Institutional image and retention

Abstract

The image or ‘branding’ issue has become a strategic managerial decision for postsecondary institutions because it impacts upon the desire of a student to persist and complete, or to drop out. This paper examines the relationship that exists between students’ expectations and their lived experience as reported by students in an actual institutional setting. It is a case study which suggests actionable outcomes for the particular institution. More importantly, the approach used here is easily replicable and may be employed to provide useful information for image enhancement in other university settings.     

Mapping the landscapes of bullying

Past bullying research has consistently identified common locations (e.g. bathrooms, hallways, playgrounds) on school campuses where bullying occurs, but not specific locations. This limitation does not allow researchers to take into account the unique geography of individual schools and how it contributes to bullying. A random sample of 741 grade 4–6 students from nine different elementary schools identified where bullying occurs on a campus map and this information was analysed in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). While this study offers preliminary findings (e.g. diffusion of bullying, specific locations for bullying) that increase awareness about bullying, the emphasis in this paper is to present a new methodological tool in the analysis of bullying. The use of GIS mapping to analyse bullying offer researchers an advanced instrument to understand the experience of bullying within the physical context of a school. These preliminary findings focus future research.     

Task switching in overweight children: effects of acute exercise and age

The short-term after effects of a bout of moderate aerobic exercise were hypothesized to facilitate children's executive functioning as measured by a visual task-switching test. Sixty-nine children (mean age=9.2 years) who were overweight and inactive performed a category-decision task before and immediately following a 23-min bout of treadmill walking and, on another session, before and following a nonexercise period. The acute bout of physical activity did not influence the children's global switch cost scores or error rates. Age-related differences in global switch cost scores, but not error scores, were obtained. These results, in concert with several studies conducted with adults, fail to confirm that single bouts of moderately intense physical activity influence mental processes involved in task switching.     

Baby boomers engagement as traditional university students: benefits and costs

This study draws from interviews of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1965) enrolled in a traditional university programme. Interviews focussed on the mental, social and physical benefits of university education, exploring the aspirations of baby boomers as well as the social and academic barriers and costs they encountered. This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the perceptions, understandings and beliefs of 15 baby boomers from South-East Queensland who were returning to or commencing university level education. Informal semi-structured interviews were conducted and thematically analysed to provide a detailed account of the baby boomer students’ university experience. Using an adapted health action process approach, with the health goal being replaced by a learning goal, the results confirm that university study in later life can be beneficial to the individual as well as to the wider community. This research can inform policy-making by emphasising the importance of lifelong learning and healthy ageing for the baby boomer generation. The results highlight the value of higher education creating a supportive environment for baby boomer students which, in addition to educational achievements, can assist participants in maintaining good health and making informed health care decisions in the future.     

Faculty Development and Universal Instructional Design

Centers for teaching and instructional development offer consultation services and resources materials for faculty members and graduate teaching assistants designed to promote excellence in undergraduate teaching. This article considers how such efforts may better address the needs of students with disabilities enrolled in postsecondary education by exploring the intersections of instructional development models.     

Interlending Services: Trends,Languages, and use for Collection Development at North-West University

This paper uses the bibliometrics methods to analyse the interlending service trends, language and collection development at the North-West University. The results show that despite some challenges, ILS services at the NWU decreased. More than 98.5% of all documents requested are in English language followed by Setswana and Afrikaans. Out of the 535 books requested by the Mafikeng Campus, 138 were added to the collection of the library. These results point to a need for academic libraries in Africa to adopt strategies for the development of African languages. The results support the continued use of ILS data for collection development purposes.