The Journey to My Student Identity: A Grounded Theory Study on Supported Education for Young Adults with Mental Health Problems

Support for developing a work identity has been shown to be essential for the recovery process of young adults with mental health problems. Since research shows that the development of a student role during the educational years for these young adults may be interrupted, this time period may be relevant to explore in order to support career development and the critical transition to adulthood for this target group. To explore young adults’ experiences of participating in supported education that is integrated with vocational and mental health services, reflecting the process of developing a student identity while struggling with mental health problems. A grounded theory design was used. The material consists of 17 individual interviews with young adults aged 18–29 years who were receiving supported education. Young adults who study while having mental health problems encountered structural barriers and challenged engagement in education that created a gap between the students and the regular education system. Access to supported education was reported to decrease this gap and formed a bridge that to facilitate educational achievements. The achievements were related to several personal benefits that were important for the experience of meaning and identity development in the future. Supported education can contribute to enabling the development of student identity for young adults with mental health problems. This involves an engagement process and positive identity formation that may reduce stigma and is therefore important for the personal recovery process and career advancement.

The Development and Validation of the Doctoral Student Identity Scale

Objective: Based on how the identity of doctoral students is recognized and understood in the context of Chinese culture, we developed a doctoral identity scale using both qualitative and quantitative analyses.Methods: The initial project of the Scale was formed through qualitative analyses and expert consultation. Nine hundred and ninety-one doctoral students were officially tested, and 982 valid questionnaires were obtained. They were randomly divided into two parts, and 491 of which were assessed for item Response Theory (IRT) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and 491 of which were assessed for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The Subjective Well-Being Scale (SWB), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), and the Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale (PSSM) were used to test its the criterion-related validity. One hundred and forty-one students were selected for retesting after 8 weeks.Results: The doctoral student identity questionnaire consisted of two factors identity exploration and identity commitment, explaining 57% of the total variance. The results of CFA showed that the two-factor model fitted the data well. The two dimensions of the Doctoral Student Identity Scale were significantly and positively correlated with the two dimensions of the SWB scale (0.32–0.66), the latent factor of the RSE scale (0.42–0.55), and the latent factor of the PSSM scale (0.52–0.62). Composite reliability values for exploration and commitment were 0.79 and 0.83 respectively, and the values of McDonald’s omega for exploration and commitment were 0.81 and 0.85 respectively. The test-retest reliability of the total questionnaire was 0.842.Conclusion: The Doctoral Student Identity Scale was developed with good reliability and validity, and can be used as a reliable tool for measuring the doctoral student identity. In addition, the questionnaire will provide corresponding ideas and methods for studying the identity issues of specific groups.

Early Childhood Education Students' Experiences of Engaging with Academic Text

<p>Academic text is viewed in most university environments as a tool for supporting student learning which generates knowledge, skills and the capacity to critique ideas. Yet there is little research undertaken to understand early childhood education (ECE) students’ experiences and beliefs of engaging with academic text. Therefore, in order to understand this specific group of students’ text engagement practices and beliefs, this ethnographic research followed a group of ten third-year ECE students at Victoria University in Wellington New Zealand through one course of their undergraduate study. The researcher collected data using ethnographic methods (including a non-traditional visual participatory method of identity portfolio collages) to identify patterns which help understand students’ beliefs and experiences of engaging with academic text. Based on social learning theories, the research examined the influence of student identity and cultural context on their motivation and interest in engaging with academic text. The study found that while this group of ECE students reported valuing academic text for a number of reasons, they were most likely to engage with assigned text for assessment purposes. The prevalent use of a surface learning approach, skim reading, when reading academic text also left students feeling frustrated with the reading they completed during their programme. Group expectations of reading mainly for assessment and a lack of text engagement by practicing teachers they encountered also encouraged these students, who hold positive reader identities, to limit their engagement with academic text. The results from this study indicate that students and educators can examine ways to increase student motivation to engage deeply with academic text on a more regular basis for students to achieve deeper and more meaningful learning experiences.</p>

Early Childhood Education Students' Experiences of Engaging with Academic Text

<p>Academic text is viewed in most university environments as a tool for supporting student learning which generates knowledge, skills and the capacity to critique ideas. Yet there is little research undertaken to understand early childhood education (ECE) students’ experiences and beliefs of engaging with academic text. Therefore, in order to understand this specific group of students’ text engagement practices and beliefs, this ethnographic research followed a group of ten third-year ECE students at Victoria University in Wellington New Zealand through one course of their undergraduate study. The researcher collected data using ethnographic methods (including a non-traditional visual participatory method of identity portfolio collages) to identify patterns which help understand students’ beliefs and experiences of engaging with academic text. Based on social learning theories, the research examined the influence of student identity and cultural context on their motivation and interest in engaging with academic text. The study found that while this group of ECE students reported valuing academic text for a number of reasons, they were most likely to engage with assigned text for assessment purposes. The prevalent use of a surface learning approach, skim reading, when reading academic text also left students feeling frustrated with the reading they completed during their programme. Group expectations of reading mainly for assessment and a lack of text engagement by practicing teachers they encountered also encouraged these students, who hold positive reader identities, to limit their engagement with academic text. The results from this study indicate that students and educators can examine ways to increase student motivation to engage deeply with academic text on a more regular basis for students to achieve deeper and more meaningful learning experiences.</p>

Student Social Class Identity Development: A Perspective on Dual Credit Programming

Student social class identity development is a relatively unexamined aspect of student identity development throughout adolescents’ educational experiences. Negative student social class identity development amongst low-social class adolescent students is increasing along with the growth of dual credit programs. This article will first discuss several negative and positive influences of dual credit programs on adolescent students’ social class identity development. Suggestions of specific dual credit program procedures that may help encourage a more positive social class identity development amongst low-social class students will follow.

De-identification is Insufficient to Protect Student Privacy, or – What Can a Field Trip Reveal?

Learning analytics have the potential to improve teaching and learning in K–12 education, but as student data is increasingly being collected and transferred for the purpose of analysis, it is important to take measures that will protect student privacy. A common approach to achieve this goal is the de-identification of the data, meaning the removal of personal details that can reveal student identity. However, as we demonstrate, de-identification alone is not a complete solution. We show how we can discover sensitive information about students by linking de-identified datasets with publicly available school data, using unsupervised machine learning techniques. This underlines that de-identification alone is insufficient if we wish to further learning analytics in K–12 without compromising student privacy.

Altruistic Giving Toward Refugees: Identifying Factors That Increase Citizens' Willingness to Help

Over the past decade, the world has faced an unprecedented refugee crisis. The large number of incoming refugees represents a challenge for host societies and its citizens triggering reactions from a supportive welcome to brusque rejection and hostile behavior toward refugees. In a pre-registered study, we investigated factors that could promote altruistic behavior in fully incentivized one-shot Dictator Game toward various receiver groups including refugees. We find that host citizens behave more altruistically toward refugees and other receiver groups if they (a) share a local identity with them (i.e., live in the same city), and (b) perceive them to be close (to the self) and warm-hearted. Moreover, citizens that are (c) generally more prosocial and hold a more left-wing political orientation are more willing to give. Unexpectedly, from a theoretical point of view, altruistic giving toward refugees was not influenced in the predicted direction by a shared student identity, competition and perceived income differences (although the latter effect was significant when considering all receiver groups). For shared student identity we even observe a reduction of altruistic behavior, while the opposite effect was predicted. We discuss implications for public policies for successful refugee helping and integration.