Beyond magical thinking: Doing the real work of diversifying our institutions

U.S. Supreme Court opinions have left some doors open for institutions to build the kinds of diverse student populations that are known to enrich the learning of all students. But simply inviting diverse students through those doors is not doing nearly enough.     

A survey of video game players in a public,urban research university

A survey was conducted in a public, research university located in a large and diverse metropolitan area in the southeastern part of the USA. The purpose of the survey was to determine both the positive and negative personal, educational, social, and work related consequences of playing video games. Nearly two‐thirds of the 203 participants in this study were of Hispanic heritage. A majority of the sample of participants was derived using a school intercept, as opposed to mall intercept, strategy. The remaining participants were obtained using snowball, and convenience sampling techniques. Statistically significant differences between males and females were found in the areas of communication, decision making in daily lives, leadership skills, collaborating, functioning in a team, and giving directions to others. These differences were favorable to males.     

Empatía,Role-taking y concepto de ser humano,como factores asociados a la conducta prosocial/altruista

Resumen

Se trata de un estudio realizado con 224 sujetos, de ambos sexos, entre 10 y 12 años, de tres ciudades distintas (Salamanca, Málaga y Donostia). En él se estudia el poder predictor de la empatía, la capacidad de ponerse en el punto de vista de los demás y el concepto de hombre sobre la conducta prosocial altruista. Los resultados demuestran un alto poder predictor de estos factores.     

Conceptions of good teaching and how they influence the way adults and school leavers are taught

Seventeen lecturers in three departments in a university were interviewed about their conceptions of good teaching, their perceptions of the differences between adult and full-time students, and the actual strategies and methods they employed in their practice of teaching the two student groups. Results showed that there were common perceptions of the way adult students differed from their full-time adolescent counterparts. However, they reacted differently to those perceived differences. Three major types of accommodation were found: catering for weakness, treating both groups in the same way, and remediating weaknesses. The lecturers' conceptions of good teaching could be categorized into two main categories: transmissive and facilitative. Cross-tabulation of the teaching conception of the individual lecturers with their orientation to accommodation showed that those holding a transmissive conception tended to cater for the weakness of their students or make no distinction between teaching adult and full-time students. Those perceiving teaching as facilitating learning were more likely to try to remediate the weaknesses of their students.     

Relation between Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and WISC-III scores of children with RD

Concurrent validity of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) was evaluated, as well as the K-BIT's accuracy as a predictor of WISC-III scores, in a sample of young children with reading disabilities. The two measures were administered to 65 children from Atlanta, Boston, and Toronto who ranged from 6-5 to 7-11 years of age at testing. Correlations between the verbal, nonverbal, and composite scales of the K-BIT and WISC-III were .60, .48, and .63, respectively. Mean K-BIT scores ranged from 1.2 to 5.0 points higher than the corresponding WISC-III scores. Standard errors of estimation ranged from 10.0 to 12.3 points. In individual cases, K-BIT scores can underestimate or overestimate WISC-III scores by as much as 25 points. Results suggest caution against using the K-BIT exclusively for placement and diagnostic purposes with young children with reading disabilities if IQ scores are required.     

Revisiting Grutter and Gratz in the Wake of Fisher: Looking Back to Move Forward

This article revisits the University of Michigan's 2003 affirmative action cases, Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger. Through the aid of critical textual analysis and critical race theory, the author looks back at the predominant narratives that framed the challenge to, and defense of, race-conscious affirmative action policy in the University of Michigan cases. In the wake of Fisher v. University of Texas Austin, the third affirmative action case to be heard before the United States Supreme Court within the last decade, the author suggests that revisiting Grutter and Gratz may be helpful to understand the evolution of arguments for and against affirmative action.