Not quite university people? Academics teaching on foundation studies programmes in New Zealand universities     

Pat Strauss 《高等教育研究与发展》2020,39(5):1013-1025

ABSTRACT

In the current neoliberal environment in higher education, universities are viewed as a valuable source of income. To generate this income, universities need to attract students, and in order to do so, they need to perform well in global ranking tables. These tables are influenced to a large extent by staff research and postgraduate teaching. Foundation studies programmes (FS) do not usually have a great deal to offer in these categories and this places staff teaching on these programmes in a difficult position. This article explores the perceptions of staff teaching on FS programmes in New Zealand universities, drawing on data from semi-structured interviews with 22 lecturers from four universities. Although lip service is paid in higher education circles to the importance of widening access to university education for traditionally marginalised groups, it appears that staff teaching on FS programmes do not, on the whole, receive acknowledgement, support or reward for the work that they do. Despite their marginalised status, these lecturers are committed to helping second chance learners. However, their ability to make a positive impact on these students’ lives is limited by their lowly status in the university sector. This article discusses the insights of FS staff and considers the implications of their positioning in the university sector. It offers some suggestions as to how, in a small way, universities could address the difficulties these academics face in their attempts to widen university access.  相似文献   

Disseminating development initiatives in British higher education: a case study     

Stephen Sharp  Pat McLaughlin 《Higher Education》1997,33(3):309-329

The Effective Teaching and Assessment Programme (ETAP) was commissioned and funded by the Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland and Wales and ran during the academic year 1993–4. Its aim was to identify and disseminate best practice in specific subject areas, student support and resource based learning. ETAP supported five projects, each undertaken by a consortium of British higher education institutions. This paper reports an evaluation of the programme based on interviews with leaders of the individual projects, along with a questionnaire survey of potential users of the products of the programme. A framework is offered for interpreting the results of the evaluation. Six different meanings of the word dissemination are identified, corresponding to the different degrees to which users actively engage with the materials produced. These distinctions are applied to the data collected and the findings are summarised in terms of the key notions of awareness of what is available, the attitude of teaching staff towards centrally-produced materials, and the accessibility of those materials. The implications of these three concepts are discussed in relation to the technical, organisational and presentational issues which promote or hinder the effectiveness of the dissemination. A number of policy recommendations for Funding Councils and institutions are outlined.  相似文献   

Multigrade schooling in ‘remote’ areas of Vietnam   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Sheila Aikman  Pat Pridmore 《International Journal of Educational Development》2001,21(6)

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Do individuals with autism process categories differently? The effect of typicality and development     

Gastgeb HZ  Strauss MS  Minshew NJ 《Child development》2006,77(6):1717-1729

This study examined the effect of exemplar typicality on reaction time and accuracy of categorization. High-functioning children (age 9-12), adolescents (age 13-16), and adults with autism (age 17-48) and matched controls were tested in a category verification procedure. All groups showed improved processing throughout the lifespan for typical and somewhat typical category exemplars. However, individuals with autism responded more slowly than matched controls to atypical exemplars at all ages. The results are discussed in terms of potential differences in the type of processing that may be required for categorizing typical and atypical category exemplars. Parallels are also drawn to the results of previous studies on face processing in individuals with autism.  相似文献   

Effects of ICT group work on interactions and social acceptance of a primary pupil with Asperger's Syndrome     

Lynda Lewis  John Trushell  Pat Woods 《British journal of educational technology : journal of the Council for Educational Technology》2005,36(5):739-755

The aim of this study was to ascertain whether collaborative group work on a computer, facilitated by an adult, could provide a means for a primary schoolboy with Asperger's Syndrome (AS)—moderately‐highly affected in all areas of the “triad of impairments”—to develop appropriate task‐related interactions with his peers. Data were gathered before, during, and after group work sessions. A combination of interviews and questionnaires established background data and concerns of parent and teachers. Sociometric testing of classmates was used to determine social acceptance and friendship grouping among the child's immediate peer group. During the adult‐facilitated ICT sessions an interaction process schedule (IPS) was used to record interactions of the three children involved. The results indicate moderate improvements in the child's ability to interact with his peers, both in social and task‐related contexts, as well as a raised social profile among his classmates in general. Although this was a discrete setting, the findings are encouraging and this strategy may be replicated in schools to support mainstream inclusion for children with AS.  相似文献   

Defining 'Early Career' in Research   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Pat Bazeley 《Higher Education》2003,45(3):257-279

In order to ensure the future of high qualityresearch in some disciplines it may benecessary to provide special consideration inprestigious research funding schemes for earlycareer researchers who will otherwise becomedisenchanted with academic research and leaveit behind in their search for a stable andfruitful future. Milestones in progressionthrough research studies and academic life toestablishment as an academic researcher areoutlined. Within this context, a range ofpotential criteria for determining promisingearly career status are reviewed. Thediscussion leads to derivation of thedefinition of early career which has beenadopted by the Australian Research Council forits prestigious Discovery – Projects grantsscheme.  相似文献   

Comparing Student Performance and Growth in 2- and 4-Year Institutions     

Strauss  Linda C.  Volkwein  J. Fredericks 《Research in higher education》2002,43(2):133-161

This study examines the organizational characteristics of 51 higher education institutions in relationship to student performance and growth. The study first finds that organizational measures of mission, size, wealth, complexity, and selectivity are statistically represented by the 2-year versus 4-year college mission. Findings indicate that 2-year and 4-year campuses indeed do exert significantly different influences on undergraduate GPA and self-reported intellectual growth. Next, the study uses both OLS regression and HLM to examine these influences. High school percentile rank and college classroom experiences are better predictors of Cum GPA at 4-year institutions, while student effort is a better predictor of GPA at 2-year institutions. Whereas the most important predictors of Cum GPA include precollege measures such as high school percentile rank and SAT score, the most influential predictors of student intellectual growth are campus experiences including classroom vitality, peer support, student effort, commitment, and involvement. Controlling for all other variables, students at 2-year institutions receive higher grades, and students at 4-year campuses experience more growth.  相似文献   

Concept acquisition in the human infant.   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

L B Cohen  M S Strauss 《Child development》1979,50(2):419-424

The ability of 18-, 24-, and 30-week-old infants to learn conceptual categories regarding adult female faces was examined using a habituation paradigm. Little evidence for conceptual categorization occurred at 18 or 24 weeks, but at 30 weeks infants learned to respond to "a specific female face regardless of orientation" and to "female faces in general."  相似文献   

Uncertain pathways: foundation skills tutors and marginalised students in neoliberal times     

Pat Strauss  Judy Hunter 《Journal of Further & Higher Education》2018,42(7):879-892

This article deals with the work of polytechnic tutors on adult foundation programmes and describes how their work has been affected by the current neoliberal climate in the education sector. Inclusive neoliberalism is characterised by heightened regulation, reduced support for the public sector and a greater requirement for individual responsibility. The push to improve skills to meet labour demand is promoted as addressing social needs. Policies devised to promote these neoliberal values have led to numerous and far-reaching changes in adult education. In this study 73 foundation skills educators drawn from 8 institutions were interviewed to gain their insights into the effects of these policies. The article discusses three types of detrimental effects: the growing distrust between teaching staff and management; unsettling changes to institutional policy and its effects on staffing issues; and threats to the professionalism of teaching staff, the delivery of foundation studies, and the students themselves. Finally, the article suggests alternative possibilities for addressing these issues.  相似文献   

Disciplinary regimes of ‘care’ and complementary alternative education     

Pat Thomson  Jodie Pennacchia 《Critical Studies in Education》2016,57(1):84-99

In schools, the notion of ‘care is often synonymous with welfare and disciplinary regimes. Drawing on Foucault, and a study of alternative education (AE) across the UK, and looking in depth at two cases of complementary AE, we identify three types of disciplinary regimes at work in schools: (1) dominant performative reward and punishment, (2) team-building and (3) therapeutic. We argue that while all three regimes aim to steer identified students back to the norm, the two complementary approaches that we saw avoided the narrow instrumental behaviourist approaches of the dominant pattern. In so doing, they also opened up wider horizons of possibility and ways to be and become.  相似文献