An investigation of alpha,beta, and gamma change in developmental assessment center participants

Despite widespread application of developmental assessment centers (DACs), little is known about the impact of the process on participants' understanding of the assessed performance dimensions. This study explores this issue by applying Golembiewski, Billingsley, and Yeager's (1976) tripartite model of change to assess the presence of alpha, beta, and gamma change in DAC participants. Using the method outlined by Terborg, Howard, and Maxwell (1980), we investigate the nature and type of change occurring in a sample of mid‐level managers following a DAC. Evidence for all three types of change was found across the six dimensions targeted by the DAC. Results suggest DACs may not only be an effective means to facilitate perceived performance improvement (alpha change), they may also succeed in facilitating new insight in participants regarding the dimensions on which they are assessed (beta and gamma change).     

'It's Pretty Difficult to Fail': The reluctance of lecturers to award a failing grade

Graduates from initial teacher education institutions in New Zealand are assumed to be fit to take up positions as beginning teachers. To this end lecturers make judgements at various stages during the teacher education programme about the quality of student performance with regard to coursework and teaching practice. Findings from a field-based project at a large metropolitan college of education in New Zealand revealed that making such judgements was not a straightforward activity. In particular, there was a reluctance to award failing grades. The college's published guidelines referred to the passing and failing of courses and the programme as dependent on the quality of submitted work or demonstrated performance. The everyday discourse and observed practice of lecturers and student teachers suggested, however, that both groups construed a fail grade as a judgement of personal worth. This shift from judgements about performance to judgements about personal worth was associated with the utilisation of criteria other than those outlined in published documents. The use of 'other' criteria enabled positive judgements to be made about students who did not meet course requirements and/or whose work failed to meet the minimum standard. Lecturers thus appeared to be reluctant to act as gatekeepers to an initial beginning teacher position.     

关于解决农村教师工资拖欠问题的思考

目前 ,在苏北地区特别是在淮北地区逐步形成的拖欠教师工资的问题 ,有一定的普遍性和较重的危害性。笔者认为 ,解决农村教师工资拖欠问题须问计于以下三个方面。首要之计在于深化改革。教师工资拖欠现象的存在 ,一方面表明教育自我生存能力不强 ,另一方面表明县乡 (镇 )财政供给能力不强。因此 ,解决这一问题既要抓教育自身改革 ,增强自我生存与发展能力 ,也要抓好供给教育的财政体制改革 ,以满足教育生存与发展的要求。进一步深化教育改革。突出做好三点 :一是加快中小学校布局调整 ,使有限的教育资源发挥更大的效益。二是加快教育内部管理…     

Evaluation of fellowships awarded to developing countries — What do the studies tell?

Despite the expansion in the developing countries of institutions of higher education the award of fellowships to nationals from these countries for study abroad, in particular in developed countries, is still important. In order to learn about the effectiveness of various elements of the fellowship programmes - for example, the selection process, the relevance and use of the training, and the brain drain - many donor agencies as well as a few recipient countries have evaluated the activity. However, as most of these studies are never published, there is very little readily available information about the outcome of the fellowship training. Against this background, the present article analyses and discusses the findings of a number of evaluations undertaken. The analysis points out the more important problem areas in the activity. It also draws attention to some methodological issues which, if not considered, may invalidate the findings of studies.     

To tell a story,to write it: developmental patterns of narrative skills from preschool to first grade

In this 1-year longitudinal study, the authors explored the development of narrative skills between the oral and written form. The authors aimed to assess the predictive power of textual narrative competence on early narrative text writing skills taking into account the impact of spelling ability. Eighty children (M age?=?5.3 years, age range?=?4.9–5.7 years; SD?=?0.29) were followed longitudinally until entering the first grade of primary school. During kindergarten, they were tested with an oral story production task and in first grade with a written story production task. Narratives were evaluated in terms of structure, cohesion and consistency. In the first grade, children were also submitted to a dictation task to evaluate their spelling competence. Repeated measures ANOVAs were performed in order to examine narrative competence development, also considering gender differences, and regression analyses were implemented to evaluate the predictive capability of textual abilities expressed by oral narratives on textual abilities expressed by writing. The results showed some significant differences when scores in kindergarten were compared to scores in primary school. Moreover, the ability to tell well-structured, cohesive and consistent stories predicts the ability to write stories with the same qualities in the sample of participants without spelling difficulty. Instead, the predictive link is not apparent considering those children with difficulties in orthographic ability. This research allows us to reflect about how the medium of writing might interfere, on the basis of the level of mastery, with the opportunity to express narrative skills in the transition from the oral to written code. The central role of writing instrument functionality opens the way to practical implications.     

银行对中小企业的抵押贷款风险分析及对策思考

目前银行业对中小企业的贷款总额不断攀升,中小企业贷款在企业贷款总额中所占的比例逐渐加大,银行通常采用抵押担保方式来防范中小企业贷款风险,但是抵押担保这种防范风险的手段本身也会引起一系列风险,再加上中小企业固有的特殊性,贷款抵押风险被进一步放大。文章重点分析了中小企业抵押贷款风险的生成原因,并据此提出了相应的防范和控制风险的对策。     

Something more to tell you: gay,lesbian or bisexual young people's experiences of secondary schooling

How do young people who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual (lgb) experience secondary schooling? How do they feel that questions of sexuality are dealt with in the curriculum and do they find this treatment helpful? This article presents the findings of a project that replicated Trenchard and Warren's 1984 study, Something to tell you. The findings are analysed and some suggestions are made as to changes in lgb‐identifying people's experiences of schooling from 1984 to 2001. Finally, the article considers these changes in relation to the question of the ‘effect’ of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988.     

追求卓越加强示范中心的文化建设

实验教学示范中心的文化建设是示范中心建设重要的方面,在"大力倡导追求卓越的文化,不断优化学校资源配置与健全学校激励约束机制,着力提升学校学术水平"的背景下,示范中心文化建设不断显示特色,努力实现精神文化、物质文化的突破,在学校实践育人环节中发挥不可替代的作用。     

如何完善外贸企业客户信用风险管理

在全球金融危机的影响下,我国外贸客户信用风险问题日益凸显,由于外贸企业客户信用风险管理上的欠缺造成的出口信用风险,已成为外贸企业发展的瓶颈。本文首先对我国外贸企业客户信用风险的特征进行结构分析,然后剖析其成因,进而从综合的视角为完善我国外贸企业客户信用风险管理提出了对策建议。     

高校思想政治理论课“学进去讲出来”教学行动研究

"学进去讲出来"的学讲方式是通过研究性学习、自主性学习、合作性学习等方式实现学、做、练一体化的教学方法。以提高高校思想政治理论课的实效性为出发点,本着"从行动中养成道德行为的习惯"的理念,提出了符合大学生身心特点的学讲方式及具体的行动策略:通过拍摄微视频,以影音的形式"讲出来";通过撰写读后感、倡议书,以文字的形式"讲出来";通过辩论赛,以言语的形式"讲出来";通过制作漫画、宣传板,以图文的形式"讲出来";通过备课、组织教学,以授课的形式"讲出来";通过问卷调查、践行道德规范,以行动的形式"讲出来"。     

Responding to the challenges of student-staff partnership: the reflections of participants at an international summer institute

This article contributes to the growing scholarly literature about students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education by describing an initiative designed to support partnership and a study investigating international staff and student perspectives. The initiative – an international summer institute – is a four-day, professional development experience that brought together students and staff from seven countries to learn about partnership and develop specific partnership projects. Participants in the institute were invited to contribute to a qualitative study exploring their experiences of students as partners work and their perceptions of the institute’s capacity to support it. Given that much existing research on this topic tends to be celebratory, we focus here on the challenges participants ascribed to student-staff partnership, and on the features of the summer institute they thought particularly useful in helping them to navigate these difficulties. Looking beyond the summer institute, we consider the implications of these findings for those looking to support partnership more broadly.     

Modelling of flood risks to people and property in a flood diversion zone

Extreme floods often occur in the middle Yangtze River. The Jingjiang flood diversion zone needs to be operated during these events to protect the safety of the levees along the Jingjiang Reach. Therefore, it is important to be able to predict the potential flood risks to people and property in such an area for the purpose of flood management. In this study, an integrated numerical model for estimating the flood risks in a flood diversion zone is proposed, including a module for predicting the 2D hydrodynamic processes of flood inundation in a study area with complex topography, and a special module for estimating the flood risks to people (children and adults) and property (vehicles, buildings, and crops) using newly developed safety criteria. The proposed model was used to predict the flood inundation process and variation in hazard degrees of people and property, based on a hypothetical discharge hydrograph during the operation of the Jingjiang flood diversion zone. The model predictions show high flood loss rates for various flooded objects such as people, vehicles, buildings, and crops, with a mean loss rate for these subjects of 75% after 140 h. This suggests that the operation of a flood diversion zone should be cautiously considered, as it would likely result in a huge loss of people and property. Furthermore, an investigation was conducted into the effects of different roughness coefficients and people stability criteria on the model predictions. The results show that variable Manning’s roughness coefficients need to be used in the hydrodynamic module according to different underlying surface conditions, and a mechanics-based criterion for the stability of people in floodwaters should be adopted to assess the potential hazard degrees.     

WISC-R performance of children referred to a university center for learning disabilities

This study compared the WISC-R performance of 40 children ranging in age from 6–6 to 15–10, referred to a university center for suspected learning disabilities, with that of two clinically defined groups of learning disabled children. The university center children were found to have WISC-R profiles similar to those of the learning disabled children, with higher overall levels of performance. It was speculated that these children avoid classification as learning disabled by virtue of possessing higher cognitive abilities than those children who are classified. Implications were raised concerning the role of university centers with children experiencing learning difficulties and the accuracy of parental perceptions of learning disabilities.     

抓住机遇全面推进工科化学实验教学示范中心建设

华东理工大学工科化学实验教学中心按照"少而精、博而通,学研结合,培养创新型卓越工程师"的教学理念,抓住被批准为国家级实验教学示范中心建设单位和学校新校区建设的机遇,确立了工科化学实验教学新理念,并从课程体系、教师队伍、教学方法与手段、教学管理信息化等方面进行了全面建设,该文介绍相关的建设成果。     

Bringing our communities to the research table: the liberatory potential of collaborative methodological practices alongside LGBTQ participants

Research on and about queer people and topics in higher education continues to evolve, expand, and push boundaries on identity, policy, and programming, increasingly informed by our narratives and experiences. Thus far, this work has done little to dismantle the imposed binary of researcher and subject(s), relegating queer research and practice as something that is done ‘on,’ ‘to,’ or ‘for’ queer people, rather than ‘with’ them. Collaborative ethnographic methodologies and communities of practice (CoP) provide alternative modes of scholarship and practice that build queer people’s agency through active involvement in research and social change processes. Situated in two of our own examples, our purpose is to explore big questions and raise even more. This article calls for a further queering of LGBTQ research in higher education by utilizing collaborative methodologies such as CoP and collaborative ethnography to improve the strategies, practices, and knowledge of campus queer communities and imagining new democratic and liberatory realities together.     

多措并举建设高水平机械工程实验教学中心

机械工程实验教学中心以强化学生工程实践能力、科学研究能力和创新能力培养为核心,以多学科专业交叉融合为特色,通过资源有效整合、教学科研紧密结合、学校企业密切联合,建设了立足校内、拓展校外、内外结合的实践平台,构建了多层次、多模块实践教学内容体系,形成了多样化的学生科研训练模式和实验中心开放运行管理机制,为机电大类相关专业高水平人才培养奠定了坚实的实践基础。