Subjective and Objective Intellectual Change in Older Adults

In this longitudinal study, 108 older individuals (M age = 70.58 years, SD = 6.94) estimated the extent to which their fluid and crystallized skills had changed over the previous three years. For each perceived change, individuals also estimated the extent to which numerous explanatory factors were responsible for such change. Crystallized skills were seen as unchanging, whereas fluid skills were perceived as having declined slightly. In both cases, self-initiated efforts to maintain one's skills were endorsed most frequently as explanations for the maintenance of one's skills. Variability in attributions in three-year changes in both fluid and crystallized skills was associated with individual differences in health, self perceived everyday cognitive failures, and state anxiety. The findings from this study suggest that it is important to identify factors over which older adults perceive themselves as having control as salient targets for educational interventions fostering a sense of self-efficacy, critical to feelings of enhanced competence in later life.     

Developing multiliteracies in a technology-mediated environment

Evolving technologies and globalisation presents educators with the challenge of creating learning experiences to help students develop competencies to enable them to function successfully in a dynamic society. Today’s learner is expected to be multiliterate – able to analyse and construct multi-modal texts. A qualitative embedded multi-case study was conducted to investigate the learning experiences and multiliteracy outcomes for students engaged in an educational program with a media studies focus. The program, designed for a secondary school English curriculum, was underpinned by multiliteracies pedagogy and delivered within a technology-mediated environment. This paper reports a single class case drawing upon examples from small group cases embedded within the class. The findings suggest that educational programs underpinned by multiliteracy pedagogy supported by technology can provide meaningful learning experiences for students whilst achieving multiliteracies focused learning outcomes. For this to occur important factors such as teacher technology competencies and expertise, access and integration of technology and facilitation of effective learning scaffolds should be considered.     

Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Conference of the National Council for Jewish Education

The point of departure for this article is James Fowler's conception of the “master story.” In “master stories,” culture-heroes are portrayed as engaging in certain archetypal activities. These activities are then considered paradigmatic and life-orienting by future generations who adhere to that culture. In keeping with this line of thinking, we offer the rare narrative presented by Maimonides in the opening chapters of his “Laws Concerning Idolatry” as a potential “master story” for Jewish educators. The main section of the essay consists of a close literary analysis of selected passages from the “Laws Concerning Idolatry.” The article concludes by enumerating a series of educational implications that can be gleaned from the narrative, and by indicating some of the problems that might result from an attempt to put some of these implications into practice.     

Academics or executives? Continuity and change in the roles of pro‐vice‐chancellors1

The leadership roles of pro‐vice‐chancellors (PVCs) in the United Kingdom and elsewhere have evolved markedly over the last three decades while universities have been encouraged to shift towards more executive styles of leadership and decision‐making. The change does not only reflect changing institutional needs, however, but an accommodation of deeper historical continuities around institutional autonomy and academic values. Most PVCs are drawn from the ranks of professors; typically have an Oxbridge, London or big civic background; and most are male. The role gains authority through influence, rather than command, and depends on academic experience and credibility to be effective. PVCs maintain a complex corporate‐academic web balancing two, sometimes contradictory, roles: one firmly academic, concerning cross‐institutional responsibility for core academic values and mission; the other more bureaucratic or executive, focusing on the burgeoning demands of accountability. The research cautions against a simple model of executive leadership. Understanding the needs of academic leadership and the contours of its practices remains paramount.     

The Impact of Vertical Scaling Decisions on Growth Interpretations

Most growth models implicitly assume that test scores have been vertically scaled. What may not be widely appreciated are the different choices that must be made when creating a vertical score scale. In this paper empirical patterns of growth in student achievement are compared as a function of different approaches to creating a vertical scale. Longitudinal item‐level data from a standardized reading test are analyzed for two cohorts of students between Grades 3 and 6 and Grades 4 and 7 for the entire state of Colorado from 2003 to 2006. Eight different vertical scales were established on the basis of choices made for three key variables: Item Response Theory modeling approach, linking approach, and ability estimation approach. It is shown that interpretations of empirical growth patterns appear to depend upon the extent to which a vertical scale has been effectively “stretched” or “compressed” by the psychometric decisions made to establish it. While all of the vertical scales considered show patterns of decelerating growth across grade levels, there is little evidence of scale shrinkage.     

Team processes, team conflict, team outcomes, and gender: An examination of U.S. and Mexican learning teams

Team learning is growing rapidly in popularity in United States (U.S.) and Mexican universities. This instructional approach consists of using learning teams in which participants are required to work together regularly for a semester period of time and produce evaluated team outcomes. These team outcomes, along with their individual performance, have a significant impact on each individual's final assessment. We compare team processes, team conflict, team outcomes, and gender interaction in Mexican and U.S. student teams. U.S. teams report more team-oriented behavior and more cohesiveness, and Mexican teams report more self-oriented behavior and more conflict. Nationality (United States or Mexico) has a moderating effect on the relationship between gender heterogeneity and cohesiveness and conflict. Suggestions are given for applications and future research.