Type of Positive Interdependence and Affiliation Motive in an Asynchronous, Collaborative Learning Environment

In this study, we investigated the effect of type of positive interdependence (roles, rewards, roles-plus-rewards, or no structure) and affiliation motives (high vs. low) in an asynchronous, collaborative learning environment. College reentry students worked together in small, fully online discussion groups that lasted for seven days. Results indicated that participants in groups given roles plus rewards interacted with their teammates significantly more than those given rewards only or no-structured-interdependence conditions. A significant positive correlation suggested that participants with higher numbers of interactions attained higher posttest scores. However, no significant differences were found in achievement by type of interdependence or by affiliation motive. Results also revealed that type of interdependence and affiliation motive had a significant impact on student attitudes. Implications for integrating small group work in online higher education settings are discussed.     

Efficiency in the community college sector: stochastic frontier analysis

This paper estimates technical efficiency scores across the community college sector in the United States. Using stochastic frontier analysis and data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System for 2003–2010, we estimate efficiency scores for 950 community colleges and perform a series of sensitivity tests to check for robustness. We find that community colleges have become more efficient over time, but no evidence of economies of scale. We also find significant variation in efficiency across colleges, with only part of this variation explained by exogenous differences by state and across student characteristics.     

‘I like being a lab Rat’: student experiences of research participation

Undergraduate students are often expected to be participants in academic research. However, decisions relating to student participation in research are typically based on speculation or educator assumptions rather than a solid research base. We conducted three studies to investigate student experiences of research participation. These included online surveys (Study 1), semi-structured interviews (Study 2), and analysis of reflective essays (Study 3). A range of pedagogic and ethical issues were considered including motivation to participate, distress, and the educational value of participation. Findings suggest that the experience provides students with important opportunities to learn about research methodology and ethical issues which inform their own research practice. Further, students cite additional non-academic benefits of research participation such as self-discovery and networking opportunities. Negative experiences typically consisted of nervousness prior to the first laboratory study or boredom, though for some students (e.g. those uncomfortable in social situations) engagement in research may lead to anxiety. We conclude that participation in research has pedagogic value to students, and educators should promote those elements of the research experience (e.g. critiquing studies, networking with researchers) that are most beneficial. However, researchers and educators should also actively work to reduce apprehension and minimise potential distress.     

First- and second-generation design and engineering students: experience,attainment and factors influencing them to attend university

Challenges for students who are ‘first-in-family’ to attend university have been discussed within widening participation discourse. However, in the UK, ‘first-in-family’ or first-generation students have frequently been conflated with those experiencing poverty or from lower socio-economic groups. This research integrated survey data with assessment data from final-year design and engineering students in a UK university to examine students’ attainment, the influences on why students decide to attend university and students’ experiences during their degree programmes. Analysis of the data showed variations in the reasons for first- and second-generation students wanting to go to university, particularly a significant difference in the influence of parents. First-generation students described significantly less parental influence on the decision to attend university than second- or subsequent-generation students. Smaller differences in students’ experiences and attainment in university were also noted. Whilst first-generation students reported differences in study habits, their attainment was, on average, marginally higher than that of their peers. Building on others’ theoretical work, which suggests the importance of social capital within higher education (HE), this research highlights the difference in social influences on both university application and expectations of university for those with and without a family history of tertiary education. Further research is needed to explore, in larger samples, whether the social influences on individuals’ perception of HE are in turn shaped by whether or not their parents attended university, and further, what impact this may have, not only on degree outcomes but also on the broader benefits typically associated with graduate experience.     

Does it pay to attend an elite private college? Evidence on the effects of undergraduate college quality on graduate school attendance

Much attention has recently focused on the rapidly rising costs of a college education, and whether the benefits of attending an elite private college have kept pace with the increasing costs. In this paper we analyze whether undergraduate college quality affects the likelihood that an individual attends graduate school. Using data on three cohorts of students from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and High School and Beyond, we find that on balance attendance at an elite private college significantly increases the probability of attending graduate school, and more specifically, graduate school at a major research institution.     

Hyperinstrumentalism and cultural policy: means to an end or an end to meaning?

This paper investigates the implications for cultural policy of the logic of the instrumental view of culture taken to its conclusion. Policy developments that establish sets of justifications and rationales that have nothing to do with the cultural content of the policy concerned, but which arise from a deliberate realignment of policy frameworks, establish a form of hyperinstrumentalism. With hyperinstrumentalism the focus on outcomes and the ends of policy means that cultural policy is only as important as the ends to which it is directed. As such, hyperinstrumentalisation demonstrates the consequences for the sector of conditions where claims about the value of culture are irrelevant to political actors. The paper questions whether sense can be made of this shift as a coherent and strategic political choice, rather than as a simple assault on culture. The case of Northern Ireland’s Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is used to illustrate this. The authors question whether hyperinstrumentalism undermines the justification for an autonomous domain of cultural policy.     

Patterns of core and generic skill provision in higher education

The study reported here is seeking to gain enhanced understandings of the acquisition and development of core and generic skills in higher education and employment against a backcloth of continued pressure for their effective delivery from employers, government departments, and those responsible for the management and funding of higher education. This pressure appears to have had little impact so far, in part because of tutors' scepticism of the message, the messenger and its vocabulary, and in part because the skills demanded lack clarity, consistency and a recognisable theoretical base. Any empirical attempt to acquire enhanced understandings of practice thus requires the conceptualisation and development of models of generic skills and of course provision. These models are presented together with evidence of their validity, including exemplars of the patterns of course provision identified.