Examining the structure of vocational interests in Turkey in the context of the personal globe model

The structural validity of the Personal Globe Inventory-Short (PGI-S: Tracey in J Vocat Behavi 76:1–15, 2010) was examined in a Turkish sample of high school and university students. The PGI-S measures eight basic interest scales, Holland’s (Making vocational choice, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1997) six types, Prediger’s (J Vocat Behav 21:259–287, 1981) people/things, data/ideas dimensions, and prestige. After adapting the original PGI-S items into Turkish (PGI-S-T), the inventory was administered to high school students (N = 605) and university students (N = 359). The fit of Holland’s RIASEC and the PGI eight type model were examined separately using the randomization test of hypothesized order relations. Results indicated a strong fit for both the eight type and the RIASEC model. Expected significant differences were found between PGI-S-T subscales across gender and age. The results support the structural validity of the adapted PGI-S-T in a Turkish sample.     

Modern Language Teaching in Australian Universities

This paper reports the attitudes of academics teaching languages other than English in Australian universities. The data are derived from a national survey in 1984 which asked a range of questions ranging from background details on students, characteristics of course structures, methods of teaching, and perceptions of the attitudes of students to numerous issues relevant to the teaching of languages. The responses of these language teachers are analysed with respect to theories of language teaching. The matters of major concern to language teachers highlighted by the study are shown to be relevant to current debate about the future of modern, especially Asian, language teaching.     

Action learning as invigoration

The present account of action learning describes its adoption for pragmatic reasons by the University of the Third Age (U3A). The reason for the existence of this movement is the education of retired people. The account seeks to explain why the action learning method spread from one local U3A to another and across it to other local U3As. The case is that the directness of action and its power to involve people brought action learning a following among persons so that they could carry out specific activities even though the persons concerned would never have heard of the term action learning. The successful use of the method fed through into the users' minds and brought about a mode of thought, one which unconsciously was capable of extension into an outlook that could be applied to a variety of situations. Thus two types of learning took place: that between U3As and that within U3As.     

Adolescent maltreatment and its impact on young adult antisocial behavior

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Childhood maltreatment is known to be a risk factor for a range of later problems, but much less is known about adolescent maltreatment. The present study aims to investigate the impact of adolescent maltreatment on antisocial behavior, while controlling for prior levels of problem behavior as well as sociodemographic characteristics. METHODS: Data are from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a cohort study of the development of problem behaviors in a sample of 1,000 urban youth followed from age 13 into adulthood. Subjects include 68% African American, 17% Hispanic, and 15% White youth. This analysis includes a maximum of 884 subjects, of whom 9.3% had substantiated maltreatment reports in adolescence. Among the maltreated adolescents, 14 experienced sex abuse, 36 experienced physical abuse, and 32 were neglected or emotionally abused. Outcomes explored in late adolescence (ages 16-18) and young adulthood (ages 20-22) include arrest, self-reported general and violent offending, and illicit drug use. Control variables include prior levels of these outcomes as well as sociodemographic characteristics like poverty, parent education, and caregiver changes. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis determined that experiencing any substantiated maltreatment during adolescence increases the odds of arrest, general and violent offending, and illicit drug use in young adulthood, even controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and prior levels of problem behavior. Different types of adolescent maltreatment, including neglect, appear to produce similar adverse behavioral consequences. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent maltreatment necessitates increased attention in view of its enduring and potentially wide-ranging impact on the life span.     

The generalizability of student ratings of instructors: Item specificity and section effects

A number of recent studies have used generalizability theory to examine the dependability of student ratings of instruction. This study extends this line of research by examining the consistency of ratings between different sections of a course taught in a given semester by the same instructor, and by comparing the performance of global- and attribute-type instructor rating items. Five samples of physics instructors, varying in size from 5 to 12 instructors, were rated by their students on a form containing two global and eight attribute items. Each instructor taught two sections of a course. The study found that the section effect was small (ratings of instructors were consistent across different sections of the same course), and that the generalizability of ratings was substantially influenced by item specificity. For summary purposes, one global item seemed sufficient.     

Instructional practices and science performance of 10 top-performing regions in PISA 2015

ABSTRACT

This study analysed 10 top-performing regions in PISA 2015 on their science performances and instructional practices. The regions include Singapore, Japan, Estonia, Taipei, Finland, Macao, Canada, Hong Kong, China and Korea. The science performances of the 10 regions and their teaching practices are described and compared. The construct of enquiry-based instruction as developed in PISA 2015 is revised into two new constructs using factor analysis. Then, the relationships of the teaching practices with science performance are analysed using hierarchical linear modelling. Adaptive instruction, teacher-directed instruction and interactive application are found positively associated with performance in all regions, while investigation and perceived feedback are all negative. The regions except Japan and Korea tend to have a high frequency of teacher-directed instruction facilitated by more or less authoritative class discussion in class. A fair amount of practical work is done, but not many of them are investigations. The cultural influences on teaching practices are discussed on how an amalgam of didactic and constructivist pedagogy is created by the Western progressive educational philosophy meeting the Confucian culture. The reasons for investigation’s negative association with performance are also explored.     

When encounters between religious worldviews are a threat: Applying Triune Ethics Theory in a religiously diverse landscape

Democratic societies today face increasing diversity, including religious diversity, and are finding that interfaith engagement possesses potential to bring out the worst and the best of human responses and, correlatively, that such engagement can either assist in or undermine the social cohesion of these societies. This article employs Triune Ethics Theory (TET) and Australian Values Education data in order to appraise the impact of interfaith engagement on human behaviour. TET’s notion of imaginative mindsets is utilised to show that interfaith engagement can impel either vicious or communally-orientated imagination, leading in turn to very different results, towards undermining or fostering social cohesion. Observational data drawn from the Australian Values Education Program (AVEP) relating to a situation of interreligious conflict is utilised to show that, even in those sites with a recorded history of ‘vicious imagination’, carefully planned pedagogical interventions to facilitate interfaith engagement can produce positive results that accord with social cohesion.