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 political economy of growing a rural university in the USA using online education: an examination of incentives for educational imperialism and academic capitalism

Rural colleges and universities in the USA struggle to recruit new students, as their geographic region is depopulating and costs to attend classes on campus are increasing. Online education using the Internet is rapidly expanding as an effective growth strategy to reach new groups of students. In this paper, we take the position that online education is a form of cultural imperialism and academic capitalism where curriculum developers and professors are motivated to enroll new students in order to maintain the credibility and strength of their programmes and host institutions. We argue that it is not our intent to be educational imperialists or capitalists. Rather these are unintended consequences of our actions. This argument is supported by political economy theory in that we are marketing a technical rational form of online education without awareness of its long-term cultural, economic or political ramifications. Even though we pride ourselves on developing a high-quality programme that in our eyes meet the needs of our students, understanding the political economy of online education is essential if our programme that has access to the global market is to go beyond the individual needs of students and address social, cultural and political needs. We conclude that one way out of this malaise is to understand our role as instructors and course designers as a first step towards understanding the intended and unintended consequences of online education.     

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.     

“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.     

Circle house residential treatment program

In summary, the Circle House Residential Treatment Program for abusive families did meet its goals of protection of the child without separation from the family. The program was also effective in making and executing permanent plans for children in a relatively short period of time, but at huge financial cost.Residential care tor abusive families may be feasible if planned for 12–18 families at a time, thus utilizing staff fully. Also, in the Circle House program the single-parent families were clearly able to utilize the program to deal with their child-care techniques. Because the program was primarily geared to improving child-rearing patterns, some fathers in two-parent families, who viewed themselves as only occasional disciplinarians, never really participated in the program. Some were successful in learning new techniques, others were not.Residential care may also be more feasible if utilized as a diagnostic and prognostic facility with enhanced opportunity for long-term relationships to be formed, rather than as a primarily treatment facility, with the expectation of improvement and “cure.” Treatment of abusive families then becomes long-term supportive care no matter how intense the initial intervention. Even with the multitude of services of Circle House at the beginning phase of diagnosis and treatment of a family, this does not reduce or remove the need for ongoing long-term services. The true results of present intervention will be measured in future generations.     

Factors associated with one-year retention in a community college

This study sought to evaluate preenrollment variables as predictors of one-year retention of first-time students in a community college. The purpose was to use information that is typically available when a student begins his or her college program and determine if this information can help identify students who are more likely to drop out within their first year. Based on a logistic regression model to select predictors of retention, the lower the high school GPA, the greater the chance the student will drop out. Over and above this, additional risk is associated with the age range 20–24, attending part-time, and being an ethnic minority other than Asian. When all or some of these are operating, it may be necessary to enhance these students' chances with special programs or services.