Critical corridor talk: Just gossip or stoic resistance? Unrecognised informal Higher Education leadership

This mixed methods paper considers whether or not invisible forms of morally resistant collegial leadership are progressively challenging policy and managerial quasi‐market instrumentalism in a minority of low trust dysfunctional situations in a stratified United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education system. A theoretical model of stoical critical corridor talk (CCT) is proposed, arising from selected empirical data and reflective observations in 2005–2017. The data demonstrated that resistant academic critique is increasingly questioning economically driven command and control authoritarianism. The model builds on the concept of critical being to consider whether or not CCT amongst academics provides informal stoical leadership to alleviate stresses exacerbated by poor management. The highly functioning criticality of negative capability facilitates self‐reflexive resistance against the false necessity of supposedly deterministic imperatives to validate policy‐driven audit‐based managerialism. Yet to foster trust, informal leadership needs to practise correct moral principles itself when resisting performativity in dysfunctional environments in which some overstep the acceptable roles of good management.     

Word Play: Scaffolding Language Development Through Child-Directed Play

Play is an important activity in young children’s lives. It is how children explore their world and build knowledge. Although free play, which is play that is totally child directed, contributes to children’s learning, self-regulation and motivation, adults’ participation in children’s play is critical in their development, especially their language development. Guided by children, adults can help scaffold children’s language, and especially their learning. We suggest that adults scaffold children’s language during play by using research based strategies such as asking questions that invite extended responses and new inquiry, provide meaningful feedback and effectively use wait time, which provides children with the opportunity to respond to adults’ comments and questions. The goal is to provide adults with strategies to scaffold children’s language development during play while allowing children to direct their own play activities.     

Factors Influencing Information Literacy Competency of College Students

This paper analyzes multiple factors from current university students' high school experiences, including demographic, educational, and economic factors, and current standing and grade point average (GPA), to evaluate the students' information literacy skills associated with a 1000 level course on information literacy which is part of the university's general education requirement. The pre-test indicates that students lack sufficient skills needed to do college-level research. Results of regression analyses demonstrate that only current university GPA and standardized test scores have any influence on information literacy test scores.     

An exploration of the relationship between argumentative prompts and depth to elicit alternative positions in ill-structured problem solving

Educational technology research and development - Little is known about the role of prompts to help learners solve ill-structured learning problems. Instructors do not devote adequate time to...     

Fostering pedagogical reasoning and dynamic decision-making practices: a conceptual framework to support learning design in a digital age

Educational technology research and development - Digital learning environments are dynamic systems that require learning designers to leverage environmental conditions and the needs of their...     

Pirates and poachers: Fan fiction and the conventions of reading and writing

This article explores what teachers and students can learn about contemporary story‐telling from a study of fan fiction – that is, stories created by readers and viewers out of the canonical material of previously published fictions. Drawing on the example of Pirates of the Caribbean, it investigates ways in which fan fiction writers develop codes and conventions to govern themselves. For example, online litmus tests establish when a writer is self‐indulgently writing ‘Mary Sue’ characters into a story; the self‐styled Protectors of the Plot Continuum patrol the fictional limits of an imagined world to make sure that canonical information is not violated by fan fiction writers. This article makes use of such examples to investigate how quality control in fan fiction is codified, and to explore what teachers can learn from such enterprises about contemporary writing, reading and viewing. It compares these possibilities with issues of online literacy outlined by Henry Jenkins under three headings: the participation gap, the transparency problem, and the ethics challenge.     

Within and Across Language Predictors of Word Learning Processes in Dual Language Learners

This study investigated the relation between Dual Language Learners’ (N = 90) vocabulary and grammar comprehension and word learning processes in preschool (aged 3-through-5 years). Of interest was whether: (a) performance in Spanish correlated with performance in English within each domain; and (b) comprehension predicted novel word learning within and across languages. Dual-language experience was evaluated as a potential moderator. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed stronger predictive associations within each language than across languages. Across languages, results varied by experience and domain. Structural sensitivity theory suggests exposure to two languages heightens awareness of parameters along which languages vary and provides a framework for interpreting complex associations within and across languages. Knowledge from one language may influence learning in both.     

Effect of acquisition rates on off‐task behavior of kindergarten students while learning sight words

Assessing a student's acquisition rates (ARs) is a reliable way to determine how many new words should be taught in one lesson without reducing retention. Exceeding a student's AR can result in frustration and problem behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of AR on the off‐task behavior of kindergarten students while participating in a commonly used sight‐word instruction video. Participants included 39 kindergarten students whose ARs were assessed before showing the sight‐word video. Behavior was measured as on‐ and off‐task using momentary time‐sampling with 10‐s intervals. Results indicated that students' time off task increased after exceeding their ARs, with a noticeable immediate increase. The implications and limitations of these results are discussed.     

Strategies for infusing curricula with a multicultural perspective

We describe pedagogical strategies for infusing a multicultural perspective into courses across a variety of disciplines; these methods have proven effective with students who are predominantly Anglo and oriented toward careers in the human services. The strategies include personalizing information through vicarious learning and case studies; inculcating critical thinking skills; simulations; literary analysis; and cooperative learning in large classes. Changes were documented in student attitudes, emotions, knowledge, professional skills, and the classroom environment. We review lessons learned about the process of curriculum revision, especially the importance of faculty support systems and impediments to implementation.All of the authors are faculty members in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Colorado State University; Drs. MacPhee, Oltjenbruns, and Kreutzer are Associate Professors and Dr. Fritz is a Professor. Each of the authors is a trainer for the multicultural infusion project. David MacPhee holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His primary research interests include primary prevention for at-risk youth and families, and multicultural and gender issues. Kevin Oltjenbruns completed her doctoral degree in educational and psychological studies at the University of Colorado. The principle focus of her work has been on grief and loss, career development, and student retention. As Associate Dean of the College of Applied Human Sciences, she spearheaded the multicultural infusion project described in this article. Janet Fritz's graduate work was completed at Cornell University. Her research interests include cognitive development, children's self-worth, stress and coping, and cross-cultural variations in socialization. Jill Kreutzer earned her Ph.D. in education from Colorado State University. She is interested in adolescent development, especially resilience among at-risk youth, and career development.Portions of this work were presented at the 5th Annual National Conference on Racial & Ethnic Relations in American Higher Education (June, 1992).Requests for curriculum and training materials should be directed to the Dean's Office, College of Applied Human Sciences.