Group+discussion

Hey Everybody,

I am trying to get an idea of some themes we are seeing in the articles. Self-efficacy is definitely a big one and also the need to help the students connect their classes and coursework to real-life work. Helen, I liked your suggestion for our career day to help students create a "plan of study." I think that is a great start for middle school students. Also, I noticed how some of the articles focused on setting up students with a mentor which I also thought was interesting. I will try to connect with you ladies tomorrow to see what everyone is thinking.

Thanks!!

Hey Everyone --

I moved the articles I did into (what I thought) was the appropriate section of our lit review. Feel free to move them again if you think another section would be more appropriate. I also switched the section that we called "theory" into "theory/research" -- thought that would help us incorporate articles into it. After I moved my articles I noticed that we have nothing in the section called "Needs of Middle School Students." Hopefully one of you found an article for this area, otherwise we will need to get one.

As far as themes go it does appear that self-efficacy is a recurring one in the articles I have read. By 8th grade most students have determined their ability to continue on to college, and also their success at completing college. In addition, the schoolwork they do in middle school impacts their high school course selection, which then impacts their college success. That makes a middle school career development program extremely important -- at least from the articles I have read. Kaitlin, that also agrees with your comment about the "plan of study."

Debi, I liked the articles you posted. Quick comment, you don't need your name and article #'s by the ones you post. This is a collaborative lit review. If you are concerned about getting credit for your work, don't be. Dr. Baker can look at the history section to see what you posted. The lit review should have our articles, link to article, and article summary, not our individual names. Also, the article summaries should be brief. Can you look at your article #3 and maybe condense down/remove some of your points so that the summary is shorter and more direct to the relevant points. When we do the peer lit review next week people should be able to just quickly look at an article and get a quick summary about it.

Thanks!!! Helen

Hey everyone -- if you see this, check your email for a message from me sent 11/16. It describes the changes I made to the lit page and the suggestions I have.

Thanks, Helen