A written,reflective and dialogic strategy for assessment feedback that can enhance student/teacher relationships

In response to the shortcomings of current assessment feedback practice, this paper presents the results of a study designed to examine students’ and teachers’ experience of engaging in a written, reflective and dialogic feedback (WRDF) strategy. The strategy was designed to enhance the learning experience of students undertaking a large first-year core course at a regional Australian university in semester 2, 2012. The evaluation consisted of three components: student surveys pre- and post-WRDF; a student focus group post-WRDF; and a teacher survey post-WRDF. Participating students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the WRDF assessment feedback suggested that students value feedback highly, and show a preference for feedback combining written, reflective and dialogic processes. The research findings suggest that the WRDF framework can be utilised to address the immediate, practical problem of students’ and teachers’ dissatisfaction with the practice of assessment feedback. Thus, WRDF may be used to nurture teacher/student relationships and enhance the learning process. Although a relatively intensive process, the WRDF strategy can serve an integral role in enhancing feedback practices and supporting students.     

Situating teachers’ developmental engineering experiences in an inquiry-based,laboratory learning environment

Many secondary math and science teachers don’t understand the nature and application of engineering adequately to transfer that understanding to their students. Research is needed that investigates and illuminates the process and characteristics of development that addresses this gap. This mixed-method study examines the developmental experiences of 16 public math and science teachers in a yearlong engineering experience. Teachers partnered with university engineering professor-mentors for six weeks on campus followed by ongoing support for transfer to their secondary classes (grades 9–12). Teachers gained engineering knowledge and skills, and an understanding of engineering’s diversity and interdisciplinary nature, plus integrative applied strategies for math and science instruction. They developed productive perceptions (of value, utility, benefits, feasibility and fit) of engineering for their grade 9–12 students, along with efficacy and intent to use what they had learned. Teachers identified positive, profound shifts in their perceptions of engineering and engineers. All teachers integrated engineering principles into their classrooms, but the process was more challenging for math teachers than for science teachers. This developmental experience may help bridge gaps of school-to-life and disciplinary boundaries that separate formal educational environments from authentic life experience.     

Delayed Understanding and Staying in Phase: Students’ Perceptions of their Study Situation

Findings are presented from a study of undergraduate students’ experiences of understanding in first-year engineering. At the end of their first year of study 86 Swedish students of electrical engineering and computer science were asked to reflect in writing on their experiences of studying and learning. Fifteen of them also took part in interviews which explored in some detail their experiences of understanding in relation to perceived constraints of the teaching-learning environment. The analyses of the students’ written accounts and the interview data focused on the students’ experiences of studying and of understanding in relation to course work in engineering. The majority of the students reported problematic first-year experiences and testified to a sensation of ‘falling out of phase’ with their studies. This sensation was frequently coupled with a lag in coming to understand course material, which may be characterised in terms of delayed understanding. The notion of delayed understanding is discussed in relation to ideas about students’ perceptions of the learning environment and the impact that those perceptions might have on students’ opportunities to reflect on learning material and develop a solid understanding of course material in engineering education. In conclusion, it is suggested that the the notion of delayed understanding captures the complications of a study situation in which a perceived lack of time to reflect on learning material obstructs students’ understanding of course material in engineering, and also points up a more general aspect of learning observing that time to reflect on previous experiences is an essential component of the process of coming to understand learning material in a particular educational setting.     

论辅导员(班主任)队伍建设在学生教育管理工作中的重要作用

辅导员（班主任）是全面贯彻执行教育方针，实施“德育先导”的职业素质教育的主力军。辅导员（班主任）工作是树立良好校风的关键，是全面提高学生素质的组织保证。因此，加强辅导员（班主任）队伍建设是做好学生教育管理工作的重要一环。合校建院以来，水利系学生工作在辅导员（班主任）的选任、教育及管理工作等方面做出一些探索，这里和大家一起共勉。     

高校辅导员心理应激研究

高校辅导员中存在的心理应激现象,对辅导员队伍的建设、学生的成长进步以及思想教育工作的开展会产生不良影响。研究辅导员心理应激的形成、影响、应对,解决好高校辅导员群体的心理应激,维护好其心理健康,保持高校辅导员队伍的思想稳定,是当前高等院校管理不容忽视的一项重要工作。     

辅导员工作理念转变与研究型辅导员的成长

辅导员工作必须秉承“德育首位”理念、人本理念和科学化理念。辅导员专业化、职业化要求其工作理念须由经验型向科学化理念的转变。已有的辅导员技能培训模式、理论教育模式存在一定的局限性,通过实践反思模式培育研究型辅导员,是辅导员专业化的基本模式和现实路径。研究型辅导员的成长需要加强三个重要环节:学科资源的利用和学科意识的培养,学术问题意识的养成,辅导员行动研究。     

Investigating self‐perceptions and resilience in Looked After Children

The perceptions of Looked After Children (LAC; n = 51), their Designated Teachers (DTs), and a sample of non‐LAC (n = 99) were elicited. LAC held more positive self‐perceptions than the non‐LAC, and similarly positive ratings were given for the LAC by their DTs; but LAC held lower career aspirations than the non‐LAC. LAC differed in their levels of resilience, in terms of the number of risk and protective factors identified for each child. Girls had more protective and fewer risk factors than boys. Moreover, a high incidence of protective factors in LAC was associated with positive self‐perceptions, and a high incidence of risk factors was associated with negative self‐perceptions. The implications of these findings for educational psychology practice are discussed.     

The mythology of feedback

Much of the general education and discipline-specific literature on feedback suggests that it is a central and important element of student learning. This paper examines feedback from a social process perspective and suggests that feedback is best understood through an analysis of the interactions between academics and students. The paper argues that these two groups will have their own mythology of feedback and that this will inform their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours in the feedback process. Where there are different mythologies, the outcome will be dissonance. The paper reports on a study in which a 15-item questionnaire was distributed to academics and students in a School of Law and a School of Management. Responses were received from 91 academics and 1197 students. The data suggests that academics and students have different perceptions of feedback and this creates dissonance as the two groups offer different interpretations of the same feedback events.     

School Counselors' Perceptions of Their Academic Preparedness and Job Activities

School counselors are trained in academic preparation programs for future job activities. However, job expectations taught in such programs can differ from actual school counseling activities. This article reports the findings of a national survey of school counselors' (N = 1,052) perceived preparation and practice.     

Do parents’ and teachers’ views of children’s educational resilience matter?

This study set out to examine parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of children’s educational resilience. As expected, the parents attributed greater levels of educational resilience to their children than did the teachers. However, both the parents and teachers assessed the sixth graders’ educational resilience as higher than that of the third graders. The results suggest that perceptions of educational resilience may represent a different dimension from views relating to children’s achievement in school.