Connectedness among taiwanese middle school students: a validation study of the hemingway measure of adolescent connectedness

Theories of adolescent connectedness suggest that adolescents strive to become connected by engaging with and valuing the people, activities, and worlds in their social ecology. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a measure designed to assess these worlds of connectedness among 320 junior high school students in Taiwan. The subscales and composite scales evidenced satisfactory reliability and concurrent validity. A hypothesized three-factor, higher order structural model of connectedness was cross-validated. Girls were generally more connected than boys. Both connectedness to school and to friends explained more variance in connectedness to self than did family connectedness. There was mixed support for separation-individuation processes. The measure appears promising in terms of future research on adolescent social development in the Asia Pacific.     

Literature,listening, and young children

“What is that sound?”, “What did the kangaroo say?”, and “What might you hear during a walk?” provide evidence that educators of young children realize that listening represents a necessary ingredient in successful school experiences. Children listen for many hours of the school day, but listening has been a neglected area of instruction. The traditional low priority of listening instruction may have been based upon the myth that children naturally learn to listen or on the misconception that listening skills cannot be taught. Using literature to teach listening can improve learners' listening abilities, provided early childhood educators use developmentally appropriate children's literature.     

A technological pedagogical content knowledge based instructional design model: a third version implementation study in a technology integration course

This paper presents the third version of a technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) based instructional design model that incorporates the distinctive, transformative, and integrative views of TPACK into a comprehensive actionable framework. Strategies of relating TPACK domains to real-life learning experiences, role-playing, and teachers as designers were developed based on the three views and integrated into the third version of the model. The model was then applied in a teacher education undergraduate course on technology integration. A case study approach was used. Data were collected from the participants’ discussion worksheets, lesson designs, and the researchers’ field observation notes. Data analysis results suggest that the strategies integrated into the model helped the participants deepen their understanding of student-centered technology applications and practice TPACK. Findings, implications, and future research possibilities are discussed.     

The 'Mini-Viva' as a Tool to Enhance Assessment for Learning

This paper reports on an action research project which aimed to promote assessment for learning within a summative assignment. In an attempt to provide enhanced feedback to students, the process of their group assignment involved lecturer feedback at various stages. A particular focus was on a 'mini-viva', whereby students explained and justified to the lecturer selected aspects of their assignment after it was submitted but before a mark was awarded. Oral and written evaluation data were collected from students, two peer observers and from colleagues taking part in an action research team. Some implications for 'good assessment practices' are discussed.     

Validity and use of an instrument for assessing classroom psychosocial environment in higher education

A strong tradition in research in primary and secondary schools has involved student and teacher perceptions of psychological characteristics of actual or preferred classroom environment. This paper provides a foundation for the extension of this tradition to the higher education level by describing the development, validation, and use of a new instrument, the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI), suitable for small higher education classes often referred to as seminars. The CUCEI assesses students' or instructors' perceptions of the following seven psychosocial dimensions of actual or preferred classroom environment: personalization, involvement, student cohesiveness, satisfaction, task orientation, innovation, and individualization. Administration of the CUCEI to 372 students in 34 classes and to 20 instructors attested to the internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity of the actual and preferred forms with either the individual or the class mean as the unit of analysis, and supported the ability of the actual form to differentiate between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. A research application of the CUCEI involving associations between student outcomes and classroom environment tentatively suggested that the nature of the classroom environment affects outcomes. Another research application suggested that both students and instructors preferred a more favorable classroom environment than the one actually present, and that instructors viewed classroom environments more positively than did their students in the same classrooms. Desirable future applications of the CUCEI for research purposes and in improving teaching in higher education are considered.The first main aim of this paper is to describe the development and validation of a new instrument to assess perceptions of classroom psychosocial environment in university and college classrooms. The second major purpose is to report the first two research uses of this instrument in, respectively, a study of associations between student outcomes and classroom environment and an investigation of differences between students and instructors in their perceptions of actual and preferred classroom environment. As well, desirable future research directions involving the new instrument are suggested. Before describing the development and use of the new instrument for the higher education level, important background information about analogous work at the primary and secondary school levels is briefly reviewed in an attempt to place the new work into context.     

The Effects of a Student Sampling Plan on Estimates of the Standard Errors for Student Passing Rates

Examined in this study were three procedures for estimating the standard errors of school passing rates using a generalizability theory model. Also examined was how these procedures behaved for student samples that differed in size. The procedures differed in terms of their assumptions about the populations from which students were sampled, and it was found that student sample size generally had a notable effect on the size of the standard error estimates they produced. Also the three procedures produced markedly different standard error estimates when student sample size was small.     

A Comparison of the Australian and British Post Binary Higher Education Systems

Both Australia and Britain have recently moved from a binary system of higher education to a unitary system based upon the universities. In both countries change has been affected by an increasing emphasis upon higher education as a vital national economic resource and the need to make higher education institutions” more efficient.” As a result universities have a much closer relationship with government than ever before.

Yet there are important differences: Australia ended its binary system by consolidating its Colleges of Advanced Education into the university system. In Britain the trend has been to redesignate polytechnics as universities without amalgamation. Britain has evolved a much more competitive system in the allocation of resources which has had a profound affect upon the universities.

This article explores major similarities and contrasts in the Australian and British experiences.     

A SYSTEMIC,STUDENT-CENTERED STUDY OF UNIVERSITY SERVICE

This paper discusses the methods and findings ofthe Student Focus Project, a sixmonth study of studentperceptions of service at a large university inBrisbane, Australia. The study paneled 24 focus groups of undergraduate students to assess theirbeliefs about a pretested set of questions concerningpositive and negative aspects of university life,successes and frustrations with university service,attempts to overcome the obstacles of university life,and what students expect from their relationship to theuniversity. Of the themes identified in the StudentFocus study, it was found that malignantbureaucracy and the balkanization ofInformation are systemic factors that negativelyinfluence student perceptions of the quality ofuniversity service. It was also found that studentstrategies for service recovery can contribute to the overall confusion andpoor performance of university services.