PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGE-LEVEL COURSES AMONG STUDENTS CONCURRENTLY ENROLLED IN REMEDIAL COURSES: POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Community colleges utilize open-door admission policies to provide educational opportunities for all students, including those who are academically under-prepared in one or more areas. Current approaches to assisting under-prepared students include the targeted delivery of remedial courses in math, English, and reading. This approach typically relies on the use of standardized placement tests to determine whether students have remedial needs. Based on those placement test scores, students may have a remedial need in only one of the core academic areas (e.g., math, English, or reading). In such cases, students may concurrently enroll in required remedial courses and college-level courses unrelated to the area in which they are considered to be academically under-prepared. The research reported in this article evaluated the assumption that a student's under-preparedness is limited to a specific area by assessing the college-level performance of students concurrently enrolled in remedial and college-level courses. The results show that college-level pass rates are much lower among students concurrently enrolled in remedial courses who do not successfully complete one or more of these remedial courses. These students under-perform irrespective of the type of college-level course. In contrast, students who pass their remedial courses are generally successful in their college-level courses. Policy implications in regard to developmental education are discussed.     

‘But how can those students make it here?’: examining the institutional discourse about what it means to be ‘LD’ at an Ivy League university

In this paper, I examine and critique the construction of ‘learning disabilities’ at an Ivy League university in the USA. Drawn from a study of the experiences of learning disabled labelled Ivy undergraduates, this paper focuses on the language practices, assumptions, and power relationships that characterize the University discourse within and against which these diverse learners shape their educational lives and identities. Using discourse analysis techniques, I analyse University policies and practices to illuminate the complex, disempowering discourse about what it means to be ‘LD’ at the University. I conclude with possibilities for constructing an alternative discourse about learning diversity.     

Technology,Professional Development and Innovations: assessing change

ABSTRACT

A telecommunications and multimedia inservice project, called Telecommunications, Environmental Education, and Multimedia (TEEM), in Arizona USA, includes the study of an evolving professional development venture that connected university‐based preparation with the ongoing education of teachers that was school based, teacher determined, and aligned to K‐12 content. This paper describes that project, its components and its intent to pro‐actively move beyond traditional forms of inservice efforts through a number of innovations which create change. Within the context of this project, the authors describe a “circling” process that accompanies the continuously evolving professional development efforts to remain teacher and school focused.     

Abstraction,Design, and Theory in Computer Science: A Liberal Arts Course

The primary thesis of this article is that undergraduates of any major can understand the important theories of computer science (CS) and the relevance of computing technology. We propose that by conceptualizing CS service courses as liberal education classes that emphasize such topics, we can move students from a state of technological ignorance and fear to one of understanding and appreciation of technology. Here, we provide an instance of such a course. A detailed explanation of the course and student and instructor evaluations are described and discussed.     

Apprenticeships,Collaboration and Scientific Discovery in Academic Field Studies

Teachers may use apprenticeships and collaboration as instructional strategies that help students to make authentic scientific discoveries as they work as amateur researchers in academic field studies. This concept was examined with 643 students, ages 14–72, who became proficient at field research through cognitive apprenticeships with the Smithsonian Institute, School for Field Studies and Earthwatch. Control student teams worked from single research goals and sets of methods, while experimental teams varied goals, methods, and collaborative activities in Kenya, Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador. Results from studies indicate that students who conducted local pilot studies, collaborative symposia, and ongoing, long-term fieldwork generated significantly more data than did control groups. Research reports of the experimental groups were ranked highest by experts, and contributed the most data to international science journals. Data and anecdotal information in this report indicate that structured collaboration in local long-term studies using apprenticeships may increase the potential for students' academic field studies contribution of new information to science.     

A Practical Tennis Serve Test: Measurement of Skill under Simulated Game Conditions

The Avery-Richardson Tennis Service Test was constructed to maximize the practical relationship between skills tests and playing situations. The test incorporates the game-like criteria of two balls per trial, service attempts to both right and left service courts, and comparable credit for flat, slice, and spin serves. In addition, norms were established for both college males and females at beginning and intermediate skill levels in tennis. Construct validity was established for the service test. There was a significant difference [F (1, 306) = 30.18, p < .00001] between beginning males and intermediate males, as well as a significant difference [F (1, 334) = 48.39, p < .00001] between beginning and intermediate females. To determine reliability, 93 males and 59 females were given the test on two separate occasions. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated with resulting reliability estimates which ranged from .64 to .80 for the groups studied.     

Teacher versus Peer Models Revisited: Effects on Motor Performance and Self-Efficacy

Abstract

This study reinvestigated and extended the findings of Landers and Landers (1973), which examined the influence of skilled and unskilled teacher and peer models on motor performance. Sixth grade females (N = 100) were randomly assigned to groups in a 2 × 2 (Model Type × Model Skill) factorial design or to a no-model group. In the treatment groups, subjects observed one of four unfamiliar models—(a) a skilled teacher, (b) an unskilled teacher, (c) a skilled peer, or (d) an unskilled peer—perform on the Bachman ladder task. Subjects performed 30 trials of the task and also completed self-efficacy questionnaires on three occasions. Results showed that subjects who watched a skilled model performed better than subjects who watched an unskilled model. Unlike the Landers and Landers study, no model type by model skill interaction was found. In addition, the skilled model group reported higher efficacy beliefs than the control group after performing and were more efficacious than the unskilled model subjects both after watching the model and after performing. These results suggest when students view unfamiliar models, the skill rather than the status of the model may be more salient.