Negative Thought Patterns of Undecided Community College Students: Implications for Counselors and Advisors

The purpose of this study was to explore the negative thinking patterns of incoming community college freshmen who were undecided about choosing a major and to suggest an approach for addressing these issues on a community college campus. Sixty community college freshmen attending their freshman orientation (FO) were surveyed using the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI). Results indicated that the students who participated in the study scored higher on all CTI scales than high school or college students in the normative sample. There were no differences in scores in terms of ages, gender, or ethnicity. These results suggest that community colleges should design programming that can help new students, particularly freshmen; to identify and to address their unconstructive thoughts with the aim of helping these students learn how to manage their anxiety upon entering college. Counselors and advisors should work more collaboratively by shifting from an individual model of delivering services to a more holistic learning approach in order to help students to become more decisive about an educational career path.     

VERBAL INTERACTION DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JUNIOR/COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY SETTINGS

Experience with current instructional strategies employed throughout various educational institutions led the authors of the paper to question the general state of affairs portrayed by recent HEW statements concerning “abstract” knowledge imparted to “passive” students. A research design is given along with a data analysis. Findings are reported and future directions established.     

Enhancing Community/Junior College Professors' Questioning Strategies and Interaction with Students

Abstract

The author was interested in identifying and changing the interaction behavior and questioning techniques of fourteen community/junior college professors enrolled in his summer institute. Modern technological facilities, including microteaching laboratories with complete videotaping capabilities, were used in training the professors in the use of Flanders Interaction Analysis and questioning strategies. Pre- and posttraining videotapes were used to collect data. The differences between pre- and posttraining lessons for the total class were significant for eight variables.     

Study of Extended Opportunity Programs and Services in California Community Colleges

Abstract

A two-phase study of Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) in California Community Colleges, involving comprehensive questionnaire surveys in 93 EOPS-funded colleges and site visits at 12 colleges, reveals that EOPS has proven successful in providing assistance to many who would not otherwise have been able to attend college. However, existing resources are not sufficient to meet the financial needs of many students in the colleges and many more potential students in the communities. The survey concludes that the colleges are successfully balancing the competing demands of financial assistance, to enable students to attend school, and services and assistance, to help students once they get to school.     

Delphi-Process Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Selected In-Service Training Techniques to Improve Community/Junior College Instruction

Abstract

Teaching modalities and in-service training activities that show promise of increasing student learning and teaching effectiveness are identified. The subjects were 25 community/junior college instructors with an average of 5.08 yr of college teaching experience and at least a master's degree, who participated in a 6-wk institute. Modern educational technology facilities, including fully equipped microteaching labs, were used to train the participants in Flanders Interaction Analysis and questioning strategies. The Delphi process, surveys involving the Likert scale, and follow-up visits to campuses were used to collect data. The participants identified several modalities and training techniques as effective.     

A behavior-genetic study of the legacy of early caregiving experiences: academic skills, social competence, and externalizing behavior in kindergarten

A critique of research examining whether early experiences with primary caregivers are reflected in adaptation is that relevant longitudinal studies have generally not employed genetically informed research designs capable of unconfounding shared genes and environments. Using the twin subsample (N = 485 pairs) of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, the current study provides evidence that early parental support (derived from observations at 24 months and around age 4, in prekindergarten) is associated with academic skills (r = .32), social competence (r = .15), and externalizing behavior (r = -.11) in kindergarten. Crucially, the shared environment accounted for virtually all of the correlation between parenting and academic skills, roughly half of the association between parenting and social competence, and approximately one fourth of the correlation between parenting and externalizing behavior.     

Managerial Work,Organizational Perspectives,and the Training of Managers 1

Hultman, G. 1984. Managerial Work, Organizational Perspectives, and the Training of Managers. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 28, 199‐210. Managers are often looked upon as men of action with an ability to promote change, but research sometimes seems to reveal the opposite. The article addresses itself to the area of planned change and the training of managers. The phenomenon of leadership and leader competence is seen in a new light by means of a discussion about the growing knowledge from research on managerial work and perspectives of organizations. It is suggested that knowledge of the work and the behavior of managers and an awareness of different organizational perspectives can promote understanding about leadership.

     

Equity and marketisation: emerging policies and practices in Australian education

The conjunction of equity and market logics in contemporary education has created new and different conditions of possibility for equity, both as conceived in policy discourses and as a related set of educational practices. In this editorial introduction, we examine how equity is being drawn into new policy assemblages and how, in the context of marketisation, equity is evolving and being enacted in new ways across education sectors. Different conceptions of equity are considered, including the increasingly influential human capital perspective promoted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). We argue that, separate from critiques of neoliberalism and its deleterious effects on equity in education, it is necessary to analyse carefully the increasing rationalisation of equity agendas in economic terms, the associated effects on education governance and policy-making, as well as on the work of educational institutions and educators. Providing an overview of the contributions to this Special Issue, we direct particular attention to the multiple, complex and often contradictory effects of the current education reform agenda in Australia, which has prioritised equity objectives and intensified performance measurement, comparison and accountability as means to drive educational improvement and reduce disadvantage.     

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF READING ATTITUDES OF ELDERLY ACTIVE AND INACTIVE READERS

This study presents an analysis of the attitudes of elderly active and inactive readers that relate to preferences in reading. It was hypothesized that no differences would be found between the readers’ attitudes toward reading. Findings indicated that there are differences between elderly active and inactive readers and that elderly active readers seem to have a more positive attitude toward reading than elderly inactive readers.     

Promoting Sustainability: Audience and Curatorial Perspectives on The Human Factor

Abstract Humanity faces a growing list of socio‐economic and environmental problems, which impel us all to foster more sustainable forms of development. This paper examines how museums might encourage the kind of awareness that can lead to sustainability, by assessing responses to The Human Factor, a permanent exhibition at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, which raises questions about values, beliefs, and actions associated with the industrialized worldview. Responses to the exhibition were assessed through quantitative exit surveys and a novel technique involving heart rate monitors. Additional qualitative insights were gained from responses of participants in a high school Youth Forum on Sustainability that used the exhibition to catalyze discussion. Together, these studies suggest that provocative exhibitions can foster understanding and awareness among teenagers and adults through a combination of cognitive and emotional responses, and that a focus on sustainability can be challenging both for visitors and for museums as cultural institutions.