Pricing policy and the college choice process

Following the presentation of a marketing management paradigm for higher educational institutions, this paper discuses some aspects of the pricing policy process in colleges and universities. A statistical model of the college choice process is developed, and some empirical results related to the effects of price, among other factors, on the collegechoice decision-making behavior process of high school seniors are presented and interpreted. The two most important factors affecting the college choice process are seen to be college quality and price-related considerations. Marketing implications of these results are discussed.Presented at the Annual Forum of the Association For Institutional Research, Houston, Texas, May 1978.     

The data collection matrix model: A tool for functional area and program evaluation

The management and utilization of collected data is crucial in evaluating programs and functional area effectiveness. Various assessment instruments may address similar functional areas of the college, yet we often fail to compile these data for comprehensive evaluation. The data collection matrix makes possible the integration of functional area data from numerous assessment sources and presentation of the information in a unified composite report. The matrix model will be discussed in relation to the various assessment instruments and the evaluation of functional areas and programs. This paper is directed toward institutional researchers who may wish to adapt the model to their own institution.Presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Louisville, KY, May 13–16, 1990.     

Environmental identity formation in nonformal environmental education programs

This paper explores experiences that remained salient in the memories of former participants in three nature-based programs in Colorado, five to forty years after childhood involvement. Interviews with program founders and staff, archival research, and observations of current activities provided an understanding of each program’s history, mission and educational approach. In this context, 18 former participants were interviewed about program experiences that they remembered and program impacts on their environmental identities and academic or career choices. Results were analyzed through the lens of social practice theory, which has significant implications for the design and evaluation of environmental education programs. Results showed that social practice theory is a useful framework for interpreting the development of a social environmental identity, but an ecological identity that forms through direct contact with the natural world is an important complementary concept.     

The Key Stage 3 Strategy: what kind of reform is this?

The Key Stage 3 Strategy is a complex and evolving government strategy intended to improve the education of 11‐ to 14‐year‐olds in England. This paper provides a snapshot of its development by early 2004, drawing on our evaluation of the pilot phase which began in 2000. The evolution of the Strategy, with its phased introduction of both subject and cross‐curricular strands, is described. We then examine the policy intentions and evidence base which underpin it before considering what the Strategy offers in terms of curricular and pedagogical reform. While the Strategy seeks to improve schooling for 11‐ to 14‐year‐olds, it has struggled to offer a coherent approach, though recent changes in emphasis may help. We conclude that a more radical approach to the learning needs of 11‐ to 14‐year‐olds is needed and draw evidence from international trends in middle years education.     

A Methylome‐Wide Association Study of Trajectories of Oppositional Defiant Behaviors and Biological Overlap With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

In 671 mother–child (49% male) pairs from an epidemiological birth cohort, we investigated (a) prospective associations between DNA methylation (at birth) and trajectories (ages 7–13) of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and the ODD subdimensions of irritable and headstrong; (b) common biological pathways, indexed by DNA methylation, between ODD trajectories and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); (c) genetic influence on DNA methylation; and (d) prenatal risk exposure associations. Methylome‐wide significant associations were identified for the ODD and headstrong, but not for irritable. Overlap analysis indicated biological correlates between ODD, headstrong, and ADHD. DNA methylation in ODD and headstrong was (to a degree) genetically influenced. DNA methylation associated with prenatal risk exposures of maternal anxiety (headstrong) and cigarette smoking (ODD and headstrong).     

Der Einfluss von Lehrervorstellungen zum Lernen und Lehren auf die Gestaltung des Unterrichts und auf motivationale Schülervariablen

Es gibt einige Hinweise darauf, dass Vorstellungen vom Lehren und Lernen sowohl für das Handeln der Lehrkr?fte im Unterricht als auch für Zielkriterien auf der Ebene der Schüler eine Rolle spielen. Dabei gelten konstruktivistisch orientierte Sichtweisen als besonders günstig. Empirische Untersuchungen dazu gibt es jedoch bislang nur auf einzelne fachdidaktische Inhaltsbereiche bezogen. In der vorliegenden Studie werden konstruktivistisch orientierte Lehrereinstellungen mit Merkmalen des Unterrichts (?ffnung des Unterrichts im Hinblick auf Entscheidungsm?glichkeiten für Schüler/-innen und Strukturierung des Unterrichts) sowie mit Einsch?tzungen der Schüler/-innen (Selbstbestimmungsempfinden und Interessantheit des Unterrichts) in Beziehung gesetzt. Die Ergebnisse best?tigen die Theorie: In den Klassen der Lehrer/-innen mit überwiegend konstruktivistischen Vorstellungen von Lernen und Lehren gibt es mehr Freir?ume, ohne dass der Unterricht weniger strukturiert abl?uft. Zudem empfinden sich die Schüler/-innen als selbstbestimmter und sch?tzen den Unterricht als interes-santer ein.