Challenges and opportunities in mainstreaming environmental education into the curricula of teachers' colleges in Ethiopia

Lack of environmental awareness is one of the underlying causes of severe environmental degradation in Ethiopia. As teachers' colleges are a seedbed of such awareness, assessment of college curricula should shed light on the possibilities they offer to develop capacities to address environmental degradation. This small‐scale study is based on the assessment of the curricula of the Kotebe and St Mary's teachers' colleges, Ethiopia, and the knowledge and opinions of a sample of teaching students on pertinent environmental issues facing the country. Comparative analysis of data generated through questionnaires and interviews was undertaken across college, curricula and gender categories. The results suggest: a ‘paradigm shift’ from a core‐focused to a pedagogical‐focused curriculum in the last three decades; a declining trend in the provision of outdoor environmental education; inadequate levels of factual knowledge amongst current college students; and variations in knowledge levels and attitudes among the respondents taking different curricula. If the work of teachers' colleges is to support wider efforts throughout Ethiopia to address the causes and effects of environmental degradation, the findings of the study underscore the necessity of revisiting the composition of course categories and maintaining the existence of outdoor environmental education in the current college curricula.     

When in Doubt,Go to the Library: The Effect of a Library-Intensive Freshman Research and Writing Seminar on Academic Success

The paper is an extension of a previous study, which examined student perceptions of a unique freshman seminar offered to Criminology and Criminal Justice students at Florida State University. The seminar is characterized by a heavy focus on interactive library sessions in which students learn how to conduct research and write a scholarly paper. The previous article reported on student perceptions of research and writing skills developed in the seminar. This report, using Multivariate Regression and Propensity Score Matching reveals that compared to a carefully constructed comparison group, first time in college students enrolled in the seminar have statistically significantly higher cumulative grade point averages and percentages of graduation within four years. The seminar’s emphasis on the library as a research tool is thought to have contributed to the differences seen on academic outcomes between students who took the seminar and a matched comparison group.     

Mentoring and Argumentation in a Game-Infused Science Curriculum

Engaging in argumentation from evidence is challenging for most middle school students. We report the design of a media-based mentoring system to support middle school students in engaging in argumentation in the context of a game-infused science curriculum. Our design emphasizes learners apprenticing with college student mentors around the socio-scientific inquiry of a designed video game. We report the results of a mixed-methods study examining the use of this media-based mentoring system with students ages 11 through 14. We observed that the discourse of groups of students that engaged with the game-infused science curriculum while interacting with college student mentors via a social media platform demonstrated statistically significant higher ratings of cognitive, epistemic, and social aspects of argumentation than groups of students that engaged with the social media platform and game-infused science curriculum without mentors. We further explored the differences between the Discourses of the mentored and non-mentored groups. This analysis showed that students in the mentored groups were invited, guided, and socialized into roles of greater agency than students in the non-mentored groups. This increased agency might explain why mentored groups demonstrated higher levels of scientific argumentation than non-mentored groups. Based on our analyses, we argue that media-based mentoring may be designed around a video game to support middle school students in engaging in argumentation from evidence.     

Recovering Predictor–Criterion Relations Using Covariate-Informed Factor Score Estimates

Although it is currently best practice to directly model latent factors whenever feasible, there remain many situations in which this approach is not tractable. Recent advances in covariate-informed factor score estimation can be used to provide manifest scores that are used in second-stage analysis, but these are currently understudied. Here we extend our prior work on factor score recovery to examine the use of factor score estimates as predictors both in the presence and absence of the same covariates that were used in score estimation. Results show that whereas the relation between the factor score estimates and the criterion are typically well recovered, substantial bias and increased variability is evident in the covariate effects themselves. Importantly, using covariate-informed factor score estimates substantially, and often wholly, mitigates these biases. We conclude with implications for future research and recommendations for the use of factor score estimates in practice.     

Global private higher education: an empirical profile of its size and geographical shape

Societies’ relative use of private and public services is an abiding and significant issue of scholarly and policy interest. For higher education, however, there has hitherto been no comprehensive dataset and, accordingly, no extensive, reliable analysis of the private-public distribution. As this article provides both the dataset and the analysis, it allows us to discover both the size and geographical shape of global private higher education. Having grown greatly for decades, the private sector now holds a third (32.9%) of the world’s total higher education enrollment. We find striking patterns of concentration and dispersion. The several largest country systems account for much of the private enrollment but, simultaneously, private sectors now exist in all but a few systems; a stunning 97.6% of the world’s present enrollment is in systems with dual-sector provision. Societies no longer rely exclusively on public provision. We discover too that private enrollment concentrates mostly in developing regions, though it is noteworthy in developed regions as well. Asia and Latin America are the twin giants but in all regions, at least 10% of students are in the private sector.     

Testing the usability of a portable DVD player and tailored photo instructions with older adult veterans

DVD-delivered behavioral skills training may help disseminate efficacious treatments to older adults independent of internet access. The present study examined the usability of a portable DVD player alongside iterative revisions of accompanying instructions to be used by older adults in a DVD-delivered behavioral skills treatment study. The sample comprised 20 older adults with a mean age of 69.5 years (SD = 7.3). Behavior observations revealed that three of five steps to play the DVD were completed by more than 90% of participants. Quantitative ratings revealed that 75% could play the DVD easily. Qualitative content analysis further elucidated the usability of the player and the clarity of the instructions. Findings suggest user-centered design of instructional support in DVD-delivered treatments for older adults may be critical to minimizing user error and frustration and increase user experience.     

More than experiential learning or volunteering: a case study of community service learning within the Australian context

Community service learning is the integration of experiential learning and community service into coursework such that community needs are met and students gain both professional skills and a sense of civic responsibility. A critical component is student reflection. This paper provides an example of the application of community service learning within an undergraduate health unit at the Queensland University of Technology. Based on survey data from 36 program participants, it demonstrates the impact of CSL on student outcomes. Results show that students benefited by developing autonomy through real world experiences, through increased self‐assurance and achievement of personal growth, through gaining new insights into the operations of community service organisations and through moving towards becoming responsible citizens. Students expect their CSL experience to have long‐lasting impact on their lives, with two‐thirds of participants noting that they would like to continue volunteering as part of their future development.     

More than smile sheets: Rasch analysis of training reactions in a medical center

Reaction questionnaires administered at the conclusion of a training program are a common method of evaluation. Because such questionnaires are often constructed and analyzed in an ad hoc manner, their usefulness is often difficult to gauge. However, if properly constructed and analyzed, such instruments can help to make clear the strengths and weaknesses of programs. This article presents a framework for questionnaire development and analysis to ensure that such questionnaires are psychometrically sound and useful for decision making. The data used for this research were from over 5,000 questionnaires completed by individuals at the conclusion of educational programs. The Rasch model was used to evaluate the data. Results suggest that the posttraining questionnaire is a valid and reliable indicator of program quality. In addition, the Rasch analysis provided empirically based methods for diagnosing needed improvements to assessment instruments.     

Working memory for color in honeybees

Honeybees were tested in delayed conditional discrimination procedures (matching-to-sample and nonmatching-to-sample), using color stimuli presented on a video monitor. A small but reliable tendency to choose the color presented as the conditional cue was found, regardless of whether the contingencies reinforced or discouraged this tendency. The perseverative tendency occurred even with a delay of up to 1–2 min between the conditional cue and the choice. The tendency cannot be explained by changes in the associative value of the colors. Explanation of the results requires some form of working memory for color.