An investigation into the role played by research assessment in the socio-geographic fragmentation of undergraduate economics education in the UK

Student engagement in academic activities is a critical factor contributing to the overall success of students studying in higher education institutions. Yet the factors influencing student engagement in academic activities are still largely unknown. This study begins to address this knowledge gap by investigating the influence of student connectedness (relationships with peers and teachers), motivation to study (sense of purpose) and perception of workload upon student engagement in academic activities. During 2015, a total of 209 students responded to a survey distributed to first-year undergraduate students enrolled in a university business school in Queensland, Australia. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the proposed relationships. Results suggest that student-student (peer) relationships, teacher-student relationships, and students’ sense of purpose for studying a higher education degree, were central to student engagement in academic activities. In addition, teacher-student relationships, and a strong sense of purpose were central to perceptions of student workloads. Finally, sense of purpose was found to moderate the relationship between both teacher-student and student-student relationships and also, perceptions of workload and student engagement. The findings from this study support the importance of developing effective teacher-student relationships, facilitating positive student-student relationships and communicating a clear sense of purpose to students, so as to improve their engagement in academic activities and optimise perceptions of workloads.     

Math Anxiety: Past Research,Promising Interventions,and a New Interpretation Framework

Mathematics anxiety is a pervasive issue in education that requires attention from both educators and researchers to help students reach their full academic potential. This review provides an overview of past research that has investigated the association between math anxiety and math achievement, factors that can cause math anxiety, characteristics of students that can increase their susceptibility to math anxiety, and efforts that educators can take to remedy math anxiety. We also derive a new Interpretation Account of math anxiety, which we use to argue the importance of understanding appraisal processes in the development and treatment of math anxiety. In conclusion, gaps in the literature are reviewed in addition to suggestions for future research that can help improve the field's understanding of this important issue.     

Correction to: The effects of a web-based learning environment on student motivation in a high school earth science course

Educational technology research and development - This article was unintentionally published twice in this journal, by the same authors.     

Visual and language processing deficits in compensated and uncompensated college students with dyslexia

In seven experiments, we investigated whether compensated and uncompensated adults with dyslexia show different patterns of deficits in magnocellular visual processing and in language processing tasks. In four visual tasks, we failed to find evidence of magnocellular deficits in either group. However, both groups of adults with dyslexia showed deficits in component language skills, and the degree of reading impairment predicted the nature and extent of these deficits. Uncompensated readers showed deficits in orthographic and especially phonological coding and awareness and were slower on rapid naming. Compensated readers showed word and nonword performance below controls but better than the uncompensated readers. The compensated group was not significantly less accurate than controls on phonological awareness, nor significantly worse overall on rapid naming.     

On the Concrete Nature of Human Thinking: content and context in analogical transfer

Although the development of abstract knowledge and critical thinking skills has often been extolled as an ideal and as the goal of education (Nisbett et al., 1987), much research in problem solving and other cognitive endeavours points to the role that concrete information and examples play in thinking (Medin & Ross, 1989; Reeves & Weisberg, in press). We discuss the concrete vs abstract knowledge debate in terms of the use of analogies in problem solving and conclude that exemplar‐specific details of problems and the context in which problems are learned guide the transfer of a solution principle from one base problem to a target. The content of problems—what they are about—is often more important than the more abstract, schematic solution principle in influencing retrieval of base analogues (Holyoak & Koh, 1987; Keane, 1987; Ross, 1987) and mapping of the solution principle from base to target (Gentner & Toupin, 1986; Ross, 1987, 1989; Fong & Nisbett, 1991). It is suggested that learning abstract solution principles in a domain (e.g. algebra, physics) benefits greatly when instruction is accompanied by examples illustrating those principles (Cheng et al., 1986; Fong et al., 1986) and that analogical transfer itself serves as a useful means to greater comprehension of a domain (Ross & Kennedy, 1990).     

The social dynamics of changing practice

In this paper we develop a socio‐dynamic account for the impact of continuing professional development (CPD) on practice. The model we propose for changing practice challenges the essentially individualised explanation of practical learning offered by a number of writers and researchers in the field of CPD such as Joyce and Showers (1988 Joyce B Showers J (1988) Student achievement through staff development (London, Longman)  [Google Scholar]), Eraut (1994 Eraut M (1994) Developing professional knowledge and competence (London, Falmer Press)  [Google Scholar]), and Schön (1983 Schön DA (1983) The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action (London, Temple Books)  [Google Scholar]). It also offers a basis for exploring the micro‐political realities of changing practice and the links between individual and group learning that are largely absent in the socio‐cultural accounts of organisational and situated learning (Senge, 1990 Senge P (1990) The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organisation (New York, Doubleday Currency)  [Google Scholar]; Lave & Wenger, 1991 Lave J Wenger E (1991) Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press) [Crossref] [Google Scholar]; Weick, 1995 Weick K (1995) Sensemaking in organisations (Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications)  [Google Scholar]). It proposes a model that allows for tracking the influence of discourses in relation to teacher re‐professionalism from the level of policy to the point of enactment in the school and re‐examines the connections between individual and group learning to arrive at a dynamic framework for understanding changing practice.     

Gender Differences and Condom-Associated Embarrassment in the Acquisition of Purchased Versus Free Condoms among College Students

Condoms are not used consistently among sexually active college students, indicating a need to understand condom acquisition patterns. This study describes purchased and free acquisition of condoms, factors influencing purchased condom acquisition, and condom-associated embarrassment among college students. A random sample of students at a public university was invited to complete an online survey. More participants obtained free condoms (77.1%) than purchased condoms (59.3%). Individuals who had only ever obtained free condoms were significantly more embarrassed around condom acquisition than individuals who had ever purchased a condom, and women were more embarrassed than men. Implications for health educators and higher education professionals are discussed.