Sektion Allgemeine Erziehungswissenschaft

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Preferred directions and images for the community college: A view from inside

Both a sharpened sense of direction and promotion of specific institutional images seem necessary if the community college is to achieve a more distinct identity. Congruence between faculty and administrative preferences for possible directions and images seems vital if the direction and images are to be achieved. A randomly selected sample of full-time faculty and senior-level administrators in the State University of New York's thirty community colleges was surveyed to determine faculty and administrative preferences for four institutional directions and seven images for the community college. The results showed a surprising degree of congruence between faculty and administrators as to preferred direction and images. In addition, the relationship of certain demographic variables to preferences was examined, with limited correlations resulting. It was concluded that faculty and administrators were especially supportive of the institution's comprehensiveness since it provides a niche for everyone.     

Developing perceived self-efficacy in later life through poetry writing. An analysis of a U3A poetry group of older Australians

ABSTRACT

A change-of-life issue for older people is finding ways to engage meaningfully and be creative. Sustaining a sense of self-efficacy in one’s abilities to be productive is vital for wellbeing. Our research explored the perceived self-efficacy developed in an Australian University of the Third Age poetry class. We gathered data from one class session through observation, a focus group and paired interviews. Transcribed data identified participants’ voices, and common themes were noted. We use Bandura’s idea of perceived self-efficacy, through examining mastery experiences, modelling, social persuasion and a positive learning climate to understand the data. These sources of self-efficacy were pivotal for participants’ positive self-efficacy. We offer this example of how older people can achieve mastery in a new field of creative endeavour at a time in their life-course often positioned as diminishing. In doing so, we challenge conventional understandings of ageing.     

Mentoring Beginning Teachers: Findings from Contextual Supervision

This article examines the contextual supervision (CS) model that has been developed and applied in several practicum settings of teacher-education programs over the past ten years. The study synthesizes the research findings on the potential effectiveness of CS in assisting faculty supervisors and classroom cooperating teachers with the task of mentoring pre-service teachers to develop their instructional repertoire. The CS model is described, its rationale is presented, research results on its application are summarized, its strengths and limitations are identified, and implications of its usefulness as a mentoring tool to enhance teacher performance are drawn.     

Multiple-transfer students in a public urban university: Background characteristics and interinstitutional movements

Little research has been conducted on multiple-transfer students, those students who transfer more than once during their collegiate careers. In this study, background characteristics and previous interinstitutional movements of a sample of multiple transfers enrolled at a large, urban, public university were examined. These students moved along four different transfer paths before enrolling at the university, where they comprised one-fifth of new undergraduate enrollments. Their paths differed significantly on a number of demographic, institutional, and interaction variables. Overall, these students were academic achievers with high socioeconomic status backgrounds, who focused on academic quality and programs in choosing four-year colleges. Their tendency to transfer among large, inexpensive, public institutions has negative implications for the private sector of higher education.     

Capturing the Complexity of Alternative Schools: Narratives of Latino Males in an Overlooked Educational Space

 This study discusses the needs and challenges associated with Latino males’ treatment in public schools. The primary concern is how nationally, only one in two Latino males graduate from U.S. high schools (Schott Foundation for Public Education in Black Lives Matter: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, http://blackboysreport.org/, 2015). However, a growing body of research has emerged, heightening Latino males’ social and academic needs in traditional K-12 educational settings. In this paper, we highlight the need to focus on alternative school settings through the narratives of four Latino males enrolled in two alternative public schools. Our findings describe the nuances in alternative schooling experience for Latino males. It explores the school context's differences to (re)engage youth back into school and the various factors that shape their future aspirations. We discuss implications for research and practice to improve alternative schools' conditions to better serve Latino males in this overlooked sector in the educational pipeline.

     

Math for the Benefit of Society: A New MATLAB-Based Gen-Ed Course

Abstract

Responding to a call for national reform of mathematical education, as well as a college-wide revision of general education (GE) requirements, we describe a new entry-level, GE course focused on the humanitarian utility of mathematics. This includes a detailed overview of how we taught the course using a Humanitarian MATLAB Lab Manual developed collaboratively with undergraduate students within an applied math program. A PRIMUS edition of this manual with complete MATLAB materials for a GE course is included as an Appendix for interested readers. A variety of social justice issues including peace-building after modern civil wars, continued cancer risk after Chernobyl, gang reduction, various dimensions of human trafficking, the use of a tractor and herbicide in subsistence farming, equitable resource distribution during the Syrian refugee crisis, and access to HIV vaccines are included in this special edition of the manual.