Perceptions of studying during adolescence: student typologies and the relationship with attainment

This research explores perceptions of studying among students taking public examinations at age 16. Cluster analysis was used to classify 826 Year 11 students, in their final year of compulsory schooling, according to their study typology. Pupils were drawn from eight outer London schools and completed a self-report questionnaire to assess perceptions of studying. The analysis revealed six distinctive groups with differences in the use of metacognitive, effort-management, time-management and study strategies. The groups differed in relation to attainment and the amount of homework that students reported completing. Clusters were identified with poor students, who had become disengaged with their studies, and hard working students, who valued the task and adopted a variety of strategies. Other clusters displayed poor time management strategies, use of planning and organisational strategies. For the future, it appears important to understand characteristics that are exhibited by individual students, if all are to be assisted in achieving their potential.     

Mathematics education in Hungary today

Mathematics education in Hungary today     

Finding Common Ground: The Role of Preventive Conservation in Response to the Expectations of Contemporary Audiences at the National Gallery,London

ABSTRACT

Like many museums and galleries following a prolonged period of austerity, the National Gallery has increased its public, private and corporate activities on an unprecedented scale and embarked on an extensive building programme to develop the site and its heritage-listed building. Together with an expanding loans and exhibitions programme, institutional attention has been drawn towards using the collection and building in ways not done before, both to attract new audiences and to develop new income sources. However, such new and escalating activities have the potential to expose the collection to risks not previously considered and are increasing cumulative exposure to certain environmental factors. A new group, the Preventive Conservation Working Group (PCWG), working at an operational level, has recently been established as a forum for discourse, collaboration and innovation at this time of transformation, and its activities and areas of current focus are presented. The role of this group in safeguarding the collection while helping the institution to respond to the expectations of modern life and the contemporary audience are discussed, as well as some of the other positive benefits resulting from the group's formation.     

What do prospective students look for in higher degrees by research? A scale development study

ABSTRACT

This empirical investigation was aimed at conceptualizing, developing and validating a scale for the measurement of the quality of higher degrees by research (HDR-QUAL). For that purpose, this study specifically measured perceptions of higher degrees by research (HDR) students about the constituents of HDR quality in Pakistani tertiary education institutions. Following the 7-step process of scale development, three studies were conducted in order to develop an initial pool of scale items, establishing proposed scale validity and reliability, and assessing nomological behavior of the proposed scale. The principal component analysis with Varimax rotation method resulted in a 3-factor solution, subsequently proposing a 15-item scale. The model fit indices of measurement and the higher-order model indicated a satisfactory fit to data. Finally, the resultant three factors, i.e. financial assistance, supervisory expertise, and infrastructural support, converged into a unidimensional HDR-QUAL scale that was found positively associated with student satisfaction, thus, confirming nomological validity as well. Important policy measures and directions for future research are proposed at the end.