The Effects of Liberal Arts Experiences on Liberal Arts Outcomes

Despite scholars’ praise of liberal arts education as a model form, very little research has examined the actual impact of liberal arts education on learning outcomes. The elaborate rhetoric and anecdotal support, long used to advance liberal arts education as the premier type of education with value for all, is no longer sufficient. The practices and conditions that lead to outcomes of a liberally educated student remain an empirical black box. Guided by the work of Pascarella et al. [2005, Liberal arts colleges and liberal arts education: New evidence on impacts. ASHE Higher Education Report, 31(3)], this study examined the extent to which an institutional ethos, that values student–student and student–faculty interaction within a supportive environment characterized by high expectations for developing the intellectual arts, manifests in the lived experiences of students and predicts the development of outcomes theoretically associated with the liberal arts. Specifically, we investigated the construct and predictive validity of the liberal arts experience scale relative to liberal arts outcomes. Using data from the first phase of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, net of student background characteristics and institution attended, we found liberal arts experiences had a positive effect on four of six liberal arts outcomes, including intercultural effectiveness, inclination to inquire and lifelong learning, well-being, and leadership.

Mapping the intersections of gender and college trauma

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the complex juncture of gender and experiences of trauma in college. Two research questions guided this investigation: (a) How does gender intersect with an individual’s experience(s) of trauma during college? and (b) What sociocultural contexts shape the role of gender intersecting with traumatic experiences in college? Data were collected using interviews and visual mapping/written response activities. Analysis revealed three dominant themes when gender was salient in traumatic experience, including: (a) gender norms contributing to the production of trauma; (b) gender norms restricting traumatic recovery; and (c) trauma catalyzing the interrogation of gender norms. Results of this study underscore the importance of continued attention in both research and practice to the complex ways in which systems of oppression around gender, in particular, but other identities broadly, offer both restrictions and possibilities for those navigating traumatic recovery.     

The contemporary rhetoric of the social theories of law

Traditionally, law and justice have been conceived in a cognitive or formal mode, but in today's society the legitimacy of law must be based on its immanence: Does it address and make sense to the everyday concerns of citizens? This essay argues for a critical theory of justice based on the communicative competence of the community.     

A history of New York state literacy test assessment: Historicizing calls to localism in writing assessment

Drawing upon archival materials, I describe the history, design, and assessment of literacy tests from early 20th century New York state. Practitioners working with these early standardized writing tests grappled with tensions created by public Nativist sentiment, the legislation of “literacy,” and calls to score the tests in standardized yet locally appropriate ways. These practitioners developed their own constructs for “reading,” “writing,” and “literacy” as they administered and scored the tests. These practitioners were enacting writing assessment theories and methods that are currently valorized in calls to local writing assessment, disrupting some assumptions about writing assessment history as a move from strict standardization to more contextualized, local approaches. Practitioner efforts also provide a way forward as we continue to negotiate between calls to localism and standardization.     

Preparing Ed.D. Students to Conduct Group Dissertations

In this article we present an overview of a recently launched cohort-based Ed.D. program that prepares participants to conduct group dissertations. The program, a hybrid model of online learning activities and monthly face-to-face class sessions, is delivered through a partnership between a university’s college of education and the administrative office of a statewide system of community and technical colleges. Discussion begins with a review of the pedagogical rationale that informed program design and instructional practices, followed by a presentation of key program elements tracing the development of the cohort through an innovative, collaborative dissertation process still in progress.     

A dialectical analysis of a social justice process: International collaboration in South Africa

This paper presents a case study of an international team collaboration between US and South African conflict specialists and educators implementing a Community Peace and Safety Network in four communities in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The project, funded by the United States Information Agency, was a social justice initiative that provided mediation training for school and community centers to aid them in accomplishing constructive conflict management and social change. Following an overview of the project goals, stages, and accomplishments, Smith and Berg's theory of paradoxes in groups is used to analyze the negotiated relationships in the international team and the mutual influence of group tensions and community impact throughout the 18‐month project period. Discussion includes implications for dialectical analyses of groups and for social justice scholars.     

A Matter of Language or Culture: Coverage of the 2004 U.S. Elections on Spanish- and English-Language Television

This article fills a gap in the communication and political science literature by comparing how Spanish- and English-language television stations cover U.S. elections. A content analysis of more than 400 national network news stories and nearly 3,000 local news stories reveals that local and network Spanish-language stations provide less election coverage than their English-language counterparts. Although Spanish-language stations are more likely to focus election coverage on “Latino” issues or interests, the results indicate only moderate differences in how stations in each language frame their election stories, with stations in both languages concentrating more coverage around campaign strategy and the horse race than substantive issues.     

Curriculum development for professional ethics in Australian human service university programmes

Australian academics and practitioners in the human services are particularly susceptible to social, political and economic influences in respect of their relevance, viability and operations. In fact, it can be argued that the impact of these influences has placed human service practitioners and academics in a perpetual state of vulnerability. Australian universities have been challenged to make their programmes more relevant and viable to the community at large, and practitioners face increasing workloads with limited resources based on restricted fiscal allocation, and the changing relationship between government and service providers. Drawing on interview data from twenty-one (n = 21) practitioners, this article highlights their identified problems regarding the notion of professionalism in the human services with a particular focus on ethical dilemmas in human service practice. Gleaning these details will be a basis for recommending necessary professionalethics curricula content in human services programmes offered in Australian universities. Moreover, while the research data is Australian based, the authors contend that the universal theories and principles underpinning human service practice justify the significance and value of the data as an important source for international consideration in curriculum development of human service academic programmes.     

Gender and Realized Educational Expectations: The Roles of Social Origins and Significant Others

Gender gaps in educational expectations and postsecondary enrollment are well studied, but few scholars have investigated the extent to which students realize or fail to realize their expectations. Even fewer have examined how the likelihood of realizing one’s expectations may differ for men and women. Using 35 years of data, this study examines the role race, social class, and significant others’ influences have played in realizing educational expectations and how these relationships have differed for men and women. It also investigates how group gender differences in these characteristics have contributed to the gap between the proportion of men and proportion of women who have realized their educational expectations via college enrollment. Results show trends in realized expectations by gender over time. Group gender differences explain little of past gaps but returns on students’ characteristics differ by gender, which has been a key explanatory factor for differences between men and women in realizing their expectations. Implications of these findings relative to policy and program initiatives are discussed.