In this paper, we investigate primary school teachers' reflections on addressing the topic of same-sex families and relationships in their classrooms. Informed by queer theoretical and Foucauldian analytic approaches, we examine teachers' potential use of texts, such as picture storybooks, which introduce representations of same-sex…

Research on the influence that the needs of married couples have on family stability in Russia shows that there are marked differences in expectations in rural and urban areas. This article describes a sociological survey carried out in the territory of Rostov oblast in the spring of 2011. The basis for the study consisted of cities and rural…

In this paper, we deploy M.M. Bakhtin's notions about how language works to understand aspiring teachers' struggles about the intersecting roles race, class, gender, language background, and sexual orientation play in students' school lives and learning. Through life-history interviews and document analysis, we investigated the…

Research data show that higher education in Russia is less of a vehicle of upward mobility than it was in earlier times, not least because it is becoming less of an advantage as the percentage of people with degrees increases. This raises questions about what the goals of higher education should be, and of how to prepare young people for the job…

Correlated predictors in regression models are a fact of life in applied social science research. The extent to which they are correlated will influence the estimates and statistics associated with the other variables they are modeled along with. These effects, for example, may include enhanced regression coefficients for the other variables--a…

This research focuses on gaining a better understanding of how students negatively impact other students' classroom experience. More specifically, this research develops a typology of disruptive student behavior, including frequency of occurrence and the perceived magnitude of the disruption from a student perspective. Students also provide…

Curriculum-Faculty-Reinforcement (CFR) alignment is an alignment between fundamental marketing concepts that are integral to the mastery of knowledge expected of our marketing graduates, their perceived importance by the faculty, and their level of reinforcement throughout core marketing courses required to obtain a marketing degree. This research…

Recent changes to the budgetary basis of schools in Russia has received a mixed response from parents, with a variety of views on whether the quality of education is being improved. Reductions in state support for preschool education raises questions about the ability of less affluent parents to prepare their children for first grade. Perhaps more…

One of the more challenging areas of "Scholarship of Teaching and Learning" (SoTL) research can be navigating the components of human subjects research protections implemented by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). The authors of this article, a faculty developer and a current and former research compliance coordinator, discuss the…

Building upon past research on the positive learning outcomes associated with rapport building in the classroom, this study examines the specific behaviors instructors utilize in college classrooms to build rapport with undergraduate students. Participants (N = 230) answered open-ended survey questions about their instructors'…

Research on the effect of secondary employment on the sense of well-being of students in full-time education shows that the degree of fatigue and emotional stress on the job is affected by gender, the students' assessment of their own health, and their disposition to take care of their health.

Studies of the political attitudes and actions of students in the higher education institutions in Russia suggest that they are closely linked to the country's professional and social structure. It is the lack of opportunity for suitable employment and for meeting their expectations for a better future that helps shape attitudes and may lead…

In this article, I introduce a novel applet ("module") for exploring probability distributions, their samples, and various related statistical concepts. The module is primarily designed to be used by the instructor in the introductory course, but it can be used far beyond it as well. It is a free, cross-platform, stand-alone interactive…

Research on the teaching profession in Russia shows that teachers continue to be among the lowest paid specialists. Despite this, recruitment is possible since teachers find the yearly schedule attractive, and this compensates somewhat for lower salaries. There is concern, though, about the conditions of their work and the inadequate amount of…

This study examined teaching assistant's immediacy in lecture/laboratory and self-contained classes. Two hundred fifty-six students responded to instruments measuring teachers' immediacy behavior frequency, perceptions of instruction quality, and cognitive learning. No significant difference was identified when comparing…