic freedom and Arab cultural values. This paper describes faculty perceptions of academic freedom at a major GCC national university. Faculty members’ views and perceptions regarding academic freedom are presented based on interviews, questionnaire responses, and the authors’ own thoughts. Findings indicate that faculty members have complex and often contradictory understandings of academic freedom and related responsibilities and often engage in self-censorship. The authors discuss these findings by engaging in self-reflection regarding their own perspectives and personal experiences.     

Characteristics of male disciplinary students at a catholic university

This study examined selected measures of demographic, social, and academic characteristics for a male disciplinary population at Villanova University, to determine the usefulness of these variables in predicting membership in a disciplinary group from one graduating class to the next. The step wise multiple regression analysis showed that the predictability of these measures for this population was minimal.     

Academic involvement at university

The call for students to become more involved in their academic study is not new. However few studies have investigated academic involvement as it is experienced by university students. This paper discusses the results of a study that was designed to explore student perceptions of the nature of academic involvement in learning. In addition students were asked to identify factors in their learning experience that encouraged or discouraged their academic involvement. The results reported here are drawn from interviews with 58 first and second year students attending Victoria University of Wellington.The results demonstrate that students experience involvement in qualitatively and quantitatively different ways that appear to be related to approach to learning. A major focus of the paper is on the interactive role personal and contextual factors play in the development of involvement. It is suggested that such factors combine to produce a particular learning climate that directly affects involvement in learning. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this research for university policy, teaching practice and course design and makes some suggestions for further research.     

Getting it right: Assessing undergraduates at a university

Is there such a thing as an optimum assessment scheme? What criteria might be used to plan and judge such a scheme? These questions are discussed in general terms and also in relation to the experience gained at the University of Sussex. It is suggested that three key factors influence the pattern of assessment — prupose, equity and efficiency. These factors constantly interact with each other and an assessment scheme which is ‘right’ is one that is able to maintain a reasonable balance between all three.     

Some problems of programme initiation at a distance education university

This article discusses some generic problems faced by those who would initiate a new programme or curriculum in a distance education university. The generic problems are highlighted by way of a specific programme initiative in psychology. Five major problems are cited: the problems of context, the programme context, the state of the discipline, institutional inertia and shared meanings.     

华东理工大学国家级材料实验教学示范中心

<正>简介华东理工大学材料实验教学中心成立于2006年,现设有4个实验教学基地(10个教学实验室)和1个实验室管理组,实施校、院两级管理。中心开设了新能源材料与器件基础实验,同时完善该专业实验,共设有13门实验课程。综合性、设计性(创新性)实验课程为9门,占70%。开设实验项目124项,其中基本技能实验59项,综合性、设计性(创新性)实验65项,综合性、设计性、创新性实验项目数占开设实验项目总数的52.4%。2012年到2014年     

Process evaluation of a teaching and learning centre at a research university

This paper describes the evaluation of a teaching and learning centre (TLC) five?years after its inception at a mid-sized, midwestern state university. The mixed methods process evaluation gathered data from 209 attendees and non-attendees of the TLC from the full-time, benefit-eligible teaching faculty. Focus groups noted feelings of inclusiveness because of the sole concentration on teaching. The survey found that attendees felt more positive about the value and effectiveness of the TLC than non-attendees, and no one on campus expressed negative feelings about its effectiveness. We discuss implications for future evaluation research.     

How environmental knowledge measures up at a Big Ten university

The reported research examines the level of environmental knowledge of Michigan State University students relative to the results of a biannual national study of the environmental knowledge of the general population of the United States. While the university students were found to possess higher levels of environmental knowledge than the general public, the students' overall environmental knowledge, on average, was deficient with only 66% of them receiving a passing grade. The findings suggest a positive correlation between academic level, field of study and environmental knowledge.