Promoting the development of a supportive learning environment through action research from the ‘middle out’

This paper reports on a case study of a supportive learning environment initiative (SLEI) for students on health and social care undergraduate programmes in one English university. It involved the development of small scale support projects that are firmly grounded in the outcomes of prior research as well as the ongoing experience of students and staff at the institution. The paper begins by identifying common themes which point towards principles and strategies for educational change though a brief review of three concepts that are central to the initiative: ‘action research’, the ‘learning environment’ and ‘change management’. The account of the SLEI focuses on some of the processes of change management that were deployed and the subsequent discussion draws on the theoretical review to reflect critically on possible lessons for the promotion and management of localised change in higher education.     

Exploring the Influence of Efficacy Beliefs and Homework Help in Predicting Reading Achievement Among Underserved Children in an Afterschool Program

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a local afterschool program in helping underserved elementary school students improve their reading achievement. The study followed a cohort of students with 28 participants who were low-income, ethnic minority children in the 1st–6th grades between the ages of 6 and 12. Data on students’ developmental assets and school progress were collected at two different time points. Overall, students showed increased perceptions of efficacy about having the ability and skills to do well on a task and getting good grades in school, as well as improvements in reading achievement over time. While changes in homework completion predicted changes in reading achievement, changes in efficacy beliefs and program exposure did not. Results suggest that teacher perceptions of homework completion may be an important pathway through which afterschool programs can help narrow the reading achievement gap experienced by ethnic minority students from disadvantaged backgrounds.     

MBA Program Trends and Best Practices in Teaching Sustainability: Live Project Courses

This study offers a model for incorporating live sustainability consulting projects in an MBA curriculum to nurture cross‐functional faculty collaboration while offering students proving ground for solving contemporary challenges related to ethical management of all forms of capital. We attempt to first lay a foundation for the recent evolution of sustainability within business schools, and then provide evidence that an opportunity exists for decision science scholars to play a key role as facilitators of this wave of pedagogy. Our research is based on publicly available data that rank business schools relative to their integration of sustainability within MBA programs, our experiences with 39 project clients over a 3‐year period, an analysis of client and student feedback, and anecdotal evidence of success in the development of live project‐based consulting courses. The case study highlights the potential and scalability of this proposed pedagogy to deliver live projects as either a stand‐alone course or an integrated part of the curriculum.     

Recipients, agents, or partners?: The contradictions of teacher participation in Mexican secondary education reform

The countries of Latin America have been no exception to global calls for educational transformation and teacher professionalization at the secondary level. One of the newest of these reforms is Mexico’s Reforma de la Educación Secundaria (RS) (Reform of Secondary Education), launched in 2006. This article examines portrayals by various actors of the nature and extent of the participation of both teachers and the teachers’ union in the different phases of the RS, beginning with the initial formulation of the reform through the implementation and the “follow-up.” Findings indicate that in spite of efforts to provide more transparency and opportunities for teacher participation, for the most part secondary teachers in Mexico neither felt like agents nor partners in the RS, nor did they function as such in the reform process. As in previous reform efforts, teachers mostly felt that they were recipients of plans formulated by government officials, and as a result many have evidenced neither complete compliance nor full commitment to the reform. The national teachers’ union, meanwhile, claims to represent teachers’ voices and thus a form of teacher participation, but this claim is denied in the findings. The discussion and conclusions emphasize the multiple significations of teacher “participation” and the need to overcome system-wide contradictions, while drawing on theory about the conditioned state, bureaucracy, and democratizing civil society to help situate and explain the findings.     

Critics’ and public perceptions of violence in television programs

The following article is one of the first fruits of a million dollars’ worth of research by some two dozen investigators that was sponsored by the Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee in an attempt to examine the possible links between the mass media and violence. The research upon which this particular publication is based was performed pursuant to Contract No. HSM 42–70–32 with the National Institute of Mental Health, Health Services and Mental Health Administration, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Dr Greenberg, associate professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University, and a frequent contributor to the Journal, was the principal investigator. Mr. Gordon, a Ph.D. candidate, was senior research assistant in the same department.     

Timothy C. Campbell,Wireless Writing in the Age of Marconi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000.

This article examines the FCC's evaluation of broadcast allocation from 1934 to 1939, focusing on the participation of non-commercial and commercial interest groups in the debate. Its two major themes are: 1) how the commission, while pledging to consider “social and economic” concerns, in actuality gave them only cursory attention and 2) how the commercial interests in the industry began to fracture into individual groups, each arguing for policies advantageous to them. It argues that the commercial industry had vanquished the threat from non-commercial interests in the early 1930s and was now free to splinter into individual factions.     

Linkages Among Preschoolers' Playground Behavior, Outcome Expectations, and Parental Disciplinary Strategies

To explore relationships among parent's self-reported disciplinary strategies, preschoolers' outcome expectations, and playground behavior, 136 mothers of preschool-age children (age range = 39-71 months) participated in home disciplinary style interviews. Measures of preschoolers' outcome expectations and observations of childrens' prosocial, antisocial/disruptive, and nonsocial/withdrawn playground behavior in preschool settings were also obtained. Results indicated that power-assertive mothers had preschoolers who engaged in more antisocial/disruptive behavior and who expected successful instrumental outcomes for hostile methods of resolving peer conflict. Preschoolers with such outcome expectations also participated in more antisocial playground behavior. Older preschoolers of inductive mothers engaged in more prosocial behavior and expected prosocial behavior to lead to both instrumental gains and enhanced relations with peers. Preschoolers who were more prosocial envisioned friendly-assertive strategies as leading to instrumental gains and, in the case of less nonsocial behavior, to enhanced relations with peers. Children's outcome expectations were also found to be different for older versus younger preschoolers. Evidence was also obtained suggesting that maternal discipline and outcome expectations make separate and independent contributions to children's social and aggressive play behavior.     

The relationship between student engagement with online content and achievement in a blended learning anatomy course

Blended learning has become increasingly common in higher education. Recent findings suggest that blended learning achieves better student outcomes than traditional face‐to‐face teaching in gross anatomy courses. While face‐to‐face content is perceived as important to learning there is less evidence for the significance of online content in improving student outcomes. Students enrolled in a second‐year anatomy course from the physiotherapy (PT), exercise physiology (EP), and exercise science (ES) programs across two campuses were included (n = 500). A structural equation model was used to evaluate the relationship of prior student ability (represented by grade in prerequisite anatomy course) and final course grade and whether the relationship was mediated by program, campus or engagement with the online elements of the learning management system (LMS; proportion of documents and video segments viewed and number of interactions with discussion forums). PT students obtained higher grades and were more likely to engage with online course materials than EP and ES students. Prerequisite grade made a direct contribution to course final grade (P < 0.001) but was also mediated by engagement with LMS videos and discussion forums (P < 0.001). Student learning outcomes in a blended anatomy course can be predicted the by level of engagement with online content. Anat Sci Educ 11: 471–477. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.