The development of thinking processes in postsecondary education: Application of a working model

Disciplines in postsecondary education have traditionally used different models to describe the thinking processes required in their field. From a review of the models used in different disciplines, a working model of thinking processes was developed and was tested for appropriateness of fit in six pure and applied matched disciplines. The professors testing the working model applied the model to their courses in different ways and gave a variety of examples of the instructional methods they used to do this.     

A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE STATE OF EVALUATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN CANADA

This paper reviews some of the major recent developments in evaluation in Canadian universities and colleges, and identifies the factors which contribute to the success of these procedures. Programme evaluation, criteria of excellence, and evaluation of student learning are each considered in turn and the major issues discussed. The problems involved are clearly delineated and inevitably complex, particularly as they involve the twin questions of accountability and autonomy, but evaluation procedures are necessary in all three areas if rational decision‐making is to be typical of higher education.     

Graduate Capabilities: a Framework for Assessing Course Quality 1

Three propositions about quality learning when linked to the concept of graduate capability provide a framework for examining the extent to which learning outcomes are embedded within the provision of authentic learning environments, a focus on global issues, and the development of skills to support life‐long learning. A case study in nursing at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is used to illustrate a student learning experience that addresses graduate capabilities, develops an authentic learning environment, addresses global issues, and fosters the development of skills to support life‐long learning.

     

Psychosocial Attributes and Life Experiences of Disadvantaged Minority Mothers: Age and Ethnic Variations

This study examined age and ethnic differences in psychosocial factors among hispanic (n = 210) and black (n = 73) low-income mothers within 2 days after delivery. The sample included 45 black and 99 hispanic adolescents (less than 19 years) and 139 adult controls (greater than or equal to 20 years) giving birth on the service ward at a large metropolitan hospital, excluding mothers and infants with high parity or adverse perinatal conditions. Multivariate and univariate analyses, with parity covaried, revealed age effects including earlier menarche, more school grade retention, and more perceived social support among teens. No age differences were found in child-rearing attitudes, self-esteem, or depressive symptoms. Black mothers reported more social support, higher self-esteem, and less strict child-rearing attitudes than hispanics. Analyses within the hispanic sample revealed Dominican/Puerto Rican group differences in measures of family structure and child-rearing attitudes, but only small differences in social support. Ethnocultural differences between blacks and hispanics and between the two hispanic subgroups are considered in relation to the process of acculturation.     

Student note-taking related to university examination performance

Student note-taking is an almost universal activity among university students, yet few naturalistic studies have examined relationships between note-taking practices and subsequent examination performance. Complete sets of notes on an introductory psychology course, involving 75 lectures presented by ten instructors, were obtained from nineteen male and nineteen female students. Notes on ten selected lectures (one per instructor) were analysed, and information derived about class attendance and the quantity, organization, and presentation of the notes. Variables based on this information were then correlated with performance on two three-hour final examination papers (one multiple-choice, one essay). High correlations were found between the quantity of notes and examination performance. Surprisingly, these correlations increased in subsamples consisting of those students who attended class most diligently. The correlations involving the multiple-choice examination tended to be higher than those involving the essay examination, most probably because of wider sampling of lecture content and a more factual orientation in the multiple-choice examination. The results appear to conflict with the advice given in student study guides, many of which suggest that students should be very selective and concise in their note-taking.     

Developing and sustaining an educative mentoring model of STEM teacher professional development through collaborative partnership

In this paper, we present details of a partnership undertaken by four universities with field-based, alternative STEM teacher preparation programs and a large urban school district to provide ongoing professional support for teachers serving as mentors for individuals preparing for careers in high-poverty schools. We also present key findings related to our implementation of an educative mentoring professional learning community (PLC) as a professional development (PD) model for these mentors. Our analysis reveals that mentors as well as candidates identified the PD program as addressing their specific interests and concerns, and that they were regularly and deeply engaged with key activities that were part of each session’s agenda. These findings signal how key elements of PD workshops can contribute to creating and sustaining a local but replicable PLC utilizing an educative mentoring model to support mentors and the future teachers whom they support.     

Effects of expected vs. unexpected proximal US preexposure on taste-aversion learning

Animals were first conditioned to expect lithium treatment following exposure to one taste solution (the CS+) and to expect no drug treatment following exposure to another flavor (the CS?). All subjects then received a saccharin taste-aversion conditioning trial. In Experiment 1, this conditioning trial was preceded 0, 1, 2, 4, or 6 h earlier by exposure to the CS+ flavor for independent groups. The CS+ exposure attenuated saccharin aversion learning if it occurred immediately before the saccharin conditioning trial but not if it occurred 1 h or more before conditioning. In Experiment 2, the saccharin conditioning trial was preceded 3 or 4.5 h earlier by a lithium injection. This proximal US preexposure injection was either unannounced (Li) or preceded by exposure to the CS+ (CS+Li) or the CS? (CS?Li) stimuli. The US preexposure attenuated saccharin aversion learning in all cases. However, the interference effect was less when the preexposure injection was expected (CS+Li) than when it was unexpected (CS?Li). This outcome could not be explained in terms of direct effects of the CS+ and CS? stimuli on the saccharin conditioning trial, and shows that the proximal US preexposure effect is a function of not only the drug dosage and preexposure interval, but also the anticipation of the drug pretreatment.     

Visualizing Without Vision at the Microscale: Students With Visual Impairments Explore Cells With Touch

Science instruction is typically highly dependent on visual representations of scientific concepts that are communicated through textbooks, teacher presentations, and computer-based multimedia materials. Little is known about how students with visual impairments access and interpret these types of visually-dependent instructional materials. This study explored the efficacy of new haptic (simulated tactile feedback and kinesthetics) instructional technology for teaching cell morphology and function to middle and high school students with visual impairments. The study examined students’ prior experiences learning about the cell and cell functions in classroom instruction, as well as how haptic feedback technology impacted students’ awareness of the 3-D nature of an animal cell, the morphology and function of cell organelles, and students’ interest in the haptic technology as an instructional tool. Twenty-one students with visual impairment participated in the study. Students explored a tactile model of the cell with a haptic point probe that allowed them to feel the cell and its organelles. Results showed that students made significant gains in their ability to identify cell organelles and found the technology to be highly interesting as an instructional tool. The need for additional adaptive technology for students with visual impairments is discussed.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers 0354578 and 0411656