University access and after: explaining the social composition of degree programmes and the contrasting expectations of students

University expansion in higher education has been hierarchically differentiated. There is some concentration of certain social profiles in some degrees of study, so social composition between degrees can vary considerably. This article describes in terms of social composition 10 degrees of four public universities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. We analyse 857 questionnaires filled in by mid-career students. From the perspective of agent’s decision on the choice of studies, we explore what were the factors that made them choose a concrete degree. We examine several variables that can indicate whether their expectations have been met or not. The results show that the factors predicted by the theory by which working-class (WC) students choose degrees—instrumental motivations and conditions that minimize the risk—are often met. In this regard, the recent structural reform related with the implementation of the European Higher Education Area that removes short-cycles degrees (3 years) could lead to a problem of access for WC students.     

“So,we kind of started from scratch,no pun intended”: What can students learn from designing games?

Much research attention has been focused on learning through game playing. However, very little has been focused on student learning through game making, especially in science. Moreover, none of the studies on learning through making games has presented an account of how students engage in the process of game design in real time. The present study seeks to address that gap. We report an exploratory embedded case study in which three groups of students in one classroom created a computer game designed to teach peers about climate science, while drawing on scientific knowledge, principles of game design, and computational thinking practices. Data sources were student design sheets, computer video, and audio screen capture while students created their game, and interviews after completing the curriculum unit. A theme-driven framework was used to code the data. A curricular emphasis on systems across climate systems, game design, and computational thinking practices provided a context designed to synergistically supported student learning. This embedded case study provides a rich example of what a collaborative game design task in a constructionist context looks like in a middle school science classroom, and how it supports student learning. Game design in a constructionist learning environment that emphasized learning through building a game allowed students to choose their pathways through the learning experience and resulted in learning for all despite various levels of programming experience. Our findings suggest that game design may be a promising context for supporting student learning in STEM disciplines.     

Physical activity and acculturation among adult Hispanics in the United States

Understanding the prevalence and demographic correlates of physical activity is important for public health and epidemiological research. This analysis examines the association between acculturation and physical activity in a large (approximately 5,000) sample of Hispanic adults from the 2000 National Health Interview Survey. Scores for eight questions concerning language use were summed to produce an acculturation index. Factor analysis indicated that these questions assessed a single underlying construct. Self-reported adherence to recommendations concerning leisure time physical activity increased from 22. 6% in the least acculturated tertile to 47% in the most acculturated tertile. In contrast, prevalence of walking or bicycling for errands decreased from 25.2 to 18.2%, and prevalence of standing or walking during most of the day decreased from 82.8 to 65.6% as acculturation increased. Thus, patterns of physical activity associated with leisure versus nonleisure time differed among Hispanics with varying acculturation levels. Alternatively, cultural factors may have differential effects on responses to questions concerning leisure and nonleisure time physical activity. In either case, assessing both types of activity is important for monitoring and understanding Hispanic health behaviors and interpreting epidemiological studies that involve physical activity in Hispanics.     

Two decades of curricular reforms in the Spanish university

In this article we present the topic of the orientation of university curricula, the pressures that exist today as a response to the demands of the market, and we examine specifically the transformation that has developed in Spain during the last two decades. We have tried to base the statements and analyses that are presented on empirical data obtained from our own research (Education and Labour Research Group—GRET). The motivation to write this document has been to try to add to the debate about the changes experienced by the university, in particular in regards to the curriculum, and to reflect on our experience as investigators in higher education.     

University students’ success: A psycho-sociological approach

The aim of this paper is to propose a basic model to analyse processes of change in educational institutions taking into account both individual and contextual variables. It aims to identify the basic factors of change in order to contribute to reduce the dispersion of research projects, both from close subjects and one subject alone within human sciences, in order to make scientific accumulation easier and to guide social practice better. This proposal is based on Cryer and Elton’s (Studies in Higher Education, 1: 75–86, 1990) contributions, in this case applied to the learning processes of university students. They may account for static and dynamic aspects. To prove its coherence, it has been statistically compared with the data of a survey carried out among university students in Catalonia (Spain).     

A good student subject: a Foucauldian discourse analysis of an adolescent writer negotiating subject positions

In this article, we draw on the work of Michel Foucault to analyze one student’s subject development in an expository writing classroom. James, the participant, was embarking on the project of becoming a good student, as he understood it, after struggling and leaving school previously. Drawing on interviews, classroom observations and written artifacts, we use Foucauldian concepts and discourse analysis, along with one James Gee’s discourse analysis tools – the identities building tool – to conduct a microanalysis of James’s efforts to objectify himself as a good student subject. The data show how James acquiesced to the truths and practices of the regime of school, including how he mobilized truths of the regime through a process we call masked confession. That is, he negotiated his good student subject position by masking or silencing other subject positions. James’s masked confession was his way of negotiating the realm of ‘multiple truths,’ or multiple subject positions.