The effect of learning style on preference for web‐based courses and learning outcomes

As the number of courses offered online increases rapidly, it is important for teachers and institutions to identify specific learner characteristics of successful online students. This paper reports on a study that compared an online group of freshmen computer science majors with an equivalent on‐campus group to find if their individual learning styles play a role in the selection of course delivery mode (online or face to face) and in their academic achievement. No significant statistical differences were detected in learning styles and learning performance between the two groups. Implications for teaching practice and design of learning activities that resulted from this study are discussed.     

Needs or rights? A challenge to the discourse of special education

It is nearly 30 years since Mary Warnock's Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped Children and Young People introduced the phrase ‘special educational needs’ into the UK education system. In this article, Katherine Runswick‐Cole, Research Associate at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Nick Hodge, Principal Lecturer in Research Development at Sheffield Hallam University, argue for the abandonment of the ‘special needs’ discourse, claiming that it has, in fact, led to exclusionary practices within education. Building on the work of early years educators in Reggio Emilia schools in Northern Italy, the authors advocate for the adoption of the phrase ‘educational rights’ and suggest that the positive impact of such a linguistic turn would be significant for the lives of young people currently described as having ‘special educational needs’ and for children's rights.     

Teaching development for doctoral students: what can we learn from activity theory?

This paper explores issues relating to programmes for doctoral students wishing to gain experience of, and develop skills in, teaching. The focus is on “Developing Learning and Teaching” – a new provision at the University of Oxford. The purpose is to exemplify how activity theory can be used to situate particular programmes and individual experiences in a wider systemic setting. The authors explain the concepts of the activity system, and use these to identify systemic tensions (analysing university‐wide survey data), then to assess whether the provision has addressed these tensions (analysing data from interviews with participants).

Cet article explore les questions soulevées par les programmes destinés aux doctorants intéressés à acquérir une expérience d’enseignement et à développer leurs compétences d’enseignement. Le centre d’intérêt est placé sur ? «Developing Learning and Teaching» ? – un nouveau cours offert à l’université d’Oxford. L’objectif est de démontrer comment la théorie de l’activité peut être utilisée de façon à situer des programmes spécifiques et des expériences individuelles dans un contexte systémique plus vaste. Nous expliquons les concepts du système d’activité et utilisons ceux‐ci de façon à identifier des tensions systémiques (par l’analyse de données recueillies par questionnaire à la grandeur de l’université), puis évaluons si le cours cible ces tensions (par l’analyse de données recueillies par entretien auprès des participants).     

Using a college human sexuality course to combat homophobia

The present study seeks to identify factors among university students that may be associated with homophobic attitudes and whether homophobia may be reduced by educational interventions, such as knowledge-based curricula found in college sexuality courses. Participants were 128 undergraduate students attending a small, private university in the northwestern region of the United States. At the beginning and end of the fall semester 2004, survey packets consisting of a demographic questionnaire, the Sexual Opinion Survey, the Homophobia Scale, a sexual knowledge survey, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory were administered to students attending a human sexuality class and a comparison group of students enrolled in professional and social science introductory courses. Relative to the comparison group, homophobia levels significantly decreased over the course of the semester among students attending the sexuality class. The effect of attending the class on reducing homophobia was partially mediated by an increase in self-reported knowledge about sexual matters. Taken together, these results suggest that the knowledge-based curriculum of sexuality courses may play an important role in affecting broader attitudes about sexuality among college students, including attitudes about homosexuality.     

Comparison of a behavioral model of physicians' drug product choice decision with pharmacists' product choice recommendations: A study of the choice for the treatment of panic disorder

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the decision process for physicians and pharmacists when considering medications to treat patients with panic disorder. A second‐order confirmatory factor analysis modeling physicians' prescribing influences revealed high factor loadings for efficacy considerations and side effects in conjunction with patient characteristics. A multisample analysis using the physician model revealed that pharmacists also consider the same factors important. Both health care professionals were concerned about the patient's quality of care, recovery, and medication efficacy.