OLDER ADULTS' PARTICIPATION IN UNIVERSITY CLASSES: COGNITIVE,MORALE, AND FAMILY CORRELATES

The number of older adults taking advantage of courses offered by institutions of higher learning is increasing. Despite this trend in university and college enrollment, educators know little about the reasons why adults aged 55 years and over are making the decision to return to school. This paper describes the results of an exploratory study about: (1) educational motivations of older students; (2) effect of involvement in university classes on older adults' attitude toward aging; and (3) impact of older individuals' participation in university classes on marital relations.

Interviews were_ conducted with twenty‐one married couples, aged 55 years and older (X = 68.54), with one spouse attending university classes. In order to compute life satisfaction analyses, a control sample was secured. This group consisted of 33 married couples, 55 years and over (X = 70.93), with neither spouse participating in continuing education.

Results indicated that older students viewed intrinsic learning goals to be significantly more important than extrinsic incentives (p<.01). Student couples reported significantly more positive attitudes toward growing older than did nonstudent couples (p<.05). Although participation in university classes had only a minimal impact on members' marital interaction, student couples express satisfaction with this effect.

Recommendations suggested the construction of assessment measures of older adults' self‐initiated versus externally reinforced learning goals. It is advised that pre‐ and posttest interview schedules be used when determining the impact on family solidarity of older adults' pursual of further learning. Future research is suggested which explores whether participation in continuing education provides skills or information for older persons to adjust to their changing environments which in turn would have an influence on level of morale.     

“The Coat Traps All Your Body Heat”: Heterogeneity as Fundamental to Learning

This article explores heterogeneity as fundamental to learning. Inspired by Bakhtin's notion of heteroglossia, a design team consisting of an experienced classroom teacher and 2 researchers investigated how a class of 3rd and 4th graders came to understand disciplinary points of view on heat, heat transfer, and the particulate nature of matter. Through a series of planned and unplanned encounters, official versions of the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the particulate view of matter were juxtaposed with varied domains of experience of heat transfer and phase change in water. We analyze the children's discourse to examine how they populated these phenomena with meaning and what they learned in the process. We conclude by describing key principles and a conundrum that emerged from this research.     

Displaced Workers Successfully Reenter the Workforce: Postgraduation from a Community College

The purpose of this study was to determine how well former employees at a television glass manufacturing plant were able to find employment in a new field of study following graduation from a local community college. The majority of participants were able to find reemployment, albeit at a lower salary. In addition, information was obtained regarding the level of satisfaction with participants' new jobs and perceived barriers faced while looking for employment.     

Teaching ‘community engagement’ in engineering education for international development: Integration of an interdisciplinary social work curriculum

This article reviews the literature on challenges faced by engineering faculty in educating their students on community-engaged, sustainable technical solutions in developing countries. We review a number of approaches to increasing teaching modules on social and community components of international development education, from adding capstone courses and educational track seminars to integrating content from other disciplines, particularly the social sciences. After summarising recent pedagogical strategies to increase content on community-focused development, we present a case study of how one engineering programme incorporates social work students and faculty to infuse strategies for community engagement in designing and implementing student-led global engineering development projects. We outline how this interdisciplinary pedagogical approach teaches students from the two disciplines to work together in addressing power balances, economic and social issues and overall sustainability of international development projects.     

Evaluating Corrective Feedback Self‐Efficacy Changes Among Counselor Educators and Site Supervisors

Analysis of pretest–posttest scores on the Corrective Feedback Self‐Efficacy Instrument (Page & Hulse‐Killacky, 1999 ) following a supervision workshop indicated a significant positive relationship between workshop training and supervisors' feedback self‐efficacy in giving corrective feedback. Furthermore, the association between prior supervision training, supervision experience, and feedback self‐efficacy was measured. Practical and research implications are discussed.     

It's not all about school: Ways of disrupting pre-service teachers' perceptions of pedagogy and communication

Many pre-service teachers enter teacher education with problematic or unexamined assumptions about learners and teaching. This article reports on an authentic learning opportunity offered to 22 pre-service teachers in their first year at university, which attempts to disrupt these perceptions about learning and pedagogy. Using a new application of Butin's conceptual framework we show that during the project these participants developed more complex notions of learners and ways of making meaning. We argue that these ‘real-world’ experiences, when offered before pre-service teachers begin practicum in schools, provide more ‘resources’ to problematise the practices and institutional discourses encountered in schools.     

The Effect of Test Translation on the Performance of Second Grade English Learners on the KeyMath‐3

This study was conducted to determine whether Spanish‐enhanced administration of a standardized math assessment would result in improved scores for English Learners who used Spanish as a heritage language. Twenty‐one typically developing second‐graders (English Learners) were administered the traditional KeyMath‐3. If the child made an error on an item, a Spanish version of the item was presented. Difference scores were calculated to determine whether the Spanish‐enhanced version resulted in improved scores. Data were analyzed using paired t‐tests and simple regression. The data results showed that all children significantly benefited from the Spanish‐enhanced administration of items answered incorrectly in English. The amount of benefit was predicted by a child's degree of Spanish dominance. It was concluded that standardized math tests that do not accommodate second‐language learners may be inadvertently testing language skills in addition to math skills. Implications for assessment and interpretations of assessments are discussed.     

Silicon Valley versus Silicon Glen: the impact of computers upon teaching and learning: a comparative study

Drawing on data from a major survey on the impact of information technology initiatives on Scottish schools, we assess the extent to which the outcomes resemble those that have already been reported by Larry Cuban in his study of schools in Silicon Valley. We find a large measure of agreement. Scottish teachers and school students mostly have access to computers in their homes and classrooms. The home computers appear to be frequently used. The classroom computers, however, are encountered by students only seldom and when students do use computers in the classroom the activity is often peripheral to the learning process, such as word processing of essays. We discuss some possible explanations for this state of affairs and suggest some implications for policy-making.