Influences on students' perceptions of their personal development during the first three years of college

This study sought to determine whether students' perceptions of their personal growth are related to their college experiences after controlling for their precollege characteristics, whether the amount of reported development varies over the first three years of college, and whether the influences on students' perceived personal development vary from one year to another. Results indicate that students' self-reported personal development is unattributable to their precollege traits and is remarkably constant from the freshman through junior years. Differences between men and women in reported growth are, however, evident. The sources of influence on reported growth vary over the three years; the only common influence is informal contact with faculty.An earlier version of this paper was presented to the annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Toronto, May 1983.     

Designing for impact: a conceptual framework for learning analytics as self-assessment tools

Abstract

Although it is frequently claimed that learning analytics can improve self-evaluation and self-regulated learning by students, most learning analytics tools appear to have been developed as a response to existing data rather than with a clear pedagogical model. As a result there is little evidence of impact on learning. Even fewer learning analytics tools seem to be informed by an understanding of the social context and social practices within which they would be used. As a result, there is very little evidence that learning analytics tools are actually impacting on practice. This paper draws on research in self-regulated learning and in the social practices of learning and assessment to clarify a series of design issues which should be considered by those seeking to develop learning analytics tools which are intended to improve student self-evaluation and self-regulation. It presents a case study of how these design issues influenced the development of a particular tool: the Learning Companion.     

The Catholic school and social justice in Africa: a Zambian case study

Abstract

This paper will argue that the state-aided Catholic school in Zambia has contributed significantly to the development of the country over the years. However, because of its enmeshment in the state system of education it has inadvertently become an instrument of underdevelopment. It is structurally complicit in alienating some of the poorest sectors of society, which runs counter to its professed religious mission. This essay presents the Zambian situation as a case study where it is contended that in order to understand the current situation there is need to see it in the light of its history. The discussion is intended to explore how faith-based educational settings within the state systems in Africa may become complicit in sustaining forms of oppression. It will include a consideration of how, as part of this, religion has been reduced historically through being too closely allied to a modernisation framework generating the illusion of promoting social justice. The article notes that in the light of better historical appreciation of the issue there is need for a review of the faith-based school’s pedagogy.     

Affiliation policy rhetoric and reality in the Ghanaian higher education context

The present affiliation policy regime of Ghana’s higher education system has existed for more than two decades. However, empirical studies to examine the policy rhetoric and reality with regard to building quality assurance capacity in mentored institutions appear non-existent. This paper is based on an illustrative qualitative case study undertaken to examine the achievements and challenges of implementing the policy to build internal quality assurance capacities in mentored institutions. The study was guided by Institutional Theory using 12 key informant in-depth interviews and document reviews as data collection sources. The findings indicate a minimal achievement of the policy intent on internal quality assurance capacity building due to key implementation challenges such as a tripartite relationship structure; increasing cost on mentored institutions and increasing workload on mentor institutions. The study concludes that the gap between the policy rhetoric and reality in the studied mentored institutions appears undesirable and requires stakeholders’ attention.     

Gender Attitudes in Early Childhood: Behavioral Consequences and Cognitive Antecedents

This study examined factors that predicted children's gender intergroup attitudes at age 5 and the implications of these attitudes for intergroup behavior. Ethnically diverse children from low‐income backgrounds (N = 246; Mexican‐, Chinese‐, Dominican‐, and African American) were assessed at ages 4 and 5. On average, children reported positive same‐gender and negative other‐gender attitudes. Positive same‐gender attitudes were associated with knowledge of gender stereotypes. In contrast, positive other‐gender attitudes were associated with flexibility in gender cognitions (stereotype flexibility, gender consistency). Other‐gender attitudes predicted gender‐biased behavior. These patterns were observed in all ethnic groups. These findings suggest that early learning about gender categories shape young children's gender attitudes and that these gender attitudes already have consequences for children's intergroup behavior at age 5.     

Singaporean gifted adolescents under scrutiny: The gender factor

Research on the sex-role problems of gifted adolescents rarely lifts its sight beyond Western developed countries, making generalizations to the Third World suspect. The present study, by exploring the relationship between gender and adjustment among gifted adolescents in Singapore, hopes to extend the consideration of developmental sex-role issues to a society different from the West. Specifically, it reports that Singaporean gifted girls, like some of their Western counterparts, had difficulty in reconciling their giftedness with societal notions of femininity.Conceivably, this conflict placed them on the threshold of stress, leaving them more vulnerable than the gifted boys to adjustment problems. In addition, having internalized the gender stereotypic view that academic excellence was less important to them than to the boys, the gifted girls might inadvertently put ceilings on their own achievements. The paper concludes with several remedies for educators, counsellors, and parents to help gifted girls embark upon their road to self-fulfilment.

---

Zusammenfassung Forschungen über die Probleme begabter Jugendlicher bezüglich geschlechtsspezifischer Rollen erfassen selten Zielgruppen außerhalb der entwickelten westlichen Länder. Demnach wird jede Übertragung auf die dritte Welt fragwürdig. Diese Studie beabsichtigt, mit einer Untersuchung über die Beziehungen zwischen Geschlecht und Anpassungsfähigkeit unter begabten Jugendlichen in Singapur, den Kontext der Debatte über entwicklungsbezogene geschlechtsspezifische Rollen auf eine nicht-westliche Gesellschaft zu erweitern. Insbesondere wird berichtet, daß begabte singapurische Mädchen es ebenso wie westliche Mädchen schwierig finden, ihre Begabtheit mit gesellschaftsüblichen Begriffen der Weiblichkeit zu vereinbaren. Es wäre durchaus möglich, daß dieser Konflikt sie bis an die Schwelle des Stresses bringt, so daß sie für Anpassungsprobleme anfälliger als begabte Jungen sind. Indem sie die geschlechtstypische Ansicht verinnerlichen, daß wissenschaftlicher Erfolg für sie weniger bedeutsam ist als für Jungen, könnten die begabten Mädchen ihren eigenen Leistungen unbewußt Grenzen setzen. Der Artikel endet mit verschiedenen Vorschlägen, wie Pädagogen, Berater und Eltern begabter Mädchen dazu beitragen könnten, daß diese Mädchen zu ihrer Selbsterfüllung finden.

---

Résumé La recherche sur les problèmes liés au rôle des sexes des adolescents doués porte rarement son regard au-delà des pays industrialisés occidentaux, rendant les généralisations au Tiers Monde suspectes. En étudiant le rapport entre les sexes et l'adaptation chez les adolescents talentueux de Singapour, la présente étude espère étendre l'examen des problèmes de développement liés au rôle des sexes à une société différente de celles du monde occidental. En particulier, elle relate que les filles douées de Singapour, comme certaines de leurs homologues occidentales, ont des difficultés à concilier leur talent avec les notions sociales de fémininité. II est concevable que ce conflit les ait mises sous pression, les rendant ainsi plus vulnérables que les garçons doués aux problèmes d'adaptation. Par ailleurs, ayant assimilé le point de vue stéréotypé des sexes selon lequel l'excellence scolaire est moins importante pour elles que pour les garçons, il se peut que les filles douées fixent, par inadvertance, un plafond à leurs propres performances. Cet article conclut en proposant quelques remèdes aux éducateurs, conseillers et aux parents pour aider les filles capables à s'engager dans la voie qui leur permettra de s'accomplir.

     

Alternate Reality Games as an Informal Learning Tool for Generating STEM Engagement among Underrepresented Youth: a Qualitative Evaluation of the Source

This project developed and studied The Source, an alternate reality game (ARG) designed to foster interest and knowledge related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) among youth from populations underrepresented in STEM fields. ARGs are multiplayer games that engage participants across several media such as shared websites, social media, personal communications, and real-world settings to complete activities and collaborate with team members. The Source was a five-week summer program with 144 participants from Chicago aged 13 to 18 years. The Source incorporated six socio-contextual factors derived from three frameworks: Chang’s (ERIC Digest, 2002) recommendations for engaging underrepresented populations in STEM careers, Lave and Wenger’s (Cambridge University Press, 1991) situated learning model, and Barron’s (Human Development, 49(4); 193-224, 2006) learning ecology perspective. These factors aligned with the program’s aims of promoting (1) social community and peer support, (2) collaboration and teamwork, (3) real-world relevance and investigative learning, (4) mentoring and exposure to STEM professionals, (5) hands-on activities to foster transferable skill building, and (6) interface with technology. This paper presents results from 10 focus groups and 10 individual interviews conducted with a subset of the 144 youth participants who completed the game. It describes how these six factors were realized through The Source and uses them as a lens for considering how The Source functioned pedagogically. Qualitative findings describe youth’s perception of The Source’s potential influence on STEM interest, engagement, and identity formation. Despite limitations, study results indicate that underrepresented youth can engage in an immersive, narrative, and game-based experience as a potential mechanism for piquing and developing STEM interest and skills, particularly among underrepresented youth.     

Investigating students’ perceptions of instructional strategies to establish social presence

Social presence is a popular construct used to describe how people socially interact in online courses. Online educators continue to try different ways to establish and maintain social presence in online courses. However, research to date has not identified which strategies, or types of strategies, are best for establishing social presence. We investigated student perceptions of various strategies of establishing and maintaining social presence using a mixed methods case study approach in two different fully online courses. Results suggest that students are more interested in connecting with their instructor than their peers; different students like different social presence strategies; and students have different overall social presence needs. Various strategies and implications for practice are addressed throughout.     

Coupling Admissions and Curricular Data to Predict Medical Student Outcomes

The relative impact of admissions factors and curricular measures on the first medical licensing exam (United States Medical Licensing Exam [USMLE] Step 1) scores is examined. The inclusion of first-year and second-year curricular measures nearly doubled the variance explained in Step 1 scores from the amount explained by the combination of preadmission demographic characteristics and admissions factors. In addition, the relationship between the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and Step 1 scores becomes counterintuitive in models that include curricular measures, where students with the lowest combined admissions metrics (MCAT, grade-point average) score higher, on average, than those with some of the highest admissions metrics. Overreliance on traditional metrics in admissions decisions can exclude students from medical school who have the ability to succeed.     

Children's insecure representations of the interparental relationship and their school adjustment: the mediating role of attention difficulties

This study examined the role of attention difficulties as a mediator of associations between children's insecure representations of the interparental relationship and their school adjustment in a sample of two hundred and sixteen 6-year-old children. Consistent with hypotheses, findings from structural equation models indicated that observer ratings of children's insecure representations of interparental relationships in a story completion task predicted computerized task assessments and parent reports of children's attention difficulties 1 year later. Children's attention difficulties, in turn, were associated with concurrent levels of school problems and increases in school problems over a 1-year period as indexed by teacher reports. Attention difficulties accounted for an average of 34% of the association between insecure internal representations and school problems.