Alternative vocational schooling for the dropped‐out: students' perceptions of the Activity School of East Finland

Dropping out of school is a universal problem, concerning fairly similar target groups in all countries. Several action plans to prevent dropping out and to activate the dropouts have been developed worldwide. The object of this study, the Activity School of East Finland, is an exceptionally comprehensive entity, within which alternative pedagogical models are applied during the entire three‐year course of vocational education. In this paper, we will review the key figures for the most important variables related to the experiences on the Activity School during the three years studied. The evaluation is based on the students' assessment of the impact of the activity. The added value generated by the Activity School, and compared to comparison group data from traditional vocational education, is most clearly seen as the general satisfaction experienced by the students with the Activity School's operating model and their satisfaction with the student–teacher interaction.     

A SYSTEMS MODEL FOR CURRICULUM DECISION MAKING

Abstract

Two types of community colleges are described, one serving as a miniuniversity and the other as an opportunity center. The academic progress of 750 students from four community colleges, two classified as miniuniversities and two as opportunity centers, was compared in terms of (a) persistence, and (b) success after transferring to a senior institution. Institutions classified as opportunity centers were found to graduate a greater proportion of their students than did the miniuniversities. Academic performance after transferring to a senior institution was equivalent for students graduating from either type of institution. It is concluded that large numbers of community college students are unnecessarily discouraged and thereby deterred from higher education by community colleges that operate as miniuniversities and that the needs of most community college students are better served by the opportunity center.     

学生党员再教育“加减乘除”模式的现实路径探析

学生党员再教育是高校学生党建工作的重要内容.目前高校学生党员再教育还存在认识不足、投入不足、流于形式、缺乏有效评估等诸多问题.在建设学习型、服务型、创新性的马克思主义执政党的过程中,认清形势、发现问题、理清思路、对症下药,在学生党员再教育过程中加入“科学发展”的理念、减掉“蜻蜓点水”的作风、乘上“百花齐放”的效应、除去“千人一面”的模式,这种“加减乘除”的立体思维模式全面丰富了学生党员再教育的深刻内涵,为未来高校党建工作的改革发展指明了方向.     

Authoritative schools: A test of a model to resolve the school effectiveness debate

School effectiveness research has fueled debate on the importance of a press for academic excellence versus communal values. Research on parenting styles offers a theoretical framework that may resolve the debate. We hypothesized that dimensions of parenting styles—demandingness (academic press) and responsiveness (communal values)—predict students’ mathematics achievement, engagement, and locus of control. HLM analyses of NELS: 88 data on 19,435 eighth-graders partially supported the hypothesis: Students’ perceptions of school responsiveness predicted their engagement and internal control. In addition, students in responsive schools had smaller differences in mathematics achievement and internal control attributable to SES, suggesting that responsive schools may increase equity. We offer suggestions for further investigation of the model in hope of resolving the debate.     

地方高校成人教育学生管理工作的几点思考

成人教育是高等教育体系的有机组成部分,同时也是全民教育和建设学习型社会的重要实现形式。本文分析了国内部分地方高校成人教育的现状及存在的问题,并在此基础上探讨了与成人教育密切相关的学生管理工作中需要解决的几个重要问题。     

创先争优背景下学生干部培养模式研究

学生干部培训是各级团学组织学生干部培养工作的重要组成部分,在创先争优这一历史背景下,针对当前学生干部自身存在的功利思想严重,缺乏归属感等问题和培养环节中存在认识不足等问题,提出了以创先争优活动为契机,积极构建学生干部培养新模式,切实做好学生干部的培养工作。     

高校学生工作的内涵式发展

高校学生工作是高等教育的重要组成部分,涵盖了教育、管理、服务三大职能。高校学生工作要走内涵式发展道路．促使思想政治教育隐性化、学生事务管理柔性化、学生发展服务人性化,促进学生全面发展。     

我校学生读者阅读情况的调查与分析

本文采用问卷式抽样及随机调查相结合的方式，从10个方面调查分析了我校学生读者的阅读情况，力求从中得到一些启示与思考，以便更好地指导大学生的阅读。     

虚报《国家学生体质健康标准》测试数据的现象研究

针对虚报《国家学生体质健康标准》测试数据的现状进行调查、分析,找出发生根源,提出解决方法。     

Is it possible to redress noninstructional biases in student evaluation of teaching surveys? Quantitative analysis in accounting and finance courses

Several studies have reported that student evaluation of teaching (SET) presents important problems. First, depending on the area, there are significant differences in the evaluations. Second, numerous noninstructional biases exist, such as when those teachers who award better grades obtain better SETs. Correcting the rankings by considering these biases (e.g., adjusting SETs according to the class grade) has been proposed. In this paper, we analyse a third problem: it is impossible to correct the biases because they are specific to each area, level, and even class. On a sample of 15,439 SETs, we compared the biases present in two very close areas (accounting and finance) and at two levels (undergraduate and postgraduate). Then, we used a procedure based on the analysis of residuals in OLS models to eliminate area- and level-specific biases. However, there are still latent biases apparently linked to each specific group of students.