Pressing Issues in College Counseling: A Survey of American College Counseling Association Members

The authors conducted a survey of members of the American College Counseling Association to ascertain the experiences and opinions of college counselors on several pressing issues within the college counseling profession. Survey results from 133 respondents indicated that counseling centers may benefit from increasing the number of group counseling interventions by increasing the multicultural competence of services provided, by implementing crisis/disaster mental health initiatives, and by more effectively consulting with other professionals on campus.     

The Effect of Cooperative and Mastery Learning Methods on Primary Grade Students' Learning and Retention of Economic Concepts

Empirical studies have shown the positive effects of combining cooperative and mastery learning methods on mathematics achievement higher order questioning skills, and originality, but little is known, at present, about the effects of cooperative-mastery learning in other subject areas or on other cognitive outcomes. The problem of this study was to explore the effects of cooperative and mastery learning methods, alone and in combination, on first and second grade students' learning and retention of basic economic concepts. A 2 X 2 (cooperative X mastery) factorial design compared the achievement of one hundred-twenty students who were individually randomly assigned (using grade level as a stratification variable) to one of four treatment conditions—instruction on basic economic concepts using (1) cooperative learning, (2) mastery learning, (3) cooperative-mastery learning, or (4) a control treatment (no cooperative or mastery learning). All subjects were administered a written pretest, post-test, and delayed post-test on their understanding of economic concepts. To further probe children's understanding of economic concepts, a randomly selected sub-sample of sixty- four students was interviewed using an oral pretest, post-test, and delayed post-test. Overall, the results support the superiority of the cooperative-mastery learning method over either method alone in promoting the acquisition and retention of economic concepts. Pretest data verified the initial equivalence of groups. The cooperative-mastery learning group outperformed (a) the control group on all post-tests and delayed post-tests and (b) the cooperative learning group on all post-tests and delayed post-tests except the written post-test. By delayed post-test on the oral measure, the cooperative-mastery learning group was also outperforming the mastery learning group. As further evidence of the superiority of the cooperative-mastery learning method, the mean score of the cooperative-mastery learning group was greater than the combined mean scores of the mastery and cooperative learning groups on the oral post-test and delayed post-test. The authors suggest that the cooperative-mastery learning method is in line with current early childhood practices and has the capacity for simultaneously boosting the conceptual development and language development of young children. This capacity is said to stem from the method's provision of (a) specific, positive feedback, (b) a social context for sustained effort and involvement in a topic, (c) child-child communication exchanges, and (d) adult-child communication exchanges.     

教育关系:学校场域的要素、关系与结构

教师与学生、教育教学内容、教育或教学内容的物化形式以及其他辅助条件是教育活动的三个基本要素,国家、学校、教师、学生是教育关系中的四个利益主体。由于国家、学校、教师、学生在掌握社会权利资源方面存在着巨大的差异性,教师和学生不可避免地成为了多重重大权利关系的承载体,其结果导致了教师与学生权利主体地位的弱化,学校教育的真正意义在于不断改善年轻一代的生存环境,提高他们生命和生活的质量,这既是学校日常生活的出发点与归宿,也应该是确定教育关系的基本准则。     

An Aboriginal way towards curriculum reconciliation

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces the context and design of an institutional educational development grants program, Jindaola, which reflects an Aboriginal way towards reconciling Indigenous and non-Indigenous Knowledges in the Australian higher education curriculum. The program is unique in two ways: it foregrounds the voice of Aboriginal local Knowledge Holders in the design and implementation of the program; and, rather than focussing on embedding predefined ‘packages’ of Indigenous Knowledges and pedagogies into curricula, the approach adheres to Aboriginal methods for conducting business and maintaining knowledge integrity, by taking interdisciplinary teams of academics on a journey towards what we are calling ‘curriculum reconciliation’.     

完善国家助学贷款制度 推进高等教育发展

国家助学贷款作为一项推动高等教育改革、帮助高校经济困难学生顺利完成学业的重要政策,实施5年来取得了显著效果。但随着实施范围的扩大和还款期的到来,现行制度中的一些问题也正在不断暴露。现有制度性障碍已严重影响到国家助学贷款政策的实施,应引入风险准备基金的方式来解决问题。     

Between ‘enrichment’ and ‘endangerment’: ‘cultural diversity’ and the politics of belonging in the Berlin school choice discourse

Even though choice is not officially a feature in the German primary school system, some parents intervene in determining which school their child attends. Especially in urban contexts, the informal school market is growing. This demand is based on promises with respect to a certain quality of education as well as on issues that prevail in certain inner city schools. In looking at Berlin, as a global city, this article shows how contrary school choice practices gain traction in the face of ‘cultural differences’ that those practices produce discursively. Cultural semantics are activated with regard to the composition of the student body, when parents chose schools with a bilingual profile, but also when parents engage in the practice of ‘group enrolment’ into schools in inner city hotspots perceived as problematic. Our research shows how school choice practices may become acceptable despite being a public taboo, if parents argue by appeal to ‘cultural differences’.     

Parent-child interaction as a dynamic contributor to learning and cognitive development in typical and atypical development / Influencia dinámica entre la interacción padre/madre-hijo y el aprendizaje y el desarrollo cognitivo en el desarrollo típico y atípico

Abstract

Converging evidence suggests that parent-infant interaction is one of the most crucial formative influences on child development. In neurodevelopmental disorders, however, different timings and trajectories of development may add a layer of difficulty to the existing challenges of dyadic interaction. The current study therefore set out to compare the specific aspects of dyadic interaction (i.e., responsiveness, directiveness, attentiveness, positive affect, liveliness, mutuality and engagement) between parent-infant dyads with Down syndrome, Williams syndrome and typical development. Video clips of parent-infant play interaction were rated using a validated tool, namely, the Social Interaction Measure for Parents and Infants. Significant effects emerged with respect to infant group on the quality of dyadic interaction, with the multiple comparison tests revealing differences between atypically and typically developing infant-parent dyads. The findings are discussed in relation to the effects of dyadic interaction on the linguistic and socio-cognitive development of atypical children.     

How Do We Train Our Future Faculty to Teach? A Multidisciplinary Comparison of Graduate-Level Pedagogy Courses Offered at a Large Midwestern University

This study examines and documents graduate pedagogy courses offered at a large Midwestern research university. Thirty-three graduate pedagogy course instructors from 32 departments (a majority of those offering courses) completed an online survey. We report on enrollment demographics, preparation of faculty to teach such a course, and how a statement of teaching philosophy is presented to the class. This research connects the analyses of individual pedagogy courses with the few national studies on teacher training, outlines assumptions about an emerging field, and lays groundwork for a comprehensive study of the landscape and outcomes of graduate pedagogy courses nationwide.     

Accountability,evaluation of teaching and expertise in higher education

Increasingly universities are being asked to demonstrate accountability through implementation of quality improvement procedures that include student evaluation questionnaires and peer observation. However, a review of research suggests that these procedures, in themselves, do not necessarily lead to improvement. Excellence in modern universities may be more effectively promoted by focusing on facilitating academics' growth in teaching expertise, perhaps first by encouraging staff to demonstrate accountability as part of a systematic programme of teacher education. Academic or staff developers can play an important role in implementing a teacher education programme, and encouraging and supporting a culture of academic leadership.