A very English revolution: the impacts of co-residence at the University of Oxford

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the impacts of co-residence (admitting women to men’s colleges and men to women’s colleges) at the University of Oxford beginning in the 1970s. Co-residence increased the representation of women undergraduates at Oxford to near parity with men; the representation of women in academic positions rose but not as substantially as that of women undergraduates and postgraduates and today women comprise still only a third of academics in the colleges of the university; the fellowships of the former female colleges became genuinely mixed, the fellowships of the former male colleges more slowly; women are less likely to be appointed head of a former men’s college than are men to be appointed head of a former women’s college; the quality of Oxford undergraduates rose with the increased number of female undergraduates; and the quality of undergraduates in the former male colleges rose at the expense of the female colleges.     

The relationship between school belonging,sibling aggression and bullying involvement: implications for students with and without disabilities

Bullying is grounded in the interactions between an individual and complex social–ecological systems. Therefore, bullying involvement is not just confined to the classroom or school. Recent research suggests that sibling aggression may be a predictor for peer-level aggression. These findings may be more relevant for students with disabilities because studies suggest that students with disabilities are disproportionately involved in the bullying dynamic. Therefore, this study explored the intersection between sibling aggression and school belonging on bullying, victimisation and fighting for 14,508 students, including 1183 students with disabilities and 13,325 students without disabilities in grades 6 through 12. As hypothesised, students with disabilities reported higher levels of victimisation, bullying and fighting. Additionally, high levels of school belonging partially buffered fighting and bullying behaviours for students with and without disabilities. These findings demonstrate the importance of establishing an inclusive and safe environment for school-aged youth.     

CONSUMER EVALUATION OF CHEMISTRY CURRICULA IN A NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY

This paper utilises consumer responses in evaluating certain aspects of a chemistry programme in a Nigerian University. It attempted to map out significant objectives of the programme, the courses most liked, courses least liked, and the qualities of these courses and their lecturers. All registered students in the programme made up the population of the study, out of which one hundred and eight returned usable questionnaires. The data set was analysed using means, standard deviations, and a likeness index. The significant objectives were those related to practical work, followed by those dealing with the world of work. The courses most liked were those with a high practical component while those least liked had a large theoretical background and/or called for many mathematical skills. The implications of the study are highlighted.     

Operationalizing and validating disciplinary literacy in secondary education

The goal of this study was to define the construct and establish the validity of disciplinary literacy, which has recently gained attention from the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers in Common Core State Standards for English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects [PDF]. Authors, Washington, DC, 2010). After defining disciplinary literacy in the four core disciplines of English language arts, science, history and social studies, and mathematics, scales were developed and administered to a snowball sample of professionals nationwide, with 857 respondents. The data showed evidence of disciplinary literacy as a multidimensional construct with three related factors: source literacy, analytic literacy, and expressive literacy. Based on EFA and CFA results, we can conclude that there are at least three types of literacy in operation among the four core disciplines. The three factors of literacy varied significantly by the four core disciplines of English/language arts (ELA), science, history and social studies, and mathematics, supporting the notion that each discipline uses literacy uniquely. This is the first study of its kind to attempt to define, quantify, and validate the construct of disciplinary literacy.     

Statistical Power of the Multiple Domain Latent Growth Model for Detecting Group Differences

The latent growth model (LGM) in structural equation modeling (SEM) may be extended to allow for the modeling of associations among multiple latent growth trajectories, resulting in a multiple domain latent growth model (MDLGM). While the MDLGM is conceived as a more powerful multivariate analysis technique, the examination of its methodological performance is very limited. Hence, the present study compared the power of the MDLGM with that of a set of univariate LGMs for detecting group differences in growth rates over time using a Monte Carlo study with a two-group and two-domain design. The results indicated that there were different scenarios where the power rates for the MDLGM were greater than that of the set of LGMs (and vice versa) due to a joint function of the two domains’ intercorrelation size and the group difference effect size.