Science in Action: How Middle School Students Are Changing Their World Through STEM Service-Learning Projects

The purpose of Science in Action (SIA) was to examine the relationship between implementing quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) service-learning (SL) projects and the effect on students' academic engagement in middle school science, civic responsibility, and resilience to at-risk behaviors. The innovative project funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) included 6,000+ middle school at-risk students (eligible for at least 50% free or reduced-cost lunch), 126 science teachers who integrated STEM problem-based SL pedagogy into science instruction to teach students to solve real problems in schools and communities. The project involved 20 schools and communities with assistance from 120 community partners. Participants completed pre- and post-SL surveys on academic engagement, civic responsibility, and resilience; qualitative data were collected from journals, interviews, focus groups, observations, and field notes. Results highlight exemplary SL projects that demonstrated increased student academic engagement and achievement for students living in high poverty areas with potential at-risk behavior. Implications for future research and educational practices are discussed.     

Academic workload: the silent barrier to the implementation of technology-enhanced learning strategies in higher education

The effect of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) strategies in higher education has arguably been transformative despite the not-insignificant barriers existing in this context. Throughout the discourse very little attention has been paid to those primarily responsible for this implementation—academic teaching staff. This paper aims to highlight the impact of academic workload allocations, an often silent barrier to the uptake of TEL strategies in higher education. We will discuss the effects of academic identity and culture, preferential time allocation to associative activities, academic technological capacity, university policies and workload and funding models on the uptake, and implementation on TEL in higher education. Our aim is to highlight the risks to staff, students and institutions should these concerns not be addressed and to propose a model for utilisation by all staff responsible for implementing flexible workload models supportive of further implementation of TEL strategies across the sector.     

The relation between abuse and violent delinquency: the conversion of shame to blame in juvenile offenders

Objective

While the relationship between abusive parenting and violent delinquency has been well established, the cognitive and emotional processes by which this occurs remain relatively unidentified. The objective of this work is to apply a conceptual model linking abusive parenting to the conversion of shame into blaming others and therefore to violent delinquency.

Methods

A retrospective study of 112 adolescents (90 male; 22 female; ages 12-19 years; M = 15.6; SD = 1.4) who were incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility pending criminal charges, completed measures of exposure to abusive and nonabusive discipline, expressed and converted shame, and violent delinquency.

Results

Findings tend to confirm the conceptual model. Subjects who converted shame (i.e., low expressed shame, high blaming others) tended to have more exposure to abusive parenting and showed more violent delinquent behavior than their peers who showed expressed shame. Subjects who showed expressed shame (i.e., high expressed shame, low blaming others) showed less violent delinquency than those who showed converted shame.

Conclusions

Abusive parenting impacts delinquency directly and indirectly through the effects of shame that is converted. Abusive parenting leads to the conversion of shame to blaming others, which in turn leads to violent delinquent behavior.

Practice implications

For juvenile offenders, the conversion of shame into blaming others appears to contribute to pathological outcomes in relation to trauma. Translation of this work into clinical practice is recommended.     

Where Did All the Data Go? Internet Security for Web‐Based Assessments

The purpose of this article is to enumerate a series of security steps that might be taken by those researchers or organizations that are contemplating web-based tests and performance assessments. From a security viewpoint, much of what goes on with web-based transactions is similar to other general computer activity, but the recommendations here focus on what can be done to avoid the loss, compromising, or modification of data collected by or stored through the Internet.     

Bridging knowledge: A collective undergraduate thesis development approach

While there are various approaches to gerontological and geriatrics (and social sciences) education globally, a component commonly included in undergraduate education is a final thesis project. In Turkey, the Department of Gerontology at Akdeniz University has undertaken a unique approach to thesis development that values and draws on accessing the greater expertise and knowledge of faculty and students through joint collaborations. We offer an overview of the eleven stages of a collective thesis development approach as an alternative to the conventional way of conducting oversight of undergraduate thesis projects. With four years of experience, observed benefits of a collective thesis development approach for students include the opportunity to draw on the comradery, insights, and experience of a plurality of educators and aspiring students while developing, executing, and documenting a thesis project. Benefits to advisors/educators include profiting from the strengths in other advisors and wider exposure to current research, findings, and methodological approaches. So while there may be multifold variations in curriculum content and educational approaches, it is of great importance that educators create “spaces” that give value to and foster the pursuit of collective wisdom through joint collaborations. (188 words)     

Online Schooling in the United States: A Response to Saultz and Fusarelli

In this paper, we discuss some concerns and recommendations of Saultz and Fusarelli (2017), offering nuanced and detailed views of online schooling from a different perspective. This includes addressing challenges regarding online learning such as fluctuating enrollments, financial concerns, quality assurance, and accountability. In addition, we propose recommendations related to funding, better quality data, and oversight and monitoring. We conclude with a short discussion of the need for differentiated research for specific online learning contexts.     

Environment and Policy Factors Shaping Global E-Commerce Diffusion: A Cross-Country Comparison

This article examines the key global, environmental and policy factors that act as determinants of e-commerce diffusion. It is based on systematic comparison of case studies from 10 countries--Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Mexico, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States. It finds that B2B e-commerce seems to be driven by global forces, whereas B2C seems to be more of a local phenomenon. A preliminary explanation for this difference is that B2B is driven by global competition and MNCs that "push" e-commerce to their global suppliers, customers, and subsidiaries. This in turn creates pressures on local companies to adopt e-commerce to stay competitive. In contrast, B2C is "pulled" by consumer markets, which are mainly local and therefore divergent. While all consumers desire convenience and low prices, consumer preferences and values, national culture, and distribution systems differ markedly across countries and define differences in local consumer markets. These findings support the transformation perspective about globalization and its impacts. In terms of policy, the case studies suggest that enabling policies such as trade and telecommunications liberalization are likely to have the biggest impact on e-commerce, by making ICT and Internet access more affordable to firms and consumers, and increasing pressure on firms to adopt e-commerce to compete. Specific e-commerce legislation appears not to have as big an impact, although inadequate protection for both buyers and sellers in some countries suggests that mechanisms need to be developed to ensure greater confidence in doing business online.     

The Creative Spirit of Design

If instructional designers hold limited views about their practice they sometimes adopt formulaic routines that do not help them accomplish the goals they believe are important, or develop instruction of a quality envisioned by the field??s innovative theorists. Fortunately, designers can avoid these unfavorable results in part by understanding and exemplifying the creative spirit of design. In this article the author examines the creative spirit of design, exploring its imaginative, creation-oriented, and inter-disciplinary character. The author also describes how the creative spirit can help instructional designers remain flexible and perceptive in their practice, and by so doing be better able to create effective and innovative instruction of a quality consistent with their ultimate ideals.