There has been rapid growth in value-added assessment of teachers to meet the widely supported identifying the most effective and the most ineffective teachers in a school system. The former group is to be r epwoalircdye gdo walh oilfe the lpartotbelre mgrso.u Cph iise tf oa mbeo nhge ltpheedm o ris f tirheed c foomr mthoenilry pfooourn dp ecrlfaosrsm-taon-cclea.s sB uatn,d v yaeluaer--taod-dyeeadr a upnprreolaiachbeilsi ttyo i nte tahceh escr oerveasl uoabttiaoinn ehda.v Tee macahneyr fvraolume -caladsdse tdo s ccloarsess a acpropsesa rt wtoo baed jhaicgehnlty yuenasrtsa.ble across two classes of the same subject that they teach in the same semester, or
This qualitative research project explored the experiences of women who jug- gle the demands of family or parenthood while engaging in academic careers at a faculty of education. The researcher-participants consisted of 11 women; 9 women provided a written narrative, and all women participated in the data analysis. The data consisted of the personal, reflective narratives of 9
women who participated in a faculty writing group. Analysis of narratives uncovered 5 themes common to the researchers and participants in this study: gender- specific experiences surrounding parenting, second-career academics, pres- sure surrounding academic work, human costs, and commitment to work and family. Implications of the findings are discussed with particular emphasis on how a faculty writing group framed by a relational model of interaction can be used to support
untenured faculty who experience difficulty balancing the demands of family and academia.
White flight from the center city to better neigborhood schools in the leafy green suburbs has finally arrived in the nation's ivy-covered campuses. The rackial and ethnic stafification in educational opportunity entrenched in the nation's K-12 education system has faithfully reproduced itself across the full range of American Colleges and Universities.
Abstract - The earliest studies of undergraduate retention in the United States occurred in the
1930s and focused on what was referred to at the time as student mortality: the failure of students to graduate (Berger & Lyon, 2005). Historically higher education research has had an eye toward pathology with a focus on repairing students’ problems (Shushok & Hulme, 2006). To this end, much research exists on why students fail to persist as opposed to why they succeed. Strength-based approaches to the study of undergraduate retention involve studying successful students. Studying
what is right with students may illuminate new aspects of successful student experiences which can in turn be applied to supporting all students. This paper will provide a brief historical overview of undergraduate retention followed by factors commonly related to undergraduate retention. Finally, an overview of the recent application of motivational theories to understand undergraduate retention including attribution theory, expectancy theory, goal setting theory, self-efficacy
beliefs, academic self-concept, motivational orientations and optimism will be provided. Considerations for the future of motivational theories in undergraduate retention will be discussed with particular emphasis on the value of strength-based approaches to study and practice.
From pro-rape chants at St. Mary's University in Halifax to misogynistic Facebook posts by some dentistry students at Dalhousie University, sexual assault has become a contentious topic on Canadian campuses.
Over the course of six months, CBC News contacted 87 university and major colleges across Canada to request the number of sexual assaults reported on each campus to the institution between 2009 and 2013.
Here's that data, searchable by school.
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) recognizes that all members of the University community should be able to work, tach, and learn in an environment where they are free from harassment, discrimination, and violence. Sexual activity without consent is sexual assault. Sexual assault is a criminal offence in Canada.
Despite recent innovations, it remains the case that most students experience universities as isolated learners whose learning is disconnected from that of others. They continue to engage in solo performance and demonstration in what remains a largely show-and-tell learning environment. The experience of learning in higher education is, for most students, still very much a "spectator sport" in which faculty talk dominates and where there are few active student participants. Just as importantly, students typically take courses as detached, individual units, one course separated from another in both content and peer group, one set of understandings unrelated in any intentional fashion to what is learned in other courses. Though there are majors, there is little academic or social coherence to student learning. It is little wonder then that students seem so uninvolved in learning. Their learning experiences are not very involving.
Key Word: Tinto
Student mobility refers not to just the physical ability of a student to move from one institution to another, but the more comprehensive understanding of a student as an independent agent who - as their own needs and desires change - requires the ability to move from one institution to another to achieve their educational goal, be it a college certificate, diploma, or undergraduate degree. The policy has been broken into three key pillars, which cover the mobility needs of Ontario’s postsecondary students: Transparency, Consistency, and Student Support.
The development of outcomes-based educational (OBE) practices represents one important way in which a learning outcomes approach to teaching and learning can be applied in the postsecondary sector. This study adopts a multiple case study design and profiles seven OBE initiatives being implemented in Ontario’s colleges and universities to better understand the scope of outcomes-based educational practices in the province’s postsecondary sector. ‘OBE initiatives’ are defined as purposeful actions undertaken by postsecondary providers directed at defining, teaching toward and assessing learning outcomes in their educational practice (modified from Jones, Voorhees & Paulson, 2002).
Despite professors’ education and socialization and the significant rewards they receive for research activities and output, the 80/20 rule seems to apply; that is, there exists a system of stars who produce a disproportionate volume of research such that most research tends to be undertaken by a small percentage of the academy (Erkut, 2002). Although a growing body of research seeks to address this imbalance, studies of research productivity have tended to reveal its institutional and non-behavioural antecedents. As a result, there exists very little re- search that considers the strategies that individuals employ to improve their personal research productivity. This exploratory, questionnaire- based study of a sample of Canadian
professors attempts to address this gap by examining the relationship among a number of strategies, what professors report as being their average annual number of publications over the past five years, and their perceptions of their level of research productivity. Not surprisingly, in this study, we found that the amount of time that individuals invested in research activities
predicted their level of research productivity. Additionally, strategically focusing one’s research positively influenced journal publication levels, both directly and through its interaction with seeking resources (such as research grants). A strategic focus
also positively predicted self-perceived re- search productivity through its interaction with managing ideas. Fi- nally, although the perceived need to free up time from teaching and committee work was negatively related to journal publication levels, it was positively related to perceptions of productivity.
In the last two decades, distance education has grown worldwide and is now established as a reliable educational method. Accompanying this development, questions about low rates of student persistence havecome to interest governments, institutions, and university management. This article is based on an original local study at a university in Sweden investigating what it takes to get students to continue their enrolment in courses or programs. Teachers' views were captured in interviews and focus groups. These views were analyzed in the context of research in the field catalogued under the keywords "retention" and "persistence" in"distance education" and "distance learning." The results indicate that the teachers would like to see a shift in focus from students to the organization and its technical and administrative teacher and learner support. Staff attitudes, institutional structure, and the management views towards distance education seem to be critical factors.
This article presents findings from a case study related to the risks associated with the choice of traditional,tenure track faculty to teach online. Education offered at a distance via the World Wide Web is on the rise; so too is the demand for university faculty members who will teach those courses. While traditional academic and professional expectations remain unchanged, the new medium presents a new context in which these faculty members live, work, and balance personal and professional decisions. This study provided a multi-dimensional perspective on one college of education’s faculty and administrators as they seek to negotiate this emerging environment. Interviews with faculty, administrators, and faculty peer reviewers were conducted to provide amore complete, triangulated picture of the case.
During the last third of the twentieth century, college sectors in many coun- tries took on the role of expanding opportunities for baccalaureate degree attainment in applied fields of study. In many European countries, colleges came to constitute a parallel higher education sector that offered degree pro- grams of an applied nature in contrast to the more academically oriented pro-
grams of the traditional university sector. Other jurisdictions, including some Canadian ones, followed the American approach, in which colleges facilitate degree attainment for students in occupational programs through transfer arrangements with universities. This article offers some possible reasons why the Ontario Government has chosen not to fully embrace the European mod- el, even though the original vision for Ontario’s colleges was closer to that model to than to the American one.
The primary factors that shape the health of cal treatments or the conditions they experience. Th conditions have come to be known as the social determinants of health.The importance to health of living conditions was established in the mid-1800s and has been enshrined in Canadian government policy documents since the mid-1970s. In fact, Canadian contributions to the social determinants of health concept have been so extensive as to make Canada a “health promotion powerhouse” in the eyes of the international health community. Recent reports from Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, the Canadian Senate, and the Public Health Agency of Canada continue to document the importance of the social determinants of health.
In fall 2015, overall postsecondary enrollments decreased 1.7 percent from the previous fall. Figure 1 shows the 12-month percentage change (fall-to-fall and spring-to-spring) for each term over the last three years. Enrollments decreased among fouryear for-profit institutions (-13.7 percent), two-year public institutions (-2.4 percent), and four-year private nonprofit institutions (-0.3 percent). Enrollments increased slightly among four-year public institutions (+0.4 percent). Taken as a whole, public sector enrollment (2-year and 4-year combined) declined by 2.3 percent this fall.
The provincial government has established policies that obligate universities to produce skilled graduates and cutting-edge research that will contribute to Ontario’s economic development. This “strategy for prosperity” seems innocuous. However, these market-based higher education policies and targeted research funding programs are narrowing the scope and function of our universities, and perpetuating the business model of higher education.
Teaching is a science, an art, and a craft.
The purpose of the study was primarily concerned with exploring the major issues that are confronting presidents of higher education and determining if transformational or transactional leadership practices and concepts are warranted in addressing their issues. The study attempted to determine if presidents or institutions of higher education are taking the path to success and if they take charge with a transformational or transactional leadership style.
When former University of British Columbia president Martha Piper was asked in 2011 about the impact a university president has, her swift response, after nearly 10 years at the helm before her retirement in 2006 was, “not much.” As Ms. Piper returns to the university as interim president after Arvind Gupta’s hasty departure this month, would she say the same thing today?
Academic Profile of College Applicants
• Forty-two percent of all Ontario college applicants are direct entrants, 16% are delayed
entrants, 27% are PSE transfer students, and 15% have past PSE experience.
• Thirteen percent of applicants applied to a university in addition to applying to a college
or polytechnic.
• Nearly half of Ontario college applicants (46%) attended high school full-time or part-time at
the time of application. Less than one-quarter (21%) were attending either college or university;
26% were not attending any school.
• The majority of applicants attended a public high school (no religious affiliation—65%;
religious
affiliation—28%); only 5% attended a private school.
• More than half of Ontario college applicants (53%) plan to obtain a college certificate, diploma,
or advanced diploma as their highest credential, while 22% plan to obtain an undergraduate degree.
Four percent plan on obtaining a graduate/post-graduate certificate or diploma, while 6% plan to
obtain a Master’s degree.
• The most popular programs among all Ontario college applicants are health
sciences/kinesiology/nursing (25%), business (11%), social and community services (11%), fine art
and design (9%), and skilled trades/applied technologies/apprenticeship (8%).
• The mean high school grade average among Ontario college applicants (self-reported) was 77.4%
with nearly half of students falling between the 75% and 84% range (48%).
• A majority of Ontario college applicants (72%) are not first-generation students; 22% are first
generation, that is, neither parent had participated in post-secondary education.