Returns to a specific graduate education

The research on returns (or gains) to graduate-level education is mixed. Some graduate degrees pay off in increased earnings while some graduate degree holders actually receive less salary than their BS/BA counterparts. This study showed that a nontraditional, off-campus, master's degree from the University of Utah did pay off for its graduates. A research project matching master's graduates with nonattendees indicated significant gains for the graduates with respect to salary, promotability, and perceptions of self and job. The study will be used as a pilot for a nationwide research project surveying and interviewing some 400 graduates from Utah's program.He was assisted in the analyses by Art Schnatterly, a Teaching Fellow in Management at the University of Utah.     

Learning in interactive science centres

The potential of informal sources of science learning to supplement and interact with formal classroom science is receiving increasing recognition and attention in the research literature. In this study, a phenomenographic approach was used to determine changes in levels of understanding of 27 grade 7 primary school children as a result of a visit to an interactive science centre. The results showed that most students did change their levels of understanding of aspects of the concept “sound”. The study also provides information which will be of assistance to teachers on the levels of understanding displayed by students on this concept. Specializations: informal science learning, science curriculum Specializations: science education, science teacher education, conceptual change, learning environments.     

Correlations of achievement,completion, interest,and satisfaction for adult learners and reflections on the meaning of success for adult education

This paper discusses two important movements in higher education during the last decade: empirical analysis of educational outcomes and expansion of postsecondary educational opportunities for adults. Evidence is presented that indicates that many of the findings relating educational outcomes to background factors may not be important for adult open-learning programs. A discussion of the correlations that were significant is included as well as possible reasons why more significant findings did not arise. The paper then argues for a wider view of outcomes and a broader conception of success. Categories other than achievement, completion, interest, and satisfaction are presented. Among the student and institutional outcome measures discussed are educational and career development, personal development, community impact, and development of new knowledge.Much of this paper is based on an earlier presentation given at the AERA conference on correlates of success in nontraditional post secondary education in San Francisco, 1976. The author is particularly indebted to John Eggert for his substantive contribution and advice and council in the preparation of this paper. The University of Mid America (UMA) is Principally Funded by the National Institute of Education (NIE). The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of UMA or NIE.     

Primary science education: Views from three Australian States

This paper reports an empirical study of science education in Australian primary schools. The data show that, while funding is seen as a major determinant of what is taught and how it is taught, teacher-confidence and teacher-knowledge are also important variables. Teachers are most confident with topics drawn from the biological sciences, particularly things to do with plants. With this exception there is no shared body of science education knowledge that could be used to develop a curriculum for science education. There was evidence that most teachers see a need for a hands-on approach to primary science education involving the use of concrete materials. A substantial proportion of teachers agree that some of the problems would be alleviated by having a set course together with simple, prepared kits containing sample learning experiences. Any such materials must make provision for individual teachers to capitalise on critical teaching incidents as they arise and must not undermine the professional pride that teachers have in their work. Specializations: science education, school effectiveness, teacher education Specializations: science education, teacher education in science     

What makes lessons different? a comparison of a student's behaviour in two science lessons

A fascinating aspect of teaching is that no two days are ever the same. Such variety makes teaching an exciting and interesting profession, but can also generate problems. Apparently small changes in the way two lessons, supposedly similar, are conducted can result in very different lessons. How this occurred for one Year Seven student during two science lessons using discrepant events is explored in this paper. Her responses to each of the lessons were similar in some respects, but quite different in others. Differences between the lessons are examined, and possible reasons for the differences in the student's responses are explored. Specializations: primary teacher education, teaching strategies in science, cognitive change.     

In search of a consistency model for evaluation of student performance in nontraditional education

In nontraditional education we believe that learning how to learn should be the major objective. Helping students learn how to learn should be a major teaching objective and a major teaching skill. This skill involves helping a student recognize that learning involves personal change and that no one is so knowledgeable and so skilled that he or she need not learn. One of the major problems in learning how to learn for educators is being able to play a concurrent role—that of an evaluator and that of an academic advisor. Inherent in this double role is the concept that an evaluator should provide a learning experience that is planned as an integral and continuous part of a student's education. Evaluation processes, both in planning and implementation, should be consistent with knowledge, values, and goals of nontraditional education. Their basis should be a theory of adult learning.