Keeping students engaged throughout a lecture: how to avoid premature packing away behaviours

This collaborative workshop critically examined a phenomenon that can occur at the end of university lectures. We were interested in cases where students begin to pack up their belongings before the lecturer has finished talking, which we labelled ‘premature packing away behaviour’ (PPAB). Such behaviour can impact student engagement in the lecture experience and can lead to frustration for lecturers and students alike. We shared our exploratory research into this phenomenon, which adopted the perspective of Conversation Analysis. In this view, certain actions of the lecturer can cue an upcoming closing of the encounter and consequently cue reciprocal pre-closing behavior from students in the form of PPAB. Further cues discussed included time cues, AV cues and individual differences. The workshop provided opportunities for participants to share their own views and reflections on the phenomenon and concluded with a clear outline for effective teaching practice into PPAB management

Contestable adulthood: variability and disparity in markers for negotiating the transition to adulthood

Recent research has identified a discreet set of subjective markers that are seen as characterizing the transition to adulthood. The current study challenges this coherence by examining the disparity and variability in young people’s selection of such criteria. Four sentence-completion cues corresponding to four differentcontexts in which adult status might be contested were given to 156 British 16- to 17-year-olds. Their qualitative responses were analyzed to explore patterns whilst capturing some of their richness and diversity. An astonishing amount of variability emerged, both within and between cued contexts.The implications of this variability for how the transition to adulthood is experienced are explored. The argument is made that markers of the transition to adulthood are not merely reflective of the bio–psycho–social development of young people. Rather, adulthood here is seen as an essentially contested concept,located within the discursive interactional environment in which young people participate

Parties, lads, friends, love and Newcastle United: a study of young people's values

Traditional research into values has tended to dichotomise young people into categories of self and other orientations. In the present study values were explored within a contemporary context and analysed into more complex value sets. The sample comprised of 111 girls and 133 boys, aged 11-16 (mean = 13.2, SD = 1.14), who responded to four open-ended sentences designed to tap philosophies of life, fears and underlying values. The pleasures in life for girls tended to centre on relationships with family, friends and boys, whereas boys enjoyed activities such as sport. Many desired to win the National Lottery, although they also concurrently held humanistic values. The potential impact of these value sets on development during adolescence is discussed. For these young people, the best things in life are free but, like many adults, they dream of fame and fortune

The social reality of the imaginary audience: A grounded theory approach

Traditional approaches to understanding the imaginary audience are challenged in this study. Three hundred sixty-one British schoolchildren (aged 14 and 15 years) were asked to express their worries and concerns, using grounded theory methodology. Qualitative responses were collated and coded according to emerging categories, with "what other people think" identified as the central concern. In particular, the findings are used to critique Elkind's (1967) theory of adolescent egocentrism. Data presented in this study suggest that adolescents worry about what other people think because there are real personal and social consequences. Such concerns are seen as being based in social reality and are not imaginary as Elkind suggested. In conclusion, new methodologies which place young people at the center of the analysis are advocated