Religious education and the interwar intellectuals: a secularism case study

ABSTRACT

For some time now, the idea of secularism has been the subject of renewed scrutiny. Statistical portraits, representing a simple, if relentless, narrative have been increasingly disparaged by scholars as unhelpful. Statistical secularism, as we may call it, tells a story of decline and little else. It is incapable of telling the real story which is one in which religious experience becomes hyper-fragmented. The memoirs and reminiscences of those English intellectuals who came to maturity in the interwar period have a contribution to make to this discussion. These pieces of life-writing reveal both the march of secularism in action but also the emergence of new religious experiences. At the heart of these radical changes was a widespread dissatisfaction with the way in which they were taught their religious faith. Where the experts of their day cautioned against teaching students doctrine, students like Evelyn Waugh, W. H. Auden and John Betjeman were particularly critical of that very concession. Thus, we get the chance to tease out an attitudinal pattern towards the religious education of the period and its contribution to the growing experience of secularism.     

Tutoring deaf students in higher education: a comparison of baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate student perceptions

Seventy-three deaf college students completed a survey examining perceptions about tutoring outcomes and emphases, characteristics of tutors, and responsibilities associated with learning through tutoring. The comparisons revealed that while baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate students have many similar perceptions about tutoring, there are also some striking differences. In particular, as compared to the sub-baccalaureate students, baccalaureate students have a stronger preference for focusing on course content and for working with tutors who actively involve them during the tutoring sessions. In addition, baccalaureate students prefer to decide the focus of the tutoring themselves while sub-baccalaureate students tend to leave the decision to the tutor. The results of the analyses with three scales measuring perceptions of tutoring dimensions are summarized and recommendations for the selection and preparation of tutors, as well as for future research, are provided.     

Theoretical Value Belief, Cognitive Ability, and Personality as Predictors of Student Performance in Object-Oriented Programming Environments

The research described in this article reports the results of a study designed to evaluate the relationship among object‐oriented (OO) computer programming task performance and a student's (1) theoretical value belief, (2) cognitive ability, and (3) personality. The results of this study do not support the assertion that cognitive ability is a main determinant of performance. Rather, the findings suggest that characteristics of an individual nature have more effect on a student's performance. This supports our belief advanced herein that theoretical value belief and personality are significant predictors of computer programming performance in OO environments. From the findings of this study, we assert that academicians who must teach OO computer programming consider these factors when developing course materials or student assistance programs.     

Interactive Multimedia for Engineering Education

Our main educational objective is to support the new, multi-faceted, dynamically changing learning experiences that real life imposes on us and on our students. We have to recognize that traditional, mass produced, highly controlled static and rigid educational methods cannot cope with the increased amount of information, knowledge and inferencing requirements of this rapidly changing world. The life cycle of critical design and manufacturing technologies is contracting. Concepts such as time-to-market, total quality management, local design, global manufacture, concurrent or simultaneous engineering, parallel design and manufacturing, intelligent design and intelligent manufacturing systems are widely accepted. These new technologies require multi-skilled and well-educated engineers and managers as well as flexible and feedback-controlled manufacturing technologies, such as cellular manufacture, computer-integrated manufacturing, concurrent engineering and flexible manufacturing system. It is important to recognize that we are living in an era when the customers, not the designers or salesmen, are the kings. Customers require increasingly better products at a lower cost. In other words, products require continuous improvement and change, therefore flexible design and manufacture and the appropriate level of automation must be provided throughout the life cycle of product development. In the education business the customers are the learners, i.e. students entering access courses, college and university courses, mature students who are prepared to study in the evenings at home, at the university, or in open learning centres. Furthermore, there are a large number of continuing education students and other professionals seeking new focused knowledge in this rapidly changing and extremely competitive world.     

Predicting higher education outcomes and implications for a postsecondary institution ratings system

The accountability of colleges and universities is a high priority for those making policy decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine institutional characteristics predicting retention rates, graduation rates and transfer-out rates using publicly available data from the US Department of Education. Using regression analysis, it was determined there are 14 predictors of the full-time retention rate, 7 predictors of the part-time retention rate, 15 predictors of the graduation rate and 12 predictors of transfer-out rates. Institutions and policymakers could use the results of this analysis to determine the policies that would be beneficial to improving the analysed outcomes. All four analyses indicate good fit with R² ranging from .273 to .828. Some possible policy implications include addressing selectivity if institutions want to improve retention rates and addressing affordability to improve retention and graduation rates.     

Prenatal screening for risk of major parenting problems: further results from the Queen Mary Maternity Hospital Child Care Unit

This research revealed in Stage I the ability to identify during the prenatal period women at risk for possible child abuse and in Stage II an intervention program which when introduced resulted in fewer high-risk mothers relinquishing the care of their infants. The research had two main aims: to use the data from Stages I and II to reassess the criteria for identifying "at risk" mothers, and to develop a brief, easily administered screening questionnaire which could be standardized for widespread prenatal use; and to collect data on a random sample of prenatal patients, to use these data for confirming the validity and stability of the screening procedures, and to estimate the incidence of potentially high-risk mothers in an urban population.     

Special education and the regular education initiative: basic assumptions

The regular education initiative (REI) is a thoughtful response to identified problems in our system for educating low-performing children, but it is a not a detailed blueprint for changing the system. Educators must achieve consensus on what the REI actually proposes. The authors infer from the REI literature five assumptions regarding the roles and responsibilities of elementary regular classroom teachers, concluding that these teachers and specialists form a partnership, but the classroom teachers are ultimately in charge of the instruction of all children in their classrooms, including those who are not succeeding in the mainstream. A discussion of the target population and of several partnership models further delineates REI issues and concerns.