Universities and the Professional Development of Teachers: credentialling and beyond

In recent times, in a context of salary award restructuring, government and employer concerns for raising the educational standards and skill levels of Australia's workforce through retraining, and changes in career patterns and pathways to promotion, attention has focused on the role of universities in continuing professional education (CPE). Typically, the focus has been on credentialling and opening up access to award courses in universities, but also there are implications for universities themselves and their educational interface with government and the education industry. This paper focuses on this aspect of current trends in the professional development of teachers and considers its implications for the universities, teacher employers and the profession. It also aims to go beyond credentialling in the professional development of teachers by addressing alternatives to credentialling by universities.     

Substance abuse and behavioral correlates of sexual assault among South African adolescents

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is twofold: first, to examine the prevalence of being the victim of actual and attempted rape among a large representative sample of Cape Town high school students; and second, to identify the correlates of sexual assault for both boys and girls, including alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, behavioral problems, and suicidality. METHOD: Data for this study were derived from the 1997 South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (SACENDU) school survey. A stratified sampling procedure was used to select students in Grades 8 and 11 at non-private high schools in Cape Town. A total of 2,946 students completed a survey consisting of socio-demographic questions and items about substance abuse, sexual activity, and other adolescent health risk behaviors. A subsample of 939 was randomly selected to complete items about sexual violence. RESULTS: The results revealed that 8.4% of respondents were victims of attempted rape, while 5.8% were victims of actual rape. Ordinal logistic regression showed that girls were 3.9 times more likely than boys to have been victims of sexual abuse. Family structure was also significantly related to rape as persons who lived with a single parent (OR = 1.74, CI = 1.00-3.04) and those who resided with one biological parent and one step parent (OR = 2.59, CI = 1.34-5.01) were more likely to have been have been victims of sexual abuse than those living with both biological parents. Alcohol use (OR = 2.0, CI = 1.10-3.62), anti-social behavior (stolen property, caused physical damage to property, bullied others, or been in physical fights) (OR = 1.44, CI = 1.12-1.86), suicidal dialogue (OR = 2.48, CI = 1.19-5.19), and suicidal attempts (OR = 3.2, CI = 1.65-6.30) were also significant predictors of sexual abuse victimization. Racially classified social groups (RCSG), age, drug use, and cigarette smoking were not significant predictors of sexual abuse victimization, while socioeconomic status was found to be marginally significant. CONCLUSION: This study reinforces the importance of multiple factors including alcohol use, anti-social behavior, suicidal thoughts and actions, and family structure with respect to sexual assault of adolescents in South Africa. Establishing and strengthening intervention programs, school based child protective protocols, professional education of teachers and school personnel, community prevention programs, and initiatives could help prevent adolescent sexual violence and reduce the sequelae associated with this problem.     

The study of academic department performance

The paper proposes a systems model of academic department performance and reports an empirical test of the model in a set of 20 departments. Departmental input and process variables related to eight departmental outcomes were identified: (1) student satisfaction with their overall learning experience, (2) student satisfaction with faculty, (3) student satisfaction with academic advising, (4) student graduate school admissions ratio, (5) student employment in field ratio, (6) faculty satisfaction with departmental research quality, (7) faculty job satisfaction, and (8) degrees conferred per faculty member. The eight departmental outcomes were found to be largely independent of one another and predicted by relatively unique patterns of departmental characteristics. Salient among the correlates of departmental outcomes were faculty workload, tenure pattern, and disciplinary differences.Presented at the Nineteenth Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, San Diego, California, May 1979.     

A Review of “Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education. (Vols. 1–4)”

This article adopts an existentialist lens to examine the phenomenon of entering conflict with other human beings and the potential effects of such engagement on identity. In particular, it explores a teacher's active engagement (or lack thereof) in conflict as a response to the humiliation or degradation of a student. The comfort of a secure current identity and the risk that conflict poses to such an identity is posited as both the catalyst and barrier to active engagement. The point of conflict presents the teacher with a choice between self-protection and courageous sacrifice. This article attempts to expose the under-workings of such a decision through the use of narrative, depicting a situation of potential conflict between teacher and student.     

Zinc phosphate dental cements

A spectrophotometric method of determining total visual transmission and visual density of non-neutral light filters is described. In addition, this method is utilized in determining density and gamma intensification produced by tones in color motion picture work and the importance of intensification control is emphasized.     

Analyzing repeat consumption of identical cultural goods: some exploratory evidence from moviegoing

This study offers a preliminary exploration of repeat consumption of identical cultural goods, specifically moviegoing. The term ‘identical’ in this study refers to cases where, for example, individuals view the same film at a movie theater, in a short time interval, on more than one occasion i.e. experiencing the cultural good in precisely the same format. It is not meant to embrace the case of individuals who, for example, view a particular film at a movie theater and then see it some time later in another format, such as via a DVD player. The repeat viewing phenomenon is discussed and then considered empirically. Films aimed predominantly at children attract the highest number of repeat views, while those aimed at an older audience attract significantly fewer repeat views. The profile of repeat viewers of the 10 films which attracted the greatest number of repeat viewers was subject to more detailed scrutiny. In general, repeat viewers tend to be younger but the gender balance differs markedly according to film content. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 3rd European Workshop on Applied Cultural Economics, University of Oviedo in Aviles, Spain 14–16 June 2007 and the 9th International Conference on Arts and Cultural Management (AIMAC), Fundación Universidad Empresa (ADEIT), Valencia, Spain 8–11 July 2007. We are grateful for comments received and the usual caveat applies.     

熊猫——那一次令人担忧的震动

2008年5月份发生的地震撼动了华中地区,粗略统计有70 000人遇难。地震也惊扰了63只圈养在卧龙自然保护区的大熊猫。卧龙自然保护区位于距离震中不足20英里的山区。一只名叫"毛毛"的卧龙大熊     

Dissonance in first-year students’ reflections on their learning

This paper presents the findings of an interview study of first-year engineering students’ approaches to study. Data is presented to illustrate the construct of “dissonant study orchestration” as it is manifested in the everyday academic reality of these students’ learning behaviour. This data is theorised within a student’s-experiences-oflearning framework and patterns of study approach considered atypical of or theoretically undesirable within, the model used to determine them are presented and discussed. Individual-level, qualitatively different patterns of “dissonant” orchestration are articulated. The conclusion to the paper argues that the qualitative distinctions apparent amongst dissonant approaches present particular challenges to academic practitioners whose aim is the improvement of these students’ learning behaviour.