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We explore how the dynamics of the tutor-tutee relationship influence students' self-reliance and, ultimately, course performance. We examine 333 tutor and tutee pairs at a student success center at a public, comprehensive, university attended by approximately 5,000 undergraduates enrolled in more than 60 courses during spring 2015. The results indicate that, as the frequency and quality of the interactions between tutor and tutees increase, the tutors are more likely to foster independent study habits in the tutee. The incorporation of independent study habits was then associated with better course outcomes.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to illustrate how universities play an institutional role in inflating student grade point averages (GPA) by modifying academic polices such as course withdraw, repeats, and satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade options. Design/methodology/approach: Three research strategies are employed: an examination of eight public institutions in a southern state illustrates the variability in academic policies; a transcript analysis demonstrates how students at some universities can capitalize on academic regulations to inflate GPA; and an empirical analysis of 1,798 graduating seniors at one institution explores the parameters of utilizing "do-over" policies and how the policies correlate with GPA inflation. Findings: Schools are transforming the "rules" of the academic game. Such changes enable students to selectively inflate their GPA, thereby rendering effective comparison of GPA problematic. This is of particular significance to administrators, governing and accrediting bodies, potential employers, graduate or professional school recruiters, and policy makers. Research limitations/implications: This study is cross-sectional and the sample is restricted to one state and in some analyses one institution. Longitudinal research exploring a larger number of universities in a variety of states is necessary to uncover the determinants of any changes in academic policies. Originality/value: The paper reframes grade inflation as GPA inflation, which is partially a function of institutionalized processes, and offers a remedy to the problem of GPA comparison. A new simple metric (EAR) is offered to accompany GPA; only when considering earned hours versus attempted hours (EAR) does grade point regain some utility to educators, recruiters, or policy makers engaged in assessment. (Contains 2 tables and 3 notes.)

With whom do parents discuss medical and behavioral child-rearing questions? In a telephone survey of 167 parents (49 fathers and 118 mothers) in the southern United States, the authors found that mothers express a clear preference for their own mother's advice as opposed to that of their mother-in-law. Fathers are less likely to consult any relative and show little preference for their own mothers in seeking parenting advice. Directions for further research are discussed. (Contains 6 tables.)

In this article, the authors describe a mechanism they developed that assesses the congruence between their students' self-perceptions and the impressions they give to others. They wanted the students to view themselves, but they also wanted them to gain perspective on how others perceive their symbolic displays of affect. Preliminary results indicated that students who overestimated their own appearance of interest relative to the perceptions of others (negative incongruence group) had lower grade point averages, had been more likely to drop/retake courses, and were more likely to state the need to fake interest in the details of friends' lives than were students who had congruence or positive congruence (underestimation of how interested they appeared). Students with negative incongruence were also more likely than others to report having had misunderstandings with coworkers. Another concept worthy of future attention is what the authors call "ambiguous projection of the student role." They discovered that some students presented wide variability (larger standard deviation) in the perceptions of others; in other words, people have a hard time "reading" these individuals' behavioral clues in a consistent manner. These students also appear to have lower grade point averages than other students. It appears that students who lack impression-management skills may be more likely to have problems at school and work. (Contains 1 note.)

Although the title of the course, Combating Loneliness among Older People in Contemporary Society, states a clear goal, our service-learning class was shaped by five guiding parameters. By avoiding certain things, we allowed the course to self-organize and evolve into a learning experience beyond the one originally envisioned. This paper introduces the cybernetic concepts that informed our service-learning course design strategy. We discuss our efforts to remain true to our operational norms when confronted by bureaucratic obstacles and unexpected challenges. Finally, we glean several lessons from our experience to aid others in course design and advocate for the cybernetic approach.

While the scholarship of teaching has risen in prominence in the past few decades, little is presently known about the structure of knowledge creation and dissemination in that area of scholarship. Such basic facts as the characteristics of programs that perform and publish the research (e.g., B.A., M.A., or Ph.D.), or the identities of specific schools that are leaders in teaching scholarship remain undocumented. This article explores the topic through counts of articles and notes published in a major outlet in the scholarship of teaching, Teaching Sociology, during the decade of the 1990s. We address the following: (1) Does publication of teaching scholarship vary by the type of degree program (e.g., B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.) or by other characteristics? (2) Are some institutions centers of teaching scholarship? (3) How wide is the scope of teaching scholarship across the nation's departments? Overall, we find that a variety of sociology departments have established records of teaching publishing. Yet, some departments are leaders and appear to create a climate favorable to teaching scholarship. (Contains 5 tables.)

This paper explores article production by the entire population of US undergraduate sociology departments. The available literature suggests that undergraduate programs publish little, that this is concentrated among relatively few--mainly liberal arts--departments, and that publication rates are increasing. We argue There are reasons to expect that social/economic presence, reward policies, student quality, and faculty quality, size, and workload will affect productivity. Tracing publication of articles across the 1990s, few undergraduate departments are represented in 30 journals deemed important on the bases of reputation and citation rates. Liberal arts schools do not predominate. "Ceteris paribus," public schools outpublished private schools. Publication rates have not increased. Social/economic presence, and student and faculty quality affect publishing, but salary, tenure structure, and workload do not. Finally, faculty size suppresses "per capita" publication.

Uses data from the Child Health Supplement to the 1988 National Health Interview Survey to investigate the impact of mobility on the school lives of elementary-age school children in families with both biological parents present and those in alternate family structures. Summarizes previous research and includes tabular and statistical data. (MJP)

Objective. This qualitative study examines the 'final gift exchange' process by which older adults give cherished possessions in return for lasting appreciation. Methods. We interviewed 54 middle- and upper-middle-class people (39 women) aged 50-90 who had to dispose of personal objects when moving to smaller residences. Results. We used Goffman's spiraling strategy in our analysis of people's reports of disposing of personal possessions. We identified three salient dimensions (family, economy, and self) of this process and created a heuristic describing eight ideal-type gift exchange scenarios by categorizing objects as valued or not valued by family and the economy as well as being an important aspect of the gift giver's material self. Discussion. By applying the heuristic, we observed that a lack of shared definitions of the meaning and value of objects created dilemmas in disposing of personal objects, particularly those connected to a person's material self. We also offer suggestions for making the process go more smoothly, such as inquiring about the preferences of others and telling stories associated with objects to create shared definitions of the objects' significance to the giver and/or to family history.

Data from the National Health Interview Survey's 1988 National Child Health Supplement was used to study how children reared by grandparents adjust in terms of health and education. Results show that children who were brought up by their grandparents have better performances compared to those who were raised by a single biological parent. Excluding school performance, these children were found to exhibit no significant difference from those who were brought up by two biological parents.

After examining recruitment as a dual process in Detroit and Yokohama (Japan), the author states that discrepant findings result in part from different temporal focus in the recruitment process. He advocates study of the entire recruitment process and the need to isolate contingencies that influence employee selection. (Author/CH)

Based on data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey and the Child Health Supplement, we compared the health of women 40 years of age and over living four family structures: alone, solely raising grandchildren, married with spouse only, and married with spouse and grandchildren. We found that, in general, women solely raising grandchildren have poorer health compared to women of a similar age living in other family structures and considerably worse health than women with spouses raising grandchildren. KEYWORDS. Grandchildren, grandparents, health, family

We explore how the dynamics of the tutor–tutee relationship influence students’ self-reliance and, ultimately, course performance. We examine 333 tutor and tutee pairs at a student success center at a public, comprehensive, university attended by approximately 5,000 undergraduates enrolled in more than 60 courses during spring 2015. The results indicate that, as the frequency and quality of the interactions between tutor and tutees increase, the tutors are more likely to foster independent study habits in the tutee. The incorporation of independent study habits was then associated with better course outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the effort of university professors at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina to develop a mechanism that assesses the congruence between students' self-perceptions and the impressions they give to others. It presents how the department faculty carries out the procedure from assessment processes to internal review board protocols. It notes that the students who lack impression management skills could be more probably have problems at school and work.

In this narrative, two sociologists share an account from a grandparent family. The grandparents' experiences are representative of the researchers' general empirical findings. Grandchildren fare quite well in grandparent families compared to those children raised in other family structures. Yet, grandparents solely raising grandchildren experience increased physical and mental health risks. The complexity of the findings are communicated through these grandparents' words in a manner that is often lost by mere statistics. The researchers hope the narrative sensitizes practitioners to the challenges and rewards in raising grandchildren. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the health and school adjustment of children raised solely by grandparents using data from the 1988 National Children's Health Supplement to the National Health Interview Survey. Differences among children raised by their biological parents and children raised solely by grandparents.

A lack of consensus exists on the relationship between modernization and formalization in organizational recruitment. The absence of agreement is partially a product of the failure to examine recruitment as a dual process of information dispersion and selection. After empirically examining recruitment as a two-stage process in Detroit and Yokohama, it was found that the discrepant findings are in part a result of different temporal focus in the recruitment process by researchers. The article points to the necessity of studying the entire recruitment process and the need to isolate the contingencies that shape the character of employee acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines and demonstrates how smiles can be used to spark interest in sociology. The author argues that because smiling appears to be a very individualistic and personal act, it is ideal for demonstrating to students an important way in which sociology differs from psychology. He suggests that a longitudinal content analysis of smiling by senior women in college yearbooks provides beginning sociology students with an excellent way to discover many sociological concepts, and research methods. According to him, the exercise gives the novice researcher a sense of the research process and creates excitement in understanding the social world. The instructor can easily introduce the concepts of variables, hypotheses, reliability, validity, correlation, causality, study design, content analysis, historical records, charts, percentages, and linear regression. The exercise has two major limitations. First, coding the senior pictures requires at least an hour of the students' time. Second, the students might believe that this is a complete study which truly tests hypotheses. According to the author, students should be made aware that it is only an illustrative exercise which allows introductory students to gain an applied understanding of the perspectives and basic methods of sociology.

The article offers the author's insights regarding the status of continuing medical education (CME) for medical writers. The author says that the release of Accreditation Criteria in 2006 by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) has led to the belief of some pessimists on the death of CME. He argues that CME is doing fine despite its revenue decline between 2006 and 2011.

The article presents a study which examined whether the expectations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and its member universities in the U.S. correspond with the student-athletes' perceptions of themselves. It relates the levels of idealism of male and female athletes toward their student-athlete role. It describes the gender differences in the student-athlete socialization experience. It has found that parents are significantly more likely than any other group to reinforce the academic role of student-athletes.

Presents a letter to the editor that focuses on decision making processes, published in the 2004 issue of "The Journals of Gerontology."