The Financial Evaluation of Work‐Study Alternatives Facing School‐Leavers

Internship programs, whereby students are employed on a full‐time basis while studying part‐time for a degree, are increasingly popular. This paper discusses an analytical framework which is helpful in evaluating, from the student's perspective, alternative internship programs. The methodology is illustrated by a detailed analysis of two internship programs currently available in N.S.W. Other options such as full‐time study, with and without part‐time employment, are also analysed. Comparison of the internships and other options reveal substantial differences in life‐time earnings, rates of renumeration and implicit trade‐offs between income and leisure. Non‐monetary differences may also be substantial.     

Young Children’s Curiosity About Physical Differences Associated with Race: Shared Reading to Encourage Conversation

Many have called for re-examination of the “colorblind” philosophy to which some early educators have, tacitly or explicitly, adhered (e.g. Boutte et al. 2011; Derman-Sparks and Edwards 2010; Husband 2012). It has been argued that, while colorblind approaches may appear to be politically neutral, they actually exacerbate racial oppression. In this article, we advocate for a direct and active approach to raising conversations about race with younger preschool children. Based on the developmental nature of young children’s concepts of self and of other, our focus is on initiating discussions about concrete and observable physical aspects of human diversity associated with race. Young children notice and are curious about differences in skin color, hair texture, and facial features. Because these differences are salient, are accessible, and are of interest to young children they can serve as an effective starting point. We suggest shared reading of high quality illustrated children’s books, incorporating the principles of dialogic reading, as a potent springboard for discussions about race with very young children. Our purpose is to equip children, very early in their schooling, with a color-filled appreciation for and comfort with physical diversity of appearance. On that foundation, children may better proceed on the course of developing anti-racist attitudes.     

Paired peer learning through engineering education outreach

ABSTRACT

Undergraduate education incorporating active learning and vicarious experience through education outreach presents a critical opportunity to influence future engineering teaching and practice capabilities. Engineering education outreach activities have been shown to have multiple benefits; increasing interest and engagement with science and engineering for school children, providing teachers with expert contributions to engineering subject knowledge, and developing professional generic skills for engineers such as communication and teamwork. This pilot intervention paired 10 pre-service teachers and 11 student engineers to enact engineering outreach in primary schools, reaching 269 children. A longitudinal mixed methods design was employed to measure change in attitudes and Education Outreach Self-Efficacy in student engineers; alongside attitudes, Teaching Engineering Self-Efficacy and Engineering Subject Knowledge Confidence in pre-service teachers. Highly significant improvements were noted in the pre-service teachers’ confidence and self-efficacy, while both the teachers and engineers qualitatively described benefits arising from the paired peer mentor model.     

The Acquisition of Communication Skills by People with Brain Injury: Some comparisons with children with autism

This research identifies the extent to which different contexts shape and modify the language and behaviours of four people with acquired brain injury. Comparisons are made with factors which can influence the language acquisition of children with autism because it is postulated that children with autism also have a particular brain injury. The comparison does not end there as the criteria for effective management necessary to nourish the communication skills of both groups appears similar. The four contexts used to shape and evaluate the language of people with brain injury include their own home, a residential camp with maximum support and enriched activity, a post camp period with comparable support, followed by a return to their own home with very limited support. Measures of communication skills demonstrate the success of the enriched camp facility. This was characterised by planning, structured support, and expectation of success from the participants. Their motivation and ability to communicate generally far exceeded the communication skills that each person with brain injury demonstrated when organised activity and sustained support is not available.     

Job crafting by students who work and study

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - Informed by a self-regulatory perspective, we tested a model (N = 233) in which job (e.g., autonomy), person (e.g.,...     

Mothers’ and Fathers’ Roles in Caring for an Adult Child with an Intellectual Disability

To date, there have been few studies of mothers’ and fathers’ roles in caring for their adult children with intellectual disabilities. The present study investigated the care-giving roles of mother and father couples caring for their adult offspring with an intellectual disability, their psychological health, and the demands and satisfaction of their care-giving roles. Twelve Anglo-Australian middle-aged mother and father couples with an adult child with intellectual disability (mean age?=?24 years) participated in semi-structured interviews about their care-giving roles and completed a series of questionnaires pertaining to care-giving difficulties and satisfaction, hassles and uplifts, and general health. Findings indicated that an extremely high proportion of both mothers and fathers were in the clinical range for social dysfunction, anxiety/insomnia, and somatic complaints, although levels of depression were relatively low. The present study found that mothers undertake more daily care-giving tasks than fathers, but that the range of tasks is similar. Mothers also reported significantly more care-giving difficulties and satisfaction than fathers. Associations between measures differed somewhat for the two parent groups, indicating the need for further exploration of both mothers’ and fathers’ experiences.     

With Tools and Strategies Teachers Use in Online Courses： A Mexican Public University Case

The rapid development of ICT （information technology and communication） in the last two decades has changed society substantially as a whole. For higher education institutions, the external environment pressure to incorporate ICT in their educational and administrative processes has forced them to invest in resources for infrastructure and training. In addition, teachers have found that they can use technology in their teaching, but lack of full knowledge of how to use it effectively from a pedagogical point of view. The incorporation of new education modalities depends largely on the contextual variables prevailing in the institution and teachers. In UABC （Autonomous University of Baja California）, the early days of online education go hack to 1996, so the study period was from 1996 to 2009. An online survey was designed to fmd out the teachers＇ backgrounds and involvement in online education, their experience as online teachers, and the tools and practices used. Of 97 teachers who were identified with some experience in online teaching, 70% responded to the Survey （68）. It was found that the highest percentage （33%） of teachers who responded the survey started teaching online between 2003 and 2006. 56% of teachers have been teaching between one and five online courses. On the other hand, most teachers recognized that 30%-79% of the content of their courses were online based. The most popular learning management system used is moodle followed by blackboard in teachers＇ preference. In general, teachers expressed using the three main communication tools of online education： forums, chat and e-mail, favoring the use of e-mail. The communication slrategies teachers often use in their courses promoted student-student and student-teacher interaction. In their evaluation strategies, most said that they used self-assessment, rubrics and to a lesser extent online exams and co-evaluation. The results show that most teachers who have been involved in online education in UABC campus have expressed havi