Students’ perspectives of early assessment tasks in their first-year at university

Assessment plays an important role in first-year students’ transition to university, influencing how they learn. Poorly designed assessment can be demotivating and may even cause students to withdraw from university. An early low-stakes assessment task is recommended in first year, to provide information to students and staff on student progress, provide students with a positive experience and help them prepare for future assessments. This paper reports on first-year students’ experiences of two different early assessment tasks for two disciplines, one using an online quiz and the other a ‘research challenge’ that served as a precursor to writing an essay. The paper also presents lecturers’ reflections on what they learned, what they would change and the implications for others planning early assessment tasks for first years. Finally, ideas for future research are provided.     

News Aggregation and Content Differences in Online Cancer News

Gatekeepers usually control news information. However, recent technological advancements might require rethinking previous gatekeeping hierarchies. Aggregation algorithms currently filter and present news information to millions of American Internet users daily. A content analysis demonstrates significant differences between health news content retrieved from Web sites that aggregate their articles from many sources (e.g., Google News), and those that focus on providing news from a limited number of sources (e.g., CNN.com). Explanations for these content differences are discussed, as are implications concerning health information seeking and Internet news consumption.     

Open learning for child care

This paper describes the development and evaluation of Open University course P653, Caring for Children and Young People, produced by the Centre for Continuing Education in collaboration with the Child Care Open Learning Project. This is an introductory level course aimed at all those who work with other people's children, many of whom have low levels of previous educational attainment. The course was designed to be both student‐centred, starting from a reflection on the individual's experience and knowledge, and to involve partnership in study through group work. The author, Susan Hurley, is Regional Director of the Open University's North Region.     

Prescribed active learning increases performance in introductory biology

We tested five course designs that varied in the structure of daily and weekly active-learning exercises in an attempt to lower the traditionally high failure rate in a gateway course for biology majors. Students were given daily multiple-choice questions and answered with electronic response devices (clickers) or cards. Card responses were ungraded; clicker responses were graded for right/wrong answers or participation. Weekly practice exams were done as an individual or as part of a study group. Compared with previous versions of the same course taught by the same instructor, students in the new course designs performed better: There were significantly lower failure rates, higher total exam points, and higher scores on an identical midterm. Attendance was higher in the clicker versus cards section; attendance and course grade were positively correlated. Students did better on clicker questions if they were graded for right/wrong answers versus participation, although this improvement did not translate into increased scores on exams. In this course, achievement increases when students get regular practice via prescribed (graded) active-learning exercises.     

Supporting Preschoolers and Their Families who are Recently Resettled Refugees

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the number of refugees worldwide was 10.5 million in 2009 and this number continues to grow (United Nations Refugee Agency, 2010 United Nations Refugee Agency. 2010. UNHRC—The U.N. Refugee Agency website Geneva, , Switzerland Retrieved February 4, 2010, from http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c2.html [Google Scholar]). There is a shortage of evidence based practices and information regarding the state of service provision for young refugee children and their families in preschool programs. In this qualitative study, 25 early childhood educators participated in semi-structured interviews to illuminate the experiences of teachers as they work with preschool children and families in a small New England refugee resettlement community. Themes identified were barriers and facilitators related to two main categories of communication issues and cultural complexities. Implications for future research, teacher preparation programs, professional development and early childhood programs are discussed.     

The reliability of the WISC-R performance scale with deaf children

Though the Wechsler tests are widely used to assess the intellectual ability of hearing impaired children, data on the reliability of the WISC-R with this population have been lacking. The Performance Scale of the WISC-R was administered to 59 prelingually deaf children attending a state-supported day school program. The reliability coefficients and standard errors of measurement were computed for each subtest and for the Performance Scale IQ. The results compare favorably with those found by Wechsler with the standardization sample.     

Education Alone is not the Answer: The Specter of Right-Wing Authoritarianism for Criminal Justice Majors at Three Institutions

There have been a number of studies of right-wing authoritarian (RWA) attitudes among criminal justice majors and nonmajors. The prevailing supposition is that the attainment of higher levels of education reduces the negative traits associated with authoritarianism. A major assumption is that such improvements will occur regardless of the type of academic environment where the student is enrolled. This study examines whether educational attainment has the same impact on authoritarianism for criminal justice majors at a military academy, predominantly Caucasian rural teaching college, and a historically black college (HBCU). The results indicate RWA was highest for majors attending the military college. Moreover, unlike the findings for the teaching college and HBCU, RWA scores did not significantly decrease for seniors at the military college. This paper discusses whether differences in the organizational environment across the academic institutions explain the results.