Two types of voluntary undergraduate attrition: Application of Tinto's model

Tinto's model of institutional attrition was tested by comparing undergraduate students who had dropped out from Washington State University (WSU) one year prior to the study with a control sample of students who continued at WSU. Tinto's constructs of individual attributes, past educational experience, goal commitment, institutional commitment, social integration, and academic integration were operationalized using variables obtained from precollege records, academic records at the university, and a post-withdrawal survey. Setwise discriminant function analysis was used to discriminate between the attrition sample and the control sample using Tinto's constructs. Variables measuring individual attributes, past educational experience, institutional commitment, and academic integration all contributed significantly to the discriminant function when all other variables were controlled for. Tinto's model was also able to explain the differences between those attrition students who transferred to another institution and those who dropped out of higher education. Those that dropped out had a significantly lower academic ability, lower academic integration, lower goal commitment, and lower social integration.     

Time for Rebirth

In this column, the editor of The Journal of Perinatal Education (JPE) discusses how nature works exquisitely to accomplish its intended outcomes and compares the rebirth of flowers and trees in the springtime to physiological birth. The editor also describes the contents of this issue, which offer a broad range of resources, research, and inspiration for childbirth educators in their efforts to promote, support, and protect natural, safe, and healthy birth.     

Using color and grayscale images to teach histology to color‐deficient medical students

Examination of histologic and histopathologic microscopic sections relies upon differential colors provided by staining techniques, such as hematoxylin and eosin, to delineate normal tissue components and to identify pathologic alterations in these components. Given the prevalence of color deficiency (commonly called “color blindness”) in the general population, it is likely that this reliance upon color differentiation poses a significant obstacle for several medical students beginning a course of study that includes examination of histologic slides. In the past, first‐year medical students at Michigan State University who identified themselves as color deficient were encouraged to use color transparency overlays or tinted contact lenses to filter out problematic colors. Recently, however, we have offered such students a computer monitor adjusted to grayscale for in‐lab work, as well as grayscale copies of color photomicrographs for examination purposes. Grayscale images emphasize the texture of tissues and the contrasts between tissues as the students learn histologic architecture. Using this approach, color‐deficient students have quickly learned to compensate for their deficiency by focusing on cell and tissue structure rather than on color variation. Based upon our experience with color‐deficient students, we believe that grayscale photomicrographs may also prove instructional for students with normal (trichromatic) color vision, by encouraging them to consider structural characteristics of cells and tissues that may otherwise be overshadowed by stain colors. Anat Sci Ed 2:84–88, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

Responses to Interpersonal Stress: Normative Changes Across Childhood and the Impact of Peer Victimization

This research examined the development of stress responses across second to sixth grades and whether exposure to peer victimization alters stress response trajectories. Youth (338 girls; 298 boys; M_age = 7.97 years, SD = .37) reported on stress responses; teachers and youth reported on peer victimization. Latent growth curve modeling revealed an increase in effortful engagement responses and a decrease in disengagement and involuntary engagement responses during this period. Peer victimization disrupted these normative trajectories, resulting in less effortful engagement and more effortful disengagement and involuntary stress responses in early adolescence. These findings suggest that early peer victimization sensitizes youth to stress by interfering with the development of effective coping and fostering maladaptive stress responses.     

You don’t always get what you pay for: User experiences of engaging with contract cheating sites

Abstract

Contract cheating sites advertise that they provide high quality, undetectable, bespoke work delivered in a timely manner to students purchasing their assignments. This paper tests contract cheating sites’ promises about the products they sell. We built on previous reported research examining contract cheating sites’ persuasive features which were mapped into three major dimensions. In this study, we explore how those dimensions are realised in practice. By purchasing 54 assignments from 18 different contract cheating sites across a range of disciplines, we found contract cheating sites’ promises flawed. Many sites do not deliver assignments on time, or at all; they provide variable quality assignments (including fail grade work), and do not necessarily respond rapidly to user queries. When markers graded work, 52% of cheated tasks failed to meet the university pass standard. Furthermore, many contract cheating sites retain the right to share personal details with third parties under their privacy clauses and require levels of personal identification that leave users vulnerable. Students need to be aware that contract cheating sites’ slick advertising is not necessarily borne out in reality. Universities can draw on this study’s findings for student awareness and deterrence campaigns pointing out the risks of using contract cheating sites.     

Motor Origins of Tool Use

The current study examines the developmental trajectory of banging movements and its implications for tool use development. Twenty (6‐ to 15‐month‐old) infants wore reflective markers while banging a handled cube; movements were recorded at 240 Hz. Results indicated that through the second half‐year, banging movements undergo developmental changes making them ideally suited for instrumental hammering and pounding. Younger infants were inefficient and variable when banging the object: Their hands followed circuitous paths of great lengths at high velocities. By 1 year, infants showed consistent and efficient straight up‐down hand trajectories of smaller magnitude and velocity, allowing for precise aiming and delivering dependable levels of force. The findings suggest that tool use develops gradually from infants' existing manual behaviors.     

Styles of Counselor Supervision as Perceived by Supervisors and Supervisees

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the preferences of supervisors and supervisees for 4 styles of counselor supervision and the perceived frequency of use of the 4 styles during a 10‐week supervision experience. The styles are labeled directive teacher, supportive teacher, counselor, and consultant. Data collected using 90 doctoral student supervisors and 168 master's‐degree student supervisees showed significant correlations among the styles. Implications for the process of counselor supervision are offered.