Roles,Risks, and Benefits of Peer Mentoring Relationships in Higher Education

Successful peer mentoring in university settings is the result of relationships among students, mentors, and instructors. Findings from this study indicate that even in programs where training is ongoing and established, assumptions cannot be made about the understanding of the roles, risks, and benefits involved in such relationships. This study demonstrates that students, instructors, and mentors all have different perspectives about a mentor’s role and how that role should be enacted. Connecting link, peer leader, learning coach, student advocate, and trusted friend were identified as predominant roles enacted by mentors. Also described are risks and benefits for being or having a peer mentor.     

College Women Mentoring Adolescent Girls: The Relationship between Mentor Peer Support and Mentee Outcomes

In this study, we examined the effectiveness of peer support for college women mentors who engaged in one-to-one and group mentoring with at-risk adolescent girls. Using data from 162 mentoring pairs, results suggested that mentor support positively predicted mentees’ self-reported improvement after a year of mentoring. An examination of mentees’ self-esteem outcomes revealed that mentor peer support was associated with higher outcomes only for those mentees who had higher pre-program scores; for those with below average pre-scores, mentor support was associated with lower self-esteem. Taken together, these results indicate that mentor support may serve as an important function beyond ongoing training, though its effectiveness may vary based on mentee characteristics. Implications are discussed.     

Peer relations and emotion regulation of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties with and without a developmental disorder

Children with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) and those who also have developmental disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), can experience the same adverse consequences in their peer interactions and relationships. This present study compared the emotion regulation and peer relationships of children aged 8–12 years (M = 9.86 years, SD = 1.49) with EBD (N = 33) and children with EBD plus a diagnosed developmental disorder (N = 28). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with Bonferroni adjusted alpha levels revealed no significant main effect for emotion regulation according to EBD status. There was, however, a multivariate main effect for sex, with females presenting with higher levels of negative emotional intensity (e.g., frustration, anger, aggression) than males. A second MANOVA revealed no significant main effect for peer relationships according to EBD status and sex. Significant correlations revealed that the EBD-only group experienced greater adverse peer interactions than the EBD-plus-developmental disorder group. These findings are important for educators and researchers involved in the development and evaluation of prevention and intervention programms for children with EBD.     

Teacher views on the effects of the change from coursework to controlled assessment in GCSEs

When General Certificates of Secondary Education (GCSEs) were introduced in the late 1980s, coursework was included as a requirement in many subjects. Coursework was intended to help best represent students' attainments, but concerns about various issues (e.g., tasks becoming formulaic, authenticity of student work, workload) led to a review and ultimately to its replacement with “controlled assessments”. This research investigated the effects of this change. A questionnaire was completed by 346 teachers across 6 subjects. Most teachers felt the risks of plagiarism are similar or have reduced. Two thirds of teachers reported that the introduction of controlled assessment has affected the way they teach, and around 60% feel it has affected the nature of the knowledge and skills learnt by students. There are reportedly practical challenges relating to timetabling, student absence, and increased administration. However, over 70% of teachers consider it “important” or “very important” to have some form of internal assessment in their subject.     

Perspectives on continuing professional development in and through information and communications technology

This paper considers the role and development of meaningful dialogue in digitally mediated learning (DML) in UK higher education for teachers. It argues that more research is vital in the field of meaningful dialogue if we are to avoid the risk that pedagogic values in DML become increasingly driven by market forces toward ‘data vending’ without sufficient contextualisation of learning as social practice. Three data collection sources are interpreted. The first is the narrativised experiences of a DML development team transforming an MA Education award; the second is some key reflections on the experiences of MA participants on a newly transformed DML module and the third is a brief analysis of student results and evaluations. The key focus for the paper is how important and challenging it can be to nurture a dialogic academic community online that clearly supports and nurtures the professional development of teachers across the education sector. Using a methodological approach incorporating Ulrich’s notion of ‘reflective competence’, the paper considers the pitfalls of transforming face-to-face modules into DML, arguing that both staff and participant preparation for DML must be at the forefront of such transformations. The paper concludes with a consideration of the vital role in DML of pedagogies which promote emotional engagement and ‘kindness’.     

Culture and Technology: implications for multicultural teacher education

ABSTRACT

American classrooms are experiencing a rapid growth in cultural and ethnic diversity, as well as an increase in educational classroom computing. Because culture directly affects classroom organisation and classroom learning, teachers need to understand, incorporate, and support their students’ cultures. Furthermore, since educational computing is not culturally neutral, teachers in culturally diverse settings must integrate the computer culture, the classroom culture, and students’ learning preferences. To meet the need for culturally and technologically competent multicultural teachers, teacher education programs must first define both cultural competency and computer competency. After examining the relationship between culture and educational computing, the paper explores some essential components of cultural and technological competency for multicultural teachers. Finally, it indicates the need for further research on the interaction of culture and technology in the multicultural classroom.     

Effective Strategies for Information Technology in Teacher Education: the use of an evolving permeation model

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the debate in recent years about the most effective strategy for establishing the use of information technology in teacher training establishments in the United Kingdom. Evidence is presented to support the notion that efforts should continue to permeate the use of information technology throughout the courses of such establishments. However, the paper suggests that staff development and the degree of permeation of information technology within the culture develop alongside each other. As one of these variables change, it feeds the development of the other; neither is an independent variable though both are influenced by external factors. Recognising this as a relatively slow process, the paper proposes a model of evolutionary permeation.     

英国职业教育学业成就评价的质量保障研究

为提供高质量的职业教育学业成就评价,英国构建了职业教育学业成就评价的质量保障机制.该机制涵盖对核实评价结果、评价行为、评价记录和评价不当与申诉四个方面的规定和要求,重点凭借内部核查、评价实施以及评价记录三项措施起到质量保障作用.由此,我国职业院校可以通过构建或完善学业成就评价的标准化程序,寻求监控评价过程及结果的有效手段以及从促进学习和进步这一最终目标来看待学业成就评价这三方面来完善学业成就评价质量保障体系.     

从女性主义角度解读网络穿越小说

网络穿越小说的创作是女性作家面对自身的生存和生活压力向外界突围的一种方式,在这些小说中,创作者赞美女性,批判男性,体现了女性的心理诉求和价值追求。