The relationship between first‐year achievement and the pedagogical‐didactical fit between secondary school and university

Central in this study is the degree to which the pedagogical‐didactical approach in undergraduate programmes aligns with the pedagogical‐didactical approach in secondary schools, and how this is related to first‐year achievement. Approaches to teaching at secondary schools and in first‐year university programmes were examined by interviewing school management, school teachers and university lecturers. The teaching approaches found within the schools were contrasted against the academic teaching approaches, resulting in four types of fit. With multiple regression analysis the relationships between these four types of fit, gender, prior achievement and first‐year achievement were examined. The results showed that prior performance is positively related to first‐year achievement, as well as a fit characterised by more student‐centred teaching in the first year compared to the approach to teaching at secondary school.     

Mental rotation performance in fourth graders: No effects of gender beliefs (yet?)

The influence of gender beliefs on cognitive task performance has been demonstrated repeatedly for adults. For children, there is evidence that gender beliefs can substantially impede or boost math performance — a task where gender differences in favour of boys declined over past decades. Therefore, we examined this phenomenon using the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), a task where gender differences still occur reliably favouring males — for adults as well as for children. A sample of 252 fourth graders, whose beliefs about spatial ability were manipulated experimentally (instructions given: boys are better, girls are better or independent of gender) had to complete the MRT. In contrast to adult's literature, children's performance did not decrease or increase as a function of instruction: boys always outperformed girls; girls not even outperformed their same-sex counterparts given the “girls better” instruction. The transfer of the conceptual approach failed — possible reasons are discussed.     

Mode 2 knowledge and institutional life: Taking Gibbons on a walk through a South African university

This paper examines the response of a blackuniversity in South Africa to the challengesposed by the mode 2 knowledge thesis of MichaelGibbon. The case material is based on theFaculty of Engineering at the University ofDurban Westville, which in the period 1999–2000grappled with the implications of Gibbonsthesis for knowledge, inquiry and professionalidentity in a proposed university-industrypartnership. The author argues that entrenchedinstitutional rules and behaviours threaten toundermine any attempt to rethink the researchand practice of engineering education even whensuch restructuring appears to work in the bestinterest of students.     

The effectiveness of Web search engines for retrieving relevant ecommerce links

Ecommerce is developing into a fast-growing channel for new business, so a strong presence in this domain could prove essential to the success of numerous commercial organizations. However, there is little research examining ecommerce at the individual customer level, particularly on the success of everyday ecommerce searches. This is critical for the continued success of online commerce. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of search engines in the retrieval of relevant ecommerce links. The study examines the effectiveness of five different types of search engines in response to ecommerce queries by comparing the engines’ quality of ecommerce links using topical relevancy ratings. This research employs 100 ecommerce queries, five major search engines, and more than 3540 Web links. The findings indicate that links retrieved using an ecommerce search engine are significantly better than those obtained from most other engines types but do not significantly differ from links obtained from a Web directory service. We discuss the implications for Web system design and ecommerce marketing campaigns.     

Functioning and participation problems of students with ADHD in higher education: which reasonable accommodations are effective?

Abstract

Students with ADHD struggle in higher education as a result of various functioning and participation problems. However, there are remaining gaps in the literature. First, it remains unclear how often and during which teaching and evaluation methods problems arise. Second, we do not yet know which reasonable accommodations are most effective to deal with the functioning. And third, we do not know which accommodations are most effective to address participation problems of students with ADHD in higher education. This study addresses these three gaps in literature. In total, 86 students with ADHD, 42 student counsellors and 86 students without a disability participated in a survey-based study. The results show that students with ADHD most frequently experience problems with sustaining and focusing attention and it is demonstrated that most problems arise during classical teaching or evaluation methods. Finally, the perception of the effectiveness of reasonable accommodations is strongly dependent on which problems students experience in higher education. These findings suggest that it is important to consider both personal and environmental characteristics when selecting and implementing reasonable accommodations.     

Examining and elaborating upon the nature of elementary prospective teachers’ conceptions of partitive division with fractions

The purpose of this study was to examine and elaborate upon elementary prospective teachers’ (PSTs) conceptions of partitive division with fractions. We examined the degree to which PSTs’ conceptions were connected (i.e., capable of translating between representations correctly; aware that partitive division generates a unit rate for its quotient) and flexible (i.e., capable of differentiating between opportunities to partition or iterate (or both) when solving a partitive division task; aware that partitioning or iterating (or both) could be associated with the operation of division, as appropriate). Seventeen PSTs participated in task-based interviews prior to instruction in a mathematics content course for teachers. These PSTs demonstrated disconnected conceptions of partitive division with fractions when they incorrectly translated between representations and either inconsistently or did not express awareness that the purpose of the task was to generate a unit rate. These PSTs demonstrated rigid conceptions of partitive division with fractions such that they did not express awareness that the process of iterating could be associated with the operation of division, even when they obtained a correct answer by iterating. Results extend prior research by looking beyond PSTs’ performance on tasks to elaborate upon PSTs’ conceptions of the operation of partitive division. This study contributes new insights into PSTs’ conceptions that can be used by mathematics teacher educators to inform the design of future instructional interventions.     

Gender-specific effects of artificially induced gender beliefs in mental rotation

Men outperform women in the Mental Rotation Test (MRT) by about one standard deviation. The present study replicated a gender belief account [Moè, A., & Pazzaglia, F. (2006). Following the instructions! Effects of gender beliefs in mental rotation. Learning and Individual Differences, 16, 369–377.] for (part of) this effect. A sample of 300 adults, whose gender beliefs about mental rotation were manipulated experimentally (instructions given: men are better, women are better, or no gender differences exist) had to complete the MRT. Artificially induced gender beliefs affected performance and guessing behavior differently in relation to gender. Women's performance followed the gender belief induction but their guessing behavior remained unaffected. Men's performance, however, remained unaffected but their guessing behavior followed the gender belief induction. These findings suggest that gender beliefs affect men and women differently, and they also suggest that a gender belief account cannot (fully) explain gender differences in mental rotation performance.     

Architecture students and research courses: are they aligned? Students’ attitude towards research courses

Learning Environments Research - Research courses are part of many higher education curricula. However, students’ attitudes towards statistics and research courses tend to be negative. One...     

Childhood trauma and suicide risk in a sample of young individuals aged 14–35 years in southern Brazil

Suicide is among the main causes of death of people aged between 15 and 44 years old. Childhood trauma is an important risk factor for suicide. Hence, the objective of this study was to verify the relationship between childhood trauma and current suicide risk (suicidal behavior and ideation) in individuals aged 14–35 years, in the city of Pelotas, Brazil. This is a cross-sectional, population-based study. Sample selection was performed by clusters. Suicide risk was evaluated using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and Childhood trauma was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Moreover, the participants responded to a questionnaire concerning socioeconomic status, work, and substance use. The sample was composed of 1,380 individuals. The prevalence of suicide risk was 11.5%. The prevalence figures of childhood trauma were 15.2% (emotional neglect), 13.5% (physical neglect), 7.6% (sexual abuse), 10.1% (physical abuse), and 13.8% (emotional abuse). Suicide risk was associated (p < .001) with gender, work, alcohol abuse, tobacco use, and all types of childhood trauma. The odds of suicide risk were higher in women (OR = 1.8), people who were not currently working (OR = 2.3), individuals who presented alcohol abuse (OR = 2.6), and among tobacco smokers (OR = 3.4). Moreover, suicide risk was increased in all types of trauma: emotional neglect (OR = 3.7), physical neglect (OR = 2.8), sexual abuse (OR = 3.4), physical abuse (OR = 3.1), and emotional abuse (OR = 6.6). Thus, preventing early trauma may reduce suicide risk in young individuals.