The adult part-time learner in colleges and universities: A clientele analysis

Using the 1975 National Center for Educational Statistics/Bureau of Census Participation in Adult Education survey data, this paper presents an analysis of part-time students at colleges and universities—who participates and who persists. Separate analyses of public two-year colleges and noncredit activities are also presented. The analysis is followed with a discussion of the implications. A general conclusion is that adult education at colleges and universities may rest on a precariously narrow base.     

Do They Know What They Are Doing? Children's Use of Economical Addition Strategies and Knowledge of Commutativity

Children's methods of solving addition problems progress towards strategies that reverse the order of addends. The role knowledge of commutativity plays in this development is not clear. Previous studies suggest some use the strategies without believing addend order is irrelevant to addition. The numbers of such children are very small and the tests of commutativity may be inaccurate. Two studies using new tasks compare strategy use and knowledge. In the first, 47/48 children between 6 and 10 years old predicted order of addends would not alter quantity in some contexts. They also predominantly used strategies that reversed addend order. In the second study, 5‐year‐olds (18/24) were more likely to know commutativity than to use a strategy that reversed addend order or to answer sums correctly. Knowing commutativity precedes using strategies that presuppose it and does not derive from doing sums. Representing the addends with objects induced more arithmetic errors. Children used less accurate strategies when they could see the objects.     

Zero tolerance: A new enemy of academic freedom?

Recent provincial government policy proposals related to university governance and substantive and procedural autonomy has had the effect on Ontario university faculty members of throwing the cat among the pigeons. The policy proposals were based on an articulated need for zero tolerance of various forms of harassment, in the first instance voiced by interest groups representing gender, race, political affiliation, sexual orientation and a number of other concerns, and consequently transformed into a provincial government position by politicians.As the province is the main funding agency for universities, the threat to a number of aspects of university integrity is a real one. However, there appears to be much more at stake than a simple threat to the fair treatment of different minorities in the university setting. Such proposals, if articulated as formal policy, have the potential to erode those very elements around which universities have been created and for which universities continue to exist, namely, substantive and procedural autonomy and academic freedom.While in no way denying the rights of minority groups or humans in general as espoused by changing norms in a representative democracy, this article addresses the controversy, defines the freedoms at stake and extrapolates upon the implications of their erosion.     

The results of graduate external degree programs: Some emerging patterns

The Institute for Personal and Career Development, the external degree-granting arm of Central Michigan University, has been administering graduate external degree programs for approximately eight years. A survey of the graduates of Institute graduate programs revealed that these graduates are satisfied with the education they received through the Institute's external degree programs, that they have experienced personal and career development which they attribute at least in part to participation in Institute programs, and that they feel the educational goals and objectives of Institute programs have been accomplished.     

Development of Hybrid Courses Utilizing Modules as an Objective in ATE Projects

ABSTRACT

Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College (OCtech) has been awarded two National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF-ATE) grants since 2011 that have the development of module-based hybrid courses in Engineering Technology and Mechatronics as objectives. In this article, the advantages and challenges associated with module-based hybrid courses are discussed. The courses that have been developed deal specifically with alternative energy and robotics. Through modularizing the courses, instructors throughout OCtech may elect to use materials from these courses to supplement face-to-face courses or offer the entire course in a hybrid format. In addition to being used in the college’s traditional curriculum, these courses have been utilized in the Middle College and the Flex/Evening College for working adults with great success. The courses and the included modules are housed on a Learning Management System hosted by OCtech that is available to all the colleges and high schools in the state.     

The portrayal of minorities and women in selected elementary science series

The purpose of this study was to determine the quantitative and qualitative portrayal of females and minorities in the illustrations of seven contemporary elementary science textbook series. An evaluation instrument was devised to determine the current status of the targeted groups. Illustrations were evaluated on the basis of minority/nonminority and male/female repesentation. The activity and assumed role of the individuals were also tabulated. More than 5900 human illustrations were evaluated. The results reveal that female children as a group are represented with greater frequency than are other child groups. Minority children are represented less often than nonminority children and female and minority adults are depicted less often than nonminority male adults. The textbooks evaluated in this study display science positively for most societal groups. However, minorities are underrepresented and illustrated in a limited number of career roles. Implications and suggestions for teachers, supervisors, and teacher educators are provided.     

‘A shock of electricity just sort of goes through my body’: physical activity and embodied reflexive practices in young female ballet dancers

Participation in physical activities, in and out of school, remains heavily influenced by social constructions of gendered behaviour. In addition, the body plays a significant part in the presentation of legitimate performances of physical practice and the construction of a physical ‘identity’. The consequence is that in formalized activities many girls (and boys) are provided little chance to experience the pleasurable aspects of physical activity, as well as the added benefits of bodily confidence and knowledge. We suggest that the association of dance with other artistic forms of expression provides an opportunity to contest taken for granted assumptions about sport and physical education. The material for this paper was drawn from observations and interviews conducted with young, female dancers, aged between 9‐ and 11‐years‐old, at an internationally renowned ballet school in London.