For Me or Not for Me? Fragility and Risk in Mature Students' Decision‐Making

Drawing on a research project which investigated the recent decline in mature student recruitment to higher education in the UK, this article explores the decision-making process among samples of potential and new mature entrants to nine case study higher education institutions. It compares the emphasis in public policy on higher education as a private investment with the understandings and interpretations of individuals in the act of applying for entry. It concludes that while at a generalised level mature learners believe that the private return on investment will be high, at a personal level the concepts of fragility and risk are more pertinent to understanding the complexity of their decision-making process, particularly for those over 25 years of age.     

The hiring of academic administrators since the 1972Higher Education Guidelines

With the announcement of the 1972Higher Education Guidelines, colleges and universities were mandated to expand recruitment activities beyond the usual network approach. The intent of theGuidelines was to broaden the search process with the ultimate goal of placing more candidates from underrepresented populations. The purpose of this study was to determine if any change occurred in hiring practices and, particularly, if any change occurred in the hiring of candidates from underrepresented populations for select academic administrative positions in four-year colleges and universities as advertised in theChronicle of Higher Education during the period from 1972 to 1976. It was found that changes in recruitment had taken place but that changes in hiring appeared not to have occurred.     

The ‘More Capable Peer’: Approaches to Collaborative Learning in a Mixed-Ability Classroom

This essay challenges assumptions that those labelled as ‘high achievers’ are in some way ‘held back’ by those perceived as having lower initial capability. By exploring collaborative pedagogical approaches and focussing on my experiences with two students, with widely differing initial capabilities, and exploring how they have influenced each other’s learning, I argue that organisational models that separate students based on perceived ability can be damaging. Allowing time and space for students to collaborate on a range of tasks and creating a classroom atmosphere which values the contributions of all can enable those students deemed of lower ability to become useful learning tools for their ‘more capable peers’ as well as vice versa. Against those versions of the Vygotskian zone of proximal development that privilege the role of the ‘more capable peer’, I argue that collaborative forms of learning can be mutually beneficial.     

Problem- Versus Case-based Approaches in Teaching Medical Students about Eating Disorders: A controlled comparison

Fourth-year medical students were allocated randomly to either problem-based learning (PBL) or case-based learning (CBL) tutorials on the topic of eating disorders during their 6-week psychiatry attachment. All students were evaluated in terms of their tutorial performance and the factual knowledge they had acquired. In turn, students evaluated the performance of the tutors in both the PBL and the CBL process. No significant differences were found between the student groups with respect to their performance or acquired knowledge. Furthermore, there were no significant differences when comparing the PBL format with the CBL format with regard to group functioning or oral interaction between students. Finally, student ratings for tutor performance on feedback, group management skills and personal qualities showed no differences. Implications for education are discussed.     

Prospective relations among victimization, rejection, friendlessness, and children's self- and peer-perceptions

This study investigated the prospective links between three forms of peer adversities (i.e., victimization, rejection, and lack of reciprocated friendships) and children's perceptions of themselves and of their peers. The sample consisted of 212 children (107 boys and 105 girls, 11-13 years) recruited from four primary schools and followed up for a period of one year. The results showed that a negative self-perception was a risk factor for the development of all forms of peer adversities. Of the three forms of peer adversities assessed, victimization and rejection had an influence on children's peer perceptions. None of the peer adversities predicted changes in self-perceptions. The results partially support a transactional model between children and their environments.     

Examining the impact of the ABRACADABRA (ABRA) web-based literacy program on primary school students in Hong Kong

The current paper examined the effects of A Balanced Reading Approach for Children Always Designed to Achieve Best Results for All (ABRA), a web-based literacy programme developed by the the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP) at Concordia University, on primary school children in Hong Kong. The participants were 249 Primary 1 students from two low social economic status schools in Hong Kong and the two schools were well-matched on many demographic characteristics. All participating students were pre-tested in the fall and post-tested in the following spring. After adjusting for pretest differences, the treatment school scored significantly higher than the controls on three of the six outcome measures at post-tests: phoneme-grapheme correspondence (ES = +0.22, p < 0.05), phoneme segmentation (ES = +0.46, p < 0.00), and nonsense word fluency (ES = +0.22, p < 0.06). Both treatment and control students scored similarly on word reading, listening comprehension, and initial sound fluency. The outcomes of the study provides some promising evidence of the effects of ABRA on Chinese primary students in Hong Kong, especially on the enhancement of phonological skills, thus leading to early success in the formative years of learning English as a Second Language (ESL). Practical implications are discussed.     

They came with a purpose: educational journeys of nineteenth-century Irish Dominican Sister Teachers

Irish Catholic teaching sisters were major actors in the development of education systems in New World countries such as the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Immigrants themselves, they faced a number of key challenges as they sought to adapt Old World cultural and educational ideas to the education of the immigrant Irish in a new cultural, religious and educational context. A close examination of the wide range of sources available in private archives and elsewhere offers unique insights into the challenges facing 10 Irish Dominican Sister Teachers as they journeyed from Ireland to Dunedin to found primary and secondary schools in the young colony of New Zealand. This article examines their responses to their early experiences and the part they played in the development of a viable Catholic education system in nineteenth-century New Zealand.