Learning environments’ influence on students’ learning experience in an Australian Faculty of Business and Economics

Learning Environments Research - We investigated how learning environments–involving their physical, pedagogical, and psychosocial dimensions–influence students learning experiences in...     

Development research of a teachers’ educational performance support system: the practices of design, development, and evaluation

This study adopted design and development research methodology (Richey & Klein, Design and development research: Methods, strategies, and issues, 2007) to systematically investigate the process of applying instructional design principles, human–computer interaction, and software engineering to a performance support system (PSS) for behavior management in a classroom. The purpose was to examine how a proposed instructional design framework based on Ausubel’s (The psychology of meaningful verbal learning, 1963) advance organizer theoretical approach could be used to address inherent problems of technically driven PSSs. Development data were collected from a six-phase participatory rapid prototyping process using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Findings indicated that (a) the advance organizer concept combined with a matrix design metaphor provided an effective way to illustrate conceptual connections and relations among PSS modules and their elaborated information, (b) the system served as a reference to support participants for exchanging ideas with other teachers as well as with parents of students, and (c) the rapid prototyping process established parameters that helped the project team maintain a focus on users and collect data useful for advancing to a higher phase of system development. Potential drawbacks pertaining to the proposed design strategies and their possible corrective actions are also reported and discussed.     

Development and Validation of the College Campus Environment Scale (CCES): Promoting Positive College Experiences

One of the essential factors related to student success and satisfaction with a higher education experience is the college environment in which learning takes place. The purpose of this study was to develop a scale, the College Campus Environment Scale (CCES), to measure characteristics of college campus environments valued by students. A model emerged with the following six factors: Academic and Career Expectations, Athletics, Health, Role Models and Mentors, Safety, and Social and Extracurricular Activities. The CCES demonstrates good evidence of reliability and validity and can be utilized by researchers and college personnel to promote positive college experiences for students.     

Usability Testing of BusinessThinkingTM e-Learning CD-ROMs with Older Adults

BusinessThinking^TM is a computer-based e-learning package designed to teach technology skills and business information to adults, ages 50–69, who remain in the workforce. This article outlines results from usability testing for the material on using technology applications (Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and the Internet), and career development (career management and preretirement planning. In Study 1, a usability test was conducted to ensure that the material was user-friendly. In Studies 2 and 3, the PowerPoint and career development materials were redesigned according to the findings from Study 1. Results indicated that the redesign was effective in increasing navigation of the material.     

The Classroom Systems Observation Scale: Development of an instrument to assess classrooms using a systems perspective

This study describes the development of the Classroom Systems Observation Scale (CSOS) (Fish & Dane, 1992) and reports initial reliability and validity data. The CSOS assesses preschool through sixth grade classroom functioning from a systems perspective using a theoretical framework based on the Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems (Olson, Russell & Sprenkle, 1989). The CSOS is theoretically derived, has acceptable interobserver agreement, fair to moderate stability, and is comprised of factors consistent with conceptual components. The design of the CSOS represents a theoretical shift by changing the focus of observation from the individual child to the classroom system. The CSOS can be used in research and holds promise for clinical applications.     

Gender Differences in Child Aggression: Relations With Gender‐Differentiated Parenting and Parents’ Gender‐Role Stereotypes

This longitudinal study examines the association between child gender and child aggression via parents’ physical control, moderated by parents’ gender‐role stereotypes in a sample of 299 two‐parent families with a 3‐year‐old child in the Netherlands. Fathers with strong stereotypical gender‐role attitudes and mothers were observed to use more physical control strategies with boys than with girls, whereas fathers with strong counterstereotypical attitudes toward gender roles used more physical control with girls than with boys. Moreover, when fathers had strong attitudes toward gender roles (stereotypical or counterstereotypical), their differential treatment of boys and girls completely accounted for the gender differences in children's aggressive behavior a year later. Mothers’ gender‐differentiated parenting practices were unrelated to gender differences in child aggression.     

Current Issues in Pastoral Management

REVIEW ARTICLE

The Health-Related Behaviour Questionnaire Service from the Schools Health Education Unit: Some Comments on the Review by Lambourn, reviewed by Davis Regis

REVIEWS

The Effective Teacher, by Cedric Cullingford. London: Cassell, 1995. 205pp. pb ISBN 0 304 33177 5, £13.99, hb ISBN 0 304 33180 5, reviewed by Don Baines

Cooperation in the Multi-Ethnic Classroom: The Impact of Cooperative Group Work on Social Relationships in Middle Schools, by Helen Cowie, Peter Smith, Michael Boulton and Rema Laver. London: David Fulton Publishers, 1994. 214+viiipp. pb ISBN 1 85346 284 5, £14.99, reviewed by Andrew Wright

Areas for Growth, by James Hanratty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 108pp. pb ISBN 0 521 46910 4, £25.95, reviewed by Joy Widdows

Refugee Children in the Classroom, by Jill Rutter. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books, 1994. 288pp. pb ISBN 185856 008 X, £13.95, reviewed by Caroline Lodge