Rationales for relevance in higher education

The recent movement to increase relevance in education is examined from the perspective of how changes in the family have affected the needs of contemporary college students and their teachers. The discussion includes changes in sex-role distinctions in the family, young people's sense of intimacy and betrayal, and the effect on affluent students of the arrival of working-class people on college campuses. the role of feelings in academic work is examined by reviewing the role and purpose of the self-analytic group and its contribution to the psychological development of students.

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Résumé L'auteur étudie la récente évolution vers l'accroissement de la pertinence dans l'enseignement, en vue de déterminer comment les changements au sein des familles on affecté les besoins des étudiants des universités modernes et de leurs professeurs. Cette étude comprend une analyse des changements dans la distinction des sexes au sein de la famille, le sens d'intimité et de trahison manifesté par les jeunes, et l'effet produit sur les étudiants aisé par l'afflux des étudiants des classes laborieuses sur les campus universitaires. L'auteur étudie le rôle des sentiments dans le travail universitaire et l'objectif du groupe d'auto-analyse et sa contribution à l'épanouissement psychologique des étudiants.

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He wishes to thank Andrew Effrat, Barbara Finch, Paul Paschke, and Jane Turman for invaluable comments on earlier drafts of the paper.     

Factors related to university presidents' pay: An examination of private colleges and universities

In this research, we used institutionalcharacteristics and market-related factors to predictuniversity president's pay, benefits, and totalcompensation at 190 private colleges and universities. Results showed that university CEOs' pay was relatedto the expenditures, type of institution, theexistence of professional schools, and academicreputation ranking, while their benefits package wasrelated to the expenditure, type of institution,reputation ranking, and undergraduate student'stuition. CEOs' total compensation (pay and benefitscombined) was related to the expenditures, type ofinstitution, reputation ranking, and tuition. Resultsof this study support the notion that agency theorycan be used to provide a theoretical framework topredict university CEOs' pay, benefits, and totalcompensation.     

Exploring problem conceptualization and performance in STEM problem solving contexts

Problem solving abilities are critical components of contemporary Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Research in the area of problem solving has uncovered much about the representation, processes and heuristic approaches to problem solving. However, critics claim this overemphasis on the process of solving problems has led to a dearth in understanding of the earlier stages such as problem conceptualization. This paper aims to address some of these concerns by exploring the area of problem conceptualization and the underlying cognitive mechanisms that may play a supporting role in reasoning success. Participants (N?=?12) were prescribed a series of convergent problem-solving tasks representative of those used for developmental purposes in STEM education. During the problem-solving episodes, cognitive data were gathered by means of an electroencephalographic headset and used to investigate students’ cognitive approaches to conceptualizing the tasks. In addition, interpretive qualitative data in the form of post-task interviews and problem solutions were collected and analyzed. Overall findings indicated a significant reliance on memory during the conceptualization of the convergent problem-solving tasks. In addition, visuospatial cognitive processes were found to support the conceptualization of convergent problem-solving tasks. Visuospatial cognitive processes facilitated students during the conceptualization of convergent problems by allowing access to differential semantic content in long-term memory.

     

数独世界冠军专栏

三届数独世界冠军托马斯聿德（ThomasSnyder）为《大学生》读者们专门设计数独题。辛德曾三次获得数独世界冠军,五次夺得美国数独冠军,他的专业是化学,本科毕业于加州理工学院,在哈佛大学取得博士学位,现是斯坦福大学生物工程学助理研究员。     

Impact of legislation on post‐school transition practice for young people with additional support needs in Scotland

A longitudinal study was conducted to understand post‐school transition practice for young people with additional support needs (ASN) before and after the implementation of key legislation, the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, amended in 2009. Primary data were collected from one local authority in Scotland. Twelve professionals involved in post‐school transition planning were interviewed in 2004 and eight in 2010. Minutes of transition meetings from one school for three young people prior to the implementation of the Act and four after the implementation were analysed. Results show some changes since the implementation of the Act.     

Using Learning Style Instruments to Enhance Student Learning

The emergence of numerous learning style models over the past 25 years has brought increasing attention to the idea that students learn in diverse ways and that one approach to teaching does not work for every student or even most students. We have reviewed five learning style instruments (the Kolb Learning Style Indicator, the Gregorc Style Delineator, the Felder–Silverman Index of Learning Styles, the VARK Questionnaire, and the Dunn and Dunn Productivity Environmental Preference Survey) in this article in order to describe the learning style modes or dimensions measured in the instruments; find the common measures and the differences; report on research on instrument validity, reliability, and possible improvement in student performance; suggest classroom activities that work with the different student learning styles; and recommend selection of models under several conditions. We also review one additional learning style instrument, the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory, as a complementary approach to using one or more of the first five learning style instruments.     

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the rhetorical construction of "bad" scientific work

How are secondary accounts of "bad" scientific practice constructed? How do they engage with the primary data produced by "bad" scientists? And what happens to those primary data as generations of secondary accounts purporting to describe them accumulate? This paper addresses such questions via a case study of Dr. Hong, a microbiologist accused of "bad" scientific practice by numerous secondary accounts of the 2003 SARS outbreak. Bringing Hong's own account of his own actions into dialogue with one of the most influential secondary accounts of his actions, the paper highlights the gross disparity between the two. Having argued that the rhetorical structuring of the secondary account is, ultimately, responsible for Hong's characterisation as a "bad" scientist, it then moves to explore how subsequent accounts developed their own characterisations. What becomes clear is that as secondary accounts began feeding off one another, references to Hong's account disappeared. Aided by the concepts of the "vanishing" and the "phantasm", the paper concludes with a consideration of how this process left Hong's work with a very peculiar form of existence.     

Student teachers’ knowledge integration across conceptual borders: the role of study approaches,learning strategies,beliefs, and motivation

There is widespread agreement that student teachers need to construct an integrated knowledge base across multiple domains. This study examined the contributions of intraindividual factors of self-regulated learning to explaining student teachers’ (a) integration of knowledge across topics and domains (i.e., integrative learning) and (b) disjointed processing of potentially domain-specific learning content (i.e., separative learning). The factors considered were study approaches; cognitive, metacognitive, and resource-related learning strategy use; epistemological and pedagogical beliefs; and career choice motivation. The study applied a cross-sectional survey design and examined separative and integrative learning in N = 103 student teachers by way of multiple regression analyses with backward eliminations. A key finding is that deep and strategic study approaches and certain cognitive learning strategies contributed significantly to explaining integrative learning in student teachers. Epistemological and pedagogical beliefs were not able to predict integrative learning. Regarding separative learning, the study identified the surface study approach, specific epistemological and pedagogical beliefs, and the “usefulness” motive for career choice as positive predictors and critical thinking as a negative predictor. The study demonstrates differences in how integrative and separative learning are shaped by distinct intraindividual factors. Implications are discussed with regard to student teachers’ self-regulated learning and pre-service teacher education.