Perceptions of Retirement Affect Career Commitment: The Mediating Role of Retirement System Satisfaction for Two Teacher Age Groups

This study investigated a sample of California elementary, intermediate, and high school employed teachers (N = 247) to assess the effects of retirement perceptions on career commitment among teachers who are in different age groupings. Using path analysis, the influence of five retirement perceptions variables was examined: concerns about retirement benefits, understanding of the retirement system, perceived need for system change, control over the retirement plan, and satisfaction with current salary. The results indicated that the pattern of results differed for younger and older teachers. For the younger (age 21–45) group, concerns about retirement benefits (such as losing or reducing benefits through geographic mobility) and control over the retirement plan had significant, large, and direct effects on career commitment. For the older (age 46+) group, retirement variables had a significant effect on career commitment via the mediator of satisfaction with the retirement system. Given these findings, for younger teachers, strategies might focus on providing greater control over the retirement plan, such as in offering choice in how their retirement monies are invested. Older teachers need to feel safe about retirement in the sense of being satisfied with the system and its benefits to commit to their jobs.     

Learning mechanisms in multidisciplinary teamwork with real customers and open-ended problems

Recently, there has been a trend towards adding a multidisciplinary or multicultural element to traditional monodisciplinary project courses in computing and engineering. In this article, we examine the implications of multidisciplinarity for students' learning experiences during a one-semester project course for real customers. We use a qualitative research approach and base our analysis on students' learning reports on three instances of a project course titled Multidisciplinary working life project. The main contribution of this article is the unified theoretical picture of the learning mechanisms stemming from multidisciplinarity. Our main conclusions are that (1) students generally have a positive view of multidisciplinarity; (2) multidisciplinary teams enable students to better identify their own expertise, which leads to increased occupational identity; and (3) learning experiences are not fixed, as team spirit and student attitude play an important role in how students react to challenging situations arising from introduction of the multidisciplinarity.     

Assessing the Worth of the College Degree on Self-perceived Police Performance

Many formal policies have suggested that officers need a college degree; however, policies forced little change in practices of American police organizations. Six hundred-fifty patrol officers employed in 12 medium-sized police departments in three Midwestern states were surveyed as to their current educational attainment and job performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between educational level and police performance.     

Technologies and Reformed-Based Science Instruction: The Examination of a Professional Development Model Focused on Supporting Science Teaching and Learning with Technologies

Journal of Science Education and Technology - While access to computers, other technologies, and cyber-enabled resources that could be leveraged for enhancing student learning in science is...