Cognitive Effects of College: Differences Between African American and Caucasian Students

In this longitudinal study of African American and Caucasian students from eighteen 4-year institutions, objective tests were used to estimate the cognitive effects of race in college, while applying statistical controls for an extensive set of confounding influences including precollege and background traits, institutional characteristics, and academic and social experiences. Evidence from the study suggests that in the first 3 years of college Caucasian students scored higher than their African American counterparts on seven standardized tests measuring critical thinking skills, knowledge of mathematics, reading comprehension, science reasoning, and writing skills. Implications for future research are discussed.     

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.     

Research Into Postgraduate Education

Research into postgraduate education that has made any significant contribution to knowledge is somewhat sparse. This is a selective review of that part of the literature in English that is freely available in Britain. Major topics covered include: admission criteria, student characteristics, form and quality of instruction, success and failure, finance, students’ contribution to research, and the employment market.     

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.     

The Effects of Liberal Arts Experiences on Liberal Arts Outcomes

Despite scholars’ praise of liberal arts education as a model form, very little research has examined the actual impact of liberal arts education on learning outcomes. The elaborate rhetoric and anecdotal support, long used to advance liberal arts education as the premier type of education with value for all, is no longer sufficient. The practices and conditions that lead to outcomes of a liberally educated student remain an empirical black box. Guided by the work of Pascarella et al. [2005, Liberal arts colleges and liberal arts education: New evidence on impacts. ASHE Higher Education Report, 31(3)], this study examined the extent to which an institutional ethos, that values student–student and student–faculty interaction within a supportive environment characterized by high expectations for developing the intellectual arts, manifests in the lived experiences of students and predicts the development of outcomes theoretically associated with the liberal arts. Specifically, we investigated the construct and predictive validity of the liberal arts experience scale relative to liberal arts outcomes. Using data from the first phase of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, net of student background characteristics and institution attended, we found liberal arts experiences had a positive effect on four of six liberal arts outcomes, including intercultural effectiveness, inclination to inquire and lifelong learning, well-being, and leadership.

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.     

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.     

How Educational Practices Affect the Development of Life-long Learning Orientations in Traditionally-aged Undergraduate Students

We investigated curricular conditions and educational practices that influenced the development of life-long learning orientations among 405 undergraduate students. Results suggest that growth in life-long learning orientations was facilitated by instruction that included opportunities for reflection, active learning, and perspective-taking and that provided students with opportunities for positively interacting with diverse peers. Negative diverse peer interactions were found to stifle development. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.