Heterogeneity in the Effects of College Course Placement

Traditionally colleges have relied on standalone non-credit-bearing developmental education (DE) to support students academically and ensure readiness for college-level courses. As emerging evidence has raised concerns about the effectiveness of DE courses, colleges and states have been experimenting with approaches that place students into credit-bearing coursework more quickly. To better understand which types of students might be most likely to benefit from being placed into college-level math coursework, this study examines heterogeneity in the causal effects of placement into college-level courses using a regression discontinuity design and administrative data from the state of Texas. We focus on student characteristics that are related to academic preparation or might signal a student’s likelihood of success or need for additional support and might therefore be factors considered for placement into college-level courses under “holistic advising” or “multiple measures” initiatives. We find heterogeneity in outcomes for many of the measures we examined. Students who declared an academic major designation, had bachelor’s degree aspirations, tested below college readiness on multiple subjects, were designated as Limited English Proficiency (LEP), and/or were economically disadvantaged status were more likely to benefit from placement into college-level math. Part-time enrollment or being over the age of 21 were associated with reduced benefits from placement into college-level math. We do not find any heterogeneity in outcomes for our high school achievement measure, three or more years of math taken in high school.

     

University research in flux: Policy debate in Australia

After a brief golden age Australian university research faces a difficult future. Two notions, utility and concentration, have become the catchwords of the emerging policy initiatives. Both have tended to be interpreted narrowly and simplistically, utility as having immediate technological applications that will bring economic benefits, and concentration to argue for breaking the teaching-research nexus, reducing the research workforce and thus achieving cost savings. As proposed, both initiatives require more centralised control of research policy and funding. Despite the outstanding record of Australia's universities in research and the absence of evidence to support the benefits claimed for the new initiatives, the pressure for change is gaining momentum. The problems facing Australian universities have much in common with those in other Western countries, although unique solutions must be sought for every setting. This paper argues that, in Australia, the adoption of the easy solution of increased concentration, short-term utility, and centralised control, is likely to compromise the established excellence and diversity in basic research, and to lead to an overall reduction in the scale of university research. Before any changes are instigated, there is a pressing need for a broad-ranging review based on widespread participation in a debate about needs and priorities, and rigorous research into the performance of the existing system and the potential benefits of the changes proposed.     

Student achievement and differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior: Hand raising

Workbook reading achievement of five second-grade girls was assessed under two teacher-contact contingencies. Under one contingency, teacher contacts were made during on-task behavior. Under the other contingency, differential reinforcement of an incompatible behavior (DRI) was in effect, with teacher contacts contingent on students' hand-raising behavior. Both reading achievement and time on task were greater under the on-task contingency than under DRI for hand raising.     

Instructor Reputation and Student Ratings of Instruction

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between instructor reputation, as perceived by students, and student evaluations of the instructor and course. A total of 754 students from 39 classes participated in the study. Based on what students claimed to have heard about the instructor prior to enrolling in the course, they were classified into one of three groups: positive reputation, no information, and negative reputation. Using these groupings, two analyses were performed. In the first, mean overall ratings for the instructor and course were calculated and presented by class. In the second, both instructor and course ratings were modeled using multilevel regression. Results show large mean differences in both instructor and course ratings between the positive and negative reputation groups. More specifically, students who heard positive information regarding the instructor's reputation rated both the instructor and course higher than students who heard negative information about the instructor.     

The Representation of Altruistic and Egoistic Motivations in Children’s TV Programming

A content analysis of children’s television examined the frequency with which behaviors were (a) driven by altruistic versus egoistic motivations, (b) performed by affable/surly characters, (c) rewarded/punished, and (d) present in content popular among different age groups (2–5, 6–11, and 12–17 years old). We found that portrayal patterns stressed the importance of egoistic motivations (particularly competence, autonomy, and relatedness) for older children. The findings are interpreted in line with logic underlying the model of intuitive morality and exemplars (MIME; Tamborini, 2013), suggesting that media representations can influence the motivations of their viewers.     

Critical moments: pre-service mathematics teachers’ narrative arcs and mathematical orientations over 20 years

This study explores narratives about critical moments in mathematics learning written by K-8 pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) in the United States over a 20-year period. These critical moments, such as a single memorable task, course, test, or comment from a teacher, had a powerful and sustained impact on PSTs’ mathematics identities, which they carried with them as they entered the teaching profession. We classified narratives using McCulloch et al. (Sch Sci Math 113(8):380–389, 2013) and Drake’s (J Math Teach Educ 9(6):579–608, 2006) categories and found a potentially new category, Taking the Reins. We also classified PSTs’ mathematics orientations as either relational (oriented toward creative problem solving and conceptual understanding) or instrumental (enacting rote procedures without meaning) (Skemp in Math Teach 77(1):20–26, 1976). Many PSTs identified a causal relationship between their mathematics orientations and narrative arcs: relational learning opportunities encouraged positive narratives, while instrumental learning opportunities either resulted in negative narrative arcs or positive but fragile mathematics identities that crumbled under minor stress. We found little variation over time in the nature and prevalence of the narrative arcs and mathematics orientations, suggesting that any changes in mathematics teaching practices over time were not reflected in students’ learning experiences.