Double your major,double your return?

We use the 2003 National Survey of College Graduates to provide the first estimates of the effect on earnings of having a double major. Overall, double majoring increases earnings by 2.3% relative to having a single major among college graduates without graduate degrees. Most of the gains from having a double major come from choosing fields across two different major categories. Graduates who combine an arts, humanities or social science major with a major in business, engineering, science or math have returns 7–50% higher than graduates with a single major in arts, humanities or social science. But such double major combinations have returns no higher than single majors in business, engineering, science or math. Majors combining business and science or math have returns more than 50% greater than the returns to having a single major in these fields.     

The relationship between self reports of college experiences and achievement test scores

This study evaluated the feasibility of using students' self reports of the academic development and college experiences as proxies and policy indicators for a national assessment of undergraduate education. Results indicated that self reports of academic development should be used with care as proxies for a national test. Particularly important are issues of content overlap and differences in the measurement methods. Results from the second part of this study supported using self reports of college experiences as policy indicators to improve undergraduate education.Paper presented at the annual forum of the Association for Institutional Research, New Orleans, May 1995.     

Vocational Preferences and College Expectations: An Extension of Holland’s Principle of Self-Selection

Holland’s theory of vocational preferences provides a powerful framework for studying students’ college experiences. A basic proposition of Holland’s theory is that individuals actively seek out and select environments that are congruent with their personality types. Although studies consistently support the self-selection proposition, they have not examined the processes underlying students’ selections. It seems reasonable to presume that many students select academic majors because they believe or expect that the academic environments will be congruent with their personalities. Using data from 631 entering students, this research examined the possibility that self-selection is related to students’ college expectations. Results provided support for the role of expectations in the selection of academic majors.     

Boxing clever: using shoeboxes to support home–school knowledge exchange

A key tenet of the Home–School Knowledge Exchange Project is that children's learning will be enhanced if the knowledge and experience that are to be found both at home and in school can be brought together. In this paper we explore ways of connecting home and school to support literacy learning at Key Stage 1, focusing on the home‐to‐school direction. We discuss how shoeboxes, filled with children's artefacts, can support a range of literacy‐related activities in school. It is suggested that the extensive diversity of knowledge and interests reflected in the chosen objects presents teachers with an invaluable opportunity to personalise children's literacy learning.     

Purposes of education for young people with severe learning difficulties: exploring a vocational teaching resource – ‘A stepping stone to…’ what?

This article examines the purposes of education with a particular focus on young people with severe learning difficulties (SLD). The topic is explored with reference to a specific case, whereby some of the key findings of an evaluation of the first year of ‘The Greenside Studio’, an English special school’s vocational teaching resource for young people with SLD, are presented. A conceptualisation of different ‘sides’ to the Studio is discussed in relation to the purposes of education for these learners in which the view of vocational learning as a stepping stone to paid employment and independence is presented as problematic. With a broader interpretation of vocational education this stepping stone is reconfigured as a bridge to life after school, whatever form that takes. It is argued, however, that the nature of this life must be viewed aspirationally.     

The pedagogical benefits of enacting positive psychology practices through a student–faculty partnership approach to academic development

Academic development that supports the enactment of positive psychology practices through student–faculty pedagogical partnership can increase faculty confidence and capacity in their first year in a new institution. When student partners practice affirmation and encouragement of strengths-based growth, processes of faculty acclimation and self-authoring can be accelerated. This article presents a student–faculty pedagogical partnership program and positive psychology practices that focus on faculty strengths and capacities as the foundation for reinforcing and revising existing pedagogical strategies and for sustaining energy for continued development. It combines collaborative autoethnographic and comparative case study approaches to investigate the pedagogical benefits of these practices.     

Understanding the role of the Teaching Assistant: comparing the views of pupils with SEN and TAs within mainstream primary schools

The number of teaching assistants (TAs) in schools in the UK has risen in recent years, but there remains a lack of clarity about the roles being undertaken by these support staff. This article reports findings from a study investigating how the TA role is understood both by the pupils being supported and by TAs themselves. Eleven students with SEN were interviewed regarding the support received from TAs within school. Following this, the TAs were also interviewed and asked to explain how they viewed their main support role. The data suggest a difference in the understanding of the role between the two groups, with pupils primarily focused on academic support and TAs focusing instead on behavioural support. Implications for practice include the need to clarify the TA role to support consistency across settings, and the importance of ensuring that pupils with SEN are supported to understand the role of TAs within schools.