Teachers' perspectives on student problematic behavior and social skills

This study examined program outcomes of student problem behavior and social skills, based on teachers' perspectives, before and after early behavioral intervention services. The study targeted students in kindergarten through grade 5 who were identified by the school system as being at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Students identified received early intervention services based on individualized positive behavior supports (i.e. social skills training, functional behavioral assessment, and team collaboration). The results indicate that early intervention services that teach social skills and use functional behavioral assessments to deal with problem behaviors are beneficial to children displaying behavioral challenges.     

Culture,role and group work: A social network analysis perspective on an online collaborative course

This paper discusses the patterns of network dynamics within a multicultural online collaborative learning environment. It analyses the interaction of participants (both students and facilitators) within a discussion board that was established as part of a 3‐month online collaborative course. The study employs longitudinal probabilistic social network analysis (SNA) to identify the patterns and trends within the network. It conjectures and tests a set of hypotheses concerning the tendencies towards homophily/heterophily and preferential attachment. The paper presents identified interaction network patterns in relation to cultural differences. It also evaluates network dynamics by considering participant roles and group work in the course under study. Results of social network analyses are reported along with measures of statistical confidence in findings. The potential for extending exploratory SNA methods and visualisation techniques in educational research are discussed here.     

浅析小组工作在学校社会工作中的介入模式

随着我国教育的改革、社会的发展与变迁,我国当代学生出现了很多心理、行为和人际交往的社会问题,传统的学生工作已经无法满足大部分学生健康成长的需要。在这种情况下,学校社会工作以其全新的工作理念和方法,成为解决学生问题的有效途径之一。在学校中进行社会工作并结合小组工作等社会工作方法为学生的健康成长提供帮助,从而对未来和谐社会的建设具有重要的意义。     

Evaluating the impact of online discussion boards on student engagement with group work

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the use of an online discussion board as an assessment item on students learning performance in relation to group work based on Social Learning Theory. The study uses survey questionnaires at the beginning and end of semester together with student grade information. The data analysis consists of (1) a regression analysis to explore the relationship between student interaction and performance and (2) a repeated measures ANOVA to explore changes in attitude and perceived encouragement. Student's perceptions at the outset were found to be important as was the use of the online discussion board as a learning tool even when it is not assessed. Further, students' attitude to the online discussion board improved through the semester however the online assessment task did not encourage domestic students to be more engaged in group-based activities. In contrast, international students were more encouraged to participate in group-based activities at the end of the semester. The study has implications for online group activities in education.     

The impact of living group social climate on student academic performance

The relationship between living group social climate and freshman scholastic achievement was examined in 36 fraternity groups and 18 male residence hall groups. Certain aspects of a living group's social environment, as measured by the subscales of the University Residence Environment Scale (Moos and Gerst, 1974), were significantly correlated with the freshman members' level of achievement (after controlling for high school grades and college entrance exam scores). Among fraternity groups, freshman achievement was higher in groups that emphasizedacademic achievement and competition, and lower in groups that emphasizedstudent influence. Among residence hall groups, freshman achievement was lower in groups that emphasizedtraditional social orientation. The results suggest that student living groups can affect the academic performance of their freshman members.     

Toward a social pedagogy of classroom group work

In any classroom, pupils will be drawn together for many purposes and we can refer to such within classroom contexts as ‘groupings’. The teacher often creates these, and the way that they are set up, and how they are used for particular learning purposes. If the relationships between grouping size, interaction type and learning tasks in groups are planned strategically then learning experiences will be more effective. However, research suggests that the relationships between these elements are often unplanned and the ‘social pedagogic’ potential of classroom learning is therefore unrealised. In this paper we explore the notion of social pedagogy in relation to group work. It is argued that research and theory relevant to group work in classrooms is limited, and that a new approach, sensitive to group work under everyday classroom conditions is required. This paper identifies key features of a social pedagogy of classroom group work, which can inform effective group work in classrooms. It also describes the background to a current large scale UK project which has been set up to design with teachers a programme of high quality group work in classrooms at both primary and secondary phases.     

Ideological tensions in the educational choice practices of modern Greek Cypriot parents: the role of social capital

The rapid modernisation process of Greek Cypriot society has created a cultural environment with an amalgam of traditionalist and modernist ethical attitudes, and antagonisms between them concerning, among other things, social advancement. These have implications for the way individuals and families develop various strategies of choice‐making for post secondary school destinations and for issues of social justice. We focus on social capital networks and resources. Our arguments are supported by the analysis of attitudes, beliefs, practices and resources available to a sample of 24 Greek Cypriot parents for choice‐making about the educational and occupational futures of their children. In discussion we offer modelling of these processes plus, more speculatively, implications for the possible emergence of a transcendent postmodernist cultural recontextualisation of social capital practices in contemporary Cyprus and for the ethics of social capitalism more generally.     

Enhancing student engagement through practice experience in social work education: the Social Work Studio

It can sometimes be difficult to engage students in ‘real life experiences’ within the classroom. In one Bachelor of Social Work program, the development of a Social Work Studio (the Studio) has provided students with opportunities to engage in simulated social work practice in a safe and supportive environment. This article reports on a small exploratory study of students' responses to a survey that sought their views and reactions to the development of this Studio initiative. Findings were analysed from a sociocultural perspective. They indicate that students' responses to the development of the Studio reflect their emerging constructions of the cultural world of social work.     

Intelligent design: student perceptions of teaching and learning in large social work classes

Research into the effects of large classes demonstrates that students are disadvantaged in terms of higher order learning because interactions between teachers and students occur at lower cognitive levels. This has significance for social work education, with its emphasis on the development of critical thinking and problem solving, both higher order cognitive skills. This paper reports on quantitative and qualitative research that explored social work students’ perceptions of different teaching and learning strategies in a large mental health course designed with reference to principles of student‐centred learning and constructive alignment. Findings revealed that well‐integrated design, relevance to the real world and teacher enthusiasm were seen as most useful by students, rather than particular learning strategies per se. Higher satisfaction ratings and grades were also associated with this student‐centred course compared with an earlier traditional lecture‐style course. The paper concludes that design based on the interplay between diverse learning activities, including lecture input, strengthened the student‐centred orientation of learning and recommends further research that compares learning outcomes associated with these contrasting approaches to professional education.     

我国高校学生事务管理新模式研究——基于对思想政治工作与社会工作的考察

随着市场经济的深入,高校学生事务管理正面临着前所未有的多元化的全新挑战。本文通过对思想政治工作与社会工作的全面比较分析。鉴于两者的的关系,提出把两种工作方法共同运用到高校学生事务管理中去,取长补短、携手并进,构建高校思想政治工作与社会工作各司其职、协同发展,互补、互动、互促,"两位一体"的高校学生事务管理新模式。     

如何提升教师在学生管理工作中的作用

学生管理工作一直都是学生思想稳定、良好学风的形成,乃至院校发展不可缺少的重要方面,在当前学生能够通过网络接触到各种各样的信息以及高职院校的学生自觉性相对较差的现实前提下,学生管理工作的作用日显突出。本文主要探讨如何改变学生管理等于辅导员工作的模式,激发教师参与学生管理工作,探索其有效的参与方式,提升教师在学生管理工作中的作用。     

A study of international students' perspectives on cross-cultural adaptation

The aim of this study was to discover and describe how international students experience and adapt to their new academic, social, cultural and linguistic environment. Questionnaires were given to 12 post-graduate students and interviews conducted on the basis of the responses. It might be expected, given the range of culture shock literature which often presumes the stressful and even pathological nature of cross-cultural transitions, that international students from cultures very different to that found in New Zealand would report high levels of frustration, stress and even depression. While most reported on obstacles to integration as being loneliness, mismatch of culture, frustration with the lack of deep integration with New Zealanders as well as irritation with aspects of their host culture, there was not a high level of stress reported. The greatest block to adaptation was lack of intercultural communicative competence.     

Increasing international and domestic student interaction through group work: a case study from the humanities

This article explores the use of group work strategies to increase student interaction and learning. Despite the growing linguistic and cultural diversity in tertiary institutions, there is strong evidence of minimal interaction between ‘domestic’ and ‘international’ students in classrooms and in wider university contexts. This study investigates the implementation of teaching and learning strategies in an undergraduate class comprising domestic and international students from Education and Arts. The strategies relate to in-class group work, tutorial groups and assessment design. The findings indicate greater class interaction, higher satisfaction ratings and better learning outcomes as a result of the strategies. The article argues for three key features underpinning the pedagogy: where international students can work from a position of power equality in class, where both groups of students can enact the role of ‘experts’ and where support in language and learning how to learn is embedded in assessment and outcomes.     

Science student role: Evidence of social structural norms specific to school science

Sociocultural studies of science education have consistently recognized the dialectic nature of students' agency to create and author positions for themselves and the structural constraints that may influence them. This mixed‐methods study explores one particular aspect of these potential constraints: the possibility of a social structure specific to school science, using the concept of a science student role as an indicator. The first phase of the study was qualitative and exploratory, using open‐ended questionnaires and interviews to understand students' views of the expectations placed on them as science students (n = 95). The second phase was quantitative (using items developed from the qualitative analysis), with both exploratory and confirmatory elements (n = 157). Results suggest clear and explicit role understandings among these students, characterized by references to expectations of intelligence, experimental skill, scientific mindedness, and appropriate classroom behavior. The consistency of these expectations across genders, science teachers and schools provides evidence that there is an element of social structure specific to school science that needs to be considered in studies of student agency and identity. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 367–395, 2011     

浅谈高校学生管理工作点滴

本文论述了高校人性化教育管理,优良学风,入学教育及宿舍秩序,辅导员工作等都是学生管理工作的重点,因此从这四个方面加以改进,推行更加人性化的教育模式,贴近学生生活实际,才能更好的做好高校学生管理工作。     

The influence of student gender on the assessment of undergraduate student work

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of perceived student gender on the feedback given to undergraduate student work. Participants (n = 12) were lecturers in higher education and were required to mark two undergraduate student essays. The first student essay that all participants marked was the control essay. Participants were informed that the control essay was written by Samuel Jones (a male student). Participants then marked the target essay. Although participants marked the same essay, half of the participants (n = 6) were informed that the student essay was written by Natasha Brown (a female student), while the remaining participants were informed that it was written by James Smith (a male student). In-text and end-of-text feedback were qualitatively analysed on six dimensions: academic style of writing; criticality; structure, fluency and cohesion; sources used; understanding/knowledge of the subject; and other. Analysis of feedback for both the control and target essay revealed no discernible differences in the number of comments (strengths of the essay, areas for improvement) made and the content and presentation of these comments between the two groups. Pedagogical implications pertaining to the potential impact of anonymous marking on feedback processes are discussed.     

Employability in the Undergraduate Curriculum: some student perspectives

Government policy around the world is heavily influenced by a ‘human capital’ perspective. Education systems are pressed towards developing young people for their roles in the labour market: in the UK this is signalled in the term ‘employability’. Curricula differ in the ways in which they respond. Data are provided from three recent UK surveys that bear on employability and are discussed with reference to the USEM account of employability.     

Where I end and you begin: The role of boundaries in college student relationships

Eric W. Rosenberger shares how he supports students in two major developmental tasks of traditional‐age college students: Developing their sense of identity and navigating relationships with others.     

Deriving individual student marks from a tutor’s assessment of group work

The use of group work, in which three or more students jointly produce a piece of work for summative assessment, is an established aspect of teaching and learning in higher education. Opinions vary however about whether their marks should vary according to the respective contributions they made to the work. This paper is based on the assumption that if adjustments are to be made, they should be made on sound statistical grounds. Current methods for adjusting student marks do not allow the size of the adjustments to be controlled and empirical data are presented which show that very large adjustments can occur. This paper presents a method for deriving final student marks from a single tutor mark and ratings which students make of each other’s contributions. The method incorporates a mechanism for directly controlling the size of the adjustments made. It is demonstrated using data from students following a degree programme in computing. A spreadsheet has been written which undertakes the calculations necessary to apply the method.