RESULTS OF THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION DATA SYSTEM EMPLOYER FOLLOW‐UP SURVEY FOR MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITY COLLEGES

This article presents the results of the Vocational Education Data System employer follow‐up (EFU) survey for graduates of 15 public community colleges who were employed full time between 1 and 2 years after graduation (N = 588). In general, these community college graduates were rated between good and very good on the quality of work and preparation EFU items. No correlations were found between EFU ratings and average hourly wage, even within program areas, indicating that the average hourly wage of community college graduates is a flawed index of program or graduate quality. No significant differences were found between female and male EFU ratings, but large significant differences in average hourly wage were found, even within program areas. This particular and direct finding tends to support current contentions that women are not receiving equal pay for equal quality or work in the marketplace.     

Having a Ball with Confidence Intervals

Confidence intervals are often misinterpreted. This article describes an activity which helps students understand what it means to have confidence in a Process.     

Related factors of the MTAI and the 16PF

The Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory (MTAI) and the Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16PF) were administered to 395 undergraduate teachers-in-training. The MTAI and the 16PF were compared using canonical analysis. They contained three related factors accounting for 41% of their total variance. It was concluded that teachers' attitudes toward their pupils are determined in large part by measurable personality traits.     

RIGHT AND GOODS: PROCEDURAL LIBERALISM AND EDUCATIONAL POLICY

A bstract .  In this essay, James Scott Johnston asks what sort of liberalism is best for the educational systems of early twenty-first century, late capitalistic democratic nations, looking at the procedural liberalism extant. Two major models are John Rawls's Justice as Fairness and Jürgen Habermas's Communicative Action. Both owe their foundational movements to Immanuel Kant in various respects, and Johnston therefore examines Kant in those areas both thinkers draw upon. Johnston then turns to Rawls and to Habermas, discussing what is central to their frameworks. Johnston finally claims that neither liberalism will work without due attention to issues critics have raised regarding the distinction between Right and Good and suggests an alternative Kantian model in the conclusion.     

Children's perception of gap affordances: bicycling across traffic-filled intersections in an immersive virtual environment

This study examined gap choices and crossing behavior in children and adults using an immersive, interactive bicycling simulator. Ten- and 12-year-olds and adults rode a bicycle mounted on a stationary trainer through a virtual environment consisting of a street with 6 intersections. Participants faced continuous cross traffic traveling at 25 mph or 35 mph and waited for gaps they judged were adequate for crossing. Children and adults chose the same size temporal gaps, but children left far less time to spare between themselves and the approaching vehicle when they crossed the intersection. Relative to adults, children delayed in getting started and took longer to reach the roadway. Discussion focuses on developmental changes in how children coordinate self movement with object movement.     

Elementary Teacher’s Conceptions of Inquiry Teaching: Messages for Teacher Development

This study explored practicing elementary school teacher’s conceptions of teaching in ways that foster inquiry-based learning in the science curriculum (inquiry teaching). The advocacy for inquiry-based learning in contemporary curricula assumes the principle that students learn in their own way by drawing on direct experience fostered by the teacher. That students should be able to discover answers themselves through active engagement with new experiences was central to the thinking of eminent educators such as Pestalozzi, Dewey and Montessori. However, even after many years of research and practice, inquiry learning as a referent for teaching still struggles to find expression in the average teachers’ pedagogy. This study drew on interview data from 20 elementary teachers. A phenomenographic analysis revealed three conceptions of teaching for inquiry learning in science in the elementary years of schooling: (a) The Experience-centered conception where teachers focused on providing interesting sensory experiences to students; (b) The Problem-centered conception where teachers focused on engaging students with challenging problems; and (c) The Question-centered conception where teachers focused on helping students to ask and answer their own questions. Understanding teachers’ conceptions has implications for both the enactment of inquiry teaching in the classroom as well as the uptake of new teaching behaviors during professional development, with enhanced outcomes for engaging students in Science.     

An Approach to Facilitative Teaching through Literature

Dealing with student behavior is often cited as one of the most frustrating aspects of teaching, yet many classroom teachers receive no pre-service training in the basics of behavior management. This article describes the process of implementing a quick behavioral analysis for the purpose of designing a basic intervention. It will provide general education teachers with the means to choose the appropriate interventions when behavioral problems occur in their classrooms.     

Advancement in higher education: the role of marketing in building philanthropic giving

This paper empirically explores ways in which marketers of higher education can contribute to the important task of cultivating alumni philanthropy. Advancement professionals understand that philanthropy is influenced by wealth and affinity. As marketers, we anticipate that our contribution resides with investments in building affinity. Using survey data that measure the affinity of alumni of a large US university who have been commercially screened to reveal individual wealth, this paper provides empirical evidence of the relative contributions of affinity and wealth to giving. Logistic regression analysis reveals that affinity has a greater impact on predicting the likelihood of giving than other variables, including prior giving and wealth. Important to marketers, this study emphasizes the importance of building affinity and also uncovers obstacles to affinity formation. This information can be used to bridge and repair alumni relationships with their alma mater and inform segmented marketing communications to foster alumni enthusiasm for giving.