New verse or the same old chorus?: looking holistically at distance education research

While there continues to be a proliferation in the number of studies conducted on various aspects of distance education, we are often left with little understanding of the holistic planning and effects of it. This paper draws lessons learned from the literature on distance education over the past five years. This review did not seek to be exhaustive in presenting the findings of every study, but instead focuses on specific instruction we can take from past research at the institutional, faculty, and student levels.     

Developing a Managed Learning Environment Using 'Roundtables': An Activity Theoretic Perspective

To support and continue the motivation of participants in virtual learning environments it is important to achieve a successful learning atmosphere. Therefore, it is necessary to reach the participants on a personal level and to perceive their personal needs and emotions when conversing with them. These factors of learning motivation depend on the individual perception of virtual, text-based communication. The coding and encoding of purely, text-based language requires an enormous amount of compensation with regard to the absence of all verbal means of communication. For this reason it is important to determine the existence of any gender differences in the compensation for non-verbal communication or in the perception of text-based communication. In this study the gender gap in the perception of text-based communication was evaluated. The individual production and perception of text-based communication could be one reason for the decrease in the number of female participants in the majority of virtual learning environments. The objective of this survey was to define the characteristics of text-based communication, which then gives an indication of the condition of male and female participants of virtual learning environments. The results of this study provide information in relation to individual gender interpretation and production of written messages, as well as the implementation of measures which support the motivation to learn.     

Discourses of widening participation in the prospectus documents and websites of six English higher education institutions

This article provides a comparative analysis of the discourses of widening participation used in the prospectus documents and websites of six English higher education institutions (HEIs). Taking 2007 and 2011 as snapshots, the article considers the nature of the messages being communicated to prospective students by the different HEIs in the context of the changing policy landscape. Critical discourse analysis is used to interpret the ways in which the case-study HEIs discursively positioned themselves and their prospective students – and the potential implications of this for widening participation practice. In 2007, the findings suggested sharp demarcations between the discourses chosen by the elite pre-1992 and the more accessible post-1992 institutions. By 2011, however, statements of commitment to widening participation were less overt in the post-1992 institutions, whilst there was some evidence of a shift towards a more inclusive tone by the elite universities.     

Human affection exchange: VII. Affectionate communication in the sibling/spouse/sibling‐in‐law triad

This study sought to investigate affectionate communication among members of sibHng/spouse/sibling‐in‐law triads as well as the influence of such communication on relational quality. Under the principles of Affectionate Exchange Theory, affectionate communication among these family members may ultimately serve the evolutionary mandates of viability and procreation. Three hundred twenty‐seven participants, comprising 109 sibling/spouse/sibling‐in‐law triads, completed surveys about their communication of affection, relational satisfaction, and closeness. Consistent with predictions, spouses reported communicating more affection to each other than did siblings, who reported communicating more affection than siblings‐in‐law. The communication of affection by spouses and siblings showed a significant correlation, as did the communication of affection by siblings and siblings‐in‐law, and these correlations were significant even when controlling for the affection communicated in the third relationship in the triad (except for nonverbal support communicated in the sibling and marital relationships). Finally, for all three relational types, affectionate communication was positively correlated with both relational satisfaction and closeness.     

From Condescension to Complexity: post‐Plowden schooling in the inner city

The 2004 Higher Education Act introduced variable tuition fees of up to £3,000 for full‐time undergraduates in England. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) charging the maximum tuition must give low‐income students bursaries of £300. On top of this mandatory minimum, HEIs now provide additional discretionary financial support exceeding this level to these and other students. The degree to which these new bursaries and discretionary financial support have become a policy instrument for improving access and widening participation has not, as yet, been documented. Little is known about why the government introduced bursaries and what the government saw as their role. Even less is known about the type of bursaries HEIs have introduced or how they are being used, because up till now they have not been examined systematically. This article presents the first such analysis. It concludes that, from the evidence currently available, a mismatch exists between government aspirations and HEIs’ actual use of bursaries and scholarships. Moreover, the bursaries and scholarships put in place may perpetuate existing divisions within and across higher education.     

MEMORY STRATEGIES REPORTED BY OLDER ADULTS FOR EXPERIMENTAL AND EVERYDAY LEARNING TASKS

Semistructured interviews were used to identify memory strategies used by 35 older adults. Five types of tasks were used: paired‐associate learning, free recall, serial recall, rule learning, and reading comprehension. For the first three tasks, two types of materials were developed: experimental and everyday. The nine memory activities were presented separately. Participants were asked to describe the strategies they would use for each activity. Order of presentation for the experimental and everyday materials was counterbalanced. Examination of the frequency data revealed differences in the number and type of strategies reported for the five types of learning tasks. An analysis of variance revealed that the group receiving the three everyday tasks first reported a significantly greater use of strategies on all tasks. These results indicate that the elderly may have limited repertoires of alternative memory strategies and that the types of materials used can significantly affect their performance.     

Silent Films and Strange Stories: Theory of Mind,Gender, and Social Experiences in Middle Childhood

In this study of two hundred and thirty 8‐ to 13‐year‐olds, a new “Silent Films” task is introduced, designed to address the dearth of research on theory of mind in older children by providing a film‐based analogue of F. G. E. Happé's (1994) Strange Stories task. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that all items from both tasks loaded onto a single theory‐of‐mind latent factor. With effects of verbal ability and family affluence controlled, theory‐of‐mind latent factor scores increased significantly with age, indicating that mentalizing skills continue to develop through middle childhood. Girls outperformed boys on the theory‐of‐mind latent factor, and the correlates of individual differences in theory of mind were gender specific: Low scores were related to loneliness in girls and to peer rejection in boys.     

HOPE VI Neighborhoods and Neighborhood Schools: Understanding How Revitalized Neighborhoods Influence School Environments

As detailed in the articles throughout this issue, the U.S. education system experienced a number of structural developments throughout the 20th century. These changes served to shift the landscape of decision-making authority in multiple areas of primary and secondary schooling. This article provides an international perspective on the changes undergone by the American system, painting a broad picture of where the trends in the United States’ educational system fit within changes worldwide. To best understand the possible implications of changes in the United States, I describe trends in educational centralization and decentralization in other nations, placing the American changes in a broader context shedding light on where education in the United States could be headed.