Article Review:
‘REAL Camp: A School–University Collaboration to Promote Post-Secondary Educational Opportunities Among High School Students’ by David A. Walker, Portia M. Downey & Judy Cox-Henderson
The question posited by the article, by no doubt, touches on one of the fast emerging issues in United States of America. By trying to assert the reasons for post-secondary school education enrolment, other than the conventional fiscal and time-related reasons, is a well thought-out idea by the authors of the article; David A. Walker, Portia M. Downey, Judy Cox-Henderson. In most cases, reasons relating to the enrolment in post-secondary institutions by high-school graduates are virtually the same in different countries; an attribute that renders this article an indispensable addition to the available body of knowledge on the reasons why high school graduate opt for post-secondary school. It is, by all means, logical to infer to the research opportunity that this article opens in various countries with souring post-secondary school enrolment. The countries can set up enquiries to ascertain the prevalence of the reasons cited and discussed in this article with an extended role of how these factors can be manipulated in order to better post-secondary school enrolment in these countries. The addition of the fourth facet that concerns tracking the student after the camp later to the list contemporary issues of emphasis of camp as well as the research can be considered among the key strong points of this article.
Even though the authors acknowledge that, the 80 students picked for the study were not tracked for some time to institute whether they were college materials or not, it is pertinent to note that the success of the study was partly dependent on a good choice of students for the research and the camp. Critically, the paper should have been aimed at asserting four factors that influence high-school students to proceed with post-secondary school education. The factors highlighted are School engagement, Belonging, Academic competence Motivation, and Educational expectations. However, the authors, in the discussion chapter of the article, talk about parental post secondary education and its influence to high school students’ choice pertaining to post secondary school education. This strong point should form part of the fundamental factors governing post-secondary school education choices by high-school graduates.
Further, the authors should have noted the role that the availability of post-secondary education opportunity plays in influencing student choices to enroll for post secondary school education. Choy, Ottinger and Carroll (1998) aptly affirm this assertion by documenting that not all high school students have equal opportunities to post secondary institutions. With regards to the number of students selected for this research, I find 80 students rather too few to warrant the authors make such a generalized conclusion regarding the highlighted factors.
Again, the inclusion of the part dealing with the pre-service teachers and the experience they gained during the camp is potentially out context as far as the thesis of this article is concerned. The article was intended to discuss the factors that role-play in high school graduates decision regarding post-secondary school and, therefore, the part talking about pre-service teachers and their experiences during and after the camp is unnecessary. All attention should have been centered on trying to seek answers to the research question posited at the start of the article. In the same light, I find the research design used in the article unsuitable for verifying the validity of the factors that the authors pinpointed to be the principal factors that determine whether a high-school graduate will resolve to enroll for post-secondary education or not other fiscal and time related factors. I base my argument on the fact that at the beginning of the article, a study question is posited, but the article, with regards to the research methodology, does not seem to seek answers to the research methodology posited. Moreover, the variables manipulated in the camp are not concurrent to the factors from literature that the authors introduce to the readers of the article.
Concisely, the weaknesses of the article outweigh the strengths of the article; the article posits a study question that the authors do not attempt to answer, the study design is irrelevant in light of the research question formulated and the number of students used for the study is not sufficient to warrant any generalized conclusion. Furthermore, introducing other facets that are not included in the introductory chapter of the article constitute some of the gross weakness of this article. The researchers should have underscored the importance of using a research model and design that would have enabled them obtain answers to the research questions that they formulated.
References
Choy, S. P., Ottinger, C. and Carroll, C. D. (1998). Choosing a Postsecondary Institution. Washington, DC: US Department of Education.
Walker, D. A., Downey P. M. & Cox-Henderson, J. (2010). REAL Camp: A School–University Collaboration to Promote Post-Secondary Educational Opportunities Among High School Students. The Educational Forum,74, 297-304.
