Education,Welfare Reform and Psychological Well-Being: A Critical Psychology Perspective

There are established links between education and well-being, and between poverty and education. This article draws on interviews with parents of school-aged children impacted by a policy in the UK commonly referred to as the ‘bedroom tax’. A critical psychology perspective to education is put forward, acknowledging the complex interrelationships between psychological well-being, sociopolitical factors and education.     

Collaborative Development and Evaluation of an Online Nursing Course

Institutions of higher education acknowledge that online learning represents a growing segment of the modern learning environment, and most students have mastered basic computer skills. However, reluctance to engage in online learning remains among both faculty and students. This article presents a case study of three schools of nursing that collaboratively developed and implemented an online undergraduate-nursing course. The article discusses the challenges that were encountered by faculty and students. The faculty used the distance education literature to address these challenges related to technological, institutional, and pedagogical aspects of online learning, as well as the recruitment and retention of online learners. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the course. The paper concludes with suggestions to overcome the challenges of online learning, such that faculty and students receive the inherent rewards.     

Principal Recruitment: An Empirical Evaluation of a School District’s Internal Pool of Principal Certified Personnel

Applicant pools for principal vacancies are shrinking nationwide. This shortage of job applicants requires school districts to evaluate their internal pools of principal certified personnel. In this study, 194 certified individuals from a large school district responded to a survey measuring attraction to the job of principal, current job satisfaction versus expected satisfaction in the job of principal, barriers to pursuing the job, and recommended changes in the job. Few participants intended to apply for principal vacancies due to age (median=51), lack of self-reported capability to do the job, and satisfaction with the current job. Participants perceived their job satisfaction would decrease on assuming the job of principal relative to factors such as time with family and job security, and increase relative to factors such as salary and opportunity to experience varied activities. Implications for principal recruitment and recommendations for restructuring the job are discussed.     

Paired Reading: a study of process and outcome

A peer tutored Paired Reading (PR) project was organised involving 10 and 11 year old pupils at two primary schools. Outcome was assessed by reading age. Tutor and tutee behaviour during PR was analysed by sessional tape recordings. The study indicates that many of the tutors involved in this project failed to follow PR procedures closely, that all tutors employed reinforcement at very low rates, that many important errors were left uncorrected, and that tutors were consistent in their adherence to (or neglect of) the procedures in which they had been trained.

There appeared to be no influence of tutees’ initial reading age on either tutee or tutor behaviour during PR sessions. No aspect of either tutee or tutor behaviour during PR was associated with size of reading gain.

Mechanisms underlying the apparent effectiveness of PR (and a number of other tutoring techniques for oral reading) are discussed in the context of the apparent absence of any relationship between tutor adherence to PR and tutee reading gains.     

Is students’ energy literacy related to their university’s position in a sustainability ranking?

Abstract

University rankings are increasingly important internationally, and in the UK include a sustainability ‘Green League’. However, there is little evidence about experiences of studying in ‘sustainable universities’. We report an empirical study at five universities in varied positions in the Green League, exploring students’ energy literacy, environmental attitudes and perceptions of their institution’s energy-saving efforts. Although the link to energy literacy is not clear, findings suggest that there are significant differences between students’ environmental attitudes at universities placed at different points in the league. In addition, students at higher ranked universities are more positive about their university’s energy-saving efforts, suggesting that these institutions may exhibit more overt manifestations of sustainability. This is important since students report being more likely to choose energy-conservation behaviours if there is visible representation of energy use. The study is the first to attempt a comparison between universities at different positions in a sustainability ranking.     

Physiotherapy Student Clinical Education: the influence of subjective judgements on observational assessment

The process of assessing students on clinical placements has to date been under‐researched. In particular, while the involvement of subjective judgements in assessing students has been discussed in the literature, there has been no attempt to look for systematic evidence. This paper comprises the first attempt to relate judgement theory to the assessment of vocational education. Preliminary results demonstrate that physiotherapy assessors made subjective judgements of their students, that these contributed to the determination of assessment grades, and that in certain cases these judgements were erroneous. The relationship of these subjective judgements to the awarding of grades via a supposedly objective assessment instrument is not yet known. Given the widespread use of such assessment instruments across different professions, the question raised is whether all observational assessment systems suffer from similar problems. If students are being judged on criteria not included on assessment instruments, perhaps the other criteria being used need to be made more explicit.