Search

This study evaluated a scholarship support program, "Mathematics as a Common Language in Science," that was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Running from 2015 to 2020, the scholarship support program assisted 31 students to major in chemistry, physics, or mathematics with the intent of supporting these students to enter graduate school and careers in the physical sciences. In this study, student outcome metrics and survey data were collected to investigate the impact of the program elements on the participants' academic success. Additional program elements, such as access to tutoring support, outreach opportunities, and undergraduate research, were emphasized to support students in their designated major. A 1-credit-hour course, taught first semester for the freshman cohort of students, emphasized study skills and university resources, and engaged students to consider the overarching applicability of math concepts to the science curriculum. The findings of this study offer insight into program elements that supported student success with consideration of aspects that did not function as planned. The authors hope that sharing these insights will aid other programs to structure effective programming for students.

Members of the Deaf New American community reported they arrived in the United States with no formal education, unable to read or write in their native language, and had zero fluency in English. Efforts to educate them have floundered, and the study aims to find out why and how to fix the problem. Interviews of eight Deaf New Americans yielded rich data that demonstrates how education policy in the form of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other laws fail to address their needs, because these laws do not include them in their coverage. The study's main findings are the deleterious effect of the home country's failure to educate their Deaf citizens, America's failure to provide accessible and effective instruction, and the combined effect of these institutional failures on the ability of Deaf New Americans to master English and find gainful employment. This article is an argument for a change in education policy that recognizes the unique nature of this community and provides for a role of Deaf educators in teaching Deaf New Americans.

This article details a model for research and practice using video data for multidimensional purposes as part of a professional development school (PDS) partnership. The research methods described situate practitioners as leaders in a school working toward more inclusive school reform with support from PDS partners, including two Professors-in-Residence (PIRs) and PDS teacher co-liaisons. The purpose of sharing this methodological model is to: (a) explore how video research can foster reflective opportunities; (b) highlight professional leaders; (c) (re)construct student competence from a strengths-based perspective; (d) contribute to a video bank of best practices, all as part of collaborative work toward more inclusive schools.

Using a qualitative interview design and the conceptual framework of an engaged campus (Furco, 2010), this article examines the engaged scholarship of contingent academics in a university-community partnership with several professional development schools in the United States. This article highlights some facets that make their engaged scholarship different from traditional scholarship, and the challenges in meeting responsibilities to both the community and university. The purpose of this article is to extend our understanding of community-engaged scholarship and help higher education institution administrators think about policies to support contingent academics participating in other community partnerships.

This study builds on previous studies that have examined guided project-based learning in undergraduate statistics courses to examine students' attitudes toward statistics after participating in a graduate-level statistics course that used guided project-based learning as an andragogical technique. This phenomenological qualitative case study utilized multiple student interviews and reflections over a semester-long statistics course in a doctoral education degree program. The results showed that guided project-based learning immersed students in the quantitative inquiry process and emboldened them to read and use statistics in their academic and professional lives. It also revealed several elements of guided project-based learning that are important for instructors looking to implement this approach in their own courses.

This article shows how one school in the Northeastern United States used professional development school-university relationships to create inclusive education practices to better support students with disability labels transitioning out of self-contained classrooms and into inclusive classrooms. Through this article, I address a dearth of PDS research on inclusive education by infusing a disability studies in education (DSE) lens into the small body of inclusive education PDS literature that exists. Specifically, I attempt to highlight the foundational actions a PDS steering committee took to systematically and proactively support students with disability labels inclusively.

The College of Education at Rowan University has held a sustained commitment to the tenets of the National Association for Professional Development Schools' Nine Essentials. Using the essentials to guide the work of the Rowan PDS Network, each PDS partner focuses on the four cornerstones of teacher preparation and ongoing professional development. Designated by Dr. Stacey Leftwich as the ''nonnegotiables'' of PDS work, the authors present the four cornerstones in this article to help create a framework of consistency that provides meaningful experiences to all partners involved in the Rowan PDS Network. The authors also describe how Rowan University has used the non-negotiables to consistently launch and sustain the Rowan PDS Network for almost 30 years.

The study discussed in this article investigated university student beliefs and behaviours with respect to co-curricular activities among incoming (n=983), mid-degree (n=173), and graduating (n=1006) students. When asked about their most significant learning experiences during their time at university, graduating students were more likely to report on co-curricular activities than those related to coursework. However, participation in co-curricular activities was not related to graduating students' feelings of preparedness to undertake a job search or apply for postgraduate education. Incoming students reported clear intentions to participate in some types of co-curricular activities (e.g., volunteering, intramural sports, clubs) but were more uncertain about others (e.g., events or activities related to global awareness, or diversity and inclusion). Parallel findings were observed with respect to actual co-curricular involvement among mid-degree and graduating students. This research is discussed in the context of university efforts to promote co-curricular activities to students in order to develop career ready transferrable skills, and the relevance of particular patterns of involvement to the current job market.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a roadmap of one way to use professional development school (PDS)-university relationships to create the foundations of sustainable inclusive education practices. This paper outlines PDS practices enacted the first year of a project that took place at a public elementary school that serves students in grades four to six. During the first year of the project, there were a total of 23 members of the PDS special education (SPED) sub-committee. The SPED sub-committee made conscious decisions to increase the number of students with disability labels in inclusive classrooms. Critical actions of the SPED sub-committee included: infusing a Disability Studies in Education (DSE) approach in professional development activities, and collaborating with administration to create structures that encourage students with disability labels moving from self-contained classrooms and into inclusive classrooms.

Purpose: This study aims to analyse the insertion of Sustainability in Management undergraduate courses in Brazilian higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach: Through content analysis, the authors have mapped the curricular grids of the Management courses simultaneously best classified in an independent national ranking and with the highest scores in the Brazilian Government's assessment instruments. Afterwards, the authors carried out both network and cluster analyses. Findings: Among the main findings, the authors can highlight the exclusive presence of public universities in the sample, the absence of courses that offer sustainability themes in the Amazon region, the high incidence of Sustainability in elective courses, the prominence of themes related only to the environmental dimension of Sustainability and the considerable difference among the five regions of the country in terms of the content offers. Given these findings, the authors can state that Sustainability via curricular insertion in the studied undergraduate courses in Management is still in its initial stages. The study sheds light on how the Management curriculum can embed Sustainability and provides insights for dealing with this issue in educational policies, both at local and national levels. Practical implications: The study confirms that the insertion of Sustainability via curriculum in the undergraduate courses in Management is still in its initial stages and discusses how different Sustainability contents are related or not to their context. Originality/value: This study contributes to the theme of Sustainability in HEIs by conveying structured and comprehensive data, besides contributing to studies on the topic in emerging countries, particularly in Latin America.

Student retention is a key outcome measure for post-secondary education, but data show relatively stagnant retention rates over the past decade. Longstanding interventions such as counseling, academic advising, and mentoring provide crucial student services, but little change in retention rates suggest there is still need for additional student supports. Within the landscape of higher education, academic coaching is a relatively new, yet burgeoning intervention designed to increase student retention and success. Despite rapid growth of the intervention, little empirical work has been done to systematically describe and evaluate such programs. In this study, we provide a rich description of one academic coaching program and use a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the program's effects on student outcomes. We investigate two research questions: (1) how does academic coaching influence key student outcomes?; and (2) to what extent do these effects vary by amount of coaching received? On average, we found that students with prior semester grade point averages from 1.0-2.0 who participate in the academic coaching program earn grade point averages about 0.4 points higher during the coaching semester, are about 10% more likely to enroll in the semester following coaching, and earn about two more credits in the semester following coaching than students who choose not participate in the program. Outcomes varied minimally based on the number of coaching appointments students attended.

Research has thoroughly examined various factors that are related to university student persistence. Studies suggest that a multitude of characteristics are predictive of student success, and theory supports examining these characteristics at the institutional level. However, few studies utilise robust, single-institution samples using a holistic framework. The purpose of this study was to use a comprehensive framework to examine academic, psychosocial, noncognitive, and other background factors that are related to retention at one large, public four-year institution in the southeastern United States. Data for 12,342 students were drawn from multiple sources, and hierarchical generalised linear models were used to identify important predictors of retention both before beginning university and after the first semester. Findings from the study showed that a variety of pre-university factors such as high school performance, institutional fit, and financial scholarships were significant predictors of retention both before and after the first semester. Notably, these important variables were distributed across the categories of the comprehensive framework. Results also revealed moderated relationships between several variables with factors such as ethnicity and first-generation status. The results of this study have important implications for higher education policymakers, administrators, and researchers in terms of variable selection and measurement in predictive retention models for beginning university students.

Guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory, this study investigated the future perceptions of Hong Kong female university students. Fifty-eight students completed a semi-structured questionnaire to better understand their beliefs, hopes, and visions about their future. The thematic analysis performed yielded 10 major future life themes in the participants' responses: (a) work, (b) family, (c) roles and responsibilities, (d) romantic relationships, (e) values, (f) living situation, (g) quality of life, (h) status of education, (i) personal interests and hobbies, (j) finance, and (k) friendship. Findings from this study provide novel information on Hong Kong women's future perceptions that may help career counsellors when constructing client goals and tasks aimed at exploring and fulfilling their future perceptions.

University social work programs can play a critical role in helping communities to expand local capacity in efforts to end homelessness. The Supplemental Security Income/Social Security Disability Insurance (SSI/SSDI) Outreach, Access and Recovery (SOAR) program is an evidence-based model that social work programs are advancing through university-community partnerships. SOAR seeks to prevent and end homelessness through increased access to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for people suffering from chronic homelessness and who also have a disability. This article uses a case study approach to describe an initiative of the National Center on Excellence in Homeless Services designed to use social work education as a mechanism to build local capacity for using SOAR.

Problem based learning (PBL) is an instructional method aimed at engaging students in collaboratively solving an ill-structured problem. PBL has been presented and researched as an overhaul of existing curriculum design, yet a modified version may be attractive to college instructors who desire active learning on the part of their students, but who cannot completely reorganize their current course design. A brief case using principles of PBL was constructed for use in an undergraduate research methods class. Instructor planning and student reflections highlight roles and skills demanded in the PBL classroom. Planned conceptual issues were successfully covered during the brief PBL case. In addition, important yet unforeseen topics emerged during the discussions and were seen as helpful for the activity and instructional objectives. Reported student perspectives indicated that the objectives of the PBL activity were successfully accomplished: students learned research concepts, engaged in discussion with peers, and were actively involved with and motivated by the authentic activity. This work supports the suggestion that a brief version of PBL may be an attractive option to instructors interested in having students be more actively engaged in the classroom. Further research on variations of PBL is encouraged.

In line with expanded conceptualizations of validity that encompass the interpretations and uses of test scores in particular policy contexts, this report presents results of a comparative analysis of institutional understandings and uses of 3 international English proficiency tests widely used for tertiary selection--the "TOEFL iBT"® test, the International English Language Testing Service (IELTS; Academic), and the Pearson Test of English (PTE)--at 2 major research universities, 1 in the United States and the other in Australia. Adopting an instrumental case study approach, the study investigated levels of knowledge about and uses of test scores in international graduate student admissions procedures by key stakeholders at Purdue University and the University of Melbourne. Data for the study were gathered via a questionnaire eliciting fixed-choice responses and supplemented with qualitative interview data querying the basis for participants' beliefs, understandings, and practices. The study found that the primary use of language-proficiency test scores, whether "TOEFL"®, IELTS, or PTE, by those involved in the admissions process at both institutions was often limited to determining whether applicants had met the institutional cutoff for admission. Beyond this focused and arguably narrow use, language-proficiency test scores had little impact on admissions decisions, which largely depended on other required elements of applicants' admissions files. In addition, and despite applicants having submitted test scores that met the required cutoffs, survey respondents and interviewees often indicated dissatisfaction with enrolled students' levels of English-language proficiency, both for academic study and for other roles within the university and in subsequent employment. A slight majority at both institutions indicated that they believed the institutional cutoffs represented "adequate" proficiency, while the remainder indicated that they believed the cutoffs represented "minimal" proficiency. The tension created by users' limited use of language-proficiency scores beyond the cut, uncertainty about what cutscores represent, the assumption on the part of many respondents that students should be entering with language skills that allow "success" in graduate studies, and subsequent dissatisfaction with enrolled students' actual language proficiency may contribute to a perception that English-language proficiency test scores are of questionable value; that is, perceived problems reside with the tests, rather than with how test scores are used and interpreted by those involved in the admissions process. At the same time, respondents at both institutions readily acknowledged very limited familiarity with or understanding of the English-language tests that their institutions had approved for admissions. Owing to this lack of familiarity, a substantial majority at both institutions indicated "no preference" for either the TOEFL or the IELTS, counter to our expectation that score users in a North American educational context would prefer the TOEFL, while those in an Australian educational context would prefer the IELTS. The study's findings enhance understandings of test attitudes and test use. Findings may also provide insight for ETS and other language test developers about the context-sensitive strategies that could be needed to encourage test score users to extend their understandings and use of language-proficiency test scores.

There is growing concern among many regarding plagiarism within student writing. This has promoted investigation into both the factors that predict plagiarism and potential methods of reducing plagiarism. Consequently, we developed and evaluated an intervention to enhance good practice within academic writing through the use of the plagiarism detection software Turnitin. One-hundred-and-sixteen first-year psychology students submitted work to Turnitin and 71 of these students evaluated their learning experiences. For the next assignment the students completed, there was a reduction in academic misconduct cases compared to the previous year and students evaluated the session positively. The findings have implications for teaching good practice in academic writing. (Contains 1 table.)

Classroom incivility is any action that interferes with a harmonious and cooperative learning atmosphere in the classroom (Feldman, 2001). We compared the perceptions of accounting faculty to the perceptions of cross-disciplinary faculty relating to both the definition of student actions as incivility and the occurrence of incivility. We also compared faculty and business administrator perceptions to investigate the level of administrator awareness of accounting classroom incivility. Our results indicate that accounting faculty are more likely to define potentially disruptive student behaviors as incivility and reported higher levels of classroom incivility than cross-disciplinary faculty. We find general agreement between accounting faculty and business administrators relating to both the definition and occurrence of incivility.

There is a strong international demand for official certification of French competence. A range of tests are available to meet this goal. Among the recognized tests available for this purpose is the "DELF" ("Diplôme d'études en langue française"). The "DELF" has been awarded the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) Q-mark, a quality indicator attesting to the fact that this exam has been audited and found to meet all 17 of ALTE's quality standards. This review focuses on the "DELF tout public" at the B2 (Independent User) level, which is the minimum standard required for studying at most French-medium universities. DELF B2 is a two-and-a-half-hour pen-and-paper exam with a 30-minute listening section followed by reading and writing sections, each lasting one hour. A one-on-one speaking test of 20 minutes' duration is scheduled separately, either before or after completion of the other three components. In France, responsibility for test administration is assigned to the French Local Education authorities, Outside France, this responsibility falls under the authority of the French Cultural Office or the relevant French embassy in the country of concern. The DELF B2 fulfils the important dual functions of certifying achievement on French language courses and at the same time measuring proficiency or readiness to use the language in real world contexts such as academia.

Increasingly, student success in college is gauged by retention and graduation rates. Understanding the factors that influence student success can assist practitioners in terms of programming and institutional investments. This study evaluated factors such as residential living, attendance programs, demographic attributes, average class size, and student academic preparation by employing longitudinal, student-level data at one midsized university in the southeastern United States from 1998 to 2004. Individual student information was analyzed, including average class size and student performance in general education courses. Probit regression models indicated that retention and graduation rates were higher for students who were academically prepared, received grants or scholarships, and were in smaller classes. These rates were not influenced by sex, race, absenteeism, or living in residence halls. This work suggests that universities could improve graduation and retention rates by investing in scholarships, smaller class sizes, and financial aid infrastructure.

Self-determination theory (SDT) is a well-established theory of motivation that posits that we grow optimally to the degree to which we are afforded "autonomy support", the collective term for the provision of opportunities to satisfy our needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Although Ryan and Niemiec (2009) suggest that self-determination theory can be "critical and liberating," I trouble their assertion, and propose that redefining the student role is an essential form of autonomy support if we wish to follow through on these possibilities. To that end, I undertook a narrative inquiry into five students' experiences in a set of non-traditional university courses. Once these students redefined their roles, they engaged more agentically in other courses by expressing themselves more, taking more risks, and even standing up to miseducative instructors on their own and their peers' behalves. They came to perceive themselves as agents of change in their institutions and in other arenas, following through on the critical and liberating potential of SDT that Ryan and Niemiec had envisioned. This study has broad implications for how we engage with students and structure our institutions, as well as how we conduct SDT research, if we wish to capitalise on this potential.

Increasingly, K-12 administrators must address the need for greater funding for their systems and schools. This article presents methods used in higher education that may be of use to its K-12 colleagues. It further suggests professional development to support school leaders in making use of these strategies.

This course design describes a 3-credit, two-week intensive Stretch and Studio Practicum course at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Because the Stretch and Studio composition curriculum is designed to help students who may be at greater risk of not succeeding, instructors are required to complete the practicum before teaching in the program. The learning outcomes for the practicum ask instructors to (1) become familiar with the theory and pedagogy of basic writing, multilingual writers, metacognition, and reading instruction; (2) develop best practices in writing instruction for students who traditionally have been marginalized in higher education; (3) recognize students' existing skills and literacies as resources and strengths that can be built upon; and (4) develop activities and assignments to help Stretch and Studio students progress toward and reflect on the learning outcomes for first-year composition (fyc).

In the course overview, the authors state that this course prepares those who enroll to teach Stretch and Studio Composition at the University of New Mexico by introducing relevant theory and pedagogy in the areas of basic writing, multilingual writing, metacognition, and reading instruction. While the English 537: Teaching Composition Practicum aims to provide a broad understanding of teaching composition using a genre approach, this course asks those who enroll to consider how to tailor their pedagogy for students who may require additional layers of support. The authors encourage student teachers to above all else, view their students' existing skills and literacies as resources that can be built upon in the class. Those who enroll will also be supported in developing a course that will promote their students' progress toward student learning outcomes. [Note: Title on PDF differs from that shown on the Table of Contents: "Stretch and Studio Composition Practicum: Creating a Culture of Support and Success for Developing Writers at a Hispanic-Serving Institution."]

Although it has been shown that mentorship is predictive of more effective teaching and adherence to model teaching criteria for Early Career Psychologists (ECPs) (Troisi, Leder-Elder, Stiegler-Balfour, Fleck, Good, in press), little research has examined the differential utility of various types of mentors among university faculty members. We conducted a national survey comparing three types of mentors (i.e., intra-departmental, intra-university, other self-selected mentor) among 122 ECPs. Overall, mentors from one's department and other self-selected mentors were more effective than mentors from another department at one's university. Implications for mentoring early career faculty in higher education are discussed.

The Democracy USA (DUSA) Project was an interdisciplinary experiential-learning project designed to engage students and faculty in the 2012 elections. It was launched in response to the U.S. Department of Education's national call to action ("A Crucible Moment") on civic engagement and democratic education. The project had five key components: affiliated coursework, a colloquium series, extracurricular activities, The American Dream Project, and collecting public opinion data. This article presents an analysis of pre- and posttest data collected from over 500 students at a midsize southern liberal arts college during the Fall 2012 semester. The findings underscore the importance of varied approaches and interdisciplinary collaborations to engage students in the democratic process. We find that students enrolled in DUSA classes demonstrated little change in their civic engagement. However, those who participated in cocurricular programming, extracurricular activities, or learned about the program during the semester exhibited changes in both their political skills and willingness to participate in politics.

This study investigates the impact of raters' language background on their judgements of the speaking performance in the College English Test-Spoken English Test (CET-SET) of China, by comparing the rating patterns of non-native English-speaking (NNES) teacher raters, who are currently employed to assess performance on the CET-SET, with those of "ideal" norm-owning native English-speaking (NES) teacher raters. Many-facet Rasch measurement and content analysis were applied to analyse the scores and stimulated recall data collected from the two rater groups. The results indicate that, although NES and NNES raters have somewhat different approaches to rating, the outcomes of the rating process are broadly similar, as are the categories that inform their judgements. We discuss the implications of these results for using raters from different language backgrounds for scoring high-stakes speaking tests, for the debate on NS norms for language testing in general and for the validity of the CET-SET rating scale in particular.

The purpose of this study is to explore college students' self-reported cell phone use and beliefs and investigate the effect on student learning. Eighty-eight college students responded to a questionnaire about their use of cell phones during classes, studying, and driving and about their beliefs about how cell phones impact their schoolwork. In addition, a subset (n= 34) participated in an experimental study in which half the students listened to a novel lecture without cell phones and half were told to use cell phones (e.g. play games, text) during the lecture. Descriptive results indicated that there is an acceptance of use in class; students' beliefs were neutral about whether they felt distracted or if time spent using devices affected their study time. Experimental results failed to indicate any difference in quiz scores between those using devices while listening to a lecture and those who did not. Yet, those who used their cell phones did anticipate lower scores than students who did not, indicating students may intuit its distracting nature for learning.

The U.S. Armed Forces offer educational and training benefits as incentives for service. This study investigates the influence of status configurations on military enlistment and their link to greater educational opportunity. Three statuses (socioeconomic status of origin, cognitive ability and academic performance) have particular relevance for life course options. We hypothesize that young men with inconsistent statuses are more likely to enlist than men with consistent status profiles, and that military service improves access to college for certain configurations. Analyses of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) show (1) that several status configurations markedly increased the likelihood of military enlistment and (2) within status configurations, recruits were generally more likely to enroll in higher education than nonveterans, with associate degrees being more likely.

During the spring of 2010, the University of Houston Libraries Digital Services Department began an initiative to promote existing and upcoming collections in the University of Houston Digital Library and drive traffic to the online repository. Spurred by an OCLC report (De Rosa et al. 2005) that only two percent of college and university students began research by consulting library resources, University of Houston Digital Services staff sought to add content from the University of Houston Digital Library to Wikipedia in order to insert primary source digital materials into the research workflow of students and faculty. As a result, referrals from Wikipedia to the University of Houston Digital Library have increased significantly and the pilot project is now the basis for an ongoing University of Houston Digital Services program. The structure and direction of the pilot project were a collaborative effort between University of Houston Digital Services staff and a University of North Texas Library and Information Science intern participating in the University of Houston Digital Services Digital Library Internship Program. Through this case study the authors cover the evolution of the University of Houston Digital Services Wikipedia pilot project and its growth into a permanent program. The authors also outline the workflows and procedures of the project and describes in detail the challenges and successes of the pilot Wikipedia project at University of Houston Digital Services. Included are lessons learned for libraries and cultural institutions interested in establishing a similar program. (Contains 7 figures.)

Children from alternative households complete fewer years of schooling. Yet little is known about the implications of coresidence with grandparents for educational attainment. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 10,083), this study found that extended households with two biological parents were not detrimental to high school completion or college enrollment. Although coresidence with grandparents did not compensate for not living with two biological parents, it seemed to be beneficial for the educational attainment of youth from single-mother households. In contrast, skipped-generation households were associated with a persistent disadvantage for educational attainment. Limited socioeconomic resources partially accounted for the adverse effects of alternative households, whereas parenting quality did not explain these effects. Interactions of gender by household structure suggested that stepfather households could have negative consequences for high school completion and college enrollment only for girls.

This paper reports the findings of an empirical study on ESL/EFL teachers' evaluation and interpretation of oral English proficiency as elicited by the national College English Test-Spoken English Test (CET-SET) of China. Informed by debates on the issue of native speaker (NS) norms which have become the focus of attention in recent years, this study addresses the question of whether judgments of language proficiency by non-native English speaking (NNES) teachers, who are currently used to assess performance on the CET-SET, correspond to those of native English speaking (NES) teachers or whether the two groups draw on different constructs of oral proficiency. Data for the study were derived from two sources: unguided holistic ratings given by a group of 19 NES and 20 NNES teachers to CET-SET speech samples from 30 test-takers, and written comments to justify the ratings assigned. Results yielded by both quantitative (MFRM) and qualitative analyses of teacher data, revealed no significant difference in raters' holistic judgments of the speech samples and a broad level of agreement between groups on the construct components of oral English proficiency. However, the analysis of raters' comments revealed both quantitative and qualitative differences in the way NES and NNES teachers weighed various features of the oral proficiency construct in justifying the decisions made. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the study's findings for debates about the native speaker norm as the target for language learners and test-takers. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

A number of scholars have questioned the practice of assessing academic writing in the context of a one-off language test, claiming that the time restrictions imposed in the test environment, when compared to the writing conditions typical at university, may prevent learners from displaying the kinds of writing skills required in academic contexts. Studies which have explored this issue have thus far produced conflicting findings. This paper investigates the impact of an efficiency driven policy decision to reduce the time allowed for performance on a post-entry diagnostic test of academic writing from 55 to 30 min. It does so by comparing the performance of 30 test takers under both old and new time conditions. A fully counter-balanced design was chosen to establish whether the different time limits had an effect on (a) the writing scores, (b) the inter-rater reliability and (c) the quality of the discourse. Test takers' perceptions were also canvassed via a post-task questionnaire. Findings showed that the test takers' scores on the analytic rating criteria were not significantly different under the two time conditions, although high proficiency candidates profited more from the extended time allowance than did the others. Ratings were equally reliable in the "short" and "long" condition. The detailed discourse analysis illustrated that the longer writing condition yielded, as predicted, a better quality performance on a number of variables; however the performance on the majority of the variables was unaffected by the time factor. The questionnaire data nevertheless showed that students in general preferred having more time for planning and revising. The study considers the implications of these findings for the validity and fairness of diagnostic writing tests. (Contains 10 tables.)

This chapter offers thoughts on some key elements of a high-performing development environment. The author describes how good development officers love to be part of something big, something that transforms a place and its people, and that thinking big is a powerful concept for development officers. He reminds development officers to be clear about priorities , and to give their teams the training and the tools they need for success. He emphasizes that good players love to improve their game, so they appreciate good coaching, and this is true of good development officers.

The aim of the current study was to examine mature-aged student perceptions of university support services and barriers to study. Using a mixed methods approach, interviews and focus groups were conducted with mature-aged students to identify barriers to study, knowledge and use of current student support services, and suggestions to improve upon these services. From these data and an audit of university support services, an online survey was created to examine study barriers and patterns of support service use, as well as, perceptions of proposed support services not currently offered by the university within a larger sample of mature-aged students. Analysis of survey data indicated distinct patterns of barriers and support service use according to socioeconomic status as well as other demographic factors such as, age and enrolment status. Study findings are discussed in terms of generating support services for the retention of mature-aged students of low socioeconomic status and for the retention of mature-aged students in general.

Multiple-choice (MC) examinations are becoming increasingly popular in higher education because they can be used effectively to assess breadth of knowledge in large cohorts of students. This present research investigated psychology students' performance on, and experiences of, MC examinations with and without correction for guessing. In Study 1, data were collected from two cohorts of students across three psychology MC examinations. The results revealed that students scored higher, and left fewer questions unanswered, when there was no correction for guessing. Furthermore, when the correction for guessing was removed from the theory MC examination, students who were told there was no correction for guessing did better than those told there was a correction. In addition, there was limited evidence of gender differences, with female students performing significantly better on one MC examination than males. In Study 2, a further set of first-year psychology students reported their experiences of correction for guessing on open-book and closed-book MC examinations. Students reported feeling less anxious and more confident on the open-book MC examination. The findings of both of these studies have implications for instructors deciding whether or not correction for guessing is appropriate, and for the advice to be given to students preparing for MC examinations. (Contains 6 tables and 2 notes.)

The College English Test-Spoken English Test is a nationwide spoken English test designed to assess the oral communicative ability of Chinese university and college students who have undertaken compulsory English study at a Chinese university. This article describes the test and evaluates it in terms of reliability, validity, authenticity, interactiveness, fairness, impact, and washback. Although the test appears to be sound and has the potential for positive washback on teaching and learning, it is advocated that the publisher provide more explicit information on the theoretical underpinnings of the test construct, about the target language norms that underlie the rating scale, as well as reports on rater reliability and test results. Further research is advocated for the sake of ongoing test validation. (Contains 4 footnotes and 4 tables.)

Recent initiatives to enhance retention and widen participation ensure it is crucial to understand the factors that predict students' performance during their undergraduate degree. The present research used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test three separate models that examined the extent to which British Psychology students' A-level entry qualifications predicted: (1) their performance in years 1-3 of their Psychology degree, and (2) their overall degree performance. Students' overall A-level entry qualifications positively predicted performance during their first year and overall degree performance, but negatively predicted their performance during their third year. Additionally, and more specifically, students' A-level entry qualifications in Psychology positively predicted performance in the first year only. Such findings have implications for admissions tutors, as well as for students who have not studied Psychology before but who are considering applying to do so at university. (Contains 4 figures.)

Feedback techniques, including computer-assisted feedback, have had mixed results in improving student learning outcomes. This project addresses the effect of type of feedback, simple or elaborate, for both short-term comprehension and long-term outcomes. A sample of 75 graduate nursing students was given a total of ten examinations. Four examinations provided tutorials in which the students received one of two types of feedback, simple or elaborate. Five examinations provided tutorials with no feedback. A comprehensive final examination compared initial content and final scores. This study found no significant differences between the types of feedback the students received. The mean scores were significantly higher on the four examinations where the students received feedback than on the five examinations with no feedback on tutorials. The comparison between the individual examinations and the similar content portion of the final examination indicated a significant drop in each of the four examinations where feedback was given and a significant improvement in four of the five examinations where no feedback was given.

This article describes the process of developing and implementing a quick Web-based screening test designed for the purpose of identifying, within a large, culturally diverse population of undergraduates enrolled at an English-medium university, those students unlikely to require English language support during their 1st year of academic study. Linguistically competent students (including native speakers) scoring above a certain threshold on the screening test are exempt from sitting a more time-consuming diagnostic English language needs assessment. Before implementing the procedure, which had been pretested on a population of 100 students, 353 test-takers took both the screening and accompanying diagnostic instrument so that an optimum cut-score could be set at a point which minimized unnecessary testing of linguistically able students and which captured the maximum number of "at-risk" students. Five years after the test was launched, the overall utility of the screening tool was reviewed. Findings of the original validation efforts show that the screening tool (if appropriately used) provides a valid, practical, and ethical (nondiscriminatory) means whereby students with limited academic language skills can be targeted for further diagnosis and intervention. The article argues that the assessment program has been successful in raising consciousness among the university community of the language needs of the student population and in stimulating action to address these needs. (Contains 7 footnotes, 10 tables, and 3 figures.)

In January of 2004, we took 35 college students to Manchester, New Hampshire, where they were immersed in the crucial final weeks of the Democratic Presidential Primary as part of a course on the presidential election. This course required students to work on the campaign of their choice in the weeks leading up to the state's primary as well as take part in more traditional classroom academic activities. This article examines the impact of that political immersion experience on students' civic attitudes and engagements. While some hypothesized effects were not supported by the data, we do find a substantial impact on engagement and a modest effect on some measures of political efficacy. In light of the importance to a democratic society of engaging young people in the political process, we believe our research justifies greater experimentation with political immersion experiences and careful evaluation of the effects thereof. (Contains 4 tables and 7 notes.)

Critical thinking is foundational to the effective teaching of any subject, and it must be at the heart of any professional development program. This chapter presents a long-term professional development model based on a substantive concept of critical thinking, and ties critical thinking to the concept of the Learning College.

Although conservative Christians have been shown to have rates of mental health problems comparable with the general population (King, 1978), research has found that conservative Christians hesitate to seek counseling from a counselor who does not label him- or herself a "Christian counselor" and often drop out of counseling early when they work with a secular counselor (i.e., one not labeled a Christian counselor; King, 1978; Larson, Donahue, Lyons, & Benson, 1989; Lovinger, 1979; Worthington, 1988). Furthermore, conservative Christians often lack confidence in professional counselors (Miller & Eells, 1998) and tend to be underserved by professional counselors in many traditional settings (Larson et al., 1989; Worthington, 1988). What is less clear is the nature of the barriers that prevent conservative Christians from fully using counseling services. In this study of 118 religiously conservative Christians' expectations of counseling, participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment conditions: a Christian counselor or a counselor whose religious beliefs were unknown. Participants rated their expectations for the counselor's attitude toward their religious beliefs and use of religious behaviors in counseling using the Behavior and Attitude Expectancies scale (C. Belaire & J S. Young, 2002). Participants also rated their general expectations for counseling using the Expectations About Counseling: Brief Form (H. E, A, Tinsley, 1985), Results showed that participants expected both a Christian counselor and a counselor whose religious beliefs were unknown to be respectful and accepting of conservative Christian religious beliefs and values and to include multiple religious behaviors in counseling sessions Participants had overall positive expectations of the counseling process.