Encouraging the development of higher-level study skills using an experiential learning framework

Teachers have only recently considered how study skills support in higher education (HE) can be delivered in a way that encourages experiential learning. This paper aims to substantiate, or otherwise, the idea that a carefully developed initiative can encourage the experiential learning of study skills. In addition, it considers whether such an approach might also allow student access to some of the higher-level study skills required for successful university study. Focus group data were used to evaluate a module delivered to sports students at a post-1992 university in the UK. This data suggested that the module facilitated learning in each stage of Kolb's experiential learning cycle. Moreover, there was evidence that the module encouraged students to undertake an ‘epistemological shift’ in which they moved from seeing knowledge as a set of uncontested facts to seeing it as something that they are expected to question and contribute to themselves.     

Student and teacher co-navigation of a course: following the natural lines of academic enquiry

Using the mountaineering metaphor of ‘natural lines’ this article describes the co-navigation of an honours course by students and teachers. It suggests the benefits and possibilities of going beyond the confines of conventional teaching and learning wisdom (as canonised in the notion of constructive alignment) and offering just and joyful ways for students to explore disciplinary knowledge. We openly explore issues of power between students and teachers in the construction of so-called partnerships, recognising the inherent challenges in moving beyond the prevailing mainstream. We suggest that a natural lines approach enables students to act as genuine co-navigators and to experience disciplinary knowledge in authentic ways and provides rich opportunities for personal reflection and development.     

Crossing boundaries: the experiences of mature student mothers in initial teacher education

This paper presents a comparative study of two groups of student mothers from a teacher training course in the UK at the start and end of the 1990s, with a focus on gender issues. The study investigated the extent to which the women students could draw on their experiences as mothers to positive effect in their training, combining public and private spheres, and how far their domestic responsibilities created problems for them on the course. All the women possessed considerable skills, particularly in working with children, which were an attribute in their training. Although both groups faced similar difficulties, such as the double burden of domestic and course work, and changes in family life arising from their status transition, it was found that the more recent students could cross the boundaries between public and private roles more quickly and easily than those at the start of the 1990s. This was partly because the recent group had greater prior work experience and had already negotiated boundaries between private and public identities, and partly because some structural constraints had diminished by the end of the decade, at least at a local level. It is also argued that, although pressures on trainee teachers in general intensified during the 1990s, some effects of the changes were beneficial to student mothers. The findings are analysed within the dual frameworks of gender in higher education and initial teacher education.     

The Question of Competence: the origins,strengths and inadequacies of a leadership training paradigm

During the 1990s the Teacher Training Agency showed its commitment to adopting elements of a 'competence' model of educational management training in the construction of the National Standards for Headteachers (TTA 1997, 1998). These same 'standards' have come to underpin the most ambitious programme of educational management training and development ever attempted in the UK (Glatter 1997) including the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), the Headteachers' Leadership and Management Programme (HEADLAMP) and the Leadership Programme for Serving Headteachers (LPSH). This article attempts to trace the origins of competence-based approaches to management training and suggests that the model, though having much to commend it, contains within it a variety of underlying and unresolved tensions.     

Do School Segregation and School Resources Explain Region-of-Origin Differences in the Mathematics Achievement of Immigrant Students? 1

Levels and Dronkers (2006 Dronkers, J. and Wanner, R. A. 2006. Waarom verdienen immigranten minder? Effecten van immigratiebeleid en arbeidsmarktkenmerken [Why do immigrants earn less? Effects of immigration policies and labour market characteristics]. Tijdschrift voor Arbeidsvraagstukken, 22: 379–394.  [Google Scholar]) showed that educational achievement differs between immigrant students from different regions of origin (Latin America, Northern Africa, and Western Asia). This follow-up paper establishes whether these differences in educational achievement between immigrant students from different regions of origin can be explained by school segregation, whether along ethnic or socioeconomic lines. Ethnic and socioeconomic school segregation have a negative influence on the scholastic achievement of all students, although the impact of socioeconomic school segregation is greater than that of ethnic school segregation. Ethnic school segregation affects the scholastic outcomes of native and immigrant students from some regions of origin more than those of immigrant students from other regions. The analysis shows that neither ethnic, nor socioeconomic, school segregation explains the lower mathematics achievement of immigrant students from Latin America, Northern Africa, and Western Asia.     

Achieving agri-environmental policy outcomes using models of institutional change

Abstract

Institutions involved in public policy and technological innovation are concerned with processes that influence the behaviour of people. This paper reports on research in the New Zealand dairy industry that is seeking to develop improved process models for managing change in a range of policy, industry and business contexts. The Practice Interplay Model was used to evaluate mediating methods for negotiating environmental and production outcomes within the context of a farm dairy effluent management case study. Significant misalignments between research, farming, extension and policy practitioners' expectations and perceptions of factors required for effective farm dairy effluent management were found. The combination of interactive workshops linked to quantitative verification and testing and follow-up interviews enabled a depth of investigation that was rich in information yet cost-effective in terms of research resources. The process used identified opportunities to change the actions of system participants and alignment between them. It enabled strategies to be agreed that would continually improve and strengthen the process of change. Further development and application of the Practice Interplay Model to policy problems, including the ongoing development of tools and techniques used within the methodology, has the potential to break though into a new policy-development paradigm in New Zealand.     

‘I make sure I am safe and I make sure I have myself in every way possible’: African-American youth perspectives on sexuality education

High rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections play a major role in the physical, mental, and emotional health of young people. Despite efforts to provide sexuality education through diverse channels, we know little about the ways in which young people perceive school- and community-based efforts to educate them about sexual health. Forty-eight African-American young people participated in six focus groups to discuss their sexuality education experiences. Three major themes emerged that highlight experiences and perspectives on optimal strategies for promoting sexual health. These themes were: (1) experiences with school-based sexuality education (SBSE), (2) seeking information outside of schools, and (3) general principles of youth-centred sexuality education. Young people in the focus groups expressed their varying satisfaction with SBSE due to the restricted content covered and lack of comfort with the instruction methods. Participants described how they reached outside of SBSE for sexuality education, turning to those in the community, including local organisations, health care providers, and peers, also expressing variability in satisfaction with these sources. Finally, participants identified three important principles for youth-centred sexuality education: trust and confidentiality, credibility, and self-determination. These findings give voice to the often-unheard perspectives of African-American young people. Based on their responses, it is possible to gain a better understanding of the optimal combination of school-, family-, peer-, and community-based efforts to support young people as they move towards adulthood.     

Research productivity in communication: An analysis, 1996‐2001

The study provides an analysis of those scholars who produced a substantial number of articles in 24 communication journals during the period, 1996‐2001. The purpose of the study was to update the information provided in previous studies. Using data similar to that previously found in the Index to Journals in Communication Studies, the authors found that during the period a number of new names has appeared. As a result, the authors develop a list of the top one percent (50) of those researchers, as well as providing data on the institutions which these scholars represent. The minimum number of articles necessary during the period to be included was nine.     

The effects of office aesthetic quality on students' perceptions of teacher credibility and communicator style

This study examined the effects of office aesthetic quality on students' perceptions of teacher credibility and communicator style. Ninety‐seven individuals from introductory communication courses participated in this experiment. Participants were assigned to visit either a low or a high aesthetic quality office, or to a no‐office exposure control group, prior to evaluating a videotaped sample of an instructor lecturing in a basic communication course. Results indicated that office aesthetic quality influenced participants' evaluations of teacher credibility and communicator style.