The impact of athletic performance on alumni giving: An analysis of microdata

An ongoing controversy in the literature on the economics of higher education centers on whether the success of a school’s athletic program affects alumni donations. This paper uses a unique data set to investigate this issue. The data contain detailed information about donations made by alumni of a selective research university as well as a variety of their economic and demographic characteristics. One important question is how to characterize the success of an athletic program. We focus not only on the performance of the most visible teams, football and basketball, but also on the success of the team on which he or she played as an undergraduate.     

Validating a teaching survey which drives increased response rates in a unit survey

At Curtin University, student perceptions of teaching and learning are gathered and reported online through eVALUate, a system that includes separate unit and teaching surveys. This article reports the development and validation of one of those surveys, the eVALUate teaching survey, which was developed based on the research literature on excellent teaching and evaluation. Since its development in 2006, repeated statistical testing using progressively larger samples has shown that the survey is valid and reliable. Moreover, the way in which the teaching survey is deployed within eVALUate, appended to the unit survey, which provides crucial institutional data, has significantly increased university response rates. This validated instrument is used for self-reflection, professional development, and rewarding staff.     

A reexamination of the effect of big-time football and basketball success on graduation rates and alumni giving rates

To determine the impact on the academic mission, the models in this study test whether there is statistical evidence that student graduation rates or alumni giving rates are influenced by pigskin or hoop success for major universities after adjustment for key academic variables. Using a sample of big-time sports universities and models comparable to other research, the evidence presented in this article indicates that having a highly successful football team has a positive impact on both the overall graduation rate and the alumni giving rate. In contrast, a successful basketball team has no significant effect on either of these key measures of academic success.     

ETR&D-development: An analysis of content and survey of future direction

This article reports on a study conducted to provide information on the direction of the development section of Educational Technology, Research and Development (ETR&D). The first part of the study involved an analysis of each article published in ETR&D-Development from 1989–1997. The second part of the study consisted of a survey of consulting editors to determine their perceptions of the topics and the types of articles that should be published in ETR&D-Development. The results will be used to guide the Development Editor in soliciting and selecting articles for publication in the journal. He is Professor of Learning and Instructional Technology at Arizona State University.     

在电路实验教学中提高学生的自主探究能力

介绍了电路实验的一个教学案例，采用提出问题-自主探究-解决问题-拓展思考的教学思路，将“非线性元件特性曲线的测定”和“叠加定理的验证”两个电路原理实验有机结合起来，精心设置实验参数，通过拓展实验相关内容，培养学生的发散性思维，提高学生的自主探究能力。     

Resident perceptions of anatomy education: a survey of medical school alumni from two different anatomy curricula and multiple medical specialties

In 2004, the University of Michigan Medical School reduced its gross anatomy curriculum. To determine the effect of this reduction on resident perceptions of their clinical preparedness, we surveyed alumni that included residents from the original and new shortened curricula. A Likert-scale survey was sent to four classes of alumni. Respondents were compared in old curriculum (OC) and new curriculum (NC) groups, surgical specialty (SS) and nonsurgical specialty (NS) groups, and subgroups of SS and NS were compared for differences between OC and NC. Mean response scores were compared using independent samples T-tests. As a single population (n = 110), respondents felt their anatomy education prepared them well for residency, that a more robust anatomy curriculum would be helpful, that dissection was important to their residency preparation, and that a 4th year anatomy elective was effective in expanding their anatomy education and preparing them for residency. No significant difference existed between OC and NC groups, neither as a whole nor as SS and NS subgroups. The SS group felt dissection was more important to their residency preparation than the NS group (P = 0.001) and that a more robust anatomy curriculum would have better prepared them for residency (P = 0.001). Thirty percent of SS respondents who did not take a 4th year elective commented that they wish they had. Fourth year anatomy electives were highly valued by residents, and respondents felt that they should be offered to students as a way of revisiting anatomy following the 1st year of clinical training.     

Surveying alumni by mail: Effect of booklet/folder questionnaire format and style of type on response rate

Current technology makes it possible to develop survey instruments with a professional appearance at a much lower cost than in the past. Type fonts resembling those that are typeset can be produced in varying sizes on personal computers. Photocopy equipment can reproduce questionnaires of varying page sizes, and sometimes collate, fold, and staple them automatically into booklets. The purpose of this research was to determine whether the use of professional-appearing type and/or booklet construction in questionnaires effected higher response rates than conventional typewriter type and single pages of questions stapled in the corner. Two investigations were conducted, each involving a survey of university alumni. Using split-sample procedures, questionnaire type font and construction were not found to have significant impact on response rates. Other considerations that may influence questionnaire design decisions are discussed in light of these findings.     

An integrated and open-ended experiment

In this article we discuss an exciting experiment in non-linear dynamics. This provides an imaginative platform for bringing in chemical, physical, biological, mathematical and computational sciences together. There are implications for earth sciences as well. B M Deb is a theoretical chemist who has been designing experiments for chemistry teaching laboratories for more than thirty years. Mainak Sadhukhan, Sudarson Sekhar Sinha and Sucheta Sengupta were students of PBIR-Chemical Sciences. Ranjit Biswas is a physical chemist working on both theory and experiment in chemical dynamics.     

Comparing response rates in e-mail and paper surveys: A meta-analysis

This meta-analysis examined 35 study results within last 10 years that directly compared the response rates of e-mail versus mail surveys. Individual studies reported inconsistent findings concerning the response rate difference between e-mail and mail surveys, but e-mail surveys generally have lower response rate (about 20% lower on the average) than mail surveys. Two study features (population type and follow-up reminders) could account for some variation in the e-mail and mail survey response rate differences across the studies. For the studies involving college populations, the response rate difference between e-mail and mail surveys was much smaller, or even negligible, suggesting that e-mail survey is reasonably comparable with mail survey for college populations. The finding about follow-up reminder as a statistically significant study feature turns out to be somewhat an anomaly. Other study features (i.e., article type, random assignment of survey respondents into e-mail and mail survey modes, and use of incentives) did not prove to be statistically useful in accounting for the variation of response rate differences between mail and e-mail surveys. The findings here suggest that, in this age of internet technology, mail survey is still superior to e-mail survey in terms of obtaining higher response rate.     

密立根油滴实验中油滴的最佳选择分析

由于密立根油滴实验中油滴大小,带电量各异,选择的油滴不同对实验结果带来的误差也不同。通 过实验对在不同条件下,选择最合适的油滴进行讨论,得出最佳油滴的选择标准。     

二氧化氮制取实验装置和除气操作的改进

常用的制取二氧化氮气体的装置,在制备时会有产物气体逃逸.使用传统的除去二氧化氮余气的方法也会使有害气体泄漏.为此对二氧化氮制取实验装置进行改进,对二氧化氮气体的除去采用倒吸法,并将倒吸法的应用进行推广.运用倒吸法除去二氧化氮气体的方法内容和改进过程,对激发学生兴趣、培养化学学科核心素养是很好的教学资源.     

行星齿轮系统的频响特性测试试验研究

以2K-H行星齿轮传动系统为研究对象,给出固有频率的计算结果。在此基础上,研究了该系统的频响特性试验,包括试验台的布置及其试验方案的设计;测得系统的频率响应函数和固有频率,并将试验结果与理论计算结果进行了对比分析。     

An empirical taxonomy of youths' fears: Cluster analysis of the American fear survey schedule

Fears profiles among children and adolescents were explored using the Fear Survey Schedule for Children‐American version (FSSC‐AM; J.J. Burnham, 1995, 2005). Eight cluster profiles were identified via multistage Euclidean grouping and supported by homogeneity coefficients and replication. Four clusters reflected overall level of fears (i.e., very low, below average, moderate, and multiple), and four others exhibited specific peaks associated with school‐related fears, medical fears, and scary things. Demographic characteristics associated with cluster profile membership revealed variability primarily based on gender and age, with some differences associated with community type. Comparisons with prior results on earlier fear surveys and implications for school refusal behavior provide a useful context for discussion. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 673–683, 2006.     

高职化学实验的现状分析及优化原则

分析了高职教育中化学实验教学的现状,认为应加强实验教学的实践性、主体性、探索性、科学性,使实验教学从内容到形式都顺应时代潮流,体现时代特征,培养出更好的应用型技术人才.     

甲烷与氯气取代反应实验的改进

在原有实验改进基础上对甲烷与氯气取代反应实验进行了更加深入的研究和改进,并取得了新的进展,使反应更快、更安全,且便于科学探究.同时研究发现,改变甲烷与氯气的体积比可影响取代反应的速率.     

An item response theory and Rasch analysis of the NUDKS: a data literacy scale

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - There is an extensive need for school systems to reliably assess the data literacy and data use skills of their educators. To address this...