More about increasing the quality of educational intervention research: A synthesis

A synthesis of the commentaries to our leadoff paper is presented, along with our replies to some of the specific comments offered. When the original analysis and the commentaries are combined, an exceptionally thorough summary of issues that should be considered by intervention researchers emerges. We hope this set of issues will be useful to the educational research community.A draft of this synthesis was circulated among the commentators in this special issue, with a request to determine whether their views were represented fairly. There were few reservations expressed, and in every case when a concern was expressed, we concluded on review that slight adjustment was required to present the commentator's perspective more clearly and/or fairly, and we attempted to do so.     

A cross-age study of the understanding of five chemistry concepts

A sample of 100 students from junior high school physical science, high school chemistry, and introductory college chemistry were examined for understanding of five chemistry concepts. The concepts addressed were chemical change, dissolution of a solid in water, conservation of atoms, periodicity, and phase change. The amount of experience with the concepts (grade level) and reasoning ability (developmental level) were examined as possible sources of variation in student understanding. Differences in understanding with respect to grade level were found to be significant for the concepts of chemical change, dissolution of a solid, conservation of atoms, and periodicity. However, few of the students in the college chemistry sample exhibited sound understanding of chemical change, periodicity, or phase change. The use of particulate terms (atoms, ions, molecules) increased across the grade levels. Reasoning ability proved to be a significant factor for student understanding of conservation of atoms and periodicity. An examination of the number and types of misconceptions across the grade levels revealed several interesting patterns and suggested sources for the students' alternative conceptions.     

Knowledge acquisition by computerized audiovisual feedback

The present article gives an outline of the state of art in computer assisted intervention by learning-concomitant differential feedback. Based on the spectrum of possible meanings and interpretations given to the concepts ‘interaction’ and ‘interactive’ this concept is elaborated and illustrated by prototypical theoretical approaches. Based on our own empirical findings arguments are given showing that sophisticated audiovisual interactive new technologies can properly be used even on the small machines available in schools if the content materials and the flow of control given to the learner are carefully designed and based on principles of cognitive science.

     

Psychosocial Factors That Predict the College Adjustment of First-Year Undergraduate Students: Implications for College Counselors

The authors describe psychosocial factors that predicted college adjustment of 1st-year undergraduate students on the basis of studies conducted in 2 universities of differing size, focus, and geographic location. Academic self-confidence, positive attitudes toward the university, and faculty and peer support significantly predicted more successful adjustment to college.     

‘I Knew Jean-Paul Sartre’: Philosophy of education as comedy

Abstract

Ludwig Wittgenstein suggests that ‘A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes’. The idea for this dialogue comes from a conversation that Michael Peters and Morwenna Griffiths had at the Philosophy of Education of Great Britain annual meeting at the University of Oxford, 2011. It was sparked by an account of an assessment of a piece of work where one of the external examiners unexpectedly exclaimed ‘I knew Jean-Paul Sartre’, trying to trump the discussion. This conversation is a dialogue about comedy and humor as a basis for philosophy, education and pedagogy that provides an introduction to recent works and a context for ongoing research. The concluding section provides further reflection on some of the main themes, drawing attention to the significance of humor in dialogues within philosophy and education, and suggesting that it has a particular role in resisting managerialism at all levels of educational institutions.     

A Critical Challenge: The Engagement and Assessment of Contingent,Part-Time Adjunct Faculty Professors in United States Community Colleges

In 2011, according to a National Center for Education Statistics report, part-time instructional staff in all higher education institutions exceeded full-time faculty members for the first time, accounting for 50% of all instructional staff (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2012 National Center for Education Statistics . ( 2012 ). IPEDS, Digest of education statistics, Winter 2011–12, human resources component, fall staff section: Table 286 [data file]. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_286.asp  [Google Scholar]). The same report indicates part-time faculty in community colleges exceeds 70% of instructional staff. Perhaps more alarming are the numbers of contingent instructional staff—faculty without long-term employment commitments. According to this measure, nearly 70% of faculty members in all areas of higher education have little-to-no job stability (American Association of University Professors [AAUP], 2013 American Association of University Professors (AAUP) . ( 2013 ). Background facts on contingent faculty. Retrieved from http://www.aaup.org/issues/contingency/background-facts  [Google Scholar]; Schuster & Finklestein, 2006 Schuster , J. H. , & Finklestein , M. J. ( 2006 ). The American faculty: The restructuring of academic work and careers . Baltimore , MD : The Johns Hopkins University Press . [Google Scholar]). However, limited research exists on the working experiences of this major subpopulation of United States professors.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of part-time contingent community college faculty regarding the assessment processes their institutions implemented. Through interviews, researchers gathered data identifying what 20 part-time contingent faculty professors reported regarding teaching conditions and institutional assessment procedures. Participant interviews revealed two major themes centered on a lack of institutional engagement and meaningful assessment policies or procedures.     

Editorial

This issue of the International Journal of Public Opinion Researchassembles six contributions—three articles and three researchnotes—that represent the diversity of subjects, methods,and research sites that we aim at. The first article is by agroup of (mostly) Ohio State University scholars (Lindsay H.Hoffman, Carroll J. Glynn, Michael E. Huge, Rebecca Border Sietman,and Tiffany Thomson) who used two surveys about a school districtballot issue to study the process of opinion formation. Drawingon