Building a Successful Adult Life: Findings From Youth-Directed Research

Abstract

Although transition outcomes for youth with disabilities have shown some improvement and transition support practices have been identified, many young people continue to face transition barriers that preclude their full participation in key adult life activities. While research efforts have largely been professionally driven, there is emerging literature suggesting that the use of participatory, empowerment methodologies may bolster the identification of appropriate research methods and useful solutions to problems, as well as promoting the application of findings to accomplishing practice and policy improvements. The purpose of this study was to use a youth-directed, participatory action methodology to investigate youths' perceptions of the value of transition promotion experiences identified as effective by professionals, and to examine the level at which youth with disabilities participate in those experiences. A survey was developed and administered to 202 young people with disabilities by leaders from the National Youth Leadership Network. Findings indicated that youth generally endorse the importance of validated transition promotion practices; however, they reported having limited opportunity to participate in them. Implications related to the use of participatory action methodologies and needed practice and policy improvements are discussed.     

Interpersonal and psychological predictors of parasocial interaction with different television performers

The study examined the relationship of interpersonal homophily and self‐esteem with the development of parasocial interaction. “Attitude”; homophily was found to be the strongest predictor, among the independent variables, of parasocial interaction for all three groups of television performers. The results also indicated that certain dimensions of a person's self‐esteem helped to predict and to explain parasocial interaction. The study showed how an integration of interpersonal and mass communication theories contributes to our knowledge of parasocial interaction.     

Women Faculty of Color: Stories Behind the Statistics

In this qualitative study we address two primary research questions: What are the experiences of women faculty of color (WFOC) who departed the tenure track at predominantly White, research universities? Using the modified lens of the newcomer adjustment framework, what socialization factors may have contributed to the WFOCs’ departure? Through a longitudinal, in-depth examination of three WFOC who left their university prior to earning tenure, themes of gendered and racialized tokenization and isolation, a need for a more intrusive style of mentoring, and poor institutional fit were identified. Implications for future research on faculty members’ social identity and promising practices for faculty development are shared.     

Anxiety and cueing in a visual concept learning task

This study investigated the relationship of two anxiety measures to performance on a visual concept acquisition task. Criterial information was embedded at two levels for the noncued treatment group and made salient by color cues for the cued treatment group. Two-way analyses of variance were used and indicated a significant interaction between cueing treatment andState-Trait Anxiety Inventory (stai) anxiety scores for the heavily embedded figures. Further research is suggested utilizing different populations and cueing techniques. The addition of cues is suggested for deeply embedded criterial information for use with high-anxiety students.     

Unvarnished Documentation: A Dialogue Between Teacher and Parent in Understanding a Child's “Bad” Behavior

Teachers are often asked to fill out progress reports that include check marks indicating if a child has met certain criteria. While this document offers a superficial glance at knowing a child, it is often the only kind of “assessment” a parent receives. The authors, a daycare teacher and a parent of Rosa, “the mean girl” in the daycare, show how the teacher's daily, unvarnished observations of Rosa and her daycare peers are written and shared publicly in a way that not only helps Rosa's mother gain profound new understandings of her daughter but also helps create a trusting community.     

Evaluating academic development in the higher education sector: academic developers’ reflections on using a toolkit resource

The professionalisation of teaching is of increasing importance in UK higher education due to converging processes including the proliferation of managerialism, increasing quality agendas and changes to student fee structures. These have brought into sharp relief the need for greater understanding of how quality teaching evolves in university settings. One key element of this involves academic development and its impacts on teaching and learning. Current literature suggests that a plethora of ideas, frameworks and instruments claiming best practice exist but that take-up of these is inconsistent. This prompted a UK national research project which produced an evidence-based toolkit for evaluating academic development. As part of the toolkit augmentation, academic development representatives from across the sector were asked to create, review and test uniquely tailored evaluation instruments. These instruments were then piloted on university teachers who had participated in teaching-related continuing professional development activities. This paper reports on these individuals’ reflections of using the toolkit. It suggests that academic developers are interested in evaluating the impact of their work on teachers, students and on the wider institutional culture but that confidence and expertise varies. Using the toolkit generated ‘traditional’ evaluation data including satisfaction with the development activity and changes to lecturers’ conceptions and behaviours. However, it also prompted critical discussions around current evaluation practice. This included the need for transformational reform of institutional culture to support links between evaluation and good standing; and making explicit the thorny issue of evidencing student learning. This paper will be of interest to those with an interest or responsibility for evaluating teaching in higher education. The paper offers an important contribution to the international literature at a time when global higher education is faced with questions about teaching, learning and quality. Evaluation, and how to do it well, is timely and important business.     

Critical action learning: a method or strategy for peer supervision of coaching practice

This paper deals with the on-going practice of a critical action learning set who come together to meet their needs for coaching supervision as a group of executive coaches working from, and within, the University sector in South Wales. The reasons for the successes of, and the challenges around, this practice of four years standing have been articulated using an academic backdrop. The use of multi-factorial supervision has been heralded as being able to give a more rounded form of supervision which, despite its challenges, has, in this example, stood the test of time. Further data are required to try to understand if this form of supervision provides better coaching to the executive field in South Wales and beyond, and what can be learnt from the practice of supervision in general.