The political economy of post-secondary education: a comparison of British Columbia,Ontario and Québec

A policy sociology approach is taken to examine the connections between neo-liberalism, post-secondary provincial education (PSE) policy in Canada and the impact of those policies. Our thesis regarding the broad political economy of PSE is that over the last two decades the adoption of this ideology has been a major cause of some dramatic changes in these policies and has brought about a fundamental transformation of PSE in Canada. The discussion builds on a comparative, multiple, nested case study conducted at the provincial (Québec, Ontario and British Columbia) and national level. Through the analysis of key provincial and federal documents, the team concludes that five themes dominated the PSE policy-making process. These themes are Accessibility, Accountability, Marketization, Labour Force Development and Research and Development. In discussing these themes, we illustrate their impact on and within the three provincial PSE systems: BC, Ontario and Québec. In the conclusion, we place the changes in their political and economic contexts and explicate the intended and unintended consequences of these policy priorities. We argue that the pressure for access has led to the emergence of new institutional types, raising new questions about differentiation, mandate and identity and new lines of stratification. A trend toward vocationalism in the university sector has coincided with ‘academic drift’ in the community college sector, leading to convergences in programming and institutional functions across the system, as well as competition for resources, students, and external partners. Unprecedented demand has made education a viable industry, sustaining both a proliferation of private providers and a range of new entrepreneurial activities within public institutions. Levels and objectives of public funding have swung dramatically over the period. Public investments in PSE, in the form of capital grants and tuition subsidies, have alternately expanded and contracted, being at some times applied across the board and at others targeted to specific social groups or economic sectors. Likewise, policymakers have treated PSE at times as a mechanism for social inclusion and equality, at others as an instrument for labour force development, and at yet others as a market sector in its own right.

Interorganizational collaboration and community building for the preservation of state government digital information: Lessons from NDIIPP state partnership initiative

As a part of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP), the Library of Congress (LC), partnering with the Center for Technology in Government (CTG), launched an effort in 2005 to integrate state governmental entities into the national network to preserve born-digital information that is both significant and at risk of loss. The main theme that emerged from the efforts of LC, CTG, and the state and federal digital preservation community was the importance of partnership efforts and collaborative strategies for the preservation of state government digital information. Based on the findings of the initiative, this paper discusses challenges and opportunities regarding interorganizational collaboration and community building for digital preservation of state government information. Following the community of practice framework, it is recommended that a “state government digital information preservation community” be developed to facilitate collaboration across agencies and knowledge professionals in state governments.     

Travel with a Time Lord: using media to enhance literacy

This article reports on a UKLA‐funded project in which a group of 10 teachers in South Wales were involved. The televised science fiction drama Doctor Who was chosen as the theme as it was based on popular culture as well as being of local and national interest. The main character in this television drama is an alien who can fly through time and space in a machine called the Tardis. The aim of the project was to improve standards in literacy, with writing as a particular focus and make teachers more aware of the effective use of media resources. Teachers were provided with an information pack containing sample lessons but were actively encouraged to implement the project in whichever way they chose. Questionnaires given to teachers before and after the project reflected a more positive attitude towards using media resources at the end. Pupils, aged between 8 and 11 years old, were given writing journals as part of the project and focus groups interviewed. It proved difficult to ascertain if standards had improved although pupil enthusiasm was a recognisable feature. The value of learning across the curriculum was another element that emerged during the course of the project. Results indicated that more training is required to enable teachers to use media resources and cross‐curricular approaches more confidently in their teaching.     

Drawing a line in the sand: Identifying the borderzone between self and other in EL1 and EL2 citation practices

Current concerns about academic plagiarism in student writing assume qualitative and quantitative differences in the writing of students for whom English is a first language (EL1) and English is a second language (EL2), but lack precision in measuring those differences. I examined the citation practices of EL1 and EL2 students in a timed writing proficiency assessment essay by applying Web-Based Interactive ESL Text Evaluation System (WIETES) software to identify borrowed texts by classifying these references in 16 bounding and documenting categories on a Reading Reference Grid. Results showed few differences overall between EL1 and EL2 referencing practices, as all students shared three common weaknesses in citation practice: vague references, patchwriting and confusion of quotes and paraphrases. Moreover, all students seemed to go through four stages in their development of coherent citation practices, although no EL2 students functioned at the highest level of citation practice. Interviews with the students about their referencing practices indicated that both groups claimed ownership of ideas from the source materials which they expressed in their own words, and they cited correctly more often when they had prior knowledge of the topic of the reading. I conclude with a call to administrators of writing assessments to include judgements of bounding and documenting practices in analytic rating scales.     

Factors influencing students' decisions to participate in a short “dissection experience” within a systemic anatomy course

Changes in medical education have affected both curriculum design and delivery. Many medical schools now use integrated curricula and a systemic approach, with reduced hours of anatomy teaching. While learning anatomy via dissection is invaluable in educational, professional, and personal development, it is time intensive and supports a regional approach to learning anatomy; the use of prosections has replaced dissection as the main teaching method in many medical schools. In our graduate‐entry medical degree, we use an integrated curriculum, with prosections to teach anatomy systemically. However, to not exclude dissection completely, and to expose students to its additional and unique benefits, we implemented a short “Dissection Experience” at the beginning of Year 2. Students attended three two‐hour anatomy sessions and participated in dissection of the clinically relevant areas of the cubital fossa, femoral triangle, and infraclavicular region. This activity was voluntary and we retrospectively surveyed all students to ascertain factors influencing their decision of whether to participate in this activity, and to obtain feedback from those students who did participate. The main reasons students did not participate were previous dissection experience and time constraints. The reasons most strongly affecting students' decisions to participate related to experience (lack of previous or new) and new skill. Students' responses as to the most beneficial component of the dissection experience were based around practical skills, anatomical education, the learning process, and the body donors. We report here on the benefits and practicalities of including a short dissection experience in a systemic, prosection‐based anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ 6: 225–231. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Introducing micro-computers to micro-learners through play

Computers, once available exclusively to wealthy industries, are now rapidly becoming as familiar in preschool and kindergarten classrooms as block and crayons. Articles making claims such as Learning by Computers at Age 4 and Computers Preparing Preschoolers for Kindergarten now permeate the news media. Increasing numbers of child care centers, attempting to maximize public interest in computers, now readily advertise Computer Tutor in their literature. Computer Tutor is often even listed above other important qualifications such as certified teachers and professional affiliations of centers.Theresa Rubens has had extensive experience working with children in both family day homes and child care centers. Jennifer Poole is the Nursery Director at the First United Methodist Church in Carrollton, TX. James L. Hoot is Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at North Texas State University in Denton, Texas.     

Exploring Relational and Individualistic Counseling Preferences of Culturally Diverse College Students

This exploratory study examined the influence of gender and ethnicity on college student preferences for individualistic vs. relational‐focused counseling approaches. Overall, the results did not demonstrate significant differences across gender and ethnicity. However, there was a small tendency for women and African American participants to rate the counselor conducting the relational‐focused counseling approach more positively than did men and White participants, respectively.