Academic penetration in faculty collective bargaining contracts in higher education

The purpose of this research was to analyze faculty collective bargaining contracts at 124 institutions of higher education that had a 10-year history of collective bargaining from 1975 to 1985 to determine if contracts negotiated in 1975 significantly differed from those negotiated in 1985 with regard to 18 selected academic items. Each academic item in both the 1975 and 1985 contracts was coded according to a scaling code with rankings showing the direction of faculty control. The findings revealed that the 1985 contracts contained both an increased number of academic items and an increased level of faculty control over most of those academic items compared with the 1975 contracts.     

Improving the study habits of minority students through web-based courses

Conclusions Asynchronous Distance Learning courseware offers several advantages to multiple disadvantaged learning populations. While asynchronous Distance Learning Interactive Multimedia Instruction offers financially strapped HBCUs lower operating costs, it also offers HBCUs and non-traditional student populations improved (1) accessibility, (2) user acceptance. Many Distance Learning students chose online sections as an alternative to not taking the course at all rather than to the traditional classroom section. Among technologically savvy populations, user acceptance for Distance Learning is high. Also interesting was how traditional learning populations benefited from some Distance Learning strengths, (1) hypermedia external resources for self-directed learning, and (2) frequently graded assignments improving study habits. In converse, the non-traditional student populations taking the Distance Learning sections reported less studying time, and suffered from slightly lower learning retention on the final examination.     

Word reading fluency: A transfer appropriate processing account of fluency transfer

Word reading fluency, as indexed by the fast and accurate identification of single words, predicts both general reading ability and reading comprehension. This study compared the effects of context training and isolated word training on subsequent measures of word reading fluency. Good and poor readers were given 12 repetitions of two sets of words; 48 new words were learned in each condition. Words were presented in a story during context training and on a computer screen during isolated word training. Target words were read in isolation at test, randomly displayed within a series containing 72 untrained words. Results show that words trained in isolation are remembered longer and read faster when presented in isolation at test compared to words trained in context. Theoretical implications are discussed in relation to transfer appropriate processing.     

Teacher and student reflections on ICT-rich science inquiry

Background: Inquiry learning in science provides authentic and relevant contexts in which students can create knowledge to solve problems, make decisions and find solutions to issues in today’s world. The use of electronic networks can facilitate this interaction, dialogue and sharing, and adds a new dimension to classroom pedagogy.

Purpose: This is a report of teacher and student reflections on some of the tensions, reconciliations and feelings they experienced as they worked together to engage in inquiry learning. The study sought to find out how networked ICT use might offer new and different ways for students to engage with, explore and communicate science ideas within inquiry.

Sample: This project developed case studies with 6 science teachers of year 9 and 10 students, with an average age of 13 and 14 years in three New Zealand high schools. Teacher participants in the project had varying levels of understanding and experience with inquiry learning in science. Teacher knowledge and experience with ICT were equally diverse.

Design and Methods: Teachers and researchers developed initially in a joint workshop a shared understanding of inquiry, and how this could be enacted. During implementation, the researchers observed the inquiry projects in the classrooms and then, together with the teachers, reviewed and analysed the data that had been collected.

Results: At the beginning of the project, some of the teachers and students were tentative: inquiry based teaching supported by ICT meant initially that the teachers were hesitant in letting go some of the control they felt they had over students learning, and the students felt insecure in adopting some responsibility for their own learning. Over time a sense of trust and ease developed and this ‘control of learning’ balance moved from what was traditionally accepted, but not without modifications and reservations.

Conclusions: There is no clear pathway to follow in moving towards ICT-supported science inquiry in secondary schools. The experience of the teacher, the funds of knowledge the students bring to the classroom, the level of technological availability in the school and the ability of the students are all variables which determine the nature of the experience.     

Agreement and Stability of Teacher Rating Scales for Assessing ADHD in Preschoolers

This study investigated the agreement and stability of 3 teacher rating Scales used to assess ADHD in preschool children: the ADHD Rating Scale, the Child Attention Profile (CAP), and the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale-28 (CTRS-28). A sample of suburban children (n = 60) was observed and rated by their teachers and assistant teachers at preschool level (Time 1) and 4 years later at the elementary school level (Time 2). Agreement among the rating scales and interrater agreement between teacher and assistant teacher ratings yielded noticeably stronger correlations at Time 2 than at Time 1. Over the 4-year interval of the study, there was a significant change in the number of children identified as potential ADHD risks. It is probable there were a high number of false-positive indications in the preschool ADHD screenings. It is also possible that immature behavior of preschool children may mimic ADHD behavior at the elementary school level.     

Mother-child conversations about pictures and objects: referring to categories and individuals

The distinction between individuals (e.g., Rin-Tin-Tin) and categories (e.g., dogs) is fundamental in human thought. Two studies examined factors that influence when 2- to 3-year-old children and adults focus on individuals versus categories. Mother-child dyads were presented with pictures and toys (e.g., a picture of a boat or a toy boat). Conversations were coded for references to generic categories ("Dogs are furry"), ostensive labels ("This is a dog"), or specific individuals ("Lassie"). Overall, pictures generated more talk about categories; objects generated more talk about individuals. However, when objects could not be manipulated, speakers expressed relatively more category references. These results suggest that representations (in the form of pictures or objects-on-display) encourage young children and parents alike to think about categories.     

Optimal flow experience in web-based instruction

The purpose of this study is to explore learner engagement and motivation related toFlow particularly in WBI settings. In theFlow state people are absorbed in their activities while irrelevant thoughts and perceptions are screened out. In this article, we attempted to identify some of the critical elements of learner feelings and WBI features which relate to the experience ofFlow. Survey data were collected from 266 Korean cyber-university students and the data were subject to factor analyses and multiple regression to determine the best predictors ofFlow in WBI environments. As a result, six factors, including G-factor for flow, were found. Based on these findings, a theoretical model for Learner Flow within WBI was proposed     

Overshadowing of situational cues with variable but not fixed intertrial intervals

In two experiments, we examined the conditions under which signaling an unconditioned stimulus (US) with a nominal conditioned stimulus (CS) interferes with the conditioning of situational cues in defensive freezing in the rat. Subjects received footshock USs that were (1) either signaled or unsignaled and (2) either varied or fixed in their temporal location within the conditioning session. Experiment 1, with only one trial per session, yielded no evidence that signaling affected pretrial freezing using either a fixed or variable interval between placement in the context and shock onset. In a test in which no CSs or footshocks were presented, groups that previously had received footshock at a fixed temporal location showed greatest freezing at around that same time. For groups that had received footshocks at various times, freezing declined across the test session. Experiment 2 showed overshadowing of pretrial freezing after more extensive conditioning with many trials per session, but only if the intershock intervals were variable rather than fixed.