Pursuing their own learning agenda: How mastery-oriented students jeopardize their class performance

This study explored why mastery-based achievement goals often are unrelated to class grades despite promoting deep learning strategies and high course interest. We hypothesized that mastery-oriented students jeopardize their exam performance by allowing their individual interests to dictate their study efforts such that they neglect boring topics in favor of preferred ones. General Psychology students (N = 260) reported their achievement goals, interest in the course material, and usage of various study strategies. Supporting the hypothesis, path analysis showed that mastery-oriented students allocated their study efforts disproportionately to the personally interesting material, and this in turn predicted low grades in the class. Performance-oriented students did not show this pattern. Theoretical implications and new research directions are discussed.     

Confidence in their own ability: postgraduate early childhood students examining their attitudes towards inclusive education

This study explores reflections of a group of postgraduate early childhood students in relation to their self‐reported attitudes towards inclusive education. Participant self‐reported attitudes towards inclusive education were measured using an adapted version of the Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale (ATIES) and an adapted version of the Concerns about Inclusive Education Scale (CIES). Data were collected at the commencement and conclusion of a university unit focused on difference and disability. Within this unit, participants undertook individual self‐directed projects in which they identified, researched and provided recommendations to address issues of particular concern to them in relation to inclusive early childhood education. Participants’ written reflections were also examined in the context of the quantitative data in order to provide greater insight into the changing attitudes of pre‐service early childhood teachers over the course of one university semester. The findings of this provide some evidence to suggest that engaging in self‐reflection on attitudes and beliefs, along with developing practical skills for educating children of diverse abilities, may lead to more positive views of inclusive education. Furthermore, the importance of developing confidence in the ability to teach all children is highlighted through the student comments and responses to the ATIES and CIES.     

Nontraditional students: How postsecondary institutions are meeting the challenge

Summary This study surveyed 226 private, four-year institutions in the Southeastern United States, and to the extent that these findings may be generalized, it appears that adults make up a significant and growing minority segment of the student population on a majority of campuses. Many institutional planners and policy makers have shown sensitivity to the unique needs of nontraditional students through the number and variety of support services available for these students. It appears that it will become increasingly necessary to continue to design new programs and servics and restructure existing policies for the recruitment and retention of nontraditional students.Ann Puryear is Assistant Professor of Counselor Education at Southeast Missouri State University, and Carl McDaniels is Professor and Program Leader of Counselor Education at Virginia Tech.     

Working while teaching,learning while working: students teaching in their own class

This paper examines the context of teacher education in which certain students work as teachers whilst at the same time they study in a teacher education programme. The two phenomena that are discussed are the integration of theory and practice, and learning while working. These are located in the wider framework of teachers' pedagogical thinking, and research‐based teacher education. The paper reports on students' experiences of the success of integrating theoretical studies in their work as teachers and the related issue of how a student's everyday grasp of classroom practice has been taken into account in their studies. The paper also raises the issue of the university–school relationship through students' estimations of the impact that their participation in teacher education has brought to the school in which they work and other key aspects of the university–school relationship.     

高职生顶岗实习期间的自身发展

作为高职类大专院校,从理论教学到校企联合办学,再到毕业前半年的顶岗实习。为了更好的适应社会,顶岗实习期间的自身发展则显得尤为重要。     

In their own words: a qualitative study of the reasons Australian university students plagiarize

The ways in which universities and individual academics attempt to deter and respond to student plagiarism may be based on untested assumptions about particular or primary reasons for this behaviour. Using a series of group interviews, this qualitative study gathered the views of 56 Australian university students on the possible reasons for plagiarism within their institution. The results indicate a wide and disparate range of possible contributing reasons for plagiarism, including: institutional admission criteria; student understanding of plagiarism; poor academic skills; a range of teaching and learning factors; personality factors; and external pressures. These findings are compared with other findings about reasons for student plagiarism in Australasia. The implications of these findings are considered for universities and individual academics seeking to better engage with their students to minimize or marginalize plagiarism.     

How Mexican students perceive their classroom experience from their professors

Tertiary Education and Management - What relationships exist between Mexican students and their professors? This paper compares student expectations with their experiences. This comparison is done...     

How people make their own environments: a theory of genotype greater than environment effects

We propose a theory of development in which experience is directed by genotypes. Genotypic differences are proposed to affect phenotypic differences, both directly and through experience, via 3 kinds of genotype leads to environment effects: a passive kind, through environments provided by biologically related parents; an evocative kind, through responses elicited by individuals from others; and an active kind, through the selection of different environments by different people. The theory adapts the 3 kinds of genotype-environment correlations proposed by Plomin, DeFries, and Loehlin in a developmental model that is used to explain results from studies of deprivation, intervention, twins, and families.     

中国汽车工业如何培育自主知识产权

“没有自主品牌，我们造再多的车，也是别人的附庸，顶多就是一个汽车大国，而非强国；有了自主的品牌，虽然目前弱小，但经过多年不懈的努力，我们一定会成为汽车强国。”一个汽车界前辈的话发自肺腑。     

引导学生在纠正自己的错误中提高

针对传统课堂教学模式提出采用以“教师为主导学生为主体，问题为中心，提高为目的”的教学方法，运用“现代教育技术，探究性学习，开放式教学”的教学手段，引导学生亲自感受错误，纠正错误，不断提高，获取新知。     

谈大学生自主创业——以学生自营送餐业务实践为例

大学生创业既可以增强大学生的实践操作能力、组织协调能力、心理承受能力、团队合作精神和社会适应能力,也是解决当前就业难问题的一个比较现实的选择。本文结合江阴职业技术学院李同学自营送餐业务的创业实践,与大家探讨大学生自主创业的缘由、困惑及引导问题。     

Epistemological Issues in Phenomenological Research: How Authoritative Are People's Accounts of their own Perceptions?

Science tends to find a solution to the problem of the unreliability of human perception by understanding objectivity as the absence of subjectivity. However, from a phenomenological point of view, subjectivity is not so much a problem as an inevitable starting-point. That does not mean that the problem of the correctness of people's accounts of their own perceptions is no problem at all—in fact the problem is so great that the authority of a person's knowledge of his or her own mind can be doubted. The problem of subjectivity can only be solved when it is related to the problem of interpretation. Analyses of narratives are interpretations of interpretations. The phenomenologist must make sure that the data he or she analyses are lived interpretations and not interpretations of interpretations.     

Lifelong learners: in their own words

This paper draws on research that utilized principles of grounded theory to inquire into the most significant learning relationships throughout the lives of individuals. The partners in this informal learning alliance are defined as ‘learner’ and ‘mentor’. The structure of these alliances is described and the learners' perspective of the alliance is presented. Some meaningful relationships are ascribed to formal settings of schools and colleges, but most take place in social, familial, and community settings, with learning outcomes reported as important for personal development and citizenship. Traditional mentor partnerships are primarily learning relationships and as such are valuable sources of data for those interested in the process of lifelong learning, and what learners value in learning alliances. Traditional mentoring should be considered as valuable as more formal teaching, as it promotes sustainable learning by means of reflection and reflexivity, and appears to be self-perpetuating.     

How consistently do students use their alternative conceptions?

Existing research indicates that many students hold an alternative conception that “an object in motion must have a force pushing it along”, but they do not apply this conception consistently to problems involving different types of motion. This project was designed to investigate the degree of consistency of student responses to questions concerned with linear motion. The results indicated that most students were unable to consistently apply either the alternative conception or the correct scientific response. The students appeared to have a general problem in recognising similarities between contexts, even when the contexts were closely related. The results also suggested that the responses of some students were influenced by contextual factors such as the nature of the moving body, the direction of the motion and the speed of the motion. Specialization: science education.     

How high school students envision their STEM career pathways

Given that many urban students exclude Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics careers from their career choices, the present study focuses on urban high school students and adopts the social-cultural approach to understand the following questions: how do students envision their careers? What are the experiences that shape students’ self-reflections? And how do students’ self-reflections influence the way they envision their future careers? Five students were interviewed and data were coded in two ways: by topic domains and confidence levels. The research findings indicate that: first, a lack of information about future careers limits students from developing effective strategic plans; second, students’ perceived ability to handle situations of potential barriers and communications with their parents might contribute to their certainty about and confidence in future careers.     

Feeling and dealing: Teaching white students about racial privilege

In order to determine to what extent a one-semester course in multicultural education could help white teacher education students develop a white anti-racist identity, interview data and course writings from five participants enrolled in Education 205 were collected and then analyzed qualatively according to attitudes and behaviours described in Helms (1990) [Black and white racial identity: Theory, research and practices. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press] model of white racial identity development. Results indicate that Education 205 seemed to served as a catalyst for development of students' racial identities, but more than one course is needed to guide and support white students as they progress towards further development of a positive white anti-racist identity.     

用成功教育转化学习困难生

“失败是成功之母” ,这是千年古训。但从学生的心理特点这个角度来说 ,我认为“成功”才是成功之母。一次刻骨铭心的失败 ,往往会催毁一个人的自信 ,甚至因此毁了他的一生 ;而一次小小的成功却能够激活一个潜在的巨大的自信 ,使他走向新的成功。所谓成功教育 ,即通过改革教育观念和教育方法 ,不断帮助学生成功 ,提高学生的自信心和学习积极性 ,形成成功心理和积极学习的内部动力机制 ,成为学习的成功者。1　生物学教育中学生学习困难原因分析据有关资料的调查认为 ,学习困难生占学生总数的 6～ 10 %。生物学科同其它众多学科一样 ,也存在着…     

Teaching the psychosocial subject: white students and racial privilege

This inquiry poses the question: How can white college students be induced or incited into recognizing themselves as racially marked and privileged people? The author examines white resistance to racial self-understanding by analyzing the relation between white racial identity development theory, appeals to racial discourses and themes, and the psychic need to defend against perceived threats to identity. By situating an analysis of these relations within the current crisis of whiteness, the author illustrates the psychosocial dynamics of white racial identity development. The aim of the study is to develop a conceptual approach that can inform the thought and practice of antiracist educators who seek to develop effective instructional strategies for teaching white students about racial privilege.