Tutorials for Schools Programme: a bridge between school and higher education or the workplace

This paper describes the Tutorials for Schools Programme which has recently been piloted and evaluated in a region of Scotland. The Programme is run by university students who take university style tutorials with 15–18 year old pupils in their own school setting. The tutorials are carried out during the post‐preliminary or ‘mock’ examination period so that pupils have learnt as much of their examination syllabus as possible and can discuss topics in some depth. The scheme aims to promote pupils' communication and analytical skills, as well as motivate their interest in their examination subjects, helping their revision. By using university style pedagogy, the Programme aims to stimulate their enthusiasm to continue their study in a new environment and by different means. For less able pupils, the Programme provides an opportunity to practise debating skills, justify opinions and feel confident when answering questions in preparation for job interviews.     

Peer Tutors as Researchers and Co‐investigators

How does one develop a writing‐tutoring course which will prepare students to tutor their college peers? What do students preparing as peer tutors in a college writing and learning centre need to know in order to tutor competently other students of multicultural, multiracial and multilinguistic backgrounds?     

Reasoning as a Pedagogical Strategy in Infant-Addressed Talk in Early Childhood Education Centres: Relationships with Educators’ Qualifications and Communicative Function

Research Findings: This study examines the frequency of reasoning talk used by 56 educators during their naturally occurring play interactions with infants in their early childhood education and care (ECEC) centers. Using Hasan’s semantic framework, reasons were coded as social (based on social rules) or logical (based on rules of nature). The communicative function of reasoning talk was coded as regulatory (when the reason served to regulate infants’ behavior) or non-regulatory. On average, educators’ reasoning talk comprising only 4.43% of their total talk, with social reasoning used slightly more frequently than logical reasoning. Educators used significantly more social reasoning when regulating infants’ behavior, whereas logical reasoning occurred more frequently during non-regulatory interactions. Educators’ qualification level explained individual differences. Bachelor-qualified educators used significantly more reasoning talk than lower-qualified educators, and this finding was explained by their more frequent use of both social and logical reasoning when regulating infants’ behavior. Practice or Policy: The study identifies reasoning talk as an important element of language environment quality in ECEC infant rooms, and highlights the learning potential of language used for different communicative purposes. Findings demonstrate that well-qualified educators appear well versed to capitalize on the educative potential of this type of talk.     

D.RA.MA: An Extended Conceptualization of Student Anxiety in Criminal Justice Research Methods Courses

The challenges of teaching research methods and statistics to students majoring in criminology and criminal justice are well known. The professor has to deal with an array of obstacles among students, including Disinterest, Relevance Argumentation (viewing statistical skills as detached from the “real world”) and Math Anxiety (D.RA.MA). This paper presents the development of an assessment scale to measure the levels of “D.RA.MA” experienced by students enrolled in research methods or statistics courses. The literature is vast on “math anxiety scales.” However, trepidation on the part of criminal justice students who are anticipating their research methods and statistics courses may extend beyond math anxiety. Therefore, the traditional math anxiety scale was extended to include attempts at measuring Disinterest and Relevance Argumentation. Readers are provided with the D.RA.MA scale instrument and data from an assessment of 80 students in criminal justice courses. Assessing this broader student apprehension may serve as an important first step in making the necessary efforts to reduce student apprehension towards these classes.     

Community College Student Dropouts from Higher Education: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Model

ABSTRACT

Historically, higher education research has focused on traditional students (i.e., recent high school graduates at a residential, 4-year institutions), but community college students are quickly becoming the new traditional student (Jenkins, 2012). In the fall of 2011, more than one third (36%) of all students enrolled in postsecondary education and almost half (46.7%) of all students enrolled in a public postsecondary institution were enrolled at a community college (Knapp, Kelly-Reid, & Ginder, 2012). However, community colleges have struggled to match the persistence rates at other institutional types. The 2011 2-year public community college national 3-year persistence-to-degree rate was 26.9% (American College Testing [ACT], 2011). The purpose of this paper is to review the literature regarding the most prominent theoretical frameworks for community college student persistence and suggest a new theoretical construct. The resultant framework is termed the Collective Affiliation Model because it views the student’s sense of belonging with the college as only one of many senses of belonging in the student’s life (e.g., family, work). The Collective Affiliation Model does not view student dropout as the student’s inability to integrate into the life of the institution; rather, it views it as the institution’s inability to collectively affiliate with the student. This model’s strength is that it does not work from a student deficit model. Instead, it provides a new framework for researchers and practitioners to better understand and address student drop-out at community colleges.     

Qualitative research and making meaning from adventure: A case study of boys' experiences of outdoor education at school

Abstract

This article details the process and analysis of a case study, conducted over a six week period, involving an outdoor education class in an all-boys Catholic, New Zealand secondary school. The questions explored by the case study were the subjective meanings of adventure experiences in outdoor education and the benefits of qualitative research for assessing the value of outdoor education. The methodological techniques used were observation, involving some researcher participation, and in-depth interviewing. Subsequent data analysis was based upon theories of experiential education and adventure education, and concepts of leisure and human agency. The results of the study suggest that the meanings participants make of their experiences, and the value they derive from them, exceed those that may conventionally be sought and measured as an improvement in self-concept. These findings suggest that learning through adventure is potentially valuable as a holistic and life-long form of activity that enhances the capacity to enjoy and engage in living. This is an important extension beyond its often limited and compartmentalised applications, which are rationalised by specific outcome based objectives. A qualitative methodology was indispensable to an inquiry of this kind and warrants further attention in the process of understanding the meanings of adventure and learning.     

Regulation

Marion Davidson and Martha Blues Making it Legal: A Law Primer for. the Craftmaker,Visual Artist and Writer,(New York: McGraw-Hill 1979-$8.95 paper)

An Introduction to the Study of Public Policy by Charles O. Jones (this one is 1917. and a 2nd ed. 258 pp, –price not given. paper)

Policy Analysis for Public Decisions by Duncan MacRae Jr. and James A. Wilde (325 pp..—$9.95, paper)

Essentials of Public Administration: A. Text with Readings by Larry B. Hill and F. Ted Hebert n 432 pp. —price not given, paper)     

General Media,Minorities, and Research

Ronald G. Hick A Survey of Mass Communication (Gretna, La.: Pelican Publishing Co., 1977—$7.95, paper)

Everette E. Dennis The Media Society: Evidence About Mass Communication in America (Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown, 1978—$6.95, paper)

Leslie J. Friedman Sex Role Stereotyping in the Mass Media: An Annotated Bibliography (New York: Garland Publishing, 1977—$25.00)

Maurine Beasley and Sheila Silver Women in Media: A Documentary Source Book (Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press, 3306 Ross Place, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008—$5.95, paper)

Preben Sepstrup Consumption of Mass Communication: Construction of a Model on Information Consumption Behavior (Handelsvidenskabelig Boghandel, Fuglesangsalle 4, DK-8210 Aarhus V, Denmark—D. kr . 12, paper)

J. Michael Crabtree and Kenneth E. Moyer Bibliography of Aggresive Behavior: A Reader's Guide to the Research Literature (Alan R. Liss, Inc., 150 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10011—$35.00).

Marcia Guttentag and Shalom Saar, Evaluation Studies Review Annual, Volume 2: 1977 (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1977—$29.95)

Paul C. Cozby Methods in Behavioral Research (Palo Alto, Calif.: Mayfield Publishing, 1977—$6.95, paper)     

Social Media and Communications: Developing a Policy to Guide the Flow of Information

The use of social media is ubiquitous in the daily lives of nearly three quarters of the population in the United States. This article addresses the process and results of a policy development project for a National Network of Libraries of Medicine Regional Medical Library. Content, scheduling, editing, and author responsibilities are addressed for each of the chosen media outlets, as well as the preparation of prefatory material using an online social media policy development tool.