Affect-congruent social-cognitive evaluations and behaviors

This study examined whether the affect children feel toward peers would influence children's social-cognitive evaluations and behaviors. The sample consisted of 209 fifth-grade children (11- to 12-year-olds; 119 boys and 90 girls). For each child, 3 target peers (liked, disliked, and neutral) were identified via a sociometric nomination procedure. The names of the targets were then inserted into hypothetical vignettes in which the target peer's behavior had a negative consequence for the child. After each vignette, questions about intent, outcome expectations, and self-efficacy beliefs were asked. In addition, self-reports regarding relationship-specific proactive and reactive aggression and regarding victimization were collected. The results demonstrate that children social-cognitively differentiate between the relationship types and that relationship-specific evaluations are associated with relationship-specific behaviors.     

The CXC mathematics examination: A caribbean innovation in assessment

In the last decade a new examination system (CXC) has been developed in the Caribbean. This includes mathematics examinations which incorporate three major innovatory features. These are as follows: Increased information on candidates' performance. A high degree of consultation and social concern in the development and implementation of the syllabuses. The syllabus conceived in a broader sense as a curriculum.     

Cyclic activity changes during extinction in rats: A potential model of depression

Rats’ open-field activity immediately following extinction trials in a runway rose sharply from baseline, then dropped below baseline, and finally recovered. There was no discernible relationship between activity levels and runway performance during acquisition or extinction. The data confirm a theory that a sequence of invigoration, depression, and recovery of noninstrumental locomotor activity (an “incentive-disengagement cycle”) may regularly accompany incentive loss, including experimental extinction.     

Process and structure: Reorganizing the university for instructional technology

The university must be reorganized in order that the new instructional technologies be effectively utilized. The present organizational structure is based on the assumption that the critical dimension in teaching is subject matter expertise. However, teaching is the process of changing people. Not only is knowledge in this process required, but new organizational roles as well. The control of instruction by instructional experts will meet social and individual needs more adequately than they are met at present. One possible organizational arrangement for the coordination of instructional experts is suggested. The proposed reorganization would facilitate both the teaching and the research mission of the university.     

Influences on students' internal locus of attribution for academic success in the first year of college

This study sought to determine the extent to which students' development of internal locus of attribution for academic success during the first year of college was influenced by institutional characteristics, students' academic experiences, and their social/nonacademic experiences. The sample was 2,392 first-year students attending 23 diverse two- and four-year institutions Iocated in 16 states throughout the country. Controlling for precollege internal attribution, academic ability, and other potentially confounding influences, a number of variables had significant, net, positive associations with end-of-first-year internal attribution. These included attending a two-year (versus a four-year) college, level of exposure to postsecondary education, work responsibilities, the extent of course organization, instructional clarity, and instructor support in the teaching received, and participation in intercollegiate athletics. Additional analyses indicated that many of the associations with internal attribution were conditional rather than general, differing in magnitude for different kinds of students.     

Voluntary freshman attrition and patterns of social and academic integration in a university: A test of a conceptual model

This study assessed the validity of Tinto's (1975) theory of student attrition, which asserts that withdrawal relates most directly to students' integration in the social and academic systems of an institution. The study also examined the relative importance of these two dimensions. Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that both social and academic integration were significantly and independently related to voluntary freshman attrition. Discriminant analysis suggested, when the two variable sets were combined, that the joint contributions of the two sets were approximately equal, tending to support Tinto's assertion of the concomitant importance of these two constructs. The findings also suggest that informal interaction with faculty may play a more important role than presently specified by the model in the socialization of students, contributing to their integration into both the academic and social systems of the institution. The results also indicate that sizeable reductions in attrition may be possible only through actions which touch both the social and academic dimensions of the institutional environment.     

Evaluating the influence of peer learning on psychological well-being

The scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education is concerned with advancing pedagogical knowledge and teaching practice to improve student learning and associated outcomes in higher education. This study used data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education to examine the effects of peer learning experiences on gains in psychological well-being after four years of college. Results indicate a significant, positive influence of peer learning on the Ryff scale of psychological well-being [Ryff, C. D., and C. L. Keyes. (1995). “The Structure of Psychological Well-Being Revisited.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 69 (4): 719–726]. In addition, peer learning had a significant positive effect on all but one of the Ryff well-being subscales (autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance). This research supports the use of peer learning as an important pedagogical practice.     

Predictors of academic and social integration of college students

This study extended earlier research based on Tinto's 1975 model of student college attrition by investigating patterns of student social and academic integration across institutional types. This study found that different college types were characterized by different patterns of student participation in the social and academic life of the college. Personal characteristics and overall climate associated with each institutional type explained statistically significant but modest amounts of the variance in student participation in specific campus activities that help define campus life. Moreover, several personal characteristics were related to students' campus behavior differently across institutional types. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for student recruitment and retention.     

MATHEMATICS TEACHER EDUCATION AND QUALITY

‘Quality’ in mathematics teaching does not relate solely to pupil achievement, to teaching approaches or to deeply held beliefs about the nature of mathematics and its teaching and learning, but to all of these. A model of a teacher's mathematics‐related belief‐system is presented, and the issue of the contrast between espoused and enacted beliefs is discussed. ‘Quality’ in mathematics teacher education raises all of these issues, as well as the aims, goals and means of the teacher preparation process itself. The paper concludes by arguing against the ‘apprenticeship’ model of mathematics teacher education, for depriving student teachers of theory and of practical research experience. A well known dictum paraphrased states that theory without practice is empty, but that practice without theory is blind. ‘Quality’ in mathematics teaching and teacher education depends on both theory and practice in systematic cooperation.