The mediating role of intercultural wonderment: connecting programmatic components to global outcomes in study abroad

This study examines the mediating role of intercultural wonderment in relation to students’ development of a global perspective. We utilize both confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to validate the intercultural wonderment construct and test the direct and indirect effects of the structural pathways in the model, respectively. Additionally, we highlight the relative and comparative effects of our model across cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal dimensions of student development while also testing equivalent and nested models to rule out alternative and rival explanations. The results have broad implications for study abroad researchers and practitioners who are interested in developing a deeper understanding of how students learn and develop in study abroad contexts, while offering a more nuanced understanding of how experiential and constructivist practices influence student learning abroad.     

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...     

Inquiry in Higher Education: Reflections and Directions on Course Design and Teaching Methods

Our 5-year experiment with teaching and evaluating an inquiry course has led us to conclude that inquiry is a potent pedagogical tool in higher education, encouraging students to become self-directed and engaged learners. This article offers key ingredients and procedures for designing an inquiry-based course. It provides a pragmatic model of inquiry that describes the structure and function of such a course and the goals and learning objectives for students. This model of inquiry is widely applicable and will help faculty members from a variety of disciplines develop an innovative way of engaging and teaching students. Christopher Justice, Ph.D., is an anthropologist and health social scientist, and is an associate of the Centre for Leadership in Learning.e-mail: justice@mcmaster.ca James Rice, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus in the School of Social Work.e-mail: ricejame@mcmaster.ca Wayne Warry, Ph.D., is Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology. His interests include aboriginal issues, aboriginal health and health systems evaluation, and educational research.e-mail: warrywa@mcmaster.ca Sue Inglis, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Kinesiology. Her interests include organizational behaviour and student inquiry.e-mail: ingliss@mcmaster.ca Stefania Miller, Ph.D., is Associate Professor, Department of Political Science. Her interests include international human rights and democratization in post-communist systems.e-mail: millers@mcmaster.ca Sheila Sammon, M.A., is Associate Professor, School of Social Work. Her interests include social work education and the integration of theory and practice.e-mail: sammon@mcmaster.ca     

Spinsters,Schoolmarms, and Queers: Female teacher gender and sexuality in medicine and psychoanalytic theory and history

This paper examines the social construction of white, female, spinster teacher personality profiles in the first half of the 20th century. Focusing on the psychological, medical, and psychoanalytic literature, I provide an overview of how white unmarried female teacher personalities were understood in order to provide a historical context for present day queer and transgender identities in North American schools. I identify four main personality profiles of the female teacher in educational historiography which were informed by Freudian psychoanalysis: the masculinity complex; moral masochism; altruistic surrender; and the tyrannical disciplinarian. I conclude that spinster teacher personality profiles can be read as queer and gender-variant and that such readings shed light on gender and sexual regulation in education historiography.     

A Pilot Study Examining Religious Organization Affiliation,Sexual Health Information Sources,and Sexual Behaviors Among College Students

We conducted an online survey to examine religiosity, sexual health knowledge, and behavior and sexual health information sources among undergraduate students affiliated with student religious organizations (n?=?45) and unaffiliated students (n?=?82). Analyses included Fisher’s exact tests, t-tests, and exact regression models. Students reporting religious affiliation considered religious sources to be believable (p?=?.004 for sexual health; p?p?=?.0042). Although religiously affiliated students reported fewer sexual partners in the past year (p?=?.020), their reported condom use was not significantly different from that of unaffiliated students. Future research should explore the focus and content of romantic relationship information provided by student religious organizations. Health practitioners and educators should consider strategies for collaborating with religious organizations to meet the information needs of these students.     

Parent empowerment for family literacy: a European initiative

The article describes the genesis of, rationale for and running of the Parent Empowerment for Family Literacy Project (PEFaL), a European‐Union funded six‐nation family literacy initiative that took place between 2001 and 2004. Whilst a number of features of the project are typical of family literacy programmes, some aspects of PEFaL are identifiably distinctive. These include the multicultural, trans‐cultural and linguistic dimensions, and an innovative attempt to encourage parent and child participants to communicate with each other across countries by email and the Internet. These features and some of the project outcomes are discussed and prospects for follow‐on activities are examined.     

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.     

University marginal instructional costs: Implications for charges to overseas students

This paper is a summary of a study of the marginal costs of graduate instruction in a large public research university, and draws implications for financing foreign enrollments. The major finding is that because the teaching costs directly facing faculty differ from their budgetary rewards for instruction, faculty have the means to support basic research and to give aid to the most desired students, including foreigners. We also found that faculty members' marginal costs of classroom instruction are generally low. While advising is costly, it has offsetting benefits, especially in the laboratory sciences. The costs of instructing and advising foreign and domestic students are equal.