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Locus of Control (LOC) is measured by a brief survey designed to determine an 'internal' or 'external' locus. Internal LOC signifies ownership of the consequences of one's actions. Individuals with a more internal LOC tend to have higher determents of positive mental health. This study investigated the impact on the LOC of university students after a 25-day program focused on adventure-based eco-tourism where the participants hiked, camped, white water rafted and took part in other adventure-based activities. We found the results further support previous studies that determined adventure programs enhanced internality measured quantitatively through Locus of Control. Qualitative responses indicated greater self-reliance due to enhanced belief in ability.

There is widespread understanding of the need to evaluate teacher education programs. Unfortunately, the history of teacher education program evaluations is spotty, evolutionary, and limited in scope. Probably the most fundamental reason that program evaluations are limited is that there has not been a clear, consistent, and shared framework for organizing the many variables that comprise teacher education practice and relating these to evidence of effectiveness. In this article, the authors present an organizing framework that they and colleagues developed as part of the national Partnerships for Excellence in Teacher Education (PETE) Project, funded by the Ford and Carnegie Foundations, which is based at the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE). The framework and each of its components are described in this article. (Contains 1 figure and 1 note.)

Technology plays an integral role in the lives of the majority of the US population. As technology becomes integrated into young people's lives, questions arise regarding its effects on learning. This exploratory study draws on interviews with students who attend university in the United States to determine how separating students from technology deepens experiential learning. Participants were interviewed following a study abroad course to New Zealand, during which they were disconnected from technologies such as cell phones, the Internet and social media. In the interviews, students discussed their feelings of being disconnected and describe how disconnecting impacted their overall experience. Participants agreed that disconnecting from technology had positive effects on experiential learning and the global experience. Major themes that emerged include students' enhanced immersion and engagement, the value of disconnection in providing opportunities for personal growth and the difficulty of initial separation from technology as a result of conditioning.

School leaders rightly tend toward collaboration and consensus-building when it comes to important decisions affecting students. But there are moments when, perhaps to their own surprise, they may find themselves willing to "go to the mat" on an important decision, whether consensus has been reached or not. Smith, a professor and chair of the literacy department at her university, describes several go-to-the-mat moments in her own practice and the practice of her colleagues. Such moments, she writes, enable leaders to reflect on the core values and motivations that spur them to make unilateral decisions. And by understanding and expressing their own core values, education leaders at all levels can better engage colleagues in rich dialogue about the work they are doing together.

As troops return to the United States from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, many student veterans are expected to utilize their education benefits and enroll in higher education. A key element in their success in college will be the quality of academic advising they receive. Student veterans are much more likely than traditional students to drop out of higher education. Yet little if any research has explored how academic advisors advise student veterans or how they might improve student veterans' college experience and academic success. The study presented in this article utilized a mixed-methods research design to explore the challenges of advising student veterans. The goal of the study was to determine how academic advisors can help student veterans adjust successfully to higher education. Fifty-one student veterans participated in the quantitative portion of the study; five of the 51 also participated in the qualitative portion of the study. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: recognition, knowledge, research, and education and integration. Overall, the study found that academic advisors have little understanding of either their student veteran advisees or their military experience; as a result, they often rely on stereotypes of student veterans that can negatively affect the way in which they advise student veterans. This lack of understanding may reinforce the isolation many student veterans experience in relation to peers and faculty members. It is therefore particularly important for academic advisors to educate themselves about military culture so they can more effectively "connect" with student veterans. By promoting and facilitating learning about military culture for all of their constituents, higher education institutions can decrease the isolation experienced by many student veterans and help them integrate more effectively into the campus community.

Following the implementation of Tier 1 and Tier 2 Positive Behavior Support (PBS) strategies in six Head Start (HS) classrooms, three children in two classrooms were identified who had significant behavioral challenges and met the criteria for the use of individualized PBS. The purpose of this demonstration was to evaluate whether the effects of individualized PBS intervention implemented by HS classroom staff would have a generalized effect on inappropriate and appropriate behaviors, defined both individually for each child in a support plan and globally across three children. Following intervention with all three target children, both individually and globally defined inappropriate behavior showed decreases over baseline levels, whereas individually and globally defined appropriate behavior showed increases over baseline levels. Overall fidelity was high for implementation of prevention strategies but varied by child and classroom. Social validity ratings indicated that intervention strategies were feasible for use in classrooms and had positive effects on students and staff.

Medical practitioners need the skills to find relevant information and evaluate its authenticity, validity, and reliability. The learning of information literacy has been embedded in the University of Western Australia (UWA) medical course since 2000. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the enhanced information literacy program with respect to medical students' information literacy skills. The Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy (ANZIIL) Standards were used to define the information literacy skills required by medical students, and the Information Skills Survey for Assessment of Information Literacy in Higher Education (ISS) was used to determine students' self-perception of information skills. Two cohorts of students were evaluated--one that had teachers who had been coached by librarians and one that had no teacher coaching. This study substantiates others' findings for ANZIIL Standards 2, 5, and 6 for beginning medical students. Higher median scores were obtained for Standard 2, 5, and 6. Lower median scores were obtained for Standard 3 and 4. Persistent significant positive differences were found for Standards 3, 4, and 6 at the beginning of Year 2. The coaching of teachers has made information literacy skills more explicit in the curriculum for learners and teachers as skills that need to be developed and practiced deliberately. (Contains 2 tables.)

MoLeNET is a unique collaborative initiative, currently in its third year, which encourages and enables the introduction of mobile learning in English post 14 education via supported shared-cost projects. Mobile learning in MoLeNET is defined by MoLeNET as "The exploitation of ubiquitous handheld technologies, together with wireless and mobile phone networks, to facilitate, support, enhance and extend the reach of teaching and learning." MoLeNET projects use a wide range of handheld devices with their learners including two handheld game platforms: the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. A small number of projects have also experimented with educational and therapeutic use of the Nintendo Wii game console and experienced considerable success in engaging reluctant learners and supporting learners with difficulties and/or disabilities. This paper explores the impact that mobile game technologies have on teaching and learning for those involved in MoLeNET, including the development of academic and social skills and the improvement of mobility and health related issues.

Embedded librarianship in distance learning courses taught within virtual environments such as Second Life is an emerging, leading-edge practice. This paper describes the experiences of librarians embedded in undergraduate English composition courses taught entirely in Second Life and presents the results of an empirical research study to assess the effectiveness of Second Life library instruction. Information literacy competencies and confidence levels of students did not improve significantly with the introduction of course-embedded librarian instruction and support. The authors discuss the unique challenges of "virtual embedding" and consider possible ways to improve librarian effectiveness in Second Life. (Contains 3 tables.)

At the start of their first semester, 35 college freshmen were given an interview probing (a) their differentiation of scientists' ideas from evidence, and hypotheses from theories; (b) their understanding of the inherent uncertainty of scientific knowledge; and (c) their reasoning about scientific controversies. The most common responses were in terms of an epistemology in which scientists' ideas and evidence are differentiated, and theories are understood as tested hypotheses (Level 2 in our system based on Carey, Evans, Honda, Jay, & Unger, 1989), although students varied in how consistently they differentiated theories and evidence across all questions. Responses in which theories are understood as broader explanatory frameworks guiding hypothesis testing (Level 3) were virtually nonexistent, but some students gave responses that showed awareness of processes of interpreting and reinterpreting patterns of results (Level 2.5). Responses across the three parts of the interview were significantly related. Consistently differentiating scientists' ideas from evidence was strongly related to appreciating the inherent uncertainty of scientific knowledge and with having a deeper understanding of the reasons for scientific controversies and how to resolve them.

Describes Internet-based nursing-education courses offered by the University of Kansas, which are based on learner-centered, constructivist principles; flexibility; and methods to overcome temporal and physical barriers. (SK)

Despite logistical disadvantages of geographic distance and scheduling, using multidisciplinary allied health teams to develop problem-based cases related to older adults has several advantages: increasing cross-disciplinary awareness, building a cadre with team experience, and expanding knowledge of the problem-based learning method. (SK)

Locus of control is considered the belief in one's ability to influence life events. Someone who accepts both positive and negative outcomes and consequences as the result of their own behaviour is considered "internal" whereas someone who considers others to have influence over both positive (luck) and negative (others' fault) results is considered "external." Few studies have examined locus of control and retention at the university level. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to longitudinally investigate the locus of control score with the retention rate of pre-service teachers at a small private institution in the south-eastern United States. Since this study is longitudinal, further analyses are needed as these students progress through their courses of studies. One general implication: education majors seem to have an internal locus of control. What remains to be seen, however, is will this score remain stable throughout their years at university? As a result, researchers plan to follow these students and check their status each year until commencement.

Pre- and post-tests investigated the impact of a 15-week outdoor experiential program on the moral reasoning of 196 university students. Participants' moral reasoning was enhanced, possibly through front-loading of moral reasoning concepts, reflection, critical thinking, problem solving, and adherence to the full-value contract, even though improved moral reasoning was not a stated objective. (TD)

Efforts by state legislators to curtail collective bargaining or destroy public-sector unions, abolish tenure, and decrease funding for education are spreading throughout the country. This author states that the scapegoating and vilification of unions and teachers, however, are not new. The current attacks have historical parallels, when cries of "Communist subversion" were used in New York City to silence dissenting voices in academia and to weaken faculty and teacher unionism. The history of this dissent can be tracked through powerful and moving photographs, political cartoons, flyers, and illustrations from the 1930s and the early 1940s, when students and faculty members at the City College of New York (CCNY) were struggling against a college administration, the New York City Board of Higher Education, and outside political forces that sought to eliminate dissenting voices. In this article, the author discusses how CCNY witnessed the largest political purge of faculty members in US history.

Traces the history of the author's experience as the chair of an English department and discusses the leadership required of an effective chair. (DD)

Based on responses to a questionnaire, describes the goals, education and work experience, and the influence on higher education of twelve Black women educators. Also explores whether the assistance of a mentor was a determining factor in the lives of these women and if they, in turn, served as mentors. (Author/GC)

The article examines how the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) School of Social Work Field Education Office designed a remediation process for dealing with placement issues and assisting students in linking the competencies with their performance in field. It notes that field education offers the opportunity to apply and integrate classroom theoretical concepts into practice and is an important component of the MSW program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.