Alternatives in higher education — Who wants what?

A survey of undergraduate students enrolled on eight campuses of The University of California yielded information about the magnitude and structure of desire for programs of study different from the traditional, full-time programs in which these students are enrolled. These preferences were elicited about both undergraduate and graduate programs of study. Although a desire for alternative programs is greater for the graduate level, both graduate and undergraduate orientations toward alternative programs have two principal sources: (1) a desire for greater time and space flexibility in access to higher education, which arises out of objective familial and financial impediments to easy, full-time enrollment; and (2) a negative view of established forms and modes of higher education. The kinds of programs which students feel will meet these needs are characterized by instructional modes which do not require the student to attend a single center of learning but which, nevertheless, retain interpersonal contacts among students and faculty members. The most attractive single feature endorsed by those desiring alternative modes of instruction is the design of the course of study by the student himself. The implications of these findings for future changes in traditional higher education are discussed.The first author is Director of Research and Evaluation, Office of the Vice President - Extended Academic and Public Service Programs, Office of the President, University of California. The second author is President of the University of Utah and was formerly Vice President - Extended Academic and Public Service Programs, University of California. This paper is adapted from a background paper which the authors prepared for the Conference on Future Structures of Post-secondary Education, Paris, France, June, 1973, sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.     

Self-reported disciplinary practices among women in the child welfare system: association with domestic violence victimization

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between physical domestic violence victimization (both recent and more than a year in past measured by self-report) and self-reported disciplinary practices among female parents/caregivers in a national sample of families referred to child welfare. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of more than 3,000 female caregivers in the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW) study, a nationally representative sample of children and their families referred to child welfare agencies for investigation of abuse and neglect. Women reported physical domestic violence victimization and their disciplinary practices for their child on different versions of the Conflict Tactics Scales. RESULTS: Four hundred and forty-three women reported prior year domestic violence, 1,161 reported domestic violence but not in the past 12 months, and 2,025 reported no domestic violence exposure. Any prior domestic violence exposure was associated with higher rates of self-reported psychological aggression, physical aggression and neglectful disciplinary behaviors as compared to those with no domestic violence victimization in bivariate comparisons. After controlling for child behavior, demographic factors, and maternal characteristics, those with remote and recent domestic violence victimization employed more self-reported psychological aggression, while only caregivers with recent DV reported more physical aggression or neglectful behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: In a national child welfare sample, self-reported aggressive and neglectful parenting behaviors were common. In this sample, domestic violence victimization is associated with more self-reported aggressive and neglectful disciplinary behaviors among female caregivers. The mechanism for these associations is not clear. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Rates of aggressive and neglectful disciplinary practices are especially high among female parents/caregivers exposed to domestic violence. Child welfare agencies should plan routine and structured assessments for domestic violence among parents/caregivers and implement parenting interventions to reduce harmful disciplinary practices for those families identified.     

ADD students with and without dyslexia differ in sensitivity to rhyme and alliteration

Children with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and dyslexia (n = 82) made significantly more errors than normally reading children with ADD (n = 83) on a simple auditory test of phonological sensitivity to rhyme and alliteration (Bradley, 1984). A subgroup of children with dyslexia who were sensitive to rhyme and alliteration had higher scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Spatial factor than a dyslexic subgroup who were phonologically insensitive. In multiple regression analyses, age-corrected phonological sensitivity scores contributed significantly to the prediction of both reading and spelling Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) scores, this beyond the contribution of WISC-R variables. Of interest for dyslexia subtyping theories, Spatial factor scores had a subtractive effect in these regression analyses.     

The application of science to technology

The notion that technology is the application of science to the making of artefacts is a widely-held, persistent and influential view. Considerable scholarly work has been done during the past quarter century to refute it on the grounds that it is historically and ontologically inaccurate. It is a view which fails to recognise the contribution of non-scientific factors to technological development,which neglects the reverse contribution of technology to science, and which offers a superficial account of the process of application. This paper focusses on this last point, and argues that in those cases where science is applied to technology, the application process is usually exceedingly complex. The process involves the selection of appropriate knowledge, the adoption of differing criteria and the translation and re-shaping of knowledge to make it amenable to the technologist. The issue has important implications for the school curriculum. Specializations: science/technology education, technology teacher education, educational evaluation.     

Object permanence in child and chimpanzee

In a repeated-measures design, two infant chimpanzees and three human infants were tested in like manner using the Uzgiris and Hunt (1975) stepwise assessment instrument for the development of object permanence in human infants. Comparisons between chimpanzee and human subjects showed similarities in the number of steps achieved, in the order and rate of achieving the steps, and in the detailed characteristics of searching behavior. These results suggest that the course of development of the concept of object permanence, as described by Piaget, is a very general one.     

Unforgivable Blackness: Visual Rhetoric,Reader Response,and Critical Racial Literacy

Perceptions of black representations in literature and other visual mediums as positive or negative continuously cause consternation and debate (Fleetwood, 2011). Because African American children are literacy participants and consumers, they are not immune from experiencing this tension. This essay considers the effects and affective threads of racism and racialization connected to visuality (Foster, 1988), and how educators might support and nurture children’s roles as aesthetic critics and critical readers of books featuring racial imagery and representations. The young African American readers in this study resist a picturebook using colorist logic and macro-level social indexing of phenotypic traits. The author argues that negative social messages about blackness within the larger ethos of society, as well as the absence of diverse representations in children’s literature, contribute to such interpretations. She suggests explicitly teaching African American children about counter-visuality and the ways in which “art works” to shape and transform understandings about complex experiences like racism.     

Fitting the Mold of Graduate School: A Qualitative Study of Socialization in Doctoral Education

Doctoral student attrition in the United States has reached alarming proportions, with reported rates of approximately 50% across disciplines (Nettles and Millett 2006). Attrition rates of underrepresented populations have been reported at higher rates across disciplines (Council of Graduate Schools 2004), pointing to a disparate experience for these students. Socialization has been shown to be a determining factor in doctoral student success and retention (Turner and Thompson 1993) while not necessarily reflecting how the socialization experience differs by disciplinary and institutional contexts. Through this qualitative study I sought to understand the effects of the socialization process upon doctoral student success and retention in the disciplines of chemistry and history at two institutions. Results highlighted a disparate experience for women, students of color, students with families, part-time students, and older students. Suggestions for policy, practice, and further research are included. Susan K. Gardner  received her Ph.D. in Higher Education from Washington State University and is currently Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Maine in Orono. Her research interests include doctoral education, student development, and issues of social justice in higher education. She can be reached at susan.k.gardner@maine.edu.