Student attitudes toward mandatory fees

Responses to questions on demography, knowledge about student fees, attitudes toward collection and distribution of fees, and utilization and satisfaction with 8 specific fee-funded programs were collected by mail survey from a sample of 1,002 University of Colorado (Boulder campus) students stratified by class year, ethnic group, and school. Only one-third paid their own fees, and less than 30% knew the amount of their fees within $5. Only graduate students advocated a cutback in services to obtain a reduction in fees; most students would accept higher fees to fund three new programs. Differences among students in attitudes toward and use of fee-funded services were definite among year subgroups and minimal among ethnic and school subgroups.     

Weimar in Amherst

Gary Crosby Brasor, formerly assistant professor of French at Howard University, is the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Scholars. This article is excerpted from a November 1994 report prepared by Dr. Brasor for the Massachusetts Association of Scholars titled “Turmoil and Tension at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst: History, Analysis, and Recommended Solutions”     

Student/Faculty Connections in the Development of Teaching

This project directly involved students in two different models of instructional development. The first model was a Student Consultant program in which faculty selected from a menu of instructional services carried out by students. Typical services included attending class as impartial observers, soliciting feedback from other students on their learning experiences, videotaping class sessions, and evaluating course Web sites. The second model of instructional development was a program of student‐assisted teaching seminars for college faculty. Student Associates helped serve as panelists and facilitators. Assessments of attitudes toward teaching indicated that faculty members viewed both professors and students as collaborators in the classroom as a result of the seminar series.     

The relationship between alumni satisfaction and work experiences

Although alumni surveys frequently include questions about work experiences, little information is available about the relationship between work experiences and alumni satisfaction with college. The results of the present research indicate that work experiences are significantly related to alumni ratings of their college experiences. Specifically, alumni who are satisfied with their jobs are more likely to report being satisfied with their education experiences. The results of this research also indicate that women are less satisfied with their pay than men. Compared to men, women are neither more dissatisfied with the types of work they are performing nor more likely to be looking for another job. Counter to expectation, dissatisfaction with pay has a more significant effect on ratings of college experiences for women than for men. Presented at the 1993 AIR Forum, Chicago, May 1993.     

An eight‐year study of online lecture use in a medical gross anatomy and embryology course

Online lectures have been used in lieu of live lectures in our gross anatomy and embryology course for the past eight years. We examined patterns of online lecture use by our students and related that use to academic entry measures, gender and examination performance. Detailed access records identified by student were available from server logs. Total views per page of lecture material increased over the first six years, then decreased markedly between years seven and eight, possibly due to the recent availability of alternate forms of lecture audio. Lecture use peaked in midafternoon and again in the evening, although some use was seen at all hours. Usage was highest at midweek and lowest on Fridays as might be expected. Individual student's use varied widely from rates equivalent to less than one viewing/page to more than three viewings per page. Overall use by male students was greater than that of females and gender‐specific differences in the daily pattern were seen. Lecture use was correlated to the Medical College Admission Test® (MCAT®) Verbal Reasoning and Physical Sciences scores but not to composite MCAT scores or undergraduate grade point average. Overall use appeared to be driven by scheduled team‐based learning (TBL) sessions and major examinations. Specific subsets of lecture material were most often viewed before related TBL sessions and again during review for examinations. A small but significant correlation between lecture use and examination and course performance was seen, specifically in the male student population. These findings, along with earlier observations, suggest that varied use of online lectures is attributable to multiple factors. Anat Sci Educ © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

The relationship between language and reading in bilingual English-Arabic children

The connection between language and reading is well established across many languages studied to date. Little is known, however, about the role of language in reading in Arabic??a Semitic language characterized by diglossia??in which the oral and written varieties differ across language components. This study examined the relationship among multiple components of language, namely, phonology, morphology, and vocabulary and reading outcomes in 83 bilingual English-Arabic children. Results revealed associations between phonological awareness skills across English and Arabic. These associations did not hold for morphological awareness skills. Results also revealed that for Arabic and English, phonological awareness predicted word and pseudoword reading accuracy and vocabulary predicted reading comprehension. These findings are consistent with the tenets of the extended version of the Triangle Model of reading, which underscores the importance of multiple language components in predicting reading outcomes. Implications for future research, early intervention, and instruction with bilingual children are highlighted.     

The Mediating Effects of Student Engagement on the Relationships Between Academic Disciplines and Learning Outcomes: An Extension of Holland’s Theory

This research examined the relationships among students?? academic majors, levels of engagement, and learning outcomes within the context of Holland??s person?Cenvironment theory of vocational and educational behavior. The study focused on the role of student engagement as a mediating agent in the relationships between academic majors and student learning. Drawing on data from a stratified random sample of 20,000 seniors who participated in the 2008 National Survey of Student Engagement, results revealed that students?? academic majors were significantly related to levels of engagement and learning outcomes. Student engagement was also significantly related to learning outcomes. Students?? academic majors generally were not indirectly related to learning outcomes through levels of engagement. An important exception to this result was found for students in Enterprising environments where indirect relationships among Enterprising disciplines and Enterprising learning outcomes were positive, statistically significant, and substantially larger than the direct relationship.