Muslim students’ cultural and religious experiences in city,suburban and regional university campuses in NSW,Australia

Although there has been much research about the growing ethnic and religious diversity on university campuses across the world, relatively little is known about the religious and cultural experiences of Muslim students on university campuses in Australia. We draw upon an analysis of a questionnaire that was completed by 323 Muslim students who were studying at universities in the state of New South Wales, Australia. While we argue that these places are post-secular, we discovered that city campuses tend to be more secular than regional and suburban ones.     

Old friends, new friends: predictors of children's perspective on their friends at school

Predictors of 5-year-old kindergartners' insights into their friends, and their accounts of liking and conflict with their friends were investigated, with a focus on both the children's and their friends' social understanding during the preschool period, and the quality of their preschool friendships. Seventy children initially studied at 4 years utilizing social cognition tasks and observations of dyadic play with their friends were followed over the transition to school; at school they were interviewed about their friendships and their social understanding was assessed. One group had remained close to their preschool friends, whereas a second group had formed new friendships. Social understanding, language abilities, and prosocial characteristics of both the children and preschool friends, their successful communication and shared pretend play experiences during the preschool period, and their mothers' educational level were related to their perspectives on their current school friends. Liking of current friends was linked to relationship history and maternal educational level for both those with old and with new friends, whereas insight was related to assessments of social cognition.     

Before ‘us’ and ‘now’: developing a sense of historical consciousness and identity at the museum

ABSTRACT

Young children seem to begin to develop a sense of historical consciousness and associated belonging to a wider collective identity prior to the commencement of formal schooling. Historical consciousness is a capacity to differentiate and also make connections between the past, present and future that contributes to a growing understanding of one’s own life and identity in the context of a historical past. The responses of 24 young children aged from 3 to 7 years visiting a small social history museum were analysed through photo-elicitation and parent reports. It would seem that the museum experience assisted in the development of foundational concepts of historical consciousness. Growth of a sense of historical identity was evident for some children, related to a sense of belonging to the ‘we’ of contemporary times in contrast to the ‘they’ of the past. The role of language to support young children’s understanding and thinking is highlighted by this research.     

Peer training in expert searching: the observation effect.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to determine if searchers' observing each others' search processes is an effective training method and if sharing through observation can strengthen search skills. METHOD: A shared email account was established among all public services librarians conducting literature searches at the Ehrman Medical Library. Three questionnaires were sent to the public services librarians soliciting input on the shared-search process. The results were analyzed for this study. RESULTS: The shared-search process has helped searchers become more effective in searching. Colleagues' viewing of the search results is a major factor influencing the searchers' performance. CONCLUSIONS: Easy to implement, the peer-training model is an effective way to train searchers as well as help keep skills up to date.     

Demystifying the rubric: a five-step pedagogy to improve student understanding and utilisation of marking criteria

Marking-criteria rubrics are commonly used to judge the quality of student work, but few students receive instruction to effectively use and apply rubrics. This study investigates an intervention designed to encourage effective utilisation of rubrics. The study, completed over two years (2011: n?=?189 respondents; 2012: n?=?464 respondents) in a large first-year course, explored how five instructional activities, used formatively and sequentially impacted student learning. This intervention comprised: (1) deconstruction of the rubric and standardising the marking method; (2) examples and exemplars; (3) peer review; (4) self-review; and (5) a reflective diary. Results showed an increase in student confidence with marking criteria and assessment (89% in 2011) and a statistically significant improvement in marks. Most students (77% in 2011 and 90% in 2012) rated each intervention as useful. Student feedback indicated that substantial changes occurred between initial drafts and final submission, which resulted in improvements in student performance scores.