The OA Gourmand

It is trendy to be a supporter of Open Access publication with even journal publishers finding a role in communicating research results through this mechanism. When discussing Open Access it is rare for all parties to be clear about why Open Access is endorsed. The differences between Green Open Access and Gold Open Access can lead to unclear communication when the distinctions between the two are avoided.     

MANAGING STRESS AMONG ADULT WOMEN STUDENTS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Stress management for adult women students in community colleges is essential because of the enormous demands they face from family, career, and financial responsibilities. Community colleges and adult educators must help adult women students identify their major sources of stress as well as provide strategies to alleviate those stressors. An extensive review of the literature and a campus-based study found high levels of stress resulting from parenting, nancial, and health concerns. Age was also found to be an important stress factor. Recommendations for helping adult women students are discussed.     

Progressive Education,After-School Programs and their Impact on the Lives of African American Males: An Introduction

This edition of the Peabody Journal of Education analyzes the historical and contemporary role of after-school programs in the development of African American males. In this introduction, the author places after-school programs within an historical context of progressivism, progressive education and social change in 19th-century America. As these new ideas of children and childhood were conceptualized, four significant social changes in America—industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and an “American reformation”—sparked the implementation of remedies for social ills within urban settings. This article suggests that the early 20th-century focus on after-school programs for African Americans were the results of lessons learned from early “remedies” targeting “new” immigrants. Moreover, the later desire to assist African American youth through these national and local youth development organizations was spurred by the rapid migration of African Americans to the urban northeast and Midwest during the first quarter of the 20th century. Moreover, the failed efforts of African Americans to acquire decent housing, the resulting crowding into segregated neighborhoods, and the deteriorating conditions of these urban, African American neighborhoods drew the attention of progressives, both African American and White, who were knowledgeable of and/or serving immigrant communities to provide similar services in urban, African American communities. ¹ This statement does not suggest that the African American community lacked interest in the development of organizations to serve their youth; however, these conditions did spark the interest of the larger community to act. View all notes     

Investigation of Tacit Knowledge in Principal Leadership

This study investigated how tacit knowledge was used by expert and novice principals during problem-solving situations. Through the use of a phenomenological, qualitative approach, novice principals were compared with expert principals as both went about their daily tasks of school leadership. Results of the study contribute to the research on effective leadership and offer implications for leadership training models. Results suggest that experience may not be the most critical factor in expertise.     

Ten Years Later: A Follow-Up Study of Professors Still Working After Age 70

Little is known about the impact of the end of mandatory retirement on professors over the long term. This follow-up study investigated the ten-year experience of professors who chose not to retire from a major research university after the elimination of the age 70 mandatory retirement in 1994. The initial interview study was conducted in 1998 (Dorfman, 2000 Dorfman , L. T. ( 2000 ). Still working after age 70: Older professors in academe . Educational Gerontology , 26 , 695 – 713 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2002 Dorfman , L. T. ( 2002 ). Stayers and leavers: Professors in an era of no mandatory retirement . Educational Gerontology , 28 , 15 – 33 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). All surviving professors (n = 13; age 80–84) agreed to be reinterviewed in 2007. The study investigated major reasons for continuing to work or retire, professional and nonprofessional activities, perceptions of departmental and institutional atmosphere and student and faculty attitudes toward older faculty, and preparation and plans for retirement. Content analysis of the tape-recorded open-ended questions revealed that employed professors continued to work mainly because they enjoyed it. Retired professors retired mainly because of age or felt it was time to retire. Retired professors as well as their employed counterparts continued professional activities, primarily research. Both groups reported mixed reactions to the overall atmosphere in their departments and university as well as to student and faculty attitudes toward older faculty, with one-third of retirees reporting departmental or institutional pressures to retire. The major type of planning for retirement was financial.     

Learning to teach history writing: discovering what works 1

Statistics indicated under achievement by 18-year-old Advanced (A) level History students in a mixed comprehensive school, by comparison with their results in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) at 16. Further investigation highlighted a weakness in essay writing. A teaching strategy was developed to improve essay writing by (a) clarifying the purpose of essay writing; (b) enhancing essay structuring; (c) ensuring students obtained a firm understanding of the topics studied; and (d) providing students with appropriate study skills to enable them to work effectively. An action plan, which drew heavily on the ideas of phenomenography (Hounsell, 1984, 1987), was devised to tackle these areas. The results of students who were taught in this way and who took their examinations in 1998 showed a dramatic improvement over the three previous years.     

Prevalence and Predictors of Cyberbullying Perpetration by High School Seniors

Cyberbullying is the deliberate and repeated misuse of communication technology by an individual or group to threaten or harm others. Guided largely by the communication skills deficiency model and previous research on cyberbullying, this study examins the effects of several predictor variables (i.e., verbal aggression, sex, risky behaviors, parental monitoring, parental limits, technology use, and scope of Internet activities) on cyberbullying perpetration. A total of 1,606 incoming freshmen at a large southwestern university completed an online survey measuring all predictor and dependent variables under investigation. Overall, 35% of these individuals reported that they had cyberbullied at least one person during their senior year of high school. Results indicated that verbal aggression, risky behaviors, and cyberbullying victimization emerged as significant predictors of cyberbullying perpetration. These results have important theoretical and practical implications for those interested in developing cyberbullying prevention interventions.