Schools as sanctuaries: A systematic review of contextual factors which contribute to student retention in alternative education

Early school leaving is an international concern. Previous research indicates that the school context contributes to early school leaving. This systematic review is aimed to gather marginalised young peoples’ perceptions concerning contextual factors that contributed to and interfered with their decisions to stay in alternative education. Twenty-three databases and reference lists of reviews were searched, eliciting 1586 studies, which were then screened. Data from 24 mixed-methods studies that met the inclusion criteria were extracted and synthesised. Findings suggested that alternative schools which provided a sanctuary for students increased student engagement. Schools were sanctuaries when they offered physical, emotional and psychological safe spaces; fostered a sense of community; enabled students to affirm their racial/ethnic pride and employed flexible behavioural supports. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Environmental education research in Southern Africa: Dilemmas of interpretation

These multiple framings of our reflections on environmental education research in southern Africa are written as dilemmas of interpretation that aim to disrupt any temptation to generalise or essentialise its qualities and characteristics. Recognising that research is a textual practice, we use J. M. Coetzee's portrayal of the dilemmas faced by African novelists as a point of departure in reflecting on the changing landscape of environmental education research in southern Africa as we have experienced it over six years. We provide readings framed by reference to post-colonialism, changing epistemologies and methodologies, contexts of transformation and tension, the influence of international organisations such as the United Nations and its instrumentalities, and concerns about human rights and accountability. We conclude by affirming the post-colonialist trajectories of environmental education research in southern Africa and speculating on the distinctive possibilities that recovering ubuntu (an ethic of sharing and hospitality) might offer to researchers in this region.     

Modification of a mother's verbal abuse

In this study an abusive parent was instructed in techniques of behavior modification. It was hypothesized that the parent-child interactions would improve as the mother, Mrs. X, began modifying her daughter Jan's behavior.An A-B - A-B reversal design was implemented. Baseline data was collected to determine the frequency with which Jan interrupted Mrs. X. During the treatment phase, Mrs. X was to ignore Jan's interruptions and positively reinforce Jan when she spoke to Mrs. X without interrupting. However, Mrs. X did not apply the treatment consistently and the frequency of Jan's interruptions did not change significantly. Thus a return to baseline and reimplementation of the treatment was not necessary.In order to ascertain whether the parent-child interactions chanqed, two thirty-minute tapes of the baseline sessions were made and two thirty-minute tapes of the treatment sessions were made. The tapes were transcribed and assessed according to the Kasprin-Burrelli, Egolf, and Shames Parent-Child Interaction Scale (Kasprin-Burrelli, et al., 1972).The quality of the parent-child interactions, as measured by the Kasprin-Burrelli, et al., Parent-Child Interaction Scale, improved throughout the study. Thus, it is impossible to state that the treatment was responsible for the improvement. It is hypothesized that the presence of the examiner resulted in the improvement. Mrs. X is a college-educated woman and appears to need adult stimulation. When Mrs. X's need for adult stimulation was met, then her interactions with Jan improved. Thus, although Mrs. X did not modify Jan's interruption behavior, her interactions with Jan did improve throughout the experiment.     

Recognising and promoting collaboration in an online asynchronous discussion

This paper reports on a study involving the identification and measurement of collaboration in an online asynchronous discussion (OAD). A conceptual framework served for the development of a model which conceptualises collaboration on a continuum of processes that move from social presence to production of an artefact. From this model, a preliminary instrument with six processes was developed. Through application of the instrument to an OAD, the instrument was further developed with indicators added for each process. Use of the instrument to analyse an OAD showed that it is effective for gaining insight into collaborative processes in which discussants in an OAD do or do not engage. Use of the instrument in other contexts would test and potentially strengthen its reliability and provide further insight into the collaborative processes in which individuals engage in OADs. Analysis of an OAD using the instrument revealed that participants engaged primarily in processes related to social presence and articulating individual perspectives, and did not reach a stage of sharing goals and producing shared artefacts. The results suggest that the higher‐level processes related to collaboration in an OAD may need to be more explicitly and effectively promoted in order to counteract a tendency on the part of participants to remain at the level of individual rather than group or collaborative effort.     

Rethinking the Subject: (de)constructing human agency in environmental education research

In this article I critically analyse some of the ways in which human subjectivity and agency are constructed in contemporary discourses of environmental education research, with particular reference to conceptual change discourses such as those borrowed from ‘misconceptions’ research in science education. I argue that the methods of constructivist science education research are not necessarily applicable to either the (human) ‘subjects’ or subject‐matters (in an epistemological sense) of environmental education, and that poststructuralist methodologies may provide useful frames for rethinking the ways in which understandings of human subjectivity and agency are deployed in environmental education research.     

Forensic chemistry in 19th-century Britain

Poison has long been a common murder weapon, but in early nineteenth-century Britain toxic substances were readily available and little attention was paid to toxicology. In 1820 the use of poisonous substances in food manufacture was exposed and it was also realized that medical jurisprudence, including toxicology, was already well advanced in some European countries. Better training in these subjects for British doctors was begun, led by three prominent physicians, Robert Christison, Alfred Taylor and Thomas Stevenson. The professions of analytical chemist and Public Analyst were enhanced and the importance of chemical evidence in poison trials was established.     

Sources of self-efficacy beliefs of students in a technology-intensive asynchronous college algebra course

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the four traditionally hypothesized sources of self-efficacy on learners' self-efficacy beliefs regarding learning mathematics in an asynchronous environment. The context of the study was a college algebra and trigonometry course offered in an asynchronous, technology-intensive emporium model at a large, public university in the southeastern United States. Participants (N = 99) completed surveys assessing their self-efficacy to learn mathematics in this environment as well as to assess their mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and physiological state. Regression analysis indicated that in this environment, the most important factors are vicarious experiences, followed by affective/physiological influences.