International graduate students' difficulties: graduate classes as a community of practices

This study explores the factors that cause international graduate students to struggle and these students' ways of dealing with such problems in light of sociocultural theory, which views learning as a social and cultural act. The findings show that graduate classes function as communities of practices in which classmates and professors mutually engage with each other, share a repertoire and engage in joint enterprises. The practices were not always transparent to international students, which became a source of difficulty and often led them to feel excluded. Peripheral participation comprised a significant part of some students' learning process and identity formation, but it allowed them to participate in course-related activities as fully as they felt comfortable doing. This study suggests a need for more sensitive and dialogical efforts by educators in higher education to provide better learning environments for international learners.     

From Design and Implementation to Impact of Quality Assurance: An Overview of Some Studies into what Impacts Improvement

Abstract

Access to university has improved following the massification of the Australian higher education sector which started in 1989, with the expansion being funded by a widening of the funding base. In the ten years from 1989, Australian universities enrolled an additional 231,000 students, including an extra 189,000 in undergraduate bachelor degrees. Specific equity policies have further attempted to increase opportunities for students previously excluded from higher education. This paper looks at changes in the composition of the student body, and in the patterns of university funding. Using aggregated national student data sets, some of the changes which have arisen from massification are identified, with particular consideration of designated equity groups.     

Theory and legitimacy in professional education: a practitioner review of reflective processes within programmes for new academic staff

The authors review research literature on coherent theoretically based approaches to the use of reflective processes within programmes of initial professional education for new academic staff. Employing a novel methodology that incorporates practitioner perspectives, they establish a framework that highlights the role of personal and social factors, and also pedagogic and theoretical considerations, in shaping reflective processes. The included studies identified participants who had engaged in certain categories of reflection. Certain fundamental outcomes, however, such as changes in professional commitment, were never seen across an entire cohort. The article thus discusses the intended learning outcomes that programmes might legitimately seek to meet.

Dans cet article, nous examinons la littérature de recherche portant sur les approches théoriques cohérentes sur l’usage des processus réflexifs dans le cadre de programmes d’éducation professionnelle initiale pour le personnel académique novice. A l’aide d’une nouvelle méthodologie incorporant les perspectives du praticien, nous établissons un cadre qui met en lumière le rôle des facteurs sociaux et personnels, de même que les considérations théoriques et pédagogiques, mettant en forme les processus réflexifs. Les études visées par l’article ont permis d’identifier des participants s’étant engagés dans certaines catégories de réflexion. Des conséquences fondamentales, telles que le changement au niveau de l’engagement professionnel, n’ont cependant pas été observés pour l’ensemble de la cohorte. Nous discutons donc des objectifs d’apprentissage que les programmes pourraient, de façon légitime, chercher à atteindre.     

Influence of teacher preparation programmes on preservice teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion

With the increased implementation of inclusive education, teacher educators have been challenged to make changes in programmes to prepare preservice teachers to educate diverse learners. These changes are reflected in various types of teacher preparation programmes that are transformations of traditional general education and special education programmes. However, little is known about the ways in which these transformed teacher preparation programmes influence preservice teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education as future inclusive educators. To investigate the influence of teacher preparation programmes on preservice teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion, a survey method was used to collect data from preservice teachers in ten teacher preparation programmes. The responses from 110 preservice teachers were analysed according to the type of teacher preparation programme (i.e. combined, separate, or general teacher preparation programmes). The results indicated that preservice teachers from combined teacher preparation programmes in which general education and special education teacher preparation curricula were infused had significantly more positive attitudes toward inclusion than preservice teachers from separate programmes (p < 0.05). The implications of this study for practice and future research are discussed.     

The Development of Subject Knowledge in Secondary Initial Teacher Education: A case study of physical education student teachers and their subject mentors

This article presents a case study of student teachers of secondary school physical education (PE) and their subject mentors in subject knowledge development. Grenfell's (1996) application of Bourdieu's notions of 'field' and 'habitus' in relation to initial teacher education (ITE) is applied to interview data to argue that student teachers show varying dispositions to develop subject knowledge at the field sites of university and school. Furthermore, such dispositions are suggested to be enacted by student teachers through the development and exchange of subject knowledge as 'capital'. Thus a dynamic for subject knowledge development, which is neither specific to field site or difference between field sites is conceptualised. The article concludes that student dispositions to learn, in context, should be considered to assist understanding about the development of PE student teachers' subject knowledge. It calls for a redefinition of nationally prescribed subject knowledge in relation to learning how to teach.     

Effect of the Science Learning Environment on Science Achievement: A Comparison of 12 Countries from the IEA Second International Science Study

ABSTRACT

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Second International Science Study (SISS) was conducted in 1984, resulting in a vast amount of educational data collected from 23 countries and educational systems. This research study reports on the analyses of 12 of those countries using multilevel modeling, investigating the relationships between the students’ reported perceptions of the science learning environment and their science achievement when controlling for student background variables. The three science learning environment scales which were collected in the SISS and analysed here were Student Participation, Teacher Directed Learning and Practical Work. Additionally, this research reports on the effect of these science learning environment scales on gender and socioeconomic differences in science achievement.     

The Family Festival Prevention Model: findings from a pilot of a teenage pregnancy prevention programme conceptualised by and for Mexican American communities

Despite an overall reduction in teenage pregnancy rates in the USA, the decrease for young women of Mexican heritage in the USA has been less significant than the decrease for their White and African-American peers. Furthermore, the availability of teenage pregnancy prevention models that are conceptualised specifically for people of Mexican descent is minimal. Using qualitative focus group data that were triangulated against quantitative survey data and collected from 35 young people and their parents, this paper presents findings from the pilot of a teenage pregnancy prevention model designed for and with input from Mexican American young women and men and their parents. Reflecting a favourable and impactful experience for the participants, the findings present implications for future intervention efforts and research.     

The “Nature” of leadership philosophy in outdoor and adventure education: Partnership or predation

Abstract

Nature continually impresses humans in its role as an omnipresent, if not ultimate, source of power. One hallmark of outdoor and adventure education (OAE) has been its presumption that humans' interaction with aspects of Nature's “power” promotes the antecedents of leadership: measurable, persistent psychological effects and behavioral modifications including self-awareness, self-reliance, and stewardship. Recently, an unresolved discourse has arisen involving the guiding philosophies and actual outcomes derived from programs assembled under various combinations of the terms outdoor, adventure, environment, recreation, and education. Unifying these five terms is leadership potential mediated through Nature's metaphorical majesty and demonstrable power. However, Nature can be an ally, a medium, or an enemy, and outcomes resulting from OAE programs should be congruent with a consciously examined, coherent philosophy. A theoretical model depicts combinations of society, civilization, and culture placed along a continuum ranging from predation to partnership to demonstrate that the type of leadership emanating from any two or more perspectives may be very different. Nature is a complex system that is both predatory and partnering, and leadership in OAE must purposefully select and design programs that embrace the appropriate philosophy of Nature.     

Teachers and librarians collaborating on inquiry-based science instruction: A longitudinal study

The qualitative, longitudinal study suggests how teachers and librarians learn to collaborate on inquiry-based science lessons that link science, information literacy, and structured English immersion standards for Latino elementary students. Teachers and librarians in the study received extensive professional development training about teacher and librarian collaboration (TLC), information literacy, inquiry-based science, as well as language and culture. In addition, expert peer mentors provided background information to teachers and librarians, as well as modeled high end TLC recommended by school librarian professional guidelines. Although increased interest and high motivation are generated by TLC, findings indicate that considerable time and experience are needed to prepare teachers and librarians to collaborate on instruction. Study results also indicate that there is an apparent lack of experience with inquiry-based science, particularly in schools with a culture of direct instruction. The study highlights teachers' lack of awareness of librarians' role as instructional partners. Greater communication between the professions is urged if TLC is to be successfully implemented as a way to bolster student achievement and stay updated in important fields, such as science, where instruction appears to be lagging behind.     

Concerns about crime and local television news

This project reports on a two‐part investigation into students' perceptions of behaviors constituting active participation in a college course. Seven factors emerged: Working Hard, Outside Contact, (Refraining from) Negative Behavior, Group Citizenship, Positivity, Attendance, and Class Discussion. Interestingly, students rated the Group Citizenship factor as the most representative of participation. High and low communication apprehensives differed on their ratings of the centrality of some of these factors to participation. The results of this study suggest that students have an expansive notion of what it means to participate in their classes, better characterized as “course involvement,” than is captured by conventional definitions of “class participation.”