The consuming (no)body of online learners: re-membering e-communities of practice

This paper unfolds through the eating, speaking mouths of online learners and teachers and theorists as a way of exploring the educative potential of holding in tension the ambiguous virtues of the body and the (no)body in formal and informal electronic learning environments. Online learning research commonly devalues the body and takes the body for granted as a feature of the learning process. The limited research on the body in online learning ranges from seeking ways to compensate for the online invisibility and inaudibility of a sensing, passionate, relational body online, to celebrating the (no)body in virtual space where learning in relationship is not marked and shaped by the power differentials of class, gender, race, (dis)ability, regional accents, size, beauty, and age. An analysis of autobiographical and qualitative research texts of online learners and teachers re-members the body through the eating, speaking mouth, and calls for a re-embodiment of electronic comm unities of practice that redefines ritual practices, hospitality, and learning in relationship.     

AN ATTITUDE STUDY OF STUDENTS IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE,A STATE UNIVERSITY,AND A TECHNICAL INSTITUTE

The purpose of this study in college student culture was to determine whether students entering different types of postsecondary institutions have value systems and/or personality characteristics which differ according to the type of institution they select An assessment of the attitudes and traits students bring with them to college was made at a comprehensive state university, a technical institute, and a community college.

The 16 Personality Factors Test of the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing (16 PF of the IPAT) was administered to 269 students in selected freshman level mathematics classes at the three schools. Individual factor scores were used to compute group means for each type of school on the 16 personality factors. The t test applied to differences in group means revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) among groups on several factors. The results support the hypothesis that student personality factors are related to the type of college selected.

If further research as recommended by the authors reinforces these findings, there are implications for many areas of the educational experience; e.g., college selection, programming activities, choosing instructional methods, counseling.     

The Compass Rose Effectiveness Model

The effectiveness model focuses the institution on mission achievement through assessment and improvement planning. Eleven mission criteria, measured by key performance indicators, are aligned with the accountability interest of internal and external stakeholders. A Web-based performance assessment application supports the model, documenting the impact of strategic planning on continuous improvement.     

Relationship between Perception of Pull and Draw in Archery

Abstract

Subjects (21 men and 28 women) were tested for maximal pull and comfortable pull, were assigned bows on the basis of comfortable pull, were retested for maximal and comfortable pull after 24 lessons. Although there was some relationship between bow weight and comfortable pull when data were analyzed on a coeducational basis, there was no such relationship when the analysis was on a single sex basis. There was also no adaptation of kinesthetic perception of a comfortable pull to the amount of pull in a comfortable draw.     

Preparing for Examinations: The interplay of memorising and understanding,and the development of knowledge objects

Two groups of students (N=28) were interviewed about their experiences of preparing for, and taking, final university examinations. The analysis examined the processes of learning used during revision, and, in particular, the ways in which understanding and memorising were described. A sequence of categories was identified through which to present a typical sequence of study activities in preparing for final examinations. One recurring aspect of the revision process involved the creation of "knowledge objects"--tightly structured, quasi-visual forms of understanding. The analysis showed that the distinction between "understanding" and "memorising" is not easy to delineate, with "committing to memory" and "rote learning of details" both contributing to the production of a knowledge object. The findings warn against too ready a linkage of intention to any specific process in student learning: a deep intention can involve rote memorisation, while a surface approach at university level will include understanding, even if it is reproduced from lecture notes. They also draw attention to the complexity of the interplay between different learning processes and so complement psychometric studies of memorisation and understanding.