Does Institution Type Predict Students’ Desires to Pursue Law Enforcement Careers?

Diversity in the field of law enforcement remains an issue, despite the popularity of the criminal justice degree. Prior research has typically been limited to surveying students from a single type of institution (historically black college & university, mixed-race institution, or predominately white institution). This is the first time a sample of students has been drawn from three different types of institutions. The current study examined whether institution type, race, gender, major, and perception of fair treatment were adequate predictors of a criminal justice student’s desire to pursue a career in law enforcement. Results revealed a significant interaction between the institution and gender. Academic major and perception of fair treatment produced significant main effects in the model. The theoretical and practical implications associated with these findings are discussed.     

Figure Facts: Encouraging Undergraduates to Take a Data-Centered Approach to Reading Primary Literature

The ability to interpret experimental data is essential to understanding and participating in the process of scientific discovery. Reading primary research articles can be a frustrating experience for undergraduate biology students because they have very little experience interpreting data. To enhance their data interpretation skills, students used a template called “Figure Facts” to assist them with primary literature–based reading assignments in an advanced cellular neuroscience course. The Figure Facts template encourages students to adopt a data-centric approach, rather than a text-based approach, to understand research articles. Specifically, Figure Facts requires students to focus on the experimental data presented in each figure and identify specific conclusions that may be drawn from those results. Students who used Figure Facts for one semester increased the amount of time they spent examining figures in a primary research article, and regular exposure to primary literature was associated with improved student performance on a data interpretation skills test. Students reported decreased frustration associated with interpreting data figures, and their opinions of the Figure Facts template were overwhelmingly positive. In this paper, we present Figure Facts for others to adopt and adapt, with reflection on its implementation and effectiveness in improving undergraduate science education.     

Partnered Research Experiences for Junior Faculty at Minority-Serving Institutions Enhance Professional Success

Scientific workforce diversity is critical to ensuring the realization of our national research goals and minority-serving institutions play a vital role in preparing undergraduate students for science careers. This paper summarizes the outcomes of supporting career training and research practices by faculty from teaching-intensive, minority-serving institutions. Support of these faculty members is predicted to lead to: 1) increases in the numbers of refereed publications, 2) increases in federal grant funding, and 3) a positive impact on professional activities and curricular practices at their home institutions that support student training. The results presented show increased productivity is evident as early as 1 yr following completion of the program, with participants being more independently productive than their matched peers in key areas that serve as measures of academic success. These outcomes are consistent with the goals of the Visiting Professorship Program to enhance scientific practices impacting undergraduate student training. Furthermore, the outcomes demonstrate the benefits of training support for research activities at minority-serving institutions that can lead to increased engagement of students from diverse backgrounds. The practices and results presented demonstrate a successful generalizable approach for stimulating junior faculty development and can serve as a basis for long-term faculty career development strategies that support scientific workforce diversity.     

Ethical bases of moral agency in teaching

This article introduces a qualitative study entitled ‘The moral and ethical bases of teachers’ interactions with students'. The main focus of the study is on the teacher's role as moral agent and the orientations within the classroom to issues of right and wrong as identified by teachers and the researchers. The primary intent is to combine empirical investigation and philosophical inquiry in order to explore teachers' ethical knowledge related to both what they hope to teach and model for students and how they hope to govern their own behaviour. This article explores some of the theoretical complexities of the study and presents some of the interview and observation data, focused primarily on the case of one of the teachers.     

Science Laboratory Classroom Environments at Schools and Universities: A Cross‐National Study∗

ABSTRACT

Because already existing classroom environment scales are unsuitable for science laboratory classes, a new instrument was developed and validated in a Class form (student's perceptions of the class as a whole) and a new Personal form (student's perceptions of his/her own role within the class). The instrument was cross‐nationally field tested with 5,447 students in 269 classes in six countries, and cross‐validated with 1,594 students in 92 classes in Australia. Each scale exhibited satisfactory internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity, and factorial validity, and differentiated between the perceptions of students in different classes. Use of the new instrument revealed that: science laboratory classes are dominated by closed‐ended activities; Class form means consistently were more favorable than Personal form means; associations existed between attitudinal outcomes and laboratory environment; and the Class and Personal form each accounted for unique variance in student attitudes.     

‘I make sure I am safe and I make sure I have myself in every way possible’: African-American youth perspectives on sexuality education

High rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections play a major role in the physical, mental, and emotional health of young people. Despite efforts to provide sexuality education through diverse channels, we know little about the ways in which young people perceive school- and community-based efforts to educate them about sexual health. Forty-eight African-American young people participated in six focus groups to discuss their sexuality education experiences. Three major themes emerged that highlight experiences and perspectives on optimal strategies for promoting sexual health. These themes were: (1) experiences with school-based sexuality education (SBSE), (2) seeking information outside of schools, and (3) general principles of youth-centred sexuality education. Young people in the focus groups expressed their varying satisfaction with SBSE due to the restricted content covered and lack of comfort with the instruction methods. Participants described how they reached outside of SBSE for sexuality education, turning to those in the community, including local organisations, health care providers, and peers, also expressing variability in satisfaction with these sources. Finally, participants identified three important principles for youth-centred sexuality education: trust and confidentiality, credibility, and self-determination. These findings give voice to the often-unheard perspectives of African-American young people. Based on their responses, it is possible to gain a better understanding of the optimal combination of school-, family-, peer-, and community-based efforts to support young people as they move towards adulthood.     

Conflict,risk and authority: female faculty members' stories of change

Abstract

Most studies of gender and information technology have investigated gender differences in the relationships between education and achievement, and attitudes towards and use of computers. Few have explored gendered experiences of faculty members using learning technologies in higher education. The study on which this article is based explored the experiences of 47 Canadian female faculty members integrating information and communications technologies (ICTs) into the higher education learning environment. The stories they told suggest that learning to use ICT in ways coherent with their values may be an intensely personal process of cognitive and cultural change for these women, in which beliefs and values may be examined and even realignedas they develop personal, moral authority. When faculty members explicitly contextualize the process as social, relational learning, it has the potential to be transformative at personal and societal (institutional) levels. The interrelated theoretical constructs of transformative or action learning, the development of authority-into-agency, and technology issues related to feminist pedagogy frame the three illustrative narratives of experience presented.     

Mobile Phone Use in AA Networks: An Exploratory Study

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of mobile phone use for mutual support within social networks of Alcoholic Anonymous (AA). A sample of mobile phone owners and non-owners in AA was surveyed to assess their perceptions and uses of this technology. Mobile phone owners reported very positive perceptions of the technology as a resource for recovery and heavy use of the mobile phone for this purpose. Non-owners also reported positive perceptions of the mobile phone as a resource for recovery and that expense was the primary reason for not using a mobile phone in their recovery efforts. Heuristic, theoretical, and practical implications of the study are included in the discussion.     

Jimmy Carter and the rhetoric of charisma

Jimmy Carter's unusual success in the Presidential Primaries of 1976 has been the subject of much discussion. One rhetorical explanation posits that Carter's message may be described in terms of Weber's concept of charisma, and Bormann's theory of rhetorical vision. The charismatic message was caught up in a unique rhetorical situation, the social fantasies attending the Bicentennial Celebration. Carter's rhetoric and the people's fantasies transcended along similar lines. This confluence helped to carry Carter to the White House.