Using a Critical Service-Learning Approach to Facilitate Civic Identity Development

This article highlights elements of civic engagement programs that have the rich potential to facilitate civic identity development. Focusing on research with alumni, the study examines 3 civic engagement programs, the approaches of which are guided by critical service-learning. It explores elements of the experiences that alumni name as influential to their learning, development, and present commitments to understand the ways that civic engagement programs based in a critical service-learning approach can encourage them to develop commitments to active citizenship as exemplified by Knefelkamp's (2008) vision of a mature sense of civic identity.     

Teacher Perceptions of a Physical Education Statewide Assessment Program

Abstract

A statewide program assessment was established to make positive change in physical education school programs in South Carolina. Reform efforts depend both on balancing accountability for change and teacher support for change (Odden &Anderson, 1986). The purpose of the study was to determine teacher perceptions of the South Carolina Physical Education Assessment Program and its effects across six related themes including: changes in teaching and learning, changes in curriculum and instruction, teacher awareness of the assessment program, teacher support for the program, work place conditions, and the advocacy role of the program. It was also the purpose of this study to determine if the survey responses were in any way related to teacher and school variables. The overall results of the study indicated positive change and support for the assessment program, supporting the viability of the standards, assessment, and accountability reform effort to positively impact physical education programs.     

Economic impact of the arts: Theatre festivals in small Ontario communities

Conclusions This paper has demonstrated that visitors to professional theatre companies located in towns and villages of southern Ontario contribute to the economic well-being of the local economy. Furthermore, it has been documented that while all communities receive some monetary benefits, spatial variations are found to exist. These discrepancies are a function of differences in the average expenditures of non-local residents and the total number of visitors attending the theatre event. As expected, average expenditures appear to be highest in communities supporting a large commercial sector which are capable of sustaining a touris market. Moreover, the number of visitors attending a theatre event appears to be greatest in small communities supporting an established theratre company.     

The Aesthetic and the Academic-Are They at Odds in English Literature at A level?

This discussion largely concerns a single essay written at English A level. The essay is only a fragment of evidence yet it provides a rich stimulus for thought and speculation about the nature of English at this level of study. The subject of the essay is poetry - more specifically, the poetry of Sylvia Plath. What might be expected of such an essay? What responses to poetry might be possible within it?     

Dimensions of intercultural effectiveness: Culture specific or culture general?

Abe and Wiseman (1983) replicated Hammer, Gudykunst, and Wiseman's (1978) study of the dimensions of intercultural effectiveness. Subjects for the Hammer et al. study were Americans living in another culture for at least 3 months, whereas Abe and Wiseman's subjects were Japanese tourists in the United States. Three dimensions emerged in the original study and five in the replication. Abe and Wiseman interpret these differences as evidence for a culture-specific interpretation of intercultural effectiveness. The argument presented in this paper is that Abe and Wiseman's data do not support a culture-specific interpretation. Rather, it presents relatively unequivocal evidence for a culture-general interpretation. Differences in the two factor structures are explained in terms of sample size and length of stay.     

Building a future without gender violence: rural teachers and youth in rural KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa,leading community dialogue

This article advances the idea that rural youth and teachers are the key in leading community dialogue towards addressing gender-based violence (GBV) in their community through their film making. The youth voices on the realities of GBV in their school and community, in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, captured through the process of participatory video, are used to engage a group of their teachers in thinking about addressing GBV in the school and community. The teachers' engagement with the five participatory videos on GBV – through participatory analysis and participatory archiving – provided an opportunity to deepen their understanding of GBV by also interrogating their own stance and led them to direct the production of a composite video suitable for use in leading community dialogue on a future without violence.     

Impact of Early Alert on Community College Student Persistence in Virginia

ABSTRACT

Early alert systems have promised to be an integral component of a student success solution. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between the use of the early alert system and persistence for students taking developmental education courses and students taking college-level courses in the Virginia Community College System. A quasi-experimental, nonrandomized research design with matched-control groups was used to evaluate impact on student persistence. Data analysis was conducted using multiple binary logistic regressions. The results indicated the early alert system had a substantial and positive impact on developmental mathematics students, with minimal to no impact on developmental English and college-level students. Students enrolled in developmental English courses, experienced a positive, but much more modest impact. Finally, students in college-level courses experienced a very mild impact, in some instances positive and others negative.