Faculty/Staff Perceptions of a Standards-Based Exit Portfolio System for Graduate Students

New standards for certification were recently developed for speech–language pathology graduate training programs by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The new standards are outcomes-based rather than process-based. Using a collective case study approach, this article highlights the perceptions of faculty and staff regarding use of a standards-based exit portfolio system for students in a Speech–Language Pathology graduate program at a medium-sized, public university after two semesters of use.Tena L. McNamara received a B.S. degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology and an M.S. degree in Audiology from Bradley University, and the Doctor of Audiology Degree from the University of Florida. She is now Assistant Professor at Illinois State University. Special interests include soundfield FM systems utilized in classroom settings, auditory processing disorders, electrophysiology, and phonological awareness. Rita L. Bailey is a speech–language pathologist and holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Speech–Language Pathology and an Ed.D. in Special Education, all from Illinois State University. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Illinois State University. Her primary research interests include pediatric dysphagia, service-learning, alternative-augmentative communication methods, and voice. E-mail: tlmcnam@ilstu.edu.     

Constraints on conceptual development: a case study of the acquisition of folkbiological and folksociological knowledge in Madagascar

How different are the concepts held by children who grow up in a North American middle class neighborhood and by children who grow up in a rural Malagasy fishing village? By probing Malagasy children's and adults' conceptual representations of human and animal kind, biological inheritance, innate potential and family relations, the studies presented in this Monograph address current debates about the acquisition and the nature of concepts in the domains of folkbiology and folksociology. Cross-cultural and developmental studies of this kind bear on the hypothesis that conceptual development in these domains is supported and constrained by innate conceptual content. If so, one would expect cross-cultural universality in the relevant adult concepts and their early emergence in childhood regardless of widely different input conditions. We chose to conduct these studies among the Vezo of Madagascar because the ethnographic literature has attributed to them folkbiological and folksociological theories that are radically different, even in commensurable, with those of North American adults. Vezo therefore provide a challenging test for the innate conceptual constraints hypothesis.Four studies probed aspects of biological and sociological reasoning of Vezo children, adolescents and adults through a number of adoption scenarios. Despite ethnographic reports to the contrary, we found cross-cultural convergence in adult concepts of biological inheritance, but the pattern of development of this concept differed greatly from that seen in North America. Moreover, in agreement with the ethnographic literature, we found that Vezo adults have constructed a distinctive theory of social group identity. However, we found that children's reasoning in this domain is under the influence of endogenous constraints that are overturned in the course of development. Finally, we found cross-cultural convergence in adults' concept of species kind, as well as evidence for the early emergence of this concept. In light of these findings, we discuss the nature of the constraints on children's conceptual representations, the developmental process through which the adults' concepts are constructed, and relations between Vezotheories of folkbiology and folksociology.     

Lifelong learning policies supporting young adults in two Portuguese regions

ABSTRACT

Precarious jobs and unemployment have become common issues for many young adults due to the unfavourable labour market situation in Portugal. Against this background, lifelong learning (LLL) policies have been called in to play a role in creating economic growth and supporting the social inclusion of young adults in vulnerable educational and economic circumstances. These policies are defined at the national level; however, their implementation depends on the action of local actors who face specific challenges. This paper explores disparities in the definition and implementation of LLL policies targeting young adults in two Portuguese regions. Specifically, we analyse professional courses in Vale do Ave (North) and adult education and training courses in Alentejo Litoral (South). These regions were selected due to their dissimilar economic structure. This study adopted a qualitative approach through interviews with LLL experts and policy roundtables with local stakeholders and decision-makers in both regions. Data were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10. The study shows that the two regions have different cooperation networks between local stakeholders, and that these impact the opportunities to influence the regional skills formation system differently. Also, the study shows that LLL policies are not designed to address destandardised life courses.     

A Whole-School Approach to Guidance: A Hong Kong Experience

As in England, approaches to guidance/pastoral care in Hong Kong have in recent years become more proactive and less exclusively reactive. This paper presents an example of this, focusing on a secondary school in Hong Kong which has sought to implement a whole-school approach through developmental guidance programmes. The writers' evaluation of this suggests that the integration of guidance/PSE into the whole-school curriculum was feasible, with a favourable outcome perceived by the school community. The findings also identified a number of important factors which facilitated the implementation and development of the policy.     

Marketing undergraduates' attitudes towards query-based instructional machines as a possible learning medium

Six hundred and seventy-one undergraduates completed a questionnaire concerning their reactions to the idea that parts of their degree programmes might be delivered via Query Based Instructional Machines. The latter are commonplace in museums and other cultural attractions. They are menu-driven and operate on the touch-screen principle, thus allowing the user to browse through whichever aspects of a subject the person finds most interesting. Cognitive, affective and conative responses were measured and related to students' personal characteristics, degree programme, year of study, level of academic attainment, psychological involvement with a course, and innate tendencies vis-à-vis need for cognition, curiosity, and change leadership. The sample comprised students on three categories of degree programme: marketing, computing, or humanities. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was completed using aggregated responses as dependent variables, degree type as the fixed factor (grouping variable), and personal characteristics and inclinations as covariates. There were a number of significant differences between the responses of the marketing students and students in the other groups.     

Adults'' Responses to Infants Varying in Appearance of Age and Attractiveness

The relations among age appearance, facial attractiveness, and adult expectations of the developmental maturity of infants were examined in 3 studies. In Study 1, a relation was demonstrated between ratings of the attractiveness (77 judges) and age appearance (53 judges) of 6-month-olds: less attractive infants were judged to be older than their attractive age-mates. In Study 2, 75 parents judged the specific developmental abilities of 6-month-old infants and estimated the age of the babies. Parents overestimated both the age and the developmental abilities of the unattractive infants. Furthermore, ability estimates for the unattractive infants were significantly higher than judgments of the typical abilities of 6-month-olds made by another group of 35 parents. Finally, the results of Study 2 were replicated in Study 3 conducted with 348 mothers. It was also demonstrated in Study 3 that, although mothers expected unattractive infants to be capable of more specific developmental skills, they nevertheless rated the general competence of the unattractive infants to be lower than that of attractive infants. Specious contradictions in the attractiveness and age appearance literatures are resolved by these results: age appearance seems to function as an informational cue with respect to specific age-appropriate abilities, whereas attractiveness elicits evaluative attributions of general competence. Both types of information conveyed in faces may have important implications for adult evaluations of infants and older children.     

Father involvement in young children’s care and education: exploring boundaries and starting conversations

This paper analyses the impact of a UK local authority initiative – Fathers’ Friday – aiming to involve fathers in their children’s education, which took place in 20 early years’ and primary school settings. Whilst the study involved a range of methods, in this paper interview data associated with practitioners’ perspectives of the initiative are used. Theoretically, Bernstein’s concept of boundary and related notions of classification and framing provide a framework for exploring fathers’ positioning, and Bernstein’s concept of ‘voice’ helps to explain how relations are repositioned, as fathers engage with settings through their participation in the initiative. The authors’ contention is that whilst an existing structure of social relations positions how settings and individuals can relate to one another, experiencing the Fathers’ Friday initiative under changed conditions produces a weakened boundary space for fathers, from which ‘conversations can start’. Children themselves form part of this process of redrawing weakened boundaries.     

The pursuit of useable knowledge in instructional technology

The object of inquiry in instructional technology is not simply knowledge, but useable knowledge. This paper explores the dimensions of relevance with respect to research and suggests ways the research community can accommodate the needs and interests of practicing professionals in the field. Research relevance is examined as a reflection of: (a) practitioner and disciplinary values; (b) perceived credibility, viewed in terms of authenticity, methods employed, and replicability; and (c) perceptions of utility based upon the concrete nature of the findings. Specific recommendations relate to expanding the range of topics addressed in our research, expanding the range of research methods employed, orienting our research communication to specific practitioner communities, conducting research under natural conditions, replicating research, and establishing links between abstract and concrete findings. Finally, the role of the practitioner as an educated consumer of research is discussed.     

Zum Problem der Hochschulreform in Spanien: Einige Ausgewählte Daten

Over the past ten years there has been a sweeping reform of the courses taught and qualifications awarded by Spanish universities. For that reason, an investigation was launched in 1996–97 at the University of Santiago de Compostela (in Northwest Spain) into the teaching, research and management entailed in four new degree courses: physics (years one to four), agricultural engineering (first and second years), agricultural food-processing technology (years one to three) and pharmacy. This article reports on students' opinions of the reforms in these courses, revealing dissatisfaction with facilities for practical course work, lack of connection with prospective employment, and a call for more information about courses.