To address the seven guiding questions posed for authors of articles in this special issue, we begin by discussing the development (in the late 1970s-early 1980s) of Eccles' expectancy-value theory of achievement choice (EEVT), a theory developed to explain the cultural phenomenon of why girls were less likely to participate in STEM courses and…

Over the last 10 years the higher education sector has undergone a myriad of changes both in student demographics and the influx of international students. With these changes, concerns about the ability of students to meet the English language and academic demands of tertiary study have come to the forefront. This paper reports on a project of…

Despite technological and pedagogical improvements, obstacles continue in certain areas of distance education, including a lack of interaction among students and instructors and associated feelings of disconnectedness from the campus community. This article explores the study results of a blended learning, distance education graduate program…

The means and advantages of incorporating participation experiences into an instructional program to promote the development of effective student participant roles are presented in this paper. Several alternative approaches are reviewed historically and three types--observer, action, and competency--are discussed. A rationale for a…

Tests a model which relates student political attitudes to the degree of participation in extracurricular activities. Subjects were 3,087 high school students. Findings showed that political attitudes are predictors of participation in the political arena in high schools. (AM)

This study incorporates the perspective of deliberative democracy in proposing a framework for evaluating relationships between civic education and political development. Findings support a conception of deliberative learning as a process in which interactive curricula result in the diffusion of discursive inclinations to families and peer groups.…

Tests hypotheses from lineage socialization and generation unit perspectives on Korean student protest participation using 360 self-administered questionnaires collected at 3 Korean universities. Results indicate that these hypotheses are not mutually exclusive but support the generation unit model. (SLD)

Tests the adequacy of the transference model in explaining variations in feelings of political efficacy by analyzing data collected from a sample of Chinese secondary school students in West Malaysia. According to this model, feelings that the young develop toward authority figures, for instance in the family or school, are likely to be…

The view of Etzioni, that member socialization and communication tend to define orientations toward consensus (and in turn role performance) was tested using students in a college classroom. The Etzioni model was moderately predictive of role performance, while addition of a cost-benefits factor boosted explained variation. (Author/GDC)

This paper presents methods for training Hispanic business students in interpersonal skills, particularly committee membership skills. The paper states that social, managerial, and committee membership skills can be developed by: (1) encouraging task oriented and social interaction among students with different backgrounds and ideas; (2) offering…

Demonstrates how students who are not directly participating in instruction are key contributors to the social construction of literacy knowledge. Argues for a reconceptualization of classroom language and literacy practices from current dyadic-based frameworks to more expanded multi-party participation frameworks allowing for flexible access to…

Described is a project intended to help junior high school students gain understanding and experience in political decision making. The hypothesis is that students will show an increase in political efficacy, interest, trust, and social integration when they become involved in the political functioning of their schools. This hypothesis is in…

A model is proposed and tested which suggests that students who come to school with more positive attitudes toward the political system generalize these attitudes to the school as a substitute political system. In turn, they seek out involvement in extracurricular and governance activities in the high school. To test this model, two attitude…