The nexus between college choice and persistence

Initial student commitments have long been considered an influence on persistence, but the reasons why students choose to attend a college have seldom been considered as dimensions of initial commitments that could influence persistence processes and outcomes. This study used NPSAS-87 to examine the influence of finance-related reasons for choosing a college on persistence decisions. The findings include (1) finance-related choices have direct and indirect influences on whether students persist in college; and (2) market-based, monetary measures of financial aid, tuition costs, housing costs, and other living costs have a substantial direct effect on persistence.     

Humanizing the use of technology in education: A re-examination

Educators are currently attempting to integrate computers into the classroom, in order to humanize their use. The strategies that have been adopted, however, are primarily logistical and ignore the philosophy that underpins this technology. It is argued in this paper that educational technology will not be humanized until it is understood to be sustained by a philosophy other than technological rationality, and thus is provided with a human base. The life-world (Lebenswelt) is identified as a proper foundation for technology, because technological rationality is illustrated to be a modality of human expression. When this is the case, technology is placed in the service of humankind, for it cannot be conceived as the genesis of personal freedom.

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Zusammenfassung Gegenwärtig sind Pädagogen um die Integration von Computern ins Klassenzimmer bemüht, um deren Gebrauch zu humanisieren. Die dabei angewandten Strategien sind jedoch primär logistisch und ignorieren die theoretischen Voraussetzungen, auf die sich diese Technologie stützt. In diesem Bericht wird argumentiert, daß die Bildungstechnologie so lange nicht humanisiert wird, bis sie nicht in einem anderen Sinn als dem der technologischen Rationalität verbunden wird und auf eine humane Grundlage gestellt ist. Die Lebenswelt wird als ein wahres Fundament der Technologie identifiziert, da technologische Rationalität als eine Modalität menschlichen Ausdrucks dargestellt wird. Wenn dies der Fall ist, wird die Technologie in den Dienst der Menschheit gestellt, da sie nicht als Nemesis persönlicher Freiheit angesehen werden kann.

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Résumé Les pédagogues, aujourd'hui, tentent de faire entrer l'ordinateur dans la salle de classe, afin de ramener son utilisation à l'échelle humaine. Cependant, les stratégies adoptées demeurent de l'ordre de la logistique et ignore tout de la philosophie qui étaye cette technologie. Dans cet article, il est argué que l'on ne saurait humaniser la technologie au sein de l'enseignement, tant qu'il n'est pas entendu qu'une philosophie autre que la rationalité technologique la sous-tend, la dotant ainsi d'un fondement humain; l'environnement naturel (Lebenswelt) constitue la véritable base de la technologie car la rationalité ne représente qu'une modalité de l'expression humaine. Dans ce cas, la technologie est placée au service de l'humanité et ne saurait être conçue comme sanction de la liberté individuelle.

     

Approaches to Studying and Perceptions of the Academic Environment in Students Following Problem-Based and Subject-Based Curricula

To investigate the effects of different kinds of curriculum, the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and a short form of the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) were administered to 225 2nd-year students at six different schools of occupational therapy. Their curricula were classified as problem-based, subject-based or hybrid. Their scores on the scales of the CEQ and ASI were closely related, insofar as they shared more than half of their respective variance. Problem-based curricula were associated with higher scores on the scales of the CEQ concerned with appropriate assessment and emphasis on independence. With the ASI, problem-based curricula were associated with lower scores on all of the scales concerned with a reproducing orientation, and with higher scores on the scale concerned with a deep approach. These findings suggest that the implementation of a problem-based curriculum has desirable effects on the quality of learning, and these are at least in part mediated by students' perceptions of their academic environment.     

The impacts of financial reductions on British universities: 1981–84

This paper arises from a research project funded by the Department of Education and Science which was concerned primarily with nine British Universities' responses to and the impacts of the University Grants Committee's recurrent grant reductions during the period 1981–84. The responses are summarised briefly prior to considering the impacts on the universities. It is concluded that whilst a number of the universities successfully developed and implemented plans to reduce staff and student numbers, to reduce expenditure and to increase income from non-government sources, there were serious negative impacts which suggest a further period of financial stringency would constrain the capacity to undertake effective teaching and research and to respond to the changing needs of society.     

A CASE FOR SELF‐ASSESSMENT BASED ON RECENT STUDIES OF STUDENT LEARNING

An account of an experiment in self‐assessed learning where the lecturer used his authority to give his students responsibility for their own assessment. Students were expected to set their own goals, week‐by‐week, and prepare a self‐assessment, which was open to questioning and discussion by other members of the group, but which involved only the individual student in the final decision.

The difficulties encountered are clearly stated, but the final judgment is that only such methods can achieve deep processing in Higher Education. It is also argued that conventional methods of evaluation are inappropriate for this style of learning.     

What really influences minority attendance? Sequential analyses of the high school and beyond sophomore cohort

While the factors that influence college minority student attendance have been the subject of recent study, there remain unresolved questions about how different factors influence college attendance decisions of applicants from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. In particular, there is ambiguity about whether blacks are more or less likely to attend than whites and what factors might improve their attendance rates. This study uses two sets of logistic regressions to identify the factors that can promote minority attendance: a set that examines attendance by all high school seniors in the high school class of 1982 and a set that examines attendance by college applicants in this class. Consistent with prior research on student access, three factors are identified that can potentially improve college attendance by minority students: (1) improved academic preparation in elementary and high school; (2) increased aspirations for higher levels of educational attainment; (3) increased levels of financial aid. Public interventions that would improve any of these factors for minority high school students are likely to improve minority participation rates.     

Can tablet computers enhance learning in further education?

Interest in the potential benefits of providing tablet computers to students has grown in recent years, both in UK institutions, and across the world. Limited research studies have been reported in higher education (HE), and primary and secondary school settings, tentatively suggesting a range of positive impacts on learners, but little conclusive research has been published on the introduction of tablets in further education (FE). This article presents a case study of a single, mid-size English FE college, which piloted the provision of tablets to bounded groups of students and teachers in four diverse curriculum areas. The author was invited to help design the college’s evaluation of the pilot, which would inform a potential business case to extend the pilot to all students. One element was a qualitative research project, with data captured through a series of focus group interviews with all 64 students who received tablets, and separate interviews with their ten teachers. Findings are reported here, exploring the extent to which students and teachers perceived learning benefits from the tablets: for some learners, this was reported as enhancing the organisation of learning; supporting greater independence of learning and enabling more purposive learning. Barriers to learning enhancement were also identified, including institutional issues (frustration with technical infrastructure), and individual learner disengagement (distraction and surface engagement with mere ‘novelty’). Concluding that the tablets’ clear benefits were not automatically transformative, and engagement was not uniform, findings are relevant to FE managers and leaders of other institutions considering tablets as a possible learning panacea.