SELF‐DIRECTED LEARNING AMONG ADULTS ENROLLED IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Relationships between self‐directed learning projects of adults and the directed learning activities comprising a community college curriculum need to be developed and clarified. Learning projects are defined as a series of related episodes where individuals intentionally spend seven or more hours to gain and retain fairly certain knowledge, information or skills. Trained interviewers used a structured interview format to investigate a total of 290 learning projects conducted by 41 males enrolled in a community college. During the 12 months preceeding the interview, subjects completed an average of 7 learning projects, devoting an average of 285 hours to each learning project. The learning projects were self‐directed (56%), for immediate or future use (57%), not motivated by academic credit (79%), acquired information from another person (57%), and resulted in a large amount of knowledge gained (63%). The results suggest that, even when adults are enrolled in a formal academic program, their learning projects are self‐directed, intrinsically motivated, and pragmatically oriented. The findings imply that: (a) procedures to utilize intrinsic motivation could be more widely employed in curricula design; and (b) the teacher of adults would best serve students as a facilitator who guides and supports learning.     

Division,result and score margin alter the physical and technical performance of elite wheelchair tennis players

ABSTRACT

This study determined the physical and technical demands of elite wheelchair tennis (WT) match-play, how the demands differed between divisions (Men, Women, Quad) and the effect that set result and score margin had on these demands. Seventeen WT players were monitored during a singles competition. Physical measures of performance were analysed using an indoor tracking system and inertial measurement units. Technical measures of performance were examined using video analysis. Physical measures of performance differed by division (Men > Women > Quad) for most parameters. Rallies were longer during Men’s (P = 0.027) and Women’s (P = 0.004) matches compared to Quad’s and fewer shots were hit off 2 bounces in Men’s matches compared to Women’s and Quad’s (P ≤ 0.026). High-speed activity (HSA) increased during losing sets (P = 0.043). Most physical measures of performance increased by moderate to large effects during sets with a small score margin (≤3 games differential). Mean speed and HSA were similar during losing sets, regardless of margin, but decreased (large effects) when winning by a large margin. This study demonstrated the physical and technical demands that elite WT players need to be prepared for and how situational factors can influence these demands.     

A design model: the Autism Spectrum Disorder Classroom Design Kit

Architects and designers have a responsibility to provide an inclusive built environment. However, for those with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the built environment can be a frightening and confusing place, difficult to negotiate and tolerate. The challenge of integrating more fully into society is denied by an alienating built environment. For ASD pupils in a poorly designed school, their environment can distance them from learning. Instead, if more at ease in their surroundings, in an ASD‐friendly environment, the ASD pupil stands a greater chance of doing better. However, a difficulty exists in that most architects are not knowledgeable in designing for those with ASD. Any available design guidelines for architects tend, because of the inherent difficulties associated with a spectrum, to be general in their information. Therefore, in order to provide an ASD‐friendly learning environment, there is a need to ensure that teachers, as the experts, can most clearly and effectively impart their knowledge and requirements to architects. This article, written by Keith McAllister and Barry Maguire, both from Queen's University Belfast, sets out the challenges and difficulties inherent in the design process when designing for those with ASD. It then sets out an alternative strategy to the usual method of drawing‐centric dialogue between teacher and architect by using models instead as a basis for a more common language. An ASD Classroom Design Kit was designed and developed by architecture students at Queen's University Belfast. It was then used by ASD teaching staff from the Southern Education and Library Board in Northern Ireland as a case study to trial its effectiveness. This article outlines how the study was carried out before concluding with reflections by both teaching staff and architect on using the ASD Classroom Design Kit. It is hoped, firstly, that this article will highlight the need for better dialogue between expert and architect when considering ASD and the built environment and, secondly, that it may encourage others to consider using models to convey their ideas and knowledge when designing, not just for ASD, but for other special educational needs and disabilities.     

Academic achievement in first-year university: who maintains their high school average?

The present study investigates the characteristics which differentiate between first-year university students who maintain their high school averages (Maintainers: n = 165) and those whose averages decrease at least one letter grade (Decliners: n = 435). The 600 students entered first year at one of six Canadian Universities, which varied in size and ethnic diversity. Data were collected in August, prior to the start of school, and in November of first year. Multivariate analyses indicated significant group differences between Maintainers and Decliners on familial variables (gender, fathers’ education level, but not family income, parental reciprocity, parental support or immigrant/generational status), psychological well-being (perceived stress in August and November, and November depression, self-esteem and health), and university adjustment (university plans, transition perception, time management and university adaptation). The current study addresses a gap in the existing academic achievement literature, while providing practical information to students, parents, and educators involved in the transition to university.     

Dueling Co-Authors: How Collaborators Create and Sometimes Solve Contributorship Conflicts

Publishing is central to the academic reward system. Contributorship issues loom large in this context. The need for fairness in authorship decisions is upheld in most collaborations, yet some collaborations are plagued by “nightmare” issues ranging from inappropriate authorship credit to author order issues to exploitation of students and postdocs. This present work analyzes the mechanisms that researchers use for addressing problems in research collaboration and authorship. The data are derived from face-to-face, phone or Skype interviews with 60 university researchers. The extent to which author crediting decisions are explicitly or implicitly communicated and communicated in advance versus in the aftermath of the completion of research are central features in conflict resolution. Explicit approaches are associated with fields characterized by large or infrastructure-intensive projects, whereas implicit approaches often represent unspoken discipline-based norms. Efforts to educate students in how to manage authoring decisions tend to use advance methods. Problems stemming from a difficult researcher’s actions cross these categories. Early communication would seem to be useful for issue resolution, but it is not widely used in part because it can lock-in to an author crediting plan too tightly and reduce flexibility as research directions change.     

Standardized test outcomes for students engaged in inquiry‐based science curricula in the context of urban reform

Considerable effort has been made over the past decade to address the needs of learners in large urban districts through scaleable reform initiatives. We examine the effects of a multifaceted scaling reform that focuses on supporting standards based science teaching in urban middle schools. The effort was one component of a systemic reform effort in the Detroit Public Schools, and was centered on highly specified and developed project‐based inquiry science units supported by aligned professional development and learning technologies. Two cohorts of 7th and 8th graders that participated in the project units are compared with the remainder of the district population, using results from the high‐stakes state standardized test in science. Both the initial and scaled up cohorts show increases in science content understanding and process skills over their peers, and significantly higher pass rates on the statewide test. The relative gains occur up to a year and a half after participation in the curriculum, and show little attenuation with in the second cohort when scaling occurred and the number of teachers involved increased. The effect of participation in units at different grade levels is independent and cumulative, with higher levels of participation associated with similarly higher achievement scores. Examination of results by gender reveals that the curriculum effort succeeds in reducing the gender gap in achievement experienced by urban African‐American boys. These findings demonstrate that standards‐based, inquiry science curriculum can lead to standardized achievement test gains in historically underserved urban students, when the curriculum is highly specified, developed, and aligned with professional development and administrative support. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 922–939, 2008