Education Commons^™

Exploring Mathematical Competencies, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

The author describes a set of competencies that are fundamental to the development of ‘mathematical literacy’, or a person’s ability to apply their mathematical knowledge to practical situations.

Identifying Cognitive Processes Important To Mathematics Learning But Often Overlooked, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

No abstract provided.

Assessing And Instilling Hopefulness: A Case Study Of Swazi Youth, Connie Titone Dr., Laura Stefanik, Robert Mcnamara

connie titone

Hopefulness is a critical quality of human beings that provides us with the capacity to set goals and overcome adversity in the pursuit of those goals. Likewise, successful achievement of goals sustains hopefulness. High levels of hope can therefore positively affect a student’s education. The psychologist C.R. Snyder, a leading researcher of hope theory, developed the Children’s Hope Scale (CHS) to assess and analyze the state of hopefulness in children ages 8-17. This study expands on Snyder’s data by analyzing the results of the CHS administered to 38 students at an orphanage in Swaziland. The results presented here show that …

Attracting Black Male Students To Research Careers In Education: A Report From The Grad Prep Academy Project, Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D., Andrew C. Porter, Ph.D.

Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

This report is about the University of Pennsylvania’s Grad Prep Academy, a project that prepares Black undergraduate men for graduate study and research-related careers in the field of education. The project is also a longitudinal research study that enables us to analyze Black men’s trajectories from undergraduate study through graduate degree programs and eventually into their careers. Eighteen students participated in our first two cohorts of Academy Scholars. The project described in this report, as well as the recommendations we offer, can be instructive for other schools of education and a range of stakeholders who are concerned about the diversity …

¿Créditos Educativos En México? ¡No! 1, Marion Lloyd

Marion Lloyd

Mexico´s first federal student loan program, unveiled amid much fanfare in January 2012, has sparked major criticism for a host of reasons, including: its onerous terms (including 10%-plus interest rates), its violation of the constitutional ban on public funding for religious instruction; its failure to acknowledge the deleterious effects in terms of skyrocketing student loans resulting from similar programs in countries around the world, among other issues. This article reproduces a series of presentations by higher education researchers at UNAM and other universities in Mexico, which argue the dangers of the student loan model in its current form.

Las Políticas De Fomento A La Ciencia Y Tecnología En México Y Brasil: Un Estudio De Caso De La Universidad Nacional Autónoma De México Y La Universidad De São Paulo, Marion Lloyd

Marion Lloyd

The thesis analyzes the science and technology policies in Mexico and Brazil from the 1930s to the present and their impact on the character, missions and scientific production of Latin America´s two leading universities: the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the University of Sao Paulo (USP). The author concludes that major differences in those polices, as well as in higher education policies in both countries, largely explain the vastly different character of the two institutions. While Brazil has pursued ambitious, long-term S&T policies since the 1930s, and more intensively since the late 1960s, Mexico has largely paid lip …

Reclaiming And Re-Visioning Indigenous Voices: The Case Of The Language, Edward Shizha

Edward Shizha

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of teaching science to rural primary school students using a second language (English) in Zimbabwe. The study also investigated the opinions and attitudes of primary school teachers toward teaching science using an indigenous language (chiShona). Qualitative data was collected using twenty classroom observations and interviews with ten purposely selected primary school teachers. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis. The findings revealed institutional and attitudinal barriers to using chiShona as a language of instruction in science teaching and learning. The results also showed that some teachers frustrate and silence students’ …

The Arabic Language: A Sociolinguistic Study, Ahlam Alfouaim

Ahlam Alfouaim

It is very true that bilingualism boosts ones’ cognitive skills and increases ones’ executive system. A bilingual brain has the privileges to process languages and, sometimes, code switch unconsciously. Many bilingual speakers including ESL learners focus only on understanding and analyzing the target language, leaving behind understanding and embracing their own native language. The need to make a conscious sense of how we speak our native language, how others speak it, and how it is different or similar to other language varieties, is somehow misinterpreted. In other word, understanding ones’ mother tongue is vital for the progress of acquiring a …

The Critical Language Awareness Impact On Language Variation, Ahlam Alfouaim

Ahlam Alfouaim

The ideology of Critical Language Awareness is an integral part of any successful language education system. This area of specialization has played an important role in the development of sociolinguistics study. CLA expands substantially over a wide range of factors including language acquisition and variety, as well as human identity factors. Before diving into critical language awareness studies and its wide practices, the definition of CLA, according to Fiarcough, includes “how language conventions and language practices are invested with power relations and ideological process which people are often unaware of” (205). That is, language is not only a mean of …

Talented Tenth: An Analysis Of The 2011 Root Magazine’S 100 Most Influential Young Black Americans, Amadu Jacky Kaba

Amadu Jacky Kaba

This study presents an in-depth social science examination of the 2011 Root Magazine’s rankings of the 100 most influential young Black Americans aged 25 to 45. Among the variables examined in this study are: place of birth, average age, gender/sex, skin tone, institutions where college or university degrees were earned, states and countries where those colleges or universities are located, and professions/job types.

African Americans In The U.S. Women’S National Basketball Association, 2006: From The Ncaa To The Wnba, Amadu Jacky Kaba

Amadu Jacky Kaba

This research study presents a social science examination of the US Women’s National Basketball As- sociation (WNBA) players for the 2006 season. This study does not examine on-court performance data. Instead, it focuses on the profile of the players as human beings, by looking at their race, average age, height and weight, colleges or universities attended in the United States and which regions these institu- tions are located in, demographics of international players, graduation rates, etcetera. The paper also ex- amines the issue of gender bias when it comes to salaries and advertisement or endorsement opportunities.

Black Americans And Interracial Marriage: A Focus On Black Women, Amadu Jacky Kaba

Amadu Jacky Kaba

This paper claims that although there has been a significant increase in the number of scholarly publica-tions on interracial marriages in the United States in recent decades, most of these publications tend to focus on the small but visible increase in marriages, co-habitations and dating; how Whites or European Gentile Americans are gradually becoming accepting of these relationships; the factors that are causing non-Blacks to “reject” Blacks; and specifically factors that are causing White men and other non-Black men to “reject” Black women. As a result, the paper attempts to contribute to this topic by focusing on an important phenomenon—that …

National Schooling In Crisis: Neoliberal Policies And The 2011 Justice Campaign For The Pgcps Filipino Overseas Contract Teachers, Peter Chua

Peter Chua

No abstract provided.

Youth And Administrator Perspectives On Transition In Kentucky's State Agency Schools, Norman Powell, Amy Marshall, Doris Pierce, Ronnie Nolan

Norman W. Powell

Students, a large percentage with disabilities, are at high risk for poor post-secondary outcomes in nontraditional state agency schools. This mixed methods study described transition within Kentucky's state agency education programs, from the perspectives of youth and administrators. Results indicated: that transition is more narrowly defined within alternative education programs; that key strengths of transition practice are present in nontraditional schools; and that the coordination barriers within this fluid interagency transition system are most apparent in students' frequent inter-setting transitions between nontraditional and home schools.

Mastery: A Lesson From Maria In Venezuela, Norman Powell, Sandra Powell

Norman W. Powell

A youth worker finds hidden strengths in a young homeless teen mother.

Finding Leadership For The Internationalization Of U.S. Higher Education, Michael Smithee

Michael B. Smithee

The internationalization of U.S. higher education has depended on leadership from a variety of sources in different strengths and purposes over time. The leadership shifted from President Lyndon Johnson's sponsorship of legislation, as part of a trilogy of legislation known as the Great Society, to a collaborative and at times competitive leadership marked by a struggle to establish international education as legitimate focus for higher education institutions. Leadership came in the form of advocates for international education who were drawn from the stakeholders. These advocates included practitioners, researchers, professional organizations, and alliances. Leader-advocates also contended with philosophical changes in the …

Childhood, Youth, And Globalization: Some Theoretical Perspectives With Reflections On China, Irving Epstein

Irving Epstein

This chapter, part of a collection honoring Ruth Hayhoe, is an examination of how consumerism and globalization impacts children and youth in China. The book is available in The Ames Library collection. More information about the book can be found on the publisher's website.

Neoliberalizing Higher Education In Greece: New Laws, Old Free-Market Tricks, Panayota Gounari

Panayota Gounari

Amid a financial crisis that has shifted politics in Greece to conservative market-driven ideologies and policies, specific major changes are proposed by the Greek Ministry of Education for primary, secondary and higher education. With the gradual disappearance of public space and of the welfare state, under the pressure and the auspices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), education becomes one more space quickly geared up towards privatization, marketization of learning and educational goals while the character of free public education is radically redefined. This article addresses the changes in higher education legislation and policy in Greece and analyzes the discursive …

Second Language Acquisition: Selected Topics, Ahlam Alfouaim

Ahlam Alfouaim

The article includes a brief discussion of the following topics: Who is better in learning a second language: Kids or Adults. The nature of mistakes in second language acquisition. The issue of Bilingualism.

Silence In Teaching And Learning: Perspectives Of A Nepalese Graduate Student, Krishna Bista

Krishna Bista

Multicultural Literature For Children And Young Adults., Krishna Bista

Krishna Bista

The Handbook Of Scholarly Writing And Publishing [Review Of The Book The Handbook Of Scholarly Writing And Publishing, By T. S. Rocco, & T. Hatcher], Krishna Bista

Krishna Bista

No abstract provided.

The Exclusion Of Black Women From National Leadership Positions In The United States: Taxation With Limited Representation, Amadu Jacky Kaba

Amadu Jacky Kaba

This article claims that the United States is progressing well when examined through the racial and cultural diversity of its young people aged 29 and younger with earned doctorates. The data show that females in general and Asian and Black females in particular are earning very high proportions of doctorate degrees among individuals aged 29 and younger in 2009 and 2008. For example, of the 117,000 doctorate degrees (Ph.D., Ed.D., etc.) held by individuals in the US aged 25 - 29 in 2009, females accounted for 65,000 (55.6%), with Black females and Asian females accounting for 11.1% (13,000) and 10.3% …