Beliefs about justification for knowing when ethnic majority and ethnic minority students read multiple conflicting documents

We examined the role of justification for knowing beliefs in learning and comprehension when ethnic majority and ethnic minority students from the same school classes read five conflicting documents on the scientific issue of sun exposure and health. Results showed that the more ethnic minority students trusted scientific authorities and the less they relied on personal opinion when validating knowledge claims in the domain of science, the more they learned from and the better they comprehended the documents. In contrast, justification for knowing beliefs did not seem to play a role in learning and comprehension among ethnic majority students. These results may reflect that the documents represented more of a challenge to the ethnic minority students, with justification beliefs affecting learning and comprehension processes to a greater extent when the task is perceived as an ill-structured problem. This study is probably the first to indicate different relationships between various justification beliefs and performance in different language and cultural groups, having theoretical as well as educational implications.     

Differential Prediction in the Use of the SAT and High School Grades in Predicting College Performance: Joint Effects of Race and Language

The literature on differential prediction of college performance of racial/ethnic minority students for standardized tests and high school grades indicates the use of these predictors often results in overprediction of minority student performance. However, these studies typically involve native English‐speaking students. In contrast, a smaller literature on language proficiency suggests academic performance of those with more limited English language proficiency may be underpredicted by standardized tests. These two literatures have not been well integrated, despite the fact that a number of racial/ethnic minority groups within the United States contain recent immigrant populations or heritage language speakers. This study investigates the joint role of race/ethnicity and language proficiency in Hispanic, Asian, and White ethnic groups across three educational admissions systems (SAT, HSGPA, and their composite) in predicting freshman grades. Our results indicate that language may differentially affect academic outcomes for different racial/ethnic subgroups. The SAT loses predictive power for Asian and White students who speak another best language, whereas it does not for Hispanic students who speak another best language. The differential prediction of college grades of linguistic minorities within racial/ethnic minority subgroups appears to be driven by the verbally loaded subtests of standardized tests but is largely unrelated to quantitative tests.     

The limits of social class in explaining ethnic gaps in educational attainment

This paper reports an analysis of the educational attainment and progress between age 11 and age 14 of over 14,500 students from the nationally representative Longitudinal Study of Young People in England. The mean attainment gap in national tests at age 14 between White British and several ethnic minority groups was large, more than three times the size of the gender gap, but at the same time only about one‐third of the size of the social class gap. Socioeconomic variables could account for the attainment gaps for Black African, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students, but not for Black Caribbean students. Further controls for parental and student attitudes, expectations and behaviours indicated minority ethnic groups were on average more advantaged on these measures than White British students, but this was not reflected proportionately in their levels of attainment. Black Caribbean students were distinctive as the only group making less progress than White British students between age 11 and 14 and this could not be accounted for by any of the measured contextual variables. Possible explanations for the White British–Black Caribbean gap are considered.     

Learning analytics to uncover inequality in behavioural engagement and academic attainment in a distance learning setting

Abstract

Although the attainment gap between black and minority ethnic (BME) students and white students has persisted for decades, the potential causes of these disparities are highly debated. The emergence of learning analytics allows researchers to understand how students engage in learning activities based on their digital traces in a naturalistic setting. This study investigates the attainment gap by analysing the differences in behavioural engagement between different ethnic groups. Using multilevel models of academic performance, demographics, and online traces of 149,672 students enrolled in 401 modules in a distance learning setting, we confirmed the existing attainment gap. After controlling for other demographics, module characteristics and engagement, BME students were between 19% and 79% less likely to complete, pass or achieve an excellent grade compared to white students. Given the same academic performance, BME students spent 4-12% more time on studying than white students. While the attainment gap remained persistent after controlling for academic engagement, our study further highlighted the inequality of attainment between BME and white students.     

Face‐to‐face versus online tuition: Preference,performance and pass rates in white and ethnic minority students

Attainment in higher education tends to be poorer in ethnic minority students than in white students. This study examined whether this attainment gap was affected by the introduction of online tuition. Data were obtained from students who had taken courses in either arts or management with the UK Open University and had opted for either face‐to‐face or online tuition. The arts courses had a higher proportion of white students and lower proportions of Asian and black students than the management courses. Nevertheless, white and ethnic minority students gave similar reasons for choosing face‐to‐face tuition or online tuition. In the management courses but not in the arts courses, the pass rate was lower in students who had received online tuition than in students who had received face‐to‐face tuition. Regardless of the discipline or mode of tuition, black students tended to obtain lower marks and lower pass rate than white students, but Asian students did not. It is concluded that online tuition is an appropriate form of student support in both campus‐based and distance education but that the attainment gap in ethnic minority students probably does not arise from the nature and quality of their interactions with teachers and other students.     

Effectiveness of bilingual education in Cambodia: a longitudinal comparative case study of ethnic minority children in bilingual and monolingual schools

There is little research in the developing countries of South East Asia on the effectiveness of bilingual education programmes that use first language instruction for ethnic minority children. This study investigated the effectiveness of a bilingual education programme involving ethnic minority children in Cambodia by comparing their performance in mathematics, Khmer literacy and oral Khmer to their ethnic minority peers whose education is in the national language only. The findings show that students in the bilingual schools performed better in mathematics than their peers in the monolingual schools, but the differences in Khmer literacy and oral Khmer test scores were statistically insignificant. The study suggests that bilingual education using first language instruction could benefit academic development among ethnic minority students in Cambodia, at least in terms of mathematics achievement.     

非智力因素对少数民族学生学习专业课的影响

文章通过对汉语水平高而专业课成绩一般,专业课成绩好而汉语水平一般的两组少数民族学生的问卷调查,探讨了学习意志、学习主动性等非智力因素对少数民族学生学习专业课的影响。     

Are Ethnic Minorities Underrepresented in UK Postgraduate Study?

Despite recent rapid increases in postgraduate numbers, little is known about the ethnic background of current postgraduates. This lacuna is addressed using data about the UK postgraduate population. Overall, students from minority ethnic backgrounds are under-represented among research and teacher-training students but not on masters degrees. The trend over time is encouraging. Substantial differences between minority ethnic groups are found and patterns of participation are shown to be structured by subject of study, institutional location and prior attainment. It is argued that differences in representation must be understood in the context of existing knowledge about prior educational patterns and subsequent labour market outcomes. Viewed in this way, underrepresentation of certain minority groups is potential evidence of disadvantage but underrepresentation can be interpreted more positively for other groups. Concerns remain over minorities' access to research degrees and the implications of this for the demographic composition of the academic profession.     

The role of feedback in the under-attainment of ethnic minority students: evidence from distance education

In UK higher education, the attainment of ethnic minority students is lower than that of white students, and this remains the case when differences in entry qualifications have been taken into account. The present study investigated whether the under-attainment of ethnic minority students might be due to the nature of the feedback that they received for their assignments. The assignments submitted by 470 ethnic minority and 470 matched white students taking a distance-learning course were compared using a computer system, Open Mentor, to categorise the feedback given by tutors based on a scheme devised by Bales. Asian and black students and students of mixed ethnicity obtained lower marks for their assignments than did the white students. However, there were only small differences between the ethnic minority students and the white students in terms of the pattern of feedback that they received, and these disappeared when the marks that they had received for their assignments had been taken into account. It is concluded that students from all ethnic groups received feedback that was commensurate with their marks, and that the origins of the attainment gap in ethnic minority students in UK higher education must be sought elsewhere.     

Are there differences in ethnic majority and minority adolescents’ friendships preferences and social influence with regard to their academic achievement?

Research has established that adolescents both befriend peers based on their academic achievement and adjust their own achievement to that of their friends’ over time. However, these processes may be different for ethnic minority students, because some of them may adhere to an oppositional culture that rejects striving for academic success. We examine respective differences between self-identified ethnic minority and majority students using longitudinal social network analysis (stochastic actor-oriented models) in a sample of 1175 students (aged 13) from 12 grade-level networks in Germany secondary schools. Among the students, we find that academically successful students in particular prefer friends with high grades, but that students with poor grades exert more social influence on their friends to adjust their performance. Moreover, while minority students are indeed less inclined to select friends with higher grades, both ethnic majority and minority youth prefer friends with similar academic achievement and are similarly influenced by their friends’ achievement. However, social influence is stronger from same-ethnic than from inter-ethnic friends. In sum, there is mixed evidence for an oppositional culture among ethnic minority students in our sample.     

Student-Faculty Interaction: A Key to Academic Integration and Success for Ethnic Minority Students at a Major University in Southwest China

This study examines the academic performance and “engagement” of ethnic minority students at a leading university in southwest China. Results indicate that ethnic minority students have significantly lower grades, lower class ranking, and have failed more courses than majority Han students. Results also show that the level of student-faculty interaction (SFI) for ethnic minority students is significantly lower than for Han students. Study results also indicate that average scores in coursework and student ranking among their cohorts are significantly, but weakly, correlated with SFI. The study concludes that SFI may have little influence on students’ academic achievement itself, but would help students integrate into the college community, enabling a sense of belonging, which is a major factor in supporting academic success among ethnic minority students.     

The academic engagement of White and ethnic minority students in distance education

At UK institutions of higher education, the academic attainment of White students tends to be higher than that of students from other ethnic groups. A postal survey of Open University students found very little difference in academic engagement in those from different ethnic groups. The differences in pass rates and course grades remained statistically significant even when any effects of differences in academic engagement had been controlled. This is consistent with previous findings that quantitative variations in the attainment of students from different ethnic groups are not reflected in concomitant qualitative variations in their experience of higher education. The explanation for the attainment gap in ethnic minority students must be sought elsewhere than in the nature of their experience of higher education.     

Reforming Lao teacher education to include females and ethnic minorities – exploring possibilities and constraints

This article explores possibilities and constraints for the inclusion of female and ethnic minority students in Lao education in order to provide education for all. Females and ethnic minorities have traditionally been disadvantaged in Lao education and reforms for the inclusion of these groups are therefore welcome. The article provides rich information about how teachers and students in four teacher training institutions in Lao PDR experience inclusionary reform. The results show that inclusion strategies benefit both female and ethnic minority students, but in different ways. Female students from the majority ethnic group generally benefitted from the allowance for individual learning, since this provided space for them to act outside of gendered expectations. Ethnic minority students, however, benefitted more from the opportunity to work in smaller group settings, since they could receive support from other students, especially in language, which often proved to be a constraint for students with a different first language from the language of instruction. Although there are positive developments regarding the inclusion of females and ethnic minorities, there is still need to further develop and strengthen these efforts in order to support the continued inclusion of disadvantaged groups in Lao society.     

少数民族双语大学生英语词汇学习策略调查分析

使用调查问卷及访谈的方法,对新疆农业大学65名英语为第三语言的少数民族双语大学生英语词汇学习策略的使用情况进行了调查,调查结果显示：少数民族双语大学生能够广泛运用词汇学习策略;在英语词汇学习策略的使用中,汉语依赖策略要高于母语依赖。     

高职院校少数民族学生汉语现状与反思

对少数民族学生而言,汉语学习不仅是技能性工具性意义,更有增进中华民族认同感、弘扬爱国主义精神的价值。通过对高职院校少数民族学生汉语学习状况的调查,研究发现该群体汉语能力不足,学习积极性不高,方法有待改进。具体改进策略上,要从重视教学环节、提交教师素质、创设语言环境等方面入手,持续提升少数民族学生汉能能力。     

母语依赖观念在少数民族学生英语学习过程中的实证研究

此研究是对少数民族学生英语学习过程中母语依赖观念的实证研究,对象为广西环江县壮族和毛南族中学生。研究发现:(1)少数民族学生中广泛存在民族语单母语、汉语单母语、民汉双母语等不同情形的母语现象;(2)英语学习过程中母语依赖观念普遍存在,且程度较高,其中以英语作文时的母语依赖程度最高,母语依赖成为一种有益的学习方法;(3)对于教师的课堂教学用语,绝大多数希望使用汉语和英语两种语言,对民族语的期待极低,同时没有学生期待全英语教学,即对母语尤其是汉语的依赖与期待远远高于对民族语的依赖与期待。这些发现对少数民族地区基础教育阶段的英语教学具有一定的参考价值。     

Achieving ethnic minority students' inclusion: a Flemish school's discursive practices countering the quasi‐market pressure to exclude

The purpose of this paper is to identify how ethnically diverse schools can discursively maintain a good reputation. Reputation allows attracting the mixed student population necessary to achieve inclusion or closing the gap between the attainment of ethnic majority and minority students. In semi‐market educational systems where students are free to attend the school of their choice yet education has no market price, the share of ethnic minority students functions as one of the main indicators of a school's educational quality. Ethnically diverse schools are thus perceived as offering lower quality education. Based on the case of a highly ethnically diverse, inclusive secondary school in the exclusive Flemish secondary educational semi‐market, we found that a positive reputation could be achieved through three related discursive practices: affirming the high‐quality education of the school, redefining the relation between students' ethnic diversity and educational quality and reconstructing ethnic diversity as an educational resource.     

民族地区高校研究生英语阅读和翻译能力提高探析

近年来我国西部广大少数地区高校所获得的硕士研究生的学位授予权越多,少数民族的硕士研究生也就越来越多,但与之相应的问题也出现了,相对于东中部地区高校来讲,少数民族硕士研究生的英语入学总体成绩,客观地存在着偏低的现象,这就为研究生的英语教学带来了较大的困难,我们必须进行有益的探索。     

少数民族师范生整合技术的学科教学知识(TPACK)调查研究

多民族是我国基本国情,利用信息技术发展民族教育是实现教育公平的重要措施,更是国家教育信息化战略的重要部署。民族教育现代化的发展关键在于提升少数民族教师队伍,特别是少数民族师范生整合技术的学科教学知识(TPACK)水平。研究以1050名南方少数民族师范生为研究对象,采用问卷调查法,辅之以访谈法,展开了针对少数民族师范生TPACK水平的调查与研究。通过描述统计分析,阐明了少数民族师范生TPACK水平的差异;通过多元回归分析,探讨了TPACK水平发展的影响因素以及相互关系。结果表明:(1)少数民族师范生TPACK知识总体水平偏低,专业学科知识有待加强;(2)少数民族师范生倾向于重视学科知识,对教学法的重要性认识不足,对信息素养缺乏信心;(3)少数民族师范生TPACK水平受到民族地区教育境脉、生源基础、课程体系等因素的影响。最后,从构建合理的少数民族师范生TPACK课程体系、改革少数民族师范生TPACK教学模式以及完善少数民族师范生TPACK发展辅助支撑系统等方面,发掘提升少数民族师范生TPACK水平的途径与策略。     

Complex Inequalities of Educational Opportunities. A Large-Scale Longitudinal Study on the Relation Between Gender,Social Class,Ethnicity and School Success

It is well documented that stratification in education precedes social stratification. Many authors hypothesise that the stratification patterns in education may be related to background characteristics of students in a more complex way than researched so far in this field. Therefore, in this article the interactive effects of social class, ethnicity and gender on various indicators for school success are analysed and discussed. A large-scale longitudinal database offered the possibility to establish the complex relations between the three student background variables and school careers, measured by educational attainment 6 years after entering secondary education and by technical or science related choices. Results show that school success is not always predicted by expected additive or multiplicative effects of the different background variables. For example the situation of girls from ethnic minorities is better than expected, while that of indigenous boys from low socio-economic backgrounds is worse when compared to similar boys from ethnic minorities. Inequalities arising from different choice patterns regarding technical and science subjects can only partly be deduced from differences present at the age of 12, whereas in terms of general educational attainment secondary schools even reduce arrears of ethnic minority female students as these can be observed at the age of 12.