The problem of student attrition in higher education: An alternative perspective

Student attrition continues to be a significant and costly challenge for higher education institutions across the globe. In Australia, universities cite the importance of addressing student attrition through strategic statements and policy documents, and expend time and resources on the problem. Despite vast expenditures, they have made little impact on student attrition, which continues to negatively impact reputation and revenue. Using a regional Australian university as a case study, this paper analyses a student exit survey to identify the complex and inter-related array of factors that contribute to student attrition. It was found that attrition would be better conceptualised as a wicked problem, which is one that cannot be strategically addressed using traditional approaches to problem-solving. The practical implications of these findings reinforce that current approaches to attrition are likely to fail. Therefore, the wicked nature of the attrition problem needs to be taken into account when developing strategies or policies within higher education.     

Online Professional Development for K–12 Educators: Benefits for School Districts with Applications for Community College Faculty Professional Development

Hillsborough Community College's IT3-Professional Development Services makes available to educators in the school district of Hillsborough County a series of online courses focused on professional development. The program boasts a retention rate exceeding 78%, with over 500 educators served. The program is self funded and pays for itself and an instructor.     

Framing attrition in higher education: a complex problem

This study situates student attrition within the strategic framework of Australian public universities. It draws on organisational theory to describe higher education within a bureaucratic framework. The study uses a quantitative approach to undertake a content analysis of attrition and retention policy statements from all Australian universities. This reveals that Australian universities, and the higher education sector as a whole, are attempting to address attrition within their existing bureaucracies. Attrition however is a wicked problem that includes many variables outside the influence of universities, which limits the potential of strategic approaches to problem solving. The practical implications of these findings are that current approaches to attrition are likely to fail. The wicked nature of the attrition problem needs to be taken into account when developing strategies or policies within higher education.     

The development of an instrument to measure teachers’ inquiry habit of mind

In the present study the construct inquiry of mind explored and an instrument to measure it is proposed. Using three different samples, explorative and confirmative factor analyses were performed, resulting in three empirical dimensions that correspond to the three theoretical dimensions: 1) ‘value deep understanding,’ 2) ‘reserve judgment and tolerate ambiguity,’ and 3) ‘taking a range of perspectives and posing increasingly focused questions.’ Our findings suggest the teachers’ inquiry habit of mind scale has good psychometric properties making it useful not only for research that investigates teachers’ research attitude and intention to do research but also as an evaluation tool for the development of an inquiry habit of mind in both student teachers and teacher educators (in teacher education) as well as in experienced teachers (participating in professional development).     

Teacher and student enactments of a transdisciplinary art-science-computing unit

Instructional Science - Transdisciplinary learning environments have potential to bring together the arts, sciences, and computing within schools. We investigate the student and teacher enactment...     

Social learning as approach for teacher professional development; how well does it suit them?

Learning from others has been reported as a productive approach for teacher Professional Development (PD) and is seen as a valuable addition to formal PD. Specific insights into whether social learning suits teachers is still lacking. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to develop and apply an instrument to assess social learning mindedness of teachers. A questionnaire called the “Quiz: Social learning, how does it suit me?” was developed and its reliability and factor structure were explored. A total of 110 teachers, ranging from primary school to pre-university education filled out the Quiz. Results indicated that the teachers were already quite social learning minded; they were positively oriented towards social learning. Social learning mindedness encompassed five underlying factors including counteracting social-learning preferences, teachers’ opinions and preferences related to learning from colleagues/others, their orientation towards collaboration in new approaches to PD, an autonomy factor, and a more general attitude towards knowledge dissemination. Mostly, teachers like to explain and share their knowledge, like to collaborate with others to enhance their knowledge and ask others for advice if they have a problem. At the same time, they want some control over their PD (e.g. the outcomes). The teachers in this sample did not show much preferences that would counteract social learning, leading to the conclusion that social learning suits teachers as a form of PD. The Quiz, which is accessible online (in Dutch), is a useful tool for teachers to quickly get acquainted with social learning.     

Deaf children in regular classrooms: a sociocultural approach to a Brazillan experience

Inclusion of deaf children in regular classrooms is often described as unsuccessful. The present article shows how communicative and metacommunicative strategies used in teacher(s)-deaf students(s) interactions may facilitate inclusion. A fourth-grade classroom was investigated where a coteaching approach--a master teacher working with a teacher trained in Brazilian Sign Language (BSL)--was used. The class, 7 deaf and 19 hearing students, was selected because of the teacher dyad's effectiveness with these students. The teachers' interactive styles and strategies are highlighted, along with communicative and metacommunicative processes that occurred between them and the deaf students. The authors show that meanings are co-constructed not only through words or BSL but through nonverbal actions. Relational metacommunicative strategies make integration more effective and learning easier and more pleasant; therefore, dialogue with deaf children entails more than the mere use of words, either vocally or with signs.     

Creative accounting? The critical and creative voice of students

University accounting education typically develops the technical skills that students require to enter into the world of commerce. However, in the context of the rapidly changing socioeconomic environment, and a proliferation of corporate and financial collapses, there have been calls for educators to provide a more contextual appreciation of accounting practice. The changing nature of work has also generated calls for the development of generic skills in students, such as creativity and critical thinking. We outline our efforts to offer third-year university students the opportunity to use creativity in response to their major assessment task. This task required students to explore the ethical dimension of a recent corporate collapse and present their understanding in a modality of their choice. Our analysis of the creative experience of students suggests that such a creative approach to assessment opens up possibilities for a transformative educational experience. While this article focuses on accountancy students, this type of assessment has potential application for other disciplines.     

Reading Recovery: Exploring the Effects on First-Graders' Reading Motivation and Achievement

ABSTRACT

This study examined the effects of Reading Recovery on children's motivational levels, and how motivation may contribute to the effect of the intervention on literacy achievement. Prior studies concluded that Reading Recovery was positively associated with increased student motivation levels, but most of those studies were limited methodologically. The achievement and motivation levels before and after the intervention of Reading Recovery students and similarly low-performing first-grade students were compared using structural equation modeling. It was found that Reading Recovery had a .31 treatment effect on achievement after controlling for baseline achievement and motivational differences among the treatment and comparison students. Reading Recovery also was associated with greater average levels of posttest motivation, and motivation was found to mediate the treatment-achievement relationship. This study highlights how important it is for early reading interventions to consider the role motivation plays in literacy acquisition.