An application of cluster analysis to the study of organisation in a College of Education

As part of a wider study of organisation in a large College of Education, fifty-seven established staff members were interviewed and completed an Osgood-type instrument. The data from this instrument was subjected to Principal Components Analysis, and cluster analysis was used on the distance matrix calculated from the resulting component specifications. It is concluded that the clusters of staff members thus empirically identified are meaningful and consistent with interview responses and observational data. If internal staff groupings can be satisfactorily identified in relation to major issues in the enterprise by the use of such techniques, a useful tool for organisational analysis has been achieved, which holds out the hope that the internal politics of enterprises may be brought within the bounds of empirical research.     

Innovations in adult education: The changing perspective of the post-literacy curriculum in Tanzania

Conclusion The post-literacy Curriculum was developed, on the one hand, to empower the people through the development of appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes to improve their living conditions. On the other hand, it was developed to create conditions and facilities for lifelong education. One of the main factors which influenced the reforms was the unsuitability of the post-literacy content: one could argue that it was developed in a top-down manner.Clearly, curriculum design is not merely a technical issue, but rather a cooperative activity among the agents involved. Any innovation in the post-literacy curriculum, therefore, should take into account the views of the target population. This would not only make the curriculum feasible but would also reduce uncertainty about its mission.     

Learning moves home

Residence halls at large institutions are increasingly becoming sites for powerful undergraduate learning experiences. A study of living‐learning programs at four research universities—the prelude to a nationwide project—tells an important story.     

The Effect of Instructional Modality and Prior Knowledge on Learning Point Group Symmetry

Many topics in chemistry are difficult for learners to understand, including symmetry. Reasons for this difficulty include its multi-level content, instructional methodologies utilized, and learner variables. This study examined the effect of initial instructional modality and prior knowledge on learning of point group symmetry. Forty-four students in a sophomore-level inorganic chemistry class at a small private university were divided by pre-selected lab groups into two groups, lecture and computer, for introductory information about point group symmetry. Both groups had low prior knowledge of symmetry elements although the lecture group had significantly higher knowledge than the computer group. After initial instruction, the lecture group scored significantly higher than the computer group on a point group assessment, even when prior knowledge was controlled. A second assessment, given after both groups had follow-up information from computer courseware, showed no significant difference between the groups. The computer group significantly improved between the two assessments, the lecture group did not. At the end-of-the semester post-test showed no significant difference between the two groups, although only 50% of the students in each group achieved mastery. Factors affecting the significant improvement of the low prior knowledge, computer group were examined and recommendations for future research provided.     

Software to Promote Young Children’s Growth in Literacy: A Comparison of Online and Offline Formats

The primary goal of this research was to extend our understanding of the strengths and weaknesses inherent in online and offline early literacy software programs designed for young learners. A taxonomy of reading skills was used to contrast online software with offline closed system (compact disc) based programs with respect to number of skills taught, quality of instruction and scaffolding during instruction. Overall, online programs were more comprehensive and provided instruction for more skills than offline software at either the Kindergarten or Grade 1 level. However, offline programs demonstrated some developmentally appropriate selectivity in skills trained. Quality of instruction was variable within and across all programs. Scaffolding of instruction was also variable and surprisingly few programs, either online or offline, provided automatic movement across levels of difficulty. These outcomes have important implications for the selection of instructional materials by parents and educators involved in early literacy instruction and also for future software design.     

“This Group of Difficult Kids”: The Discourse Preservice English Teachers Use to Label Students

This study attempts to understand how achievement gap Discourse might be present in preservice teachers' (PSTs) Discourse about students they found challenging to teach. Using a Discourse analytic approach, the project considers: How do PSTs describe challenging students in their written reflections? Do PSTs draw on students' multiple identities? Findings reveal PSTs are taking up a Discourse prevalent in today's educational environment in which students, particularly ethnically and linguistically diverse students, are discussed in terms of inadequacy. PSTs typically describe students in terms of a single label, rather than as having multiple identities. Implications include that PSTs might enter teaching with a limited view and incomplete understanding of students and that even a teacher-education program aimed at pushing PSTs to question their assumptions about students might be reifying a systemwide Discourse that identifies students based on labels—sometimes deficit-oriented labels—rather than fuller understandings of students.     

Fear of death and physical illness: a personal construct approach

The Threat Index, Templer's Death Anxiety Scale, and the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale were administered to 100 respondents in an attempt to assess their personal orientation toward death. Each respondent was a member of one of the following groups: people with no known illness; people attending their family physician for a checkup; rheumatoid arthritics; diabetics; or people recently treated for cancer. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that older respondents were significantly less death anxious, less fearful of their own death, and more integrated (that is, showed less self-death discrepancy) than younger respondents. Further analyses revealed no differences between any of the groups on fear of death or death anxiety, indicating that the current state of an individual's health was not related to his or her death orientation. Instead, correlational and regression analyses suggested that anxiety and fear were much more likely to be influenced by a respondent's level of actualization and, to a lesser extent, level of integration. The expected additive effects of actualization and integration did not emerge, a finding that was at variance with previous research.