Factors influencing student academic performance in online high school algebra

This paper describes the effect of teacher comments, students’ demographic information and learning management system utilisation on student final scores in algebra courses in a K–12 virtual learning environment. Students taking algebra courses in a state virtual school in the Midwestern US region during 2007–2008 participated in this study. Student final scores on these courses were collected using tests administered at the end of semester in the virtual school courses. The hierarchical linear modelling technique was used for data analysis to account for the influence of school characteristics on student final scores. The results show these factors have different influences on student final scores in different algebra courses. The discussion of the findings addresses the implications for teaching.     

高校教务员队伍专业化建设

本文就高校教务员队伍管理与建设中存在的问题进行分析,提出教务员队伍应专业化建设。通过探索和实践教务员队伍专业化培养和管理,从而提高教务员业务能力和素质,满足现代教学管理需要,保证教学管理水平和教学质量。     

Transfer of academic staff learning in a research-intensive university

In both Australia and abroad, there is an increasing pressure towards professionalisation of university teaching, with the expectation that academic development courses, such as the Graduate Certificate in Education Studies (higher education), lead to better teaching and learning practices. However, the knowledge, skills and/or attitudes that educators intend students to learn may not transfer successfully back to the workplace. This may occur for a variety of reasons, including individual characteristics of the learner (e.g. ability, motivation), and situational characteristics (e.g. the climate for transfer, including adequacy of resources and peer/manager support). The present study investigates the impact of these factors on teaching staff in a research-intensive university. Two in-depth case studies, followed by thematic analysis of 15 Graduate Certificate alumni interviews regarding post-course experiences, revealed that qualities of the work environment played significant roles in interviewees' post-course attitudes, intentions and activities related to the transfer of learning. Implications for encouraging transfer under similar circumstances are discussed.     

Enhancing research through academic staff development

Abstract

In the past few years, research has been an increasingly important focus of academic staff development, but there is little documentation of this new area of development. The purpose of this paper is to describe the evolution over four years of a programme to develop research skills. The experience of planning and implementing this programme illustrates how changes in higher education and university priorities (such as amalgamations of institutions, increased pressures on staff, increased competition between institutions for funding, and universities’ growing corporatization) have interacted with staff development objectives to shape changes in the programme's purpose, format, mode of participation, and planning approach. A collaborative approach to planning is seen to be appropriate in the current climate, maximizing sensitivity to the distinctive needs of the various faculties, departments or schools. Current scholarly discussion is recognized as providing support for a move toward collaboration and context‐sensitivity.     

Predictors of university academic performance in Colombia

This chapter describes the available information about the prediction of college performance in Colombia (South America). Before graduating from high school, students must take a national examination which includes 400 questions grouped into four major areas: sciences (biology, chemistry, and physics), social sciences, language (verbal aptitude and Spanish), and mathematics (mathematical attitude and mathematical knowledge). ICFES scores are used as a major criterion for university admission. Existing research suggests that the correlations between ICFES scores and GPAs tend to be quite small and vary widely from one academic program to another. Other variables (e.g., high school grades) are better predictors of college GPA, quite likely because the same set of personal and socio-cultural variables are needed for both high school and college success.     

高校行政管理人员绩效考核问题探讨

高校行政的管理水平和行政人员的工作能力,在一定程度上决定了高校的竞争力,而对行政管理人员绩效进行评价是目前高校管理工作中相对薄弱的一个环节,针对目前高校绩效考核主要存在问题,分析科学有效绩效考核的关键以及如何构建绩效考核流程成为当前热点。     

岗位管理视角的高校师资队伍建设研究

随着高校人事制度改革的不断深入,人事管理逐渐由身份管理向岗位管理转变,这对于高校师资队伍建设、提高高校教师的工作主动性与创造性具有积极的意义。本文结合高校师资队伍建设现状,以岗位管理为视角,分别从高校教师引进机制、稳定机制、激励机制与可持续发展机制四个方面进行详细的分析。     

The induction of academic staff to a university: processes and products

Interviews with 55 new Lecturers at an Australian university focussed upon early experiences in the institution and attitudes and perceptions regarding teaching and student evaluations. Interview data were used to describe the induction perceived by the Lecturers. Expectations for induction experiences and based on background characteristics of Lecturers were used as criteria in one form of evaluation of the induction process. Evidence of effects of induction processes upon orientations to teaching was used as a second form of evaluation. Help in learning about the institution and special consideration in workload were found to favour the more academically qualified rather than the reverse. Help in solving problems favoured the less academically qualified, those without employment experience in the university, those appointed on probation and those with less impressive publication records. Some evidence was found that special consideration in workload, and the perception of unexpected opportunities were conducive to desirable orientations to teaching. Lecturers who were less self-assured about their teaching competence tended to report participation in development activities more than others.     

A case study of academic staff integration in a post-merger Chinese university

The aim of this study was to discover and better understand through a case study, the phenomenon of academic staff integration in a post-merger Chinese university. The analysis was undertaken by using a cultural framework derived from relevant literature. The results indicate that adjustments to academic values and beliefs, the cultural dimension, are crucial in the integration process. This study also identified factors, which could affect academic staff integration, such as leadership, organisational objectives, regulations, geographic division, and cultural differences. Being aware of these factors could provide university managers with useful guidelines on how to facilitate the integration of academic staff members from different pre-merger institutions.     

Who Succeeds at University? Factors predicting academic performance in first year Australian university students

With the increasing diversity of students attending university, there is a growing interest in the factors predicting academic performance. This study is a prospective investigation of the academic, psychosocial, cognitive, and demographic predictors of academic performance of first year Australian university students. Questionnaires were distributed to 197 first year students 4 to 8 weeks prior to the end of semester exams and overall grade point averages were collected at semester completion. Previous academic performance was identified as the most significant predictor of university performance. Integration into university, self efficacy, and employment responsibilities were also predictive of university grades. Identifying the factors that influence academic performance can improve the targeting of interventions and support services for students at risk of academic problems.     

Experiences of mentorship with academic staff doctoral candidates at a south african university

Given the growing emphasis on academic research output and the challenges encountered in expediting completion of doctoral studies especially, mentorship is increasingly being utilised as a capacity development strategy for supporting scholars to complete post-graduate studies. This article reports on a mentorship project aimed at academic staff enrolled for doctoral studies in a health sciences faculty at a South African university, based on reflections drawn from annual feedback from the mentees and the annual report of the mentor, as well as a focus group conducted with mentees by an independent researcher. Participants found the mentorship, with its combination of individual and group meetings, as well as regular residential writing retreats, to be extremely helpful. A number of key features that enable the mentorship process emerged, and issues relating to supervision and mentorship were highlighted, especially regarding power dynamics.     

Contract research,the university,and the academic

With the decline in the funding of university research activities from traditional sources, many universities are instigating contract research programs as a means of funding research. This article examines some of the implications of university-based contract research, drawing largely on the author's own experiences. The problems which are examined include the moral and ethical implications, the legal aspects, problems over ownership of research results, the implications for staff rights, the status of contract researchers, the implications for publication, problems of authority, responsibility and social justice, and the conflicts between teaching and research. The article concludes with eleven points for successful university-based contract research.     

谈高校图书馆的学术研究和服务工作

本文就高校图书馆如何充分发挥学术性和服务性的作用，做到高质量的科研支持，服务，为主动适应高校教学，科研发展的需要，提出了要处理好学术研究与服务工作的关系，并根据工作实际，提出了高校图书馆进行学术研究的范围和途径的思考。     

Promotion of academic staff

Research studies conducted in the USA, Britain, Australia and New Zealand which examine academic staff's attitude to the promotion procedures in their institutions have all found dissatisfaction with existing promotion practices. In particular academics are reported to be dissatisfied with the undervaluing of teaching excellence in promotion decisions.This paper discusses studies of job satisfaction and staff motivation as background to an interview study at an Australian university. Data concerning promotion issues from interviews with 104 academic staff members are presented and discussed.Interviewed staff at that university see their institution as actively encouraging research through rewards and incentives. But they perceive the university as paying only lip-service to teaching by requiring documentation of teaching performance without rewarding good performance adequately. Many also perceive the university as interested more in publications than in scholarship and some adjust their activities accordingly.     

高校行政管理人员绩效考核指标体系设计

在现今高校的行政部门当中,有效的实行绩效考核,完善相关的体系和制度建设,对于高校的建设和发展来讲极为重要。文章针对这一方面的内容展开论述,详细分析了高校行政部门相关绩效考核评价体系的设计和建立,深入探究了其中的各个关键环节,力求为相关事业的进步和发展提供参考,同时也为高校的建设作出努力。     

Factors influencing the academic achievement of the Turkish urban poor

This study estimates the individual and combined effects of selected family, student and school characteristics on the academic achievement of poor, urban primary-school students in the Turkish context. Participants of the study consisted of 719 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade primary-school students from 23 schools in inner and outer city squatter settlements. The findings indicated that the set of variables comprising student characteristics, including well-being at school, scholastic activities and support, explained the largest amount of variance in academic achievement among the urban poor. Although the effect sizes are small, family background characteristics and school quality indicators were also found to be significantly related to academic achievement. The implications of this study for improving primary schools in urban poor neighborhoods are discussed.     

The influence of family on academic performance of Mozambican university students

Past research indicates that the family plays an important role in academic outcomes. This is an important topic for unequal family contexts such as those in Mozambique. The objective of this study is to explore the influence of family on academic performance and to determine whether self-efficacy and perceived progression mediate this relationship among university students in Mozambique. Testing these influences was proposed to be done through path analysis. The study involved 202 Mozambican university students aged 18 and 58 years (M = 28.36, SD = 8.16, Mdn = 26). Participants were measured on socio-demographic family characteristics, family values and beliefs, family expectations and family support, self-efficacy, goal progress, and academic performance. Overall, the results show that the family did indeed influence academic performance through academic self-efficacy and perception of progress toward academic goals. However, self-efficacy was less influenced by the information provided but more associated with support from material resources. Implications for practice involve interventions aimed to improving family support, which can act as a filter against negative contextual influences. Future research would benefit from exploring other contextual influences, such as those of colleagues and teachers, and their effect on self-efficacy.     

Chinese students at an English-Language university: Prediction of academic performance

There is a paucity of systematic research on prediction of success at the tertiary education level for Asian students, despite the important role that universities play in Asian communities, and despite the increasing numbers of such students who are coming to the West to study. This study reviews evidence collected over the past ten to fifteen years, which relates to the issue of prediction of academic performance of Chinese students at an English-Language and Western-oriented university - the University of Hong Kong. This review is complemented by an analysis of data collected longitudinally over a five year period, using multiple regression, multiple correlation, path analysis and canonical correlation analyses. The results provide evidence of factors which are important in determining the ability of a student to adapt to the foreign cultural and language barriers that exist at this university. In particular, ability in English language and mathematics provides good and reasonably independent predictors of success. The data show the importance of considering the cultural background of students when assessing their aptitude for study, and offer information for Western universities regarding their admissions procedures for Chinese students.     

论新建地方本科院校科研工作的可持续发展

科研工作是高校发展的基础和先导,是提高教学质量的基本途径,也是为社会服务的主渠道.新建地方本科院校相对于传统研究型大学和教学研究型大学,有其强劲的后发优势和广阔的发展空间.同时也存在科研基础薄弱、科研经费严重不足、缺乏国家教育政策扶持等问题.因此,新建地方本科院校的科研工作必须强化科研意识,完善科研制度,突出地方特色,走为地方社会经济服务之路,才能保证其健康、持续的发展.