Pathways to Parental Engagement: Contributions of Parents,Teachers, and Schools in Cultural Context

Research Findings: This study examined correlates of parents’ reported school engagement in an ethnically diverse, rural sample (N = 346) of parents and teachers in kindergarten through Grade 2. Of particular interest were role expectations and family–school relationships in American Indian families, who historically have been marginalized by schools. In terms of role expectations, parents and teachers agreed that they should support each other’s roles, parents should have more responsibility than schools for teaching social skills, and families and schools should have shared responsibility for children’s academic success. Teachers had higher expectations than parents for parent engagement, which in turn was greater when parent–teacher communication was more frequent and the school climate was more welcoming. American Indian parents more strongly endorsed a separation of family and school roles and felt less welcomed at school; ethnicity moderated correlates of reported parent engagement. Practice or Policy: These findings have practical promise given that parent–teacher communication, school climate, and role expectations are more easily altered than are structural barriers that also may hinder parents’ involvement in supporting their children’s early education.     

How to attract university applicants: exploring tertiary education advertising patterns in the Czech Republic

Tertiary Education and Management - In the highly dynamic, competitive and uncertain environment of tertiary education, universities nowadays have to intensify marketing communication to address...     

Situated decoding of gender in a Swedish preschool practice

This article is based on data generated in an ethnographic study of gender in a Swedish preschool. Drawing on Judith Butler’s understanding of performativity and (un)doing of gender, a new theoretical concept, situated decoding of gender, is further developed by showing how the material and spatial dimension of the educational practice and the teachers’ actions contribute to establishing and maintaining this process in an early childhood educational setting. Instead of normalising the gender binary, a reverse process occurs that turns what is perceived as feminine or masculine into a gender decoded state in which gender is made less relevant, or even irrelevant. It is argued that this continuous reiterative process emerges and is maintained by three main factors: (a) the preschool’s physical environment, (b) the regular and repetitive structure of the educational practice and (c) the consistent actions of the teachers in the everyday practice.     

Improving Academic Performance of Sport and Exercise Science Undergraduate Students in Gross Anatomy Using a Near-Peer Teaching Program

Peer and near-peer teaching programs are common in medical undergraduate courses. However, there are no studies that have investigated the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of undergraduate students pursuing sport and exercise science coursework. This study was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of such a program for students who participated in a course on the functional anatomy of the locomotor apparatus. A total of 39 student participants were divided into two groups: students in one group voluntarily attended at least one session of a near-peer teaching program, and students in the other group attended no sessions. The final grade (range 0–100%) was recorded and used as an indicator of academic performance. The final grade of students who attended the near-peer teaching program (69.5 ± 16.0%) was 38.7% higher (P = 0.002, d = 1.06) than those who did not (50.1 ± 20.4%). When the academic performance of the same students was evaluated in another course (exercise physiology) that did not offer a near-peer teaching program, there were no significant differences between the groups (students who attended or did not attend the near-peer teaching program). A significant positive association was found between near-peer teaching program frequency and the number of students approved and not approved in the course (P = 0.041). A significant difference (P = 0.001) was found in the attendance at regular classes between the group who participated in the near-peer teaching program (median: 62 hours; IQR [interquartile ranges]: 4.0 hours) and those who did not (median: 58 hours; IQR: 4.0 hours). Gender was not a moderating factor on academic performance or near-peer teaching program attendance. These results highlight the effectiveness of a near-peer teaching program on the academic performance of students from a sport and exercise science degree program while enrolled in an anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

The Role of Anatomy Computer-Assisted Learning on Spatial Abilities of Medical Students

Currently, medical education context poses different challenges to anatomy, contributing to the introduction of new pedagogical approaches, such as computer-assisted learning (CAL). This approach provides insight into students' learning profiles and skills that enhance anatomy knowledge acquisition. To understand the influence of anatomy CAL on spatial abilities, a study was conducted. A total of 671 medical students attending Musculoskeletal (MA) and Cardiovascular Anatomy (CA) courses, were allocated to one of three groups (MA Group, CA Group, MA + CA Group). Students' pre-training and post-training spatial abilities were assessed through Mental Rotations Test (MRT), with scores ranging between 0-24. After CAL training sessions, students' spatial abilities performance improved (9.72 ± 4.79 vs. 17.05 ± 4.57, P < 0.001). Although male students in both MA Group and CA Group show better baseline spatial abilities, no sex differences were found after CAL training. The improvement in spatial abilities score between sessions (Delta MRT) was correlated with Musculoskeletal Anatomy training sessions in MA Group (r = 0.333, P < 0.001) and MA + CA Group (r = 0.342, P < 0.001), and with Cardiovascular Anatomy training sessions in CA Group (r = 0.461, P = 0.001) and MA + CA Group (r = 0.324, P = 0.001). Multiple linear regression models were used, considering the Delta MRT as dependent variable. An association of Delta MRT to the amount of CAL training and the baseline spatial abilities was observed. The results suggest that CAL training in anatomy has positive dose-dependent effect on spatial abilities.     

Predicting University Students’ Academic Success and Major Using Random Forests

Research in Higher Education - In this article, a large data set containing every course taken by every undergraduate student in a major university in Canada over 10 years is analysed. Modern...     

A Critical Review of Students’ and Teachers’ Understandings of Nature of Science

Science & Education - There is widespread agreement that an adequate understanding of the nature of science (NOS) is a critical component of scientific literacy and a major goal in science...     

知识经济时代的人力资本政策——教育系统的使命与面临的挑战

在全球化背景下,世界各国都被纳入了知识经济的洪流。劳动力市场中岗位特性的变化带来了对工作者技能要求的变化,要求建立以能力为基础的人才培养机制。在具有动态性和开放性特点的知识经济环境下,能力的提升和保障需要依靠灵活和持续的终身学习体系。因此,教育系统要提供公平而有质量的教育,就需要转变教育实践和教育研究的工作范式,最终建立终身学习的体系和现代教育管理系统。