Life adjustments of college freshmen with and without learning disabilities

This paper reports the results of a study comparing college freshmen with learning disabilities (LD) and freshmen with no learning disabilities (NLD). Four data collections over one academic year were completed on a total of 72 students (LDn=39; NLDn=33). Results of the study indicated differences between groups in their initial choice of living accommodations and in the changes made over the year: the overall trend was for students with LD to become more dependent on their families, while students with NLD were becoming less dependent on their families. With regard to academics, students with LD reported spending significantly less time in study and course preparation, as well as greater pessimism about success in coursework. Despite their pessimism, the actual GPA attainment of students with LD was similar to that of NLD peers. Whereas both groups initially predicted it would be easy to adjust to the academic and social nature of college, students with learning disabilities ultimately reported being dissatisfied with the social climate on campus. No differences were found between LD and NLD students regarding their motivation for attending college, or their plans for final degree attainment.     

What makes for effective feedback: staff and student perspectives

Since the early 2010s the literature has shifted to view feedback as a process that students do where they make sense of information about work they have done, and use it to improve the quality of their subsequent work. In this view, effective feedback needs to demonstrate effects. However, it is unclear if educators and students share this understanding of feedback. This paper reports a qualitative investigation of what educators and students think the purpose of feedback is, and what they think makes feedback effective. We administered a survey on feedback that was completed by 406 staff and 4514 students from two Australian universities. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted on data from a sample of 323 staff with assessment responsibilities and 400 students. Staff and students largely thought the purpose of feedback was improvement. With respect to what makes feedback effective, staff mostly discussed feedback design matters like timing, modalities and connected tasks. In contrast, students mostly wrote that high-quality feedback comments make feedback effective – especially comments that are usable, detailed, considerate of affect and personalised to the student’s own work. This study may assist researchers, educators and academic developers in refocusing their efforts in improving feedback.     

Conditions that enable effective feedback

ABSTRACT

Despite an increasing focus on assessment feedback, educators continue to find that simply replicating an effective feedback practice from one context does not guarantee success in the next. There is a growing recognition that the contextual factors surrounding successful practices need to be considered. This article reports on a large-scale mixed methods project and proposes 12 conditions that enable successful feedback in higher education. The conditions were distilled from seven rich case studies through multiple stages of thematic analysis, case comparison and reliability checking. The conditions were also evaluated by surveying senior leaders of Australian universities. These conditions highlight the importance of carefully designing feedback processes, along with the need for addressing capacity and culture for feedback. This helps to explain why there are such variances in effective feedback across contexts, and offers insight into how it may be achieved.     

Using texting to nudge urban public school students to and through college

Abstract

This study investigates how a network of New York City public schools use texting to increase enrollment and persistence in college. Text messages include tips and reminders to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as well as college tips. Our multiple regression results suggest that although when the texting began did not appear to matter, the texting program increased enrollment and persistence in college. In addition, response rates were positively associated with enrollment and persistence. Finally, we find that the content of the messages themselves as well as individual characteristics affected response rates.     

Lessons Our BSW Students Taught Us About Teaching Social Work in a Reservation Community

ABSTRACT

American Indians and Alaska Natives are underrepresented as social work students, social work educators, and within the profession in general. In addition, many historical and socioeconomic factors have contributed to disproportionality in higher education attainment between these students and those within other ethnic groups. Compounding the challenges, many students in reservation communities lack access to programs that provide social work degrees. Faculty based in a small university in the upper Midwest delivered a BSW program to students in a tribal community over a 3-year period and share pedagogical lessons learned from their students and the literature.     

Preparing work-ready nurses: reflexive learning for diverse students in the Australian vocational education and training sector

This paper highlights a disjuncture between training frameworks designed to meet work-based competencies, and educational flexibility desirable to prepare diverse learners for fluid workplaces and roles. We describe a pilot study that explored teaching and learning practices in a vocational education and training Diploma of Nursing program. The study used qualitative approaches framed by a social view of learning as a reflexive process. Frictions emerged in how teaching and learning was fostered and how knowledge and skills were contextualised through nursing-accredited training packages. A case is made to enhance critical thinking and reflexive approaches to prepare work-ready nurse graduates.     

Processing procedural documents: A cognitive model for following written directions

This paper reviews empirical literature on how people use documents to perform tasks. We examine studies that have been published under the topics of: following written directions, reading maps, following instructions, using job performance aids, and processing procedural texts. Documents that contain a procedure, such as a set of directions, require transformation of information. Such transformation frequently requires converting a procedure represented verbally in a text into a procedure represented behaviorally in a performance. To accomplish this transformation, we propose that students must: (a) form a conceptual model of the performance; (b) encode procedures from the document; (c) engage in self-testing; and (d) conduct self-corrections to repair mistakes. We further propose that these operations are performed most efficiently with distinctive information resources. An overview of the task is likely to be most effective in facilitating conceptual model formation. Procedural information that emphasizes temporal characteristics of the performance will facilitate the encoding of procedures. A representation of the outcome (usually graphic) improves self-testing, and the comparison of the outcome with progress in the workspace leads to most effective self-correction. This process-resource interaction minimizes the number and complexity of transformations required to process procedural documents.