Reward structures of academic disciplines

This article examined the specific differences in the salary reward structures of eight clusters of academic disciplines included in Biglan's three-dimensional model of the academic profession. The sample consisted of 1.320 faculty at a large research university who responded to the Faculty Activity Analysis questionnaire requesting information on the amount of time they devoted each week to eleven categories of professional responsibility. These measures were used to predict faculty salaries in the eight discipline clusters. The results demonstrated wide variation in the reward structures of these discipline clusters.     

Effects of social and economic factors on four-year higher-education enrollments in Virginia

Based on human capital theory, the demand for higher education is investigated within a statewide system. A multiple regression approach is applied to data that measure the following by geographic municipality (i.e., county or city): the ratio of high school graduates enrolled in a given institution to that institution's entering freshman enrollment (dependent variable); eligible population, academic ability, educational attainment, income level, wage rate, unemployment rate, cost of attendance, and local environment (independent variables). Using the SAS GLM procedure, various breakdowns of the demand function by institutional grouping are presented. Squared multiple correlations for the various models range from .3 to .5.Presented at the 22nd Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Denver, May 1982.     

Factors in teacher assignments: Measuring workload by effort

Based on a national survey of 491 department heads in 25 major universities in the United States, this study examines what department heads perceive to be the component parts in making assignments to faculty members. The importance of evaluating faculty resources based on effort required rather than on time devoted to given tasks is stressed. Regression analysis is used to investigate how department heads interpret effort required to teach classes and how this effort varies by discipline (Biglan taxonomy), by class level, by number of students, and by type of instructional technique. The results are validated against reported time expenditures from a faculty activity analysis.Presented at the Twentieth Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Atlanta, April 1980.     

Young children's comprehension and recall of computer screen displayed text

In this study 26 third grade and 36 fifth grade students, experienced in computer-assisted instruction, were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions: computer screen displayed text or traditional printed page text. According to assigned treatment condition, subjects either read a story from the computer screen or printed page booklet. There were no statistically significant differences between the two treatment conditions on measures of reading comprehension. On the attitude survey subjects reported greater interest in the story when reading from the computer, however, they reported that the story was more difficult when reading from the computer screen. The results of the study suggest that extended reading of prose materials on computer screens is feasible for children as young as eight years of age.     

Can we use young people’s knowledge to develop teachers and HIV-related education?

Despite recent progress in meeting the goals of the Education for All agenda, certain groups of young people are particularly vulnerable to exclusion and underachievement, including children with HIV/AIDS, children living in poverty, and children with disabilities. HIV/AIDS has reduced many young people’s rights to access education, to live a full and healthy life, and to have a life as a child. This article focuses on attempts to continue to empower young people to protect themselves from HIV by exploring the dynamics around HIV-related education in schools, in particular by examining the role that young people’s knowledge can play in improving curricula and thus reducing HIV/AIDS rates. The authors draw on qualitative research in a total of eight schools in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. Preliminary findings suggest that pupil consultation and dialogue can be used to inform thinking on the curriculum for HIV education.     

The potential of critical race theory in decolonizing university curricula

This paper critiques our experiences as non-Indigenous Australian educators of working with numerous embedding Indigenous perspectives curricular projects at an Australian university. Reporting on these project outcomes alone, while useful in identifying limitations, does not illustrate ways in which future embedding and decolonizing projects can persist and evolve. Deeper analysis is required of the ways in which Indigenous knowledge and perspectives are perceived, and what “embedding” Indigenous Knowledge in university curricula truly means to various educational stakeholders. To achieve a deeper analysis and propose ways to invigorate the continuing decolonization of Australian university curricula, this paper critically interrogates the methodology and conceptualization of Indigenous knowledge in embedding Indigenous perspectives (EIP) in the university curriculum using tenets of critical race theory. Accordingly, we conduct this analysis from the standpoint that EIP should not subscribe to the luxury of independence of scholarship from politics and activism. The learning objective is to create a space to legitimize politics in the intellectual/academic realm. We conclude by arguing that critical race theory's emancipatory, future and action-oriented goals for curricula would enhance effective and sustainable embedding initiatives, and ultimately, preventing such initiatives from returning to the status quo.     

Mapping the landscapes of bullying

Past bullying research has consistently identified common locations (e.g. bathrooms, hallways, playgrounds) on school campuses where bullying occurs, but not specific locations. This limitation does not allow researchers to take into account the unique geography of individual schools and how it contributes to bullying. A random sample of 741 grade 4–6 students from nine different elementary schools identified where bullying occurs on a campus map and this information was analysed in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). While this study offers preliminary findings (e.g. diffusion of bullying, specific locations for bullying) that increase awareness about bullying, the emphasis in this paper is to present a new methodological tool in the analysis of bullying. The use of GIS mapping to analyse bullying offer researchers an advanced instrument to understand the experience of bullying within the physical context of a school. These preliminary findings focus future research.     

Cognitive Stimulation as a Mechanism Linking Socioeconomic Status With Executive Function: A Longitudinal Investigation

Executive functions (EF), including working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, vary as a function of socioeconomic status (SES), with children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds having poorer performance than their higher SES peers. Using observational methods, we investigated cognitive stimulation in the home as a mechanism linking SES with EF. In a sample of 101 children aged 60–75 months, cognitive stimulation fully mediated SES-related differences in EF. Critically, cognitive stimulation was positively associated with the development of inhibition and cognitive flexibility across an 18-month follow-up period. Furthermore, EF at T1 explained SES-related differences in academic achievement at T2. Early cognitive stimulation—a modifiable factor—may be a desirable target for interventions designed to ameliorate SES-related differences in cognitive development and academic achievement.