From process to practice: research,reflexivity and writing in adult education

The greater involvement by adult education practitioners in research poses the need to locate and problematise research as an activity. By seeing research as a social practice rather than a process it becomes possible to highlight the vital and neglected dimension of reflexivity. The paper argues that there is a need to recognise the place of writing in adult education research. Research can then be understood as a textual practice where it is impossible to ignore the workings of reflexivity and the need for researchers to be reflexive. The different forms reflexivity can take are considered in order to show that reflexivity does not refer exclusively to the effects of the researcher's psychological make‐up or personal values. It is argued that there is a need for adult education researchers to become critical writers and readers of research texts and a framework is outlined which makes it possible to highlight the workings of reflexivity as a movement away from the purely personal to an awareness of the operation of language, discourses and power/knowledge formations in the assumptive structures and unconscious values of research.     

A Transformative Model for Undergraduate Quantitative Biology Education

The BIO2010 report recommended that students in the life sciences receive a more rigorous education in mathematics and physical sciences. The University of Delaware approached this problem by (1) developing a bio-calculus section of a standard calculus course, (2) embedding quantitative activities into existing biology courses, and (3) creating a new interdisciplinary major, quantitative biology, designed for students interested in solving complex biological problems using advanced mathematical approaches. To develop the bio-calculus sections, the Department of Mathematical Sciences revised its three-semester calculus sequence to include differential equations in the first semester and, rather than using examples traditionally drawn from application domains that are most relevant to engineers, drew models and examples heavily from the life sciences. The curriculum of the B.S. degree in Quantitative Biology was designed to provide students with a solid foundation in biology, chemistry, and mathematics, with an emphasis on preparation for research careers in life sciences. Students in the program take core courses from biology, chemistry, and physics, though mathematics, as the cornerstone of all quantitative sciences, is given particular prominence. Seminars and a capstone course stress how the interplay of mathematics and biology can be used to explain complex biological systems. To initiate these academic changes required the identification of barriers and the implementation of solutions.     

Teachers’ Collective Efficacy,Job Satisfaction,and Job Stress in Cross-Cultural Context

This study examines how teachers’ collective efficacy (TCE), job stress, and the cultural dimension of collectivism are associated with job satisfaction for 500 teachers from Canada, Korea (South Korea or Republic of Korea), and the United States. Multigroup path analysis revealed that TCE predicted job satisfaction across settings. Job stress was negatively related to job satisfaction for North American teachers (i.e., teachers from Canada and the United States), whereas the cultural dimension of collectivism was significantly related to job satisfaction for the Korean, but not for North American teachers. For motivation theorists, the results from this study provide evidence that cultural context influences how motivation beliefs are understood and expressed in diverse settings. For educators, this study underlines the importance of collective motivation as a source of individual job satisfaction.     

Exploring the validity of a teachers’ self-efficacy scale in five countries

The purpose of this article was twofold. The first purpose was to test the validity of the Teachers’ Sense of Self-Efficacy Scale (TSES) in five settings—Canada, Cyprus, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. The second purpose was, by extension, to establish the importance of the teacher self-efficacy construct across diverse teaching conditions. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to better understand the measurement invariance of the scale across countries, after which the relationship between the TSES, its three factors, and job satisfaction was explored. The TSES showed convincing evidence of reliability and measurement invariance across the five countries, and the relationship between the TSES and job satisfaction was similar across settings. The study provides general evidence that teachers’ self-efficacy is a valid construct across culturally diverse settings and specific evidence that teachers’ self-efficacy showed a similar relationship with teachers’ job satisfaction in five contrasting settings.     

Sources of self-efficacy in mathematics: A validation study

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate items with which to assess A. Bandura’s (1997) theorized sources of self-efficacy among middle school mathematics students. Results from Phase 1 (N = 1111) were used to develop and refine items for subsequent use. In Phase 2 of the study (N = 824), a 39-item, four-factor exploratory model fit best. Items were revised to strengthen psychometric properties. In Phase 3 (N = 803), a 24-item, four-factor confirmatory factor model fit best. This final model was invariant across gender and ethnicity. Subscales correlated with self-efficacy, self-concept, mastery goals, and optimism. Results suggest that the sources scale is psychometrically sound and could be adapted for use in other domains.     

An Evaluative Framework for Reviewing Fairness Standards and Practices in Educational Tests

One of the substantive changes in the 2014 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing was the elevation of fairness in testing as a foundational element of practice in addition to validity and reliability. Previous research indicates that testing practices often do not align with professional standards and guidelines. Therefore, to raise awareness of fairness concepts and principles from the 2014 Standards, this study aligned those standards with fairness practices, as documented in test manuals and on websites of 18 intelligence and achievement tests from different test publishers. A content analysis indicated that just under half of the fairness standards are frequently or occasionally practiced and those occurrences differed somewhat across tests but did not differ between intelligence and achievement tests or across publishers. To inform and encourage improvements in the future practice of the fairness standards, an evaluative framework along with example practices and related methodological scholarship is discussed.     

Assessing the Quality of Research Training: The case of part-time candidates in full-time professional work

Intrinsic to the Australian Federal Government's Research Training Scheme (RTS) is a perception that the quality of research degree graduates is in question (Kemp, 1999a, 1999b); in particular, that they lack a skill set that would enable them after graduating to make a greater contribution to the knowledge economy, the information-rich workplace and to national innovation. However, little or no concrete evidence has ever been given to support these claims. Furthermore, no substantive distinction is made between different categories of research degree candidates—for example, between those who are undertaking their research full-time and those who are already full-time professional workers and are undertaking their research degree in a part-time mode. We argue that making this distinction and exploring its impact is vital and report on a study that examines the role and relevance of research degrees to professionals and the workplace. This provides an evidence-based contribution to questions regarding the quality and attributes of research degree graduates and the synergies between their development in the workplace and the research program.     

A Diversity Of Doctorates: Fitness for the knowledge economy?

There is now an increasing diversity of doctoral education in the Australian higher education landscape. As well as the traditional PhD by thesis, there are professional doctorates, doctorates by publication and PhDs by project. The latter are a particularly significant development since for the most part they are entirely work-based with minimal formal disciplinary input. This paper seeks to relate this diversity of doctoral degrees to the growth of the knowledge economy and the imperatives it is said to impose on universities and the education of doctoral students. Changes in knowledge production and what constitutes legitimate knowledge are related to doctoral education. Can research training any longer remain an education in disciplinary knowledge and skills? Does it also need to include the skill development required by the knowledge economy? In this context, the growth of doctorates by project becomes particularly significant since these programs, it is argued, are most appropriate for fitting doctoral studies to the needs of the knowledge economy. However, their growth also poses serious problems of accreditation and assessment, in the process raising fundamental issues concerning the academic mission and purpose of universities.     

Changing classrooms bring new questions: environmental influences,self-efficacy,and academic achievement

Learning Environments Research - In recent years, considerable attention has been given to how the physical structure of active learning classrooms affects academic performance, but little is known...