The implications of Holland's constructs in the prediction of employment: A cautionary note

John Holland's model of vocational choice has been used for both individual and group career counselling, in a variety of social and cultural contexts. Typically, it is used to help people to make career decisions; however, Holland has also proposed that his model could be used for predicting the manner in which individuals would cope with unemployment and/or job change. In this paper, the authors present the results of a study assessing the validity of Holland's claims with respect to the efficacy of his theory in the prediction of job search success. The results of the study provided, at best, limited support for Holland's claims; most predictor/criteria combinations were found to have little or no relationship to each other. The authors conclude that the Holland model is of limited value for predicting job search success, and suggest the use of other data collection techniques for such purposes. The authors also recommend further research regarding the operationalization of Holland's constructs.     

Endurance of Undergraduate Attitudes Toward Older Adults

This cross-sectional study assessed undergraduate attitudes toward older adults and attitude endurance 3 to 18 months after aging coursework. Survey respondents included 349 students who took an aging elective and 430 comparison students. Aging-elective students indicated more positive attitudes than comparison students. Attitudes did not vary across 3 groups staggered by time elapsed from completing the course until testing (3 to 18 months). 4 variables accounted for the variance in attitudes toward elders at a statistically significant level: majoring in biology, having frequent or occasional contact with unrelated older adults, taking an aging course, and post-course knowledge of aging.     

Marking the Difference: An investigation of the criteria used for assessing undergraduate dissertations in a business school

Although the outcomes of a first degree are complex, UK universities continue to use a single measure for grading the student's performance—namely the degree classification. This classification has significant implications for the student, prospective employers, and for the awarding institution. There is some evidence of changing perceptions of degree classes, for example that third class (and even, in some cases, lower second class) awards are unacceptable. At the same time there is concern about maintenance of quality standards in HE, and of possible grade inflation. The final degree class, although a single measure, results from an accumulation of marks achieved throughout the degree course; it is the combined weighting of individual tutor marks which ultimately determines the student's degree class. This study focuses on the marking process, and the application of criteria within one final year module—the dissertation. The dissertation formed a significant part of the final degree weighting, and there was evidence of the use of different criteria and approaches to marking by staff within the faculty. The study employed a qualitative research methodology—including: a structured group discussion where the issue of criteria was raised and brainstormed; and a questionnaire to staff which asked open questions about the criteria which each used when marking dissertations. The responses were analysed, and common ground and differences identified. Questions are raised concerning (a) the tension which surfaces within the marking process, between individual tutor freedom and institutional demands, and (b) staff development opportunities within the marking process.     

Visual phonics: an English code buster?

Visual phonics is an instructional program to provide print awareness, alphabet knowledge, and sound-letter correspondence for children with hearing loss who experience difficulty developing a foundation of phonemic awareness skills. Its purpose is "to clarify the sound symbol relationship between spoken English and print" (Waddy-Smith & Wilson, 2003, p. 15). It is implemented in numerous school districts, particularly in California and Florida, and can be learned in a 2-day workshop. Administrators, teachers, and speech pathologists see potential benefit in using Visual Phonics to help students with hearing loss raise their achievement scores in reading and spelling. However, it is critical to note that Visual Phonics has virtually no research base. Researchers, teachers, and speech pathologists are called upon to collect their data and begin research on the effectiveness of Visual Phonics. This is a case in which the research-to-practice gap must be closed.     

Interpretive responses to images in picture books by primary and secondary school students: Exploring curriculum expectations of a ‘visual grammatics’

As well as maintaining the central role of literature, the new Australian Curriculum: English emphasises the multimodal nature of literacy and requires students in primary and secondary schools to develop explicit knowledge about visual and verbal grammar as a resource for text interpretation and text creation. This study investigated the use of visual grammatics in interpreting picture books by students across Years Four, Five, Seven and Ten following an intensive professional learning programme undertaken by their teachers. A proposed framework describes variation in students' interpretive stance from tactical to diegetic to semiotic. Levels of student semiotic understanding are differentiated and differences between students' oral and written interpretations are discussed in relation the need for explicit teaching of written interpretive responses to multimodal literary texts, drawing on an articulated visual and verbal grammatics appropriate to the teaching of English in primary and secondary schools.