Small Peer-Led Collaborative Learning Groups in Developmental Math Classes at a Tribal Community College

In this study the author examines the use of small peer-led collaborative learning groups to change students’ perceptions of mathematics and their success in developmental mathematics classes at a small tribal community college. The quasi-experimental study involved both quantitative and qualitative data. Rationale for, methods of, and outcomes from the implementation of the collaborative learning groups are discussed.     

Dimensions of life and school stress experienced by young people

This article examines the recently investigated phenomena of student stress and burn-out among American children and youth. Several stress and burnout models developed by researchers are presented and discussed. Both the sources and manifestations of stress and burnout vary in a number of ways. An exploration of the behavioral, physiological, and emotional manifestations experienced by children also is presented, and some stress sources significantly related to the manifestations are outlined. Additionally, several interventions that have been developed to assist students in reducing high stress levels are outlined. Parents and teachers are a child's greatest asset in the education of stress management techniques, and both are able to provide valuable information about and support for the alleviation of excessive and harmful stress.     

Notes on the inter-industrial flow of technology in post-war Britain

On the basis of the analysis of the originators and the first users of more than 1600 significant innovations in Britain since the Second World War, it appears that the performance-maximising industries (where technological change is a critical feature of competitiveness and growth) are the main source of these innovations, the majority of which are used in other types of industry, and particularly in the cost-minimising industries, and in the salesmaximising (consumer goods) industries.     

SAPPHO updated - project SAPPHO phase II

Project SAPPHO consists of a comparative analysis of ‘paired’ successful and unsuccessful technological innovations, where one half of the pair is a commercial success and the other a commercial failure. In phase I of the project twenty-nine pairs were investigated, seventeen in chemical processes and twelve in scientific instruments. Five main areas of difference between successful and unsuccessful innovators emerged which related to the innovator's understanding of user needs, efficiency of development, characteristics of managers, efficiency of communications and marketing and sales efforts.In phase II, the project has been extended to include a new total of forty-three pairs, twenty-two in chemical processes and twenty-one in scientific instruments. The results of phase I have been confirmed with the same five underlying factors emerging as strongly differentiating between success and failure and with some inter-industry differences becoming clearer. These differences, by and large, relate to the basic structural and environmental differences which exist between the two industries.Following the statistical analysis a subjective review was made of thirty-four failure cases, and those factors which contributed maximally to the individual failures were identified. The results of this exercise support the results of the statistical analysis, but they also highlight some new and significant factors. Finally, some of the more important of the many hypotheses which have been forwarded as offering explanations for innovative success were tested in the tight of the phase II SAPPHO results.     

‘Hay que seguir luchando’: struggles that shaped English language learning of four Cuban immigrant women

Newly arrived from Cuba, Angelica, Dora, Marina, and Damaris attempted to negotiate new surroundings and immigrant identities, building a sense of home for themselves and their families. Data from qualitative interviews, classroom observations, and focus group conversations revealed hopes that by acquiring English language skills, they would improve their quality of life in their new country. Struggles included personal factors situated in their pasts in Cuba and their new surrounds in the Miami Cuban exile enclave, contexts that were further complicated by uncertain expectations of new lives in Miami and the overwhelming task of learning a new language at a local adult education center. The women negotiated pressure from spouses, assisted children in Cuba, pondered uncertainties of crossing cultural and linguistic borders, and anticipated eventual acceptance within the greater English‐speaking society. The women’s individual luchas (struggles) and English language learning efforts were tempered by their dreams for their children and themselves.     

Principled challenges for a participatory discipline

The ideals that are central to action research are not often explicitly addressed in writing about action research and participation. This article argues for a more explicit dialogue about the ideals of participation and how those ideals relate to participatory practices. The lack of such a dialogue can obscure both the process of participation and the ends to which such processes are put. It offers a beginning to the conversation by drawing out the implications of five principles that underpin many of the justifications for participatory approaches, namely: community and community engagement, the change orientation of participatory research, issues of power and control, the ownership and construction of knowledge, and the combination of these principles as a form of critique of non-participatory approaches to research. The basis for, and critiques of, each of these principles are explored in turn. From these discussions a series of ‘participatory’ challenges are posed for the discussion of the participatory features of action research.     

Enhancing Research Capacity in Gerontological Social Work

There is an untapped potential of social work faculty to conduct aging research aimed at enhancing the well-being of older adults. To better exploit this resource, we have designed, implemented, and evaluated a postgraduate training program in aging research. The goal of the program is to build and sustain a community of social work faculty committed to conducting aging research, to incorporating recent advances in their courses, and to engaging their students in aging research. Program design includes an initial institute (which focuses on research methodology, selected content areas, and procedural matters related to preparation and submission of grant applications); ongoing consultation; and a midyear meeting during the intervening year and a follow-up institute that provide the participants with extended opportunities to discuss the proposals they develop. Evaluation data presented in this paper focus on the first two cohorts (who entered in summer 2004 and summer 2005). These data indicate that the program has been highly effective in expanding the pool of faculty engaged in aging research. Lessons learned with regard to program structure, content, recruitment, evaluation, and sustainability are shared.     

WOMEN FACULTY: SATISFACTION WITH EMPLOYMENT IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

To ascertain the satisfaction of women full‐time community college faculty with their employment in the community college, an open‐ended questionnaire was sent to over 100 women faculty in the Chicago City Colleges. Although the low response rate precludes much generalizability, the responses indicate that most women in the study found employment in the community college to be ideal for them. The employment enabled them to find professional fulfillment without the pressure to publish and with sufficient time for family responsibilities. Reservations about how “ideal” employment in the community college is for women stemmed from concerns about the institution's negative image. University researchers who decry teaching in the community college as marginalization of women as faculty are diminishing the achievements of the many women who find teaching in the community college to be ideal employment.