Student Development (student + development)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


EDUCATING COMMUNAL AGENTS: BUILDING ON THE PERSPECTIVISM OF G.H. MEAD

EDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 4 2007
Jack Martin
In this essay, Jack Martin aims to remedy such oversight by interpreting Mead's social-psychological and educational theorizing of selfhood and agency through the lenses of the perspectival realism Mead developed in the last decade of his life. This interpretation understands education as concerned with the cultivation and coordination of cultural, societal, interpersonal, and personal perspectives. Within this framework, communal agency is understood as a self-interpreting, self-determining capability of persons. This agentive capability derives from immersion and participation with others within sociocultural practices and perspectives, but also includes reactivity to those same practices and perspectives. The education of communal agents as envisioned here emphasizes the social nature of education, students' experience and development, and the critical role of the teacher as a mediator between student development and social process. Such an education is grounded in the immediate experiences and perspectives of learners, but increasingly assists learners to move beyond their own experiences through engaged interaction with others and with resources for acquiring broader, more organized perspectives on themselves, others, and the world. [source]


Using current consumer issues to involve students in research

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 4 2008
Elizabeth B. Carroll
Abstract The value of involving students in research has been well documented. By including students in research, active and independent learning opportunities are provided, the importance of inquiry and investigation is emphasized, and connections between course material and the discipline become evident. Relevant opportunities for involving students in research projects can sometimes be elusive. Faculty time constraints limit the number of projects that can be undertaken and the number of students involved. Furthermore, many students become intimidated when told that they are required to carry out a research project. The purpose of this study was to use current consumer issues to involve undergraduate students in a relevant research project. The research project was implemented in class settings with teams of students. Faculty selected contemporary consumer issues based upon perceived student interest and experiences as consumers. By using issues of high relevance and familiarity to students and using the team approach within a course that faculty members were already assigned to teach, the issues of time constraint for the faculty members and increased levels of comfort for students were addressed. Prior to undertaking the project, students were instructed in appropriate research methods. Research methods utilized included student development of survey instruments, collection and recording of data, interpretation of data and presentation of results. Students became familiar with various research practices. By working as team members, the students' comfort level for being involved in research increased; however, other common group challenges arose. Relevant, contemporary consumer issues carry high relevance and interest for student groups, helping generate enthusiasm for the research process. The focus on involving students in research continues to be emphasized. By using research topics related to student's experiences as consumers, students are more readily engaged in undertaking research projects. Through these relevant research projects, students' consumer decision making is positively impacted. [source]


Exploring the impact of parental involvement on student development

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, Issue 122 2008
Deborah J. Taub
This chapter considers the impact that parental involvement may have on the psychosocial development of college students. [source]


Developmental and contextual perspectives on bereaved college students

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, Issue 121 2008
Deborah J. Taub
Theories of college student development and campus ecology provide helpful perspectives on how students cope with bereavement. [source]


Graduate and professional student development and student affairs

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, Issue 115 2006
Ann M. Gansemer-Topf Research, Assessment Analyst
Student development theories offer frameworks for better understanding and enhancing the experiences of graduate and professional students. [source]


Constructions of student development across the generations

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, Issue 106 2004
C. Carney Strange
This chapter explores the dynamics of generational cohort differences and their potential influence on the understandings, emphases, and applications of student development theory. [source]


Spiritual mentoring: Embracing the mentor-mentee relational process

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING & LEARNING, Issue 120 2009
Patrice M. Buzzanell
In this chapter the author explains how spiritual mentoring is the everyday enactment of spiritual values into concrete instructional practices. It takes place in several ways: offering opportunities for student development, engaging in spontaneous mentoring, enlarging and enriching resources, and encouraging continuous self-development. [source]


Taking seriously the intellectual growth of students: Accommodations for self-authorship

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING & LEARNING, Issue 109 2007
Terry M. WildmanArticle first published online: 13 APR 200
Student learning and student development are part of a unified framework rather than separate interests to be pursued independently. [source]


Debate and student development in the history classroom

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING & LEARNING, Issue 103 2005
Anne Osborne
This chapter argues that the use of debates in a core world history course can foster both authentic learning in the discipline and progress toward intellectual and ethical maturity. [source]


Understanding resilience in educational trajectories: Implications for protective possibilities

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 1 2006
Gale M. Morrison
A growing body of literature on risk and resilience, school engagement, and positive psychology offers school psychologists new perspectives with which to consider students' progress through school. This literature emphasizes the importance of monitoring student internal and external assets. In this article, a framework is reviewed that highlights student strengths and contextual protective factors, moving beyond an exclusive focus on student deficits. It offers school psychologists a systematic set of empirically derived categories for thinking about, collecting, and presenting information about the strengths of students that (a) help to focus not only on risks but on protective factors, (b) facilitate a "developmental trajectory" perspective, and (c) recognize the role of important school, peer, and family contexts. The concepts reviewed in this article are intended to provide a template for use by school psychologists interested in thinking about student development and how schools can foster protective possibilities. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 19,31, 2006. [source]


A Life Jacket or an Art of Living: Inequality in Social Competence Education

CURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 2 2003
Geert T. M. Ten Dam
After a period in which the emphasis in education was on "the basics," increasing attention has been paid at the turn of the century to the "moral task of education" in the Netherlands. Schools are not only expected to prepare students for further education and/or the labour market but also for participating in society in the broadest sense, for example, in politics, care, and culture. In this article we will focus on one aspect of students' development as a task of the school, namely, the furthering of students' social competence. Six case studies were conducted in which projects aimed at social competence were analysed in general secondary education and prevocational education. The results show that in the general secondary education projects the emphasis was on the meaning of changes in society for students and the contribution they can make to such changes (social competence in education as an "art of living"). The prevocational education projects focused on improving the chances of students at school and in society by developing aspects of social competence that they have not acquired at home or earlier in their school careers, such as self-confidence and social and communicative skills (social competence as a "life jacket"). We interpret these different focuses in terms of the production and reproduction of social inequality and discuss how such reproduction processes can be countered in the context of educating for social competence. [source]


Early elementary students' development of astronomy concepts in the planetarium

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 2 2009
Julia D. Plummer
Abstract The National Science Education Standards [National Research Council (1996) National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press] recommend that students understand the apparent patterns of motion of the sun, moon and stars by the end of early elementary school. However, little information exists on students' ability to learn these concepts. This study examines the change in students' understanding of apparent celestial motion after attending a planetarium program using kinesthetic learning techniques. Pre- and post-interviews were conducted with participants from seven classes of first and second grade students (N,=,63). Students showed significant improvement in knowledge of all areas of apparent celestial motion covered by the planetarium program. This suggests that students in early elementary school are capable of learning the accurate description of apparent celestial motion. The results also demonstrate the value of both kinesthetic learning techniques and the rich visual environment of the planetarium for improved understanding of celestial motion. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 192,209, 2009 [source]


Advancing reflective judgment through Socioscientific Issues

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 1 2009
Dana L. Zeidler
Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to explore possible relationships between Socioscientific Issues instruction and students' development of reflective judgment. The usefulness of the Reflective Judgment Model as a tool for assessing the value of SSI is established in the parallels that can be drawn between them. Both involve ill-structured problems requiring evidence-based reasoning subject to differing interpretations by students, and both require examination, analysis and the blending of scientific and normative evidence, as students use that evidence to support a reasoned position. Results demonstrated both qualitative evidence revealing more sophisticated and nuanced epistemological stances toward higher stages of reflective judgment, as well as statistically significant gains within treatment groups with a moderately large effect size. Theoretical implications for advancing students' epistemological beliefs about evidence-based argumentation and pedagogical implications for rethinking how to connect science with topics that are fundamentally meaningful to students are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 74,101, 2009 [source]


Learning to teach science for all in the elementary grades: What do preservice teachers bring?

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 9 2002
Elaine V. Howes
Implicit in the goal of recent reforms is the question: What does it mean to prepare teachers to teach "science for all"? Through a teacher research study, I have encountered characteristics that may assist prospective elementary teachers in developing effective, inclusive science instruction. I describe these strengths, link them to requirements for teaching, and suggest how science teacher educators might draw on the strengths of their own students to support teaching practices aimed at universal scientific literacy. My conceptual framework is constructed from scholarship concerning best practice in elementary science education, as well as that which describes the dispositions of successful teachers of diverse learners. This study is based on a model of teacher research framed by the concept of "research as praxis" and phenomenological research methodology. The findings describe the research participants' strengths thematically as propensity for inquiry, attention to children, and awareness of school/society relationships. I view these as potentially productive aspects of knowledge and dispositions about science and about children that I could draw on to further students' development as elementary science teachers. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 845,869, 2002 [source]


The Role of Conversation in a Thematic Understanding of Literature

LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 3 2002
Catherine Cobb Morocco
Opportunities to discuss literature with peers are critical to students' development of literary understanding. Despite the importance of these discourse experiences, many middle-school students are not afforded these opportunities or the necessary teacher support in their English language arts classrooms. Based on a sociocultural perspective, we set out to examine the ways that middle-grades students, particularly those with disabilities, contribute to peer-led discussions and how their participation enables them to build toward textual understanding, social understanding, and understanding of literary discourse. We conducted an in-depth analysis of a verbatim transcription of a video-taped literacy lesson in an urban classroom. Drawing on that analysis, we describe the ways students participated in the literary discourse and the teacher practices that supported students' participation in this discourse. This analysis provides evidence that students with disabilities can acquire the discourse practices needed for interpreting challenging literature with their regular education peers. [source]


The impact of college on character development

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 122 2004
Helen S. Astin
The authors assess the kinds of college experience that affect students' development of character. [source]