The impact of socioeconomic status on parental factors in promoting academic achievement in Chinese children

Children from families of low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to experience lower academic achievement than children from middle-SES families. This discrepancy can be attributed to a range of parental factors. The present study tested: (1) the extent to which academic achievement in three core subjects differs between children from low- and middle-SES backgrounds; (2) the differences in parental expectation, parental involvement, and child engagement across the two groups; and (3) the mediating role of parental expectation, parental involvement, and child engagement in explaining how SES influences children’s academic achievement. The sample consisted of 184 primary students with low SES and 165 primary students with middle SES from mainstream primary schools in Hong Kong. Results revealed significant differences in parental expectation, parental involvement, child engagement, as well as academic achievement in Chinese and English subjects between the low-SES and middle-SES groups. Our findings also suggest that parental expectation, parental involvement, and child engagement may be important mediators in the relationship between SES and academic achievement.     

Finding the missing Einsteins: Expanding the breadth of cognitive and noncognitive measures used in academic services

Education researchers, policymakers, and practitioners are concerned with identifying and developing talent for students with fewer opportunities, especially students from historically marginalized groups. An emerging body of research suggests “universally screening” or testing all students, then matching those students with appropriate educational challenges, is effective in helping marginalized students. However, most tests have focused on two areas: math and verbal reasoning. We leverage three nationally representative samples of the U.S. population at different time points that include both novel cognitive measures (e.g., spatial, mechanical, and abstract reasoning) and non-cognitive measures (e.g., conscientiousness, creativity or word fluency, leadership skill, and artistic skill) to uncover which measures would improve proportional representation of marginalized groups in talent identification procedures. We find that adding spatial reasoning measures in particular—as well as other non-cognitive measures such as conscientiousness, leadership, and creativity—are worthwhile to consider for universal screening procedures for students to narrow achievement gaps at every level of education, including for gifted students. By showing that these nontraditional measures both improve proportional representation of underrepresented groups and have reasonable predictive validity, we also broaden the definition of what it means to be “gifted” and expand opportunities for students from historically marginalized groups.     

挑战与回应:中国高校图书馆的发展方向

2010年以后,中国高校图书馆迎来了中国梦双一流新时代三大发展机遇,同时亦面临着新的时代挑战。文章通过调查各高校、教育部、高校图工委、国家统计局、中国互联网信息中心等官方发布的公开数据,以双一流高校为例,对图书馆经费总量与占比的增长情况、在编馆员数量与质量、大学生阅读现状等情况进行统计分析。结果发现,图书馆总经费在全校总经费中占比平均在0.5%左右且普遍呈下降趋势,与世界一流大学图书馆经费的一般水平(2%左右)相差甚远;高校图书馆在职员工数量偏低且呈下降趋势,馆员与学生比例为1:300,工作负荷超常,工作时间超长,专业馆员数量严重不足;高校图书馆借阅率持续下降,本科生四年外借图书不足40本,专业图书阅读量不足。我国高校图书馆正面临着缺经费缺馆员缺读者的三重现实困境,与世界一流大学图书馆的基本条件相差甚远。为此,高校图书馆必须直面现实,主动亮剑,以回归常识、回归专业、回归本分为基本对策,为高校图书馆增加经费,提升图书馆员的专业性,最大限度地吸引学生阅读。图2。表5。参考文献51。     

独立学院开展电子设计竞赛的探索--以长江大学文理学院为例

大学生电子设计竞赛是教育部倡导的大学生学科竞赛之一,是面向大学生的群众性科技活动,在学生中有着较高的认知度。本文针对独立学院大学生的特点,探讨和研究出一些适合他们参加全国大学生电子设计大赛的培训方法,并对独立学院学生参加电子大赛的培训模式和独立院校电子设计大赛发展的方向进行了探讨。     

我国社会体育指导员的现状分析及发展趋势

社会体育指导员在我国社会体育的发展中的地位日趋重要,本文在分析我国社会体育指导员发展现状的基础上,就社会体育指导员的未来职业化、规范化、社会化等趋势进行了探讨。     

Factors related to Taiwanese adolescents' academic procrastination,time management,and perfectionism

There is a shortage of studies that explore adolescents' academic procrastination. The author hence attempted to examine the mechanisms determining Taiwanese adolescent students' perfectionistic tendencies, time management, and academic procrastination. A total of 405 eighth-grade Taiwanese students completed a self-reported survey assessing their perceptions of classroom structure, parental expectations and criticism, perfectionistic tendencies, time management, and academic procrastination. Findings of regression analyses indicated that parental expectations and criticism were the key predictors of students' adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism. Students' perceptions of classroom structure also positively predicted their adaptive perfectionism. Moreover, results of hierarchical regressions suggested that perceived classroom structure, parental expectations and criticism, as well as adaptive perfectionism all emerged as predictors of time management. With regard to procrastination on homework and examination preparation, parental expectations and adaptive perfectionism were negative predictors, whereas parental criticism and maladaptive perfectionism were positive predictors. Also, time management negatively predicted academic procrastination.     

From divergent meanings to common practices: The early institutionalization of technology transfer in the life sciences at Stanford University

The formation of Stanford University's technology transfer program in the life sciences is analyzed from 1968 to 1982. The program evolved from multiple models based on divergent definitions of invention, inventor, rewards, and university-industry boundaries. The eventual program that emerged proved to be widely emulated. The norms of the academy shaped the uses of resources and the conditions of their appropriation. In turn, the currency of industrial science prompted the rethinking of academic norms. The analysis offers insight into the early stages of institutionalization, as the ambiguity of important categories and flexibility of policies were transformed into organizational routines. Today's ‘settled’ outcomes are the product of highly divergent practices.     

Developing academic literacy through a decentralised model of English language provision

ABSTRACT

Students entering English-medium universities frequently struggle to cope with the language demands of their degree programmes, despite having met the English language entry conditions stipulated by their receiving institutions. This can have significant repercussions for the teaching-learning process, for the student experience and for universities’ reputations. Most universities, therefore, have in place some form of in-sessional English language support to develop students’ language proficiency. Such provision tends to be centralised and to offer English for general academic purposes rather than language development that responds in a more nuanced way to the particular literacy needs of students’ disciplines. In this article we report on an alternative, decentralised model of language support, implemented in a School of Nursing and Midwifery, and which seeks to develop students’ competency in the language skills required for their Nursing studies and professional practice. Results to date have been encouraging and provide further evidence that such tailored provision offers a potentially fruitful language development strategy.     

Exploring gender roles’ effects of Turkish women teachers on their teaching practices

The purpose of this study is to investigate how gender roles of women teachers affect their practices in the classrooms. Participants in the study were 75 female teachers working in elementary schools in Adana, Turkey. Findings indicated that gender roles of women teachers have important effects on their educational practices. Women teachers explained how their gender roles affect their profession mostly in terms of “also being a mother” in both positive and negative directions. The main points in teachers’ explanations were “being a mother and a spouse”, “stress”, “close relationships with students and parents” and “lack of authority and issues of confidence”.     

Within-year changes in children’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations: Contextual predictors and academic outcomes

The present study was designed to investigate the nature, timing, and correlates of motivational change among a large sample (N = 1051) of third- through eighth-grade students. Analyses of within-year changes in students’ motivational orientations revealed that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations decreased from fall to spring, with declines in intrinsic motivation especially pronounced for the adolescents and declines in extrinsic motivation especially pronounced for the elementary students. These changes in motivation were explained, in part, by shifts in students’ perceptions of the school goal context. Findings suggested that typical age-related declines in intrinsic motivation may be minimized by a school-wide focus on mastery goals. Finally, the potential academic consequences of students’ motivational orientations were examined with a series of hierarchical multiple regressions. Intrinsic motivation and classroom achievement appeared to influence one another in a positive and reciprocal fashion. Poor classroom performance minimally predicted higher levels of extrinsic motivation, but extrinsic motivation was not a source of low classroom grades.