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Student Support (student + support)
Selected AbstractsDeveloping a Performance Measurement System for University Central Administrative ServicesHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2009Marika Arena Central administrative services have recently received increasing attention from practitioners and academics due to the challenging need to both manage scarce resources and provide high-quality services. In this context, performance measurement systems (PMSs) may assume a central role, although an unresolved debate remains on the claimed benefits of accountability and the difficulties that have emerged in defining and managing proper measures. This paper contributes to this debate by presenting the results of a study in which a PMS for central administrative services has been developed and tested through an action research approach drawing on actor network theory. The experiment was carried out in 15 Italian universities and five areas of services were dealt with: student support, research support, accounting, human resources, and logistics and procurement. The highly participative method resulted in a comparable system with a complete set of cost and quality indicators across the participating universities. These data proved to be useful at managerial and policy level, providing insights on the presence of scale effects and on the relative importance of quality dimensions for users of services. Participating in the project encouraged the university staff to use indicators in decision making. [source] Reconsidering simulations in science education at a distance: features of effective useJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 6 2007C. Blake Abstract, This paper proposes a reconsideration of use of computer simulations in science education. We discuss three studies of the use of science simulations for undergraduate distance learning students. The first one, The Driven Pendulum simulation is a computer-based experiment on the behaviour of a pendulum. The second simulation, Evolve is concerned with natural selection in a hypothetical species of a flowering plant. The third simulation, The Double Slit Experiment deals with electron diffraction and students are provided with an experimental setup to investigate electron diffraction for double and single slit arrangements. We evaluated each simulation, with 30 students each for The Driven Pendulum and Evolve simulations and about 100 students for The Double Slit Experiment. From these evaluations we have developed a set of the features for the effective use of simulations in distance learning. The features include student support, multiple representations and tailorability. [source] Electronic information resources in undergraduate education: an exploratory study of opportunities for student learning and independenceBRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 3 2002Liz McDowell The fast,growing array of electronic information resources is often viewed as a significant opportunity for change in education, with shifts towards increased student independence in learning. In order for this to happen students need to develop the capability to deal with information. This qualitative interview,based study examines lecturer perspectives on the roles of electronic information resources in undergraduate education. In line with the phenomenographic tradition, three functional categories of electronic information use are proposed. Firstly, the "electronic academic library" offers new opportunities for access to materials but lecturers indicated minimal change to their teaching approaches. Electronic resources were simply added to reading lists and the responsibility for developing students' information skills was seen to rest with librarians. Secondly, lecturers identified changes towards more constructivist approaches to learning, drawing upon new sources of primary data available electronically and described specific teaching approaches to assist students to develop the relevant information handling skills. Finally, lecturers were uncertain about the value of the wider information resources of the Internet/Web for students and were concerned about variable information quality and the possibilities of plagiarism. The research indicates that information use in student learning is a multi,faceted phenomenon. Much current discussion centres on the concept of information literacy which draws together information skills and subject-related skills and knowledge. Students do not merely require generic information skills but a knowledge of the discipline and the capability to handle complex information. Partnerships between academics and librarians are a way forward in helping students to develop as autonomous information users. Not only do the two professional groups offer different expertise, but they also bring different perspectives on the problematic balance between student autonomy and student support. [source] Computer conferencing for guidance and support in the OUBRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2000Lynne Blanchfield This article describes the UK Open University's FirstClassÔ Computer conferencing system and its role in student support taking as an example the particular the way it is used for course choice. It suggests that whilst there are students who use it freely and apparently derive benefit from it, there are also substantial issues to be addressed about its relative unpopularity with students as a support medium. Institutions using computer conferencing may need to address issues about student antipathy towards it [source] MICROANOMIE: THE COGNITIVE FOUNDATIONS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANOMIE AND DEVIANCE,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2005MARK KONTY Emile Durkheim and Robert Merton spawned a century of research on the effects of anomie on rule-breaking behavior. During that time "strain" emerged as the social psychological mechanism producing deviant behavior from the effects of anomie. This research challenges the primacy of the affective strain mechanism, arguing that anomie produces a cognitive state,referred to as microanomie,where self-enhancing values are higher priority than self-transcending values. Data from a sample of university students support the association between dominant self-enhancing values and deviant behavior. These data also demonstrate how the microanomie condition can explain gender differences in offending. A synthesis with the affective strain mechanism is suggested. [source] Promoting student engagement in science: Interaction rituals and the pursuit of a community of practiceJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 1 2007Stacy Olitsky This study explores the relationship between interaction rituals, student engagement with science, and learning environments modeled on communities of practice based on an ethnographic study of an eighth grade urban magnet school classroom. It compares three interactional events in order to examine the classroom conditions and teacher practices that can foster successful interaction rituals (IRs), which are characterized by high levels of emotional energy, feelings of group membership, and sustained interest in the subject. Classroom conditions surrounding the emergence of successful IRs included mutual focus, familiar symbols and activity structures, the permissibility of some side-talk, and opportunities for physical and emotional entrainment. Sustained interest in the topic beyond the duration of the IR and an increase in students' helping each other learn occurred more frequently when the mutual focus consisted of science-related symbols, when there were low levels of risk for participants, when activities involved sufficient challenge and time, and when students were positioned as knowledgeable and competent in science. The results suggest that successful interaction rituals can foster student engagement with topics that may not have previously held interest and can contribute to students' support of peers' learning, thereby moving the classroom toward a community-of-practice model. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach [source] | ||||||||||