A DEAN'S AND DEPARTMENT CHAIR'S GUIDE TO DOCUMENTING COMPETENCY‐BASED PROGRAM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN IN THE 2‐YEAR COLLEGE

Changes in the new Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 have added to existing state and regional accrediting agency pressures for competency‐based instruction. Because of these increasing pressures, deans, department chairs, and administrators of federal vocational funds administered under the act are, and will continue to be, required to provide evidence that their programs are competency based. A three‐step model to competency‐based programs as well as administrator guidelines for needed documentation are presented.     

RESULTS OF THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION DATA SYSTEM EMPLOYER FOLLOW‐UP SURVEY FOR MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITY COLLEGES

This article presents the results of the Vocational Education Data System employer follow‐up (EFU) survey for graduates of 15 public community colleges who were employed full time between 1 and 2 years after graduation (N = 588). In general, these community college graduates were rated between good and very good on the quality of work and preparation EFU items. No correlations were found between EFU ratings and average hourly wage, even within program areas, indicating that the average hourly wage of community college graduates is a flawed index of program or graduate quality. No significant differences were found between female and male EFU ratings, but large significant differences in average hourly wage were found, even within program areas. This particular and direct finding tends to support current contentions that women are not receiving equal pay for equal quality or work in the marketplace.     

WOMEN FULL-TIME FACULTY OF COLOR IN 2-YEAR COLLEGES: A TREND AND PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS

This study involved trend and predictive analyses to examine changes in the proportional representation of women full-time faculty by race/ethnicity from 1991 to 1997 in a sample of 1,024 matched two-year colleges. Large, Hispanic-serving, Historically Black, and California two-year colleges, along with the percentage of women administrators of color entered as significant positive predictors of change in the proportional representation of women full-time faculty of color. These findings open the door, not only to new ways of informing policy development and practice, but also to future research that can uncover new understandings of gender and race-equitable practices in two-year colleges.     

Curriculum-Dependent and Curriculum-Independent Factors in Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Adaptation of Science Curriculum Materials for Inquiry-Based Science

In this nested mixed methods study I investigate factors influencing preservice elementary teachers’ adaptation of science curriculum materials to better support students’ engagement in science as inquiry. Analyses focus on two ‘reflective teaching assignments’ completed by 46 preservice elementary teachers in an undergraduate elementary science methods course in which they were asked to adapt existing science curriculum materials to plan and enact inquiry-based science lessons in elementary classrooms. Data analysis involved regression modeling of artifacts associated with these lessons, as well as in-depth, semester-long case studies of six of these preservice teachers. Results suggest that features of the existing science curriculum materials, including measures of how inquiry-based they were, have a relatively small influence on the preservice teachers’ curricular adaptations, while teacher-specific variables account for a much greater percentage of the variance. Evidence from the case studies illustrates the critical impact of the preservice teachers’ field placement contexts as an explanatory, teacher-specific factor in their curricular adaptations. These findings have important implications for science teacher educators and science curriculum developers, in terms of not only better understanding how preservice teachers engage with curriculum materials, but also how programmatic features of teacher education programs influence their ability to do so.     

Social media and students’ behavioral intentions to enroll in postgraduate studies in Kenya: a moderated mediation model of brand personality and attitude

ABSTRACT

Using cross-sectional data from 504 students from four Kenyan universities, this study evaluates the indirect effect of brand personality on the relationship between social media and students’ behavioral intentions to enroll in postgraduate studies. Additionally, the study examines the moderating effect of attitude on the relationship between social media and brand personality, social media and students’ behavioral intentions, brand personality and students’ behavioral intentions. Finally, it investigates the moderating effect of attitude on the indirect process of brand personality on the relationship between social media and students’ behavioral intentions. The study is guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior, Technology Acceptance Model and Self Congruity Theory. Process Macro is used to analyze data. Results indicate that social media significantly predicts students’ behavioral intentions and this relationship is partially mediated by brand personality. Besides, attitude moderates the relationship between social media and students’ behavioral intentions and also the relationship between brand personality and students’ behavioral intentions. Finally, attitude has a conditional effect on the indirect relationship between social media and student’s behavioral intentions via brand personality and this effect is much stronger with a higher level of attitude. These findings contribute new knowledge to literature and theory.