Spatialised metaphors of practice: how teacher educators engage with professional standards for teachers

Pre-service teacher educators, both nationally and internationally, must negotiate a plethora of expectations including using Professional Standards to enhance teacher quality. In Australia, the recent Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG) report highlighted weak application of Standards in Initial Teacher Education (ITE). However, recent reports suggest that many education stakeholders feel positive about the implementation of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APSTs). This study responds to these differing viewpoints by exploring how teacher educators in a large metropolitan university in Australia account for the use of Standards in their work. Discourse analysis techniques in conjunction with socio-spatial theory make visible particular metaphors of practice as teacher educators negotiate the real-and-imagined spaces of regulated teacher education programmes. The findings highlight the importance of investigating the utility of Standards in the lived experiences of teacher educators, as they are responsible for preparing quality, classroom ready graduates.     

Rituals Improve Children's Ability to Delay Gratification

To be accepted into social groups, individuals must internalize and reproduce appropriate group conventions, such as rituals. The copying of such rigid and socially stipulated behavioral sequences places heavy demands on executive function. Given previous research showing that challenging executive functioning improves it, it was hypothesized that engagement in ritualistic behaviors improves children's executive functioning, in turn improving their ability to delay gratification. A 3‐month circle time games intervention with 210 schoolchildren (M_age = 7.78 years, SD = 1.47) in two contrasting cultural environments (Slovakia and Vanuatu) was conducted. The intervention improved children's executive function and in turn their ability to delay gratification. Moreover, these effects were amplified when the intervention task was imbued with ritual, rather than instrumental, cues.     

The Relationship Between Institutional Expenditures and Degree Attainment at Baccalaureate Colleges

Enhancing student persistence and effectively managing financial resources present important challenges to higher education. Surprisingly, existing student persistence and attrition models offer little insight into the potential links between institutional expenditures and student persistence. This study examines the impact of institutional expenditures on 6-year cohort graduation rates at 363 Carnegie-classified Baccalaureate I and II institutions. The results suggest a positive and significant relationship between instructional and academic support expenditures and cohort graduation rates. As a result, researchers might consider ways to integrate expenditure variables into student persistence models. Institutions also might seek out ways to shift financial resources to areas that enhance student persistence and degree attainment. Additional research may serve to strengthen student persistence frameworks and improve links between persistence research and financial decisionmaking in colleges and universities.     

Manufacturing and wetting low-cost microfluidic cell separation devices

Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) is a microfluidic size-based particle separation or filter technology with applications in cell separation and enrichment. Currently, there are no cost-effective manufacturing methods for this promising microfluidic technology. In this fabrication paper, however, we develop a simple, yet robust protocol for thermoplastic DLD devices using regulatory-approved materials and biocompatible methods. The final standalone device allowed for volumetric flow rates of 660 μl min⁻¹ while reducing the manufacturing time to <1 h. Optical profilometry and image analysis were employed to assess manufacturing accuracy and precision; the average replicated post height was 0.48% less than the average post height on the master mold and the average replicated array pitch was 1.1% less than the original design with replicated posts heights of 62.1 ± 5.1 μm (mean ± 6 standard deviations) and replicated array pitches of 35.6 ± 0.31 μm.     

Contemporary induction to teaching in Australian universities

Australia has 42 universities. In 2015/16, 30 of 40 universities reviewed provided one or more days of teaching induction for their staff, while 10 did not. Twenty-six of the 30 teaching induction program directors were surveyed and 24 of those were interviewed to provide a snapshot of professional development for new teaching staff in Australian universities. The key findings of that research showed that almost two thirds of universities did not pay sessional staff to attend a teaching induction program; just over half the programs included peer observation of teaching; only one in five programs offered mentoring opportunities; three quarters of programs included assessment; and approximately a third of programs provided credit towards an award course. We conclude that all universities need to provide new teaching staff with a longer teaching induction program, which will support them to develop student-centred, scholarly behaviours and attitudes.     

Changes in self-esteem across the first year in college: the role of achievement goals

This longitudinal study examined the effects of achievement goals on the growth trajectories of self-esteem during the first-year at a comprehensive public university. College freshmen (N?=?311) were followed for one academic year with three time points. Between-individual differences and within-individual change in achievement goals were distinguished and used as predictors for the growth trajectories of self-esteem. A growth curve analysis revealed that initially high mastery goals and subsequent increases in mastery goals were related to high self-esteem while initially high performance-avoidance goals were related to low self-esteem. The initial levels of performance-approach goals were not related to self-esteem but subsequent increases in performance-approach goals were associated with low self-esteem. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Responding to the Increased Needs of College Students: A Case Study of Case Management

The psychological needs of college students lead to overwhelming demand on college counseling centers’ resources. In this article, we review models of case management in Higher Education including the administrative, behavioral intervention, and counseling center models. We also present a case study of the 3-year development of a counseling center case management service. Initial data suggest that expanding the role of a counseling center case manager to allow for frequent appointments/follow-up and standardizing counseling center case management procedures led to improved appointment attendance and increased communication with students following referral. A vignette and suggestions for other centers are also presented.     

Plug-in tubes allow tunable oil removal,droplet packing,and reaction incubation for time-controlled droplet-based assays

Here, we report a unique microfluidic technique that utilizes a membrane filter and plug-in tubes to remove oil and pack water-in-oil droplets for controlled incubation of droplet-based assays. This technique could be modularly incorporated into most droplet-generation devices without a need to alter the original designs. Our results show that removing excess oil to form tightly packed droplets allows for extended and controllable incubation for droplets traveling in microchannels. The efficiency of this technique was evaluated and confirmed using a time-dependent enzyme assay with a fluorometric readout. The system is also readily generalizable to control inter-droplet distance, crucial for studying droplet communication and pattern formation.