MEDIA STUDIES AND VOCATIONALISM

University arts faculties have traditionally been reluctant to admit a vocational component into arts courses. The author's experience in teaching media at the New South Wales Institute of Technology suggests that the fears underlying this reluctance, while not completely irrational, arise from problems between academics and professionals who cannot work well together: they can be overcome if those involved behave with tact and flexibility. The approach to media studies in Australia is described.     

Beyond the Hispanic/Latina/o Label: Counseling Students from Four Representative Nations

Clinicians working with students of Hispanic/Latina/o background may tend to categorize these students as Hispanic/Latino/a regardless of their or their ancestors’ country of origin. This article challenges the wisdom of using such broad terminology, because it masks considerable differences among Hispanic/Latina/o students, and proposes instead developing a more detailed knowledge about these students based on national differences. Due to space limitations, I will focus on four nationalities I am most familiar with: Chilean, Costa Rican, Mexican, and Spanish.     

Individual Preference for Peer Interaction: Some Data on a Self‐Report Measure for Preschool Children

Seven target children in six different kindergartens who showed low levels of social involvement with peers were compared with 24 children randomly selected from within the same kindergarten settings using a self‐report measure of preference for peer interaction. At pre‐test target children differed from the comparison group in choosing to play with peers in fewer activities and to play alone more often, and in naming fewer friends. At post‐test 14 weeks later, following intervention designed to increase their peer involvement, target children were not significantly different from the comparison group on the self‐report measure.     

School Attachment: perspectives of low‐attached high school students

Attachment to school plays a vital role in the success or failure of today's middle and high school students. Many researchers identified attachment to school as contributing to student self‐esteem, motivation, effort, behaviour and academic achievement. However, definitions of school attachment have been varied and based largely upon observation of student behaviour. In an attempt to elucidate this definition, the construct of school attachment was examined from the perspective of students who were classified as low‐attached to school. Specifically, in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews of 10 students were conducted and analysed qualitatively. Results indicated that students who were low‐attached described their lives at school as lonely and isolated, and saw themselves as alienated from the school community. They perceived a low level of support and encouragement from the school personnel and from their peers. A broad understanding of school attachment as well as factors which contribute to students’ level of attachment, from the perspective of the low‐attached student, are included.     

A comparison of white and black student academic success using noncognitive variables: A LISREL analysis

The structural relation of the seven noncognitive dimensions proposed by Sedlacek and Brooks in 1976 and traditional definitions of academic ability, as indicated by Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, to first semester grade-point average (GPA) and persistence after three and five semesters was examined in this study. Random samples of entrants at one predominantly white state university were administered the Non-cognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) during summer orientation in 1979 and 1980. The NCQ results and the SAT scores were used to derive structural models (using LISREL) or early academic success for both black and white students. The structural models for the black and white students were found to be very different. For black students, traditional academic ability was related to first semester GPA, but neither GPA nor academic ability was related to persistence. Only the noncognitive dimensions were predictive of black student persistence. For white students, academic ability was the best predictor of first semester grades, and these grades were the major predictor of subsequent persistence. The noncognitive dimensions were not important in white student academic success, whereas they were crucial in black student academic success.     

Validating Measures of Performance

How can the validity of performance assessments be established? What type of logical argumentation is necessary to generalize from a particular assessment to the ability or abilities of interest?