Comprehensive Cocurricular Support Promotes Persistence of Community College STEM Students

ABSTRACT

Despite good career prospects in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, persistence of students in STEM fields of study at the community college and transfer to universities to pursue STEM majors is often quite low. Theories of persistence emphasize the importance of engagement, integration, validation, and financial assistance. The DCCCD STEM Institute is a comprehensive cocurricular program for community college STEM students. It illustrates the application of persistence theories in a multicollege urban district with a diverse student body. The STEM Institute uses a student/faculty cohort model with mentoring, professional skills programming, and scholarship support to transform student perceptions of themselves, integrate them into a STEM educational community, and validate their membership within that community. Institute membership also reduces isolation and financial concerns as potential barriers to persistence. STEM faculty also participate in professional skill development through a cross-college and cross-disciplinary cohort. Data on students who participated in the DCCCD STEM Institute from 2010 through 2014 show that 92% remain in a STEM educational or career pathway. Important practice implications for community college professionals include (1) forming student and faculty cohorts, (2) facilitating the development of mentoring relationships, (3) providing adequate centralized staffing, and (4) integrating resources and opportunities into a unified cocurricular program.     

An Observational Study of Social Communication Skills in Eight Preschoolers with and Without Hearing Loss During Cooperative Play

Early peer relationships and interactions influence social acceptance and a child’s ability to form social relationships later in life (Ladd 2005). Although it has been reported that some children with profound hearing loss who have experienced the oral approach since diagnosis display language skills similar to children with typical hearing (DeLuzio and Girolametto 2011), many may still be excluded socially and have subtle communication differences that impact friendships. More information is needed about how differences and similarities are manifested in young children with hearing loss. This investigation observed the frequency of three social communicative behaviors displayed by eight preschoolers with and without hearing loss as they played in dyads during unstructured table activities. The results revealed that the children with hearing loss produced about a quarter as many initiated verbal comments; however, they engaged in more verbal and play turns than their playmates with typical hearing. Implications for teaching young children with hearing loss in inclusive preschool settings are discussed.     

Articulation and student intentionality in professional development: A proactive model for teacher educators

Abstract

The Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) professional development movement, community college students’ emerging intentionality, and the role of two‐ and four‐year higher education faculty intersect in a proactive model proposed by the author that advocates ECEC community college programs separate from the vocational tradition and establishes ECEC transfer degrees to four‐year programs. Degree structures must be built with flexibility, and encompass checkpoints and highly articulated options as student intentionality unfolds. The proactive model is constructed from Morgan's (1994) 21 st century model of professionalism and her conception of students’ emerging intentionality, combined with Brint and Karabel's (1989) models that attempt to explain why community colleges moved from conferring primarily transfer degrees to conferring primarily vocational degrees.     

A single session of resistance exercise does not reduce postprandial lipaemia

This study investigated the effect of a single session of resistance exercise on postprandial lipaemia. Eleven healthy normolipidaemic men with a mean age of 23 (standard error = 1.4) years performed two trials at least 1 week apart in a counterbalanced randomized design. In each trial, participants consumed a test meal (1.2?g fat, 1.1?g carbohydrate, 0.2?g protein and 68 kJ?·?kg^?1 body mass) between 08.00 and 09.00?h following a 12?h fast. The afternoon before one trial, the participants performed an 88?min bout of resistance exercise. Before the other trial, the participants were inactive (control trial). Resistance exercise was performed using free weights and included four sets of 10 repetitions of each of 11 exercises. Sets were performed at 80% of 10-repetition maximum with a 2?min work and rest interval. Venous blood samples were obtained in the fasted state and at intervals for 6?h postprandially. Fasting plasma triacylglycerol (TAG) concentration did not differ significantly between control (1.03?±?0.13?mmol?·?l^?1) and exercise (0.94?±?0.09?mmol?·?l^?1) trials (mean?± standard error). Similarly, the 6?h total area under the plasma TAG concentration versus time curve did not differ significantly between the control (9.84?±?1.40?mmol?·?l^?1?·?6?h^?1) and exercise (9.38?±?1.12?mmol?·?l^?1?·?6?h^?1) trials. These findings suggest that a single session of resistance exercise does not reduce postprandial lipaemia.     

Play – a multi-modal manifestation in kindergarten education in China

Play, as an educational concept, has entered many kindergartens in China; yet it has not become a core idea, or been prioritised in the teaching and learning process. An ongoing trans-provincial study started in 2008, using observation, interviews and document analyses. Based on findings from nine kindergartens in three provinces, this article illustrates how the concept of play is perceived and manifested in kindergartens located in three cities across China. It is suggested that there is a certain relationship between the rank and the status of play in a kindergarten, which may offer a systematic way to better understand how the concept of play is represented in Chinese kindergartens. Evidence also shows that the play concept has influenced Chinese educational ideas and pedagogy at certain levels but without changing the fundamental Chinese ideas of a play and learning relationship. Explanations for the phenomena observed, such as ranking versus forms of manifestation will be suggested.     

A technology foundation course for women

The Technology Foundation Course for Women at Huddersfield Polytechnic is designed to help women compensate for their previous lack of experience in technology and to prepare them to enter diploma and degree courses in higher education. The course has several distinctive features in that it is for women only and is designed to meet the needs of mature students with family commitments. Students are allowed flexibility in their choice of subjects, enabling them to study mathematics, physics, computing or chemistry to approximately A‐level standard. Students from the first intake have evaluated the course positively and the majority are studying computing or engineering‐related subjects in higher education. The design of the course is discussed in the light of the requirements of women taking the course and the demand within industry and higher education for more qualified scientists and engineers.     

The Role of Theory in the Study of Peer Collaboration

This special issue illustrates how research on peer collaboration is influenced by different theoretical perspectives. In the first part of this commentary, the role of theory in each article is discussed. The authors use connections among theory, research questions, and study methods to identify how theory affected the work of each group of researchers. They then make the case that the real need lies in the integration of those theories and in the integration of all findings relevant to applied questions of collaborative processing. Following a brief review of relevant theories, the authors demonstrate how a cohesive, integrated theory of group processes can be adopted.     

Manipulatives Work!

This essay invites reflection on the phenomena of time as it impacts the day-to-day life of teachers. It also explores assumptions about time and teaching in three areas: first, beliefs about the force of time and the teacher's struggle to control it; second, beliefs about the potential of time and the benefits of its passing for teachers and students; and finally, beliefs about significant moments in time and the teacher's courage to be appropriately responsive to them.