The many pathways of academic coordination

Faculties, departments, chairs and other operating segments of academic systems are organized around a large number of disparate specialties. The parts are weakly interdependent, since the task structure generates systems in which operations are loosely coupled. Coordination then becomes an unusual problem. Order may be more emergent than planned, and stabilized by emotional and symbolic bonds as much as by administrative structure. Various groups and processes not normally studied as a part of deliberate coordination are involved in the ordering of academic activities and actions. This paper details four major pathways of coordination: by bureaucracy, profession, politics, and the market. All four are involved in all national academic systems, but in widely varying strengths and combinations. The bureaucratic means are well-known, reflected in the formal administrative structures of institutions and systems. Professional coordination is rooted in subject expertise and in the group relations and devices that allow professors to rule at various levels. Political coordination has many sub-forms, with the struggle of interest groups expressed particularly in the actions of regular officials of regimes and parties, the corporatist relations of external groups to government, and the organized efforts of strata within academic systems to act politically. Market coordination also has a variety of sub-forms, operating particularly by means of a consumer market, a labor market, and an institutional market. Various compounds of these four major types are evident, including the linkage of such opposites as bureaucracy and market. The many tasks and interests inherent in academic systems are reflected increasingly in the struggle of corresponding ministries, departments, bureaus, and divisions against one another within government itself. This struggle, too, is a form of coordination. Since each of the major pathways of coordination performs needed functions, policy becomes a matter of balance and mutual adjustment among the many ways by which academic activities are concerted.Edited version of a plenary address given at the Fourth International Conference on Higher Education, University of Lancaster, 29th August–1st September, 1978. I am indebted to my colleagues in the Yale Higher Education Research Group for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Using Space Imagery in the Science Classroom: Efforts of the CASDE Project

This article describes the ongoing curriculum development efforts of the Consortium for the Application of Space Data in Education (CASDE), which is an evolving consortium of educators, engineers, scientists, and other professionals dedicated to providing the educational community with vast amounts of NASA imagery, tools, and interdisciplinary learning activities, distributed freely over the Internet. The article particularly details the curricular approach taken by CASDE, which involves the concept of curriculum building blocks that contain tools, data, tutorials, curriculum standards, assessments, and a sample lesson or instructional activity. The article also describes the student interactive DataSlate software, developed by engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to help teachers use space imagery conveniently with students in the science classroom. In addition, the article discusses the consortium's approach to providing ongoing training to teachers, and also describes the efforts of the consortium to evaluate some of the educational activities undertaken by participating teachers. Finally, a web-based link to all of the consortium's resources and curriculum activities is provided to the reader for their possible use and reference.     

Enriching preservice teachers’ critical reflection through an international videoconference discussion

The concepts of reflection and reflective practice have become the core of many teacher education programmes, with critical reflection as the goal for many teacher educators. This study examined the use of a videoconference discussion in an instructional methodology course as a means to enrich the process of reflection and encourage critical reflection. Critical action research methodology was used by the researchers to evaluate the addition of videoconferencing to a model of scaffolded reflection which was already part of the course. The findings suggest that the introduction of a videoconference discussion to the scaffolded reflection model enriched critical reflection on four topics: technology use, multicultural curriculum and instruction, censorship of web-based resources, and accountability and assessment. The discussion of these topics allowed the preservice teachers to think about their own agency, and the affordances and constraints of their school context. Implications for using videoconferencing for critical reflection are provided for teacher educators.     

Commentary: Advances in research on sourcing—source credibility and reliable processes for producing knowledge claims

In our commentary on this excellent set of articles on Sourcing in the Reading Process, we endeavor to synthesize the findings from the seven articles and discuss future research. We discuss significant contributions related to source memory, source evaluation, use of sources in action and belief, integration of information from multiple sources, and instruction in sourcing. Next we discuss several issues for future research raised by these articles, including expert sourcing, embedded sources, epistemic justice, and explanations of disagreement. Finally, we argue that the credibility of sources and their claims is determined by the reliability of the processes used by the sources to produce their claims. Our focus on the reliability of processes used by sources has implications for understanding sourcing processes, for evaluating normative claims about which sources are most reliable, for explaining how people evaluate sources, and for developing instruction on sourcing.     

Striving for autonomy in a contingency‐governed world: Another challenge for individuals with developmental disabilities

The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with an orientation to the concepts and principles of autonomy and self‐determination and the application of those concepts and principles to working with children and adolescents who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD), including autism. Self‐determination is essentially the ability of a person to be autonomous as to meaningful life choices and encompasses activities such as problem solving, decision making, goal setting, self‐observation and evaluation, self‐management and reinforcement, acquiring an internal locus of control, experiencing positive attributions of efficacy and outcome expectancy, developing a realistic and positive self‐image, and self awareness. The lack of opportunities for self‐determination, personal expression and consideration of personal preferences experienced by this population has been associated with increased psychiatric disturbance. Several principles supporting self‐determination, including positive psychology and use of positive alternatives, are discussed by the authors. Further, practices that generate more opportunities for individuals to exercise personal control and autonomy across activities and environments in order to prevent psychological problems are discussed. Finally, the school psychologist's role in promoting the development of autonomy and self initiative among children and adolescents with ID/DD are outlined within the contexts of assessment practices, interventions and curriculums, positive behavior support technology, and continued educational reforms and systems change. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 143–153, 2004.     

Benefits adults experience through participation in continuing higher education

A cross-sectional study of McGill management certificate students investigated the benefits adults experience through continuing education. Four groups totalling 1,234 students were surveyed: entrants, graduates, alumni, and a group who had voluntarily withdrawn. Analysis of benefits anticipated by entrants provided a framework of six categories of benefits: career development, fulfilling external requirements, personal development, networking, gaining knowledge and personal fulfilment. The benefits reported by graduates match the goals of entrants, but the relative importance of the various benefits appears to change during the program. For entrants, career development ranks first as the primary motivation, while more of the graduates focus on personal development, and personal fulfilment. Both entrants and graduates emphasize the importance of gaining knowledge. The results were interpreted in terms of the empowerment provided by continuing education.Interesting differences by various student characteristics were explored. Although equally satisfied with the program's contribution to career development, women report slower advancement than men. Further differences by gender are that women experience more personal development and personal fulfilment. While there are no significant differences by age, students with no prior university education report higher gains in several areas. Knowledge gained, however, is highly valued regardless of prior education. It is those with several years of work experience and those who are most certain of their goals who report acquiring more knowledge than others. These findings have implications for admissions policy, program delivery and design, and support services.     

One Small Step,a Giant Leap: D-PETE Within Minority Serving Institutions

ABSTRACT

Many articles over the years have bemoaned the lack of diversity in doctorate-granting Physical Education Teacher Education (D-PETE) programs without attainable solutions towards significant increases in student and faculty diversity. The purpose of this article is to emphasize the potential significance of implementing D-PETE programs at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). To that end, we discuss the impact MSIs have on the success of students of color and the impact MSI D-PETE programs would have on the diversification of PETE faculty and student bodies. In this article, we suggest ways to reframe the diversity narrative and offer solutions that are not currently utilized. The implementation of D-PETE programs at MSIs can enhance the broader PETE ecosystem, diversifying it like never before.     

Employability pathways for young adults: lived experiences of learners and practitioners in Youth Guarantee programmes

ABSTRACT

Until today, thousands of young adults still dropout of school with no or low qualifications and experience difficulties in entering the labour market. The European Commission offers funding and opportunities for young adults to enter employability enhancing training, often organised under its flagship initiative ‘The Youth Guarantee’. The aim of these programmes is to make young adults a work, training or educational offer within four months of their start into this initiative.

In this paper, we critically explore the concept of employability and focus on the roles of both the young adults undergoing training interventions, but also of practitioners whose work is ideally embedded within the local context of the labour market and the economy. We were interested in the participation experiences by both groups to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of these programmes. Evidence from interviews demonstrated that learners and practitioners were generally satisfied with the interventions, although individualised support was preferred over group-based activities. Working with stakeholders was strongly recommended for this target group who tends to experience cumulative disadvantages. Long-term follow-up of participants’ destinations will provide better evidence on the effectiveness of these programmes.     

Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) as a Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) in Qatar: a Perspective from Grade 10 Chemistry Classes

Research in Science Education - Educational reforms in Qatar have seen the implementation of inquiry-based learning and other student-centred pedagogies. However, there have been few efforts to...     

The fog of online learning

The authors recognized a close similarity between practices used in online genealogy research and those common in online education. Uses of a popular online database service were examined within a peer instruction community dedicated to researching a family history topic. Three community subgroups were divided into leaders, who base their work on external sources, and followers who copy the leaders’ conclusions. The accuracy and error levels of the 21 family trees produced by these researchers were calculated in relation to data obtained from offline archives. The trees created in the online process all contained flawed details and invalid conclusions due to practices similar to those of massive open online courses. The inconsistent reliability of the online approaches is discussed in terms of the ‘fog’ that descends upon knowledge when facts are distorted by academic jargon, disciplinary trends, and institutional priorities, and which increases with its transmission to others by non-experts.