Taking stock of taking equity: The last frontier of university technology transfer

This paper addresses the question of what potential success factors are relevant when developing and managing higher education–business partnerships. To shed light on this question, the paper presents a review of research literature on the possible success factors in university–industry relations. To shed further light on the factors identified in the literature, this paper reports on an empirical study of cross‐sector collaboration between four regional universities and energy firms in Norway. The empirical study should be seen as a “relevance check” of the factors identified in the extant literature on university–industry collaboration, within the particular context of education‐related partnerships. Based on the review and case studies, implications for management and further research are discussed.     

University sustainability reporting: taking stock of transparency

This paper interrogates the case for improved and broadened public sustainability reporting by universities, and explores whether and how global performance measures capture the institutional attitudes and activities pertinent to universities’ contributions to sustainability. The analysis explores all stand-alone, English language reports produced by universities world-wide since 2007. The analysis focuses primarily on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) index. The paper finds that those universities which have adopted the GRI share a distinct conceptualisation of their role in society. The GRI framework is helpful in capturing universities’ environmental impacts and benefits, but is lacking in relation to universities’ human rights and social concerns. The paper identifies value in universities adopting a globally accepted sustainability reporting framework and makes specific suggestions as to how the framework might be better adapted for universities.     

Dinosaur discourses: taking stock of gendered learning myths

The persistence of gendered learning myths in educational contexts and the wider imaginary continues to trouble feminist educational researchers and practitioners. The tracing of such myths and the categories they create through authoritative and elite discourses of the past suggests how they have functioned across different fields to preserve a hierarchised binary. Gendered myths seem to be lent authority by some of the more popular claims of contemporary neuroscience as they were by the nascent Victorian psychological sciences. Adopting Le Doeuff's [2003. The Sex of Knowing. Translated by K. Hamer and L. Code. London: Routledge] heuristic of identifying which attributes are absorbed into masculine intellectual legacies and which ‘cast off’ to women allows for a focus on patterns of privileging of learning discourses across the humanities and sciences, and the ways these are constituted in historical and contemporary contexts.     

Gender in schools and culture: taking stock of education in Italy

When politicians discuss Italy's position in terms of achieving equality between men and women, the school environment is rarely called into question or mentioned. This is despite the fact that gender inequality remains a prominent feature of the Italian education system. The reason for this failure to perceive the problem, and the consequent lack of investment in policies for gender equality in education, derives from a massive misunderstanding: school is perceived by the public and the political class as one of the few environments within the highly sexist Italian social fabric in which equality has been achieved. On closer examination, however, it is clear that the Italian school is merely the image of a sexist society which in turn acts as the driving force for a traditional and stereotypical view of male and female roles. This article will discuss this perspective and investigate three areas of education that are problematic in gender terms: gendered educational choices; sexist stereotypes transmitted through textbooks; and the lack of adequate training for teachers.     

Assessing the assessments: Taking stock of learning outcomes data in India

Data on learning outcomes is essential for tracking progress in achieving education goals, understanding what education policies work (and don’t work), and holding public officials accountable. We assess the accuracy and reliability of India’s two nationally representative surveys on learning outcomes, ASER and NAS, so that users of these datasets may better understand when, and for what purposes, these two datasets can reasonably be used. After restricting our sample to maximize comparability between the two datasets, we find that NAS state averages are significantly higher than ASER state averages and averages from an independently conducted and nationally representative survey (IHDS). In addition, state rankings based on NAS data display almost no correlation with state rankings based on ASER, IHDS, or net state domestic product per capita. We conclude that NAS state averages are likely artificially high and contain little information about states’ relative performance. The presence of severe bias in the NAS data suggests that this data should be used carefully or not at all for comparisons between states, constructing learning profiles, or any other purpose. We then analyze the internal reliability of ASER data using variance decomposition methods. We find that while ASER data is mostly reliable for comparing state averages, it is less reliable for looking at district averages, or changes in district and state averages over time. We conclude that analysts may use ASER data with confidence for comparisons between states in a single year, constructing learning profiles, and assessing learning inequality but should exercise caution when comparing changes in state scores and avoid using ASER district-level data.     

Taking stock of sustainability in higher education: a review of the policy literature

Abstract

This paper provides a review of the current literature that examines the uptake of sustainability policies in higher education. Articles were retrieved from both ERIC and Scopus databases and then manually reviewed to ensure that they focused on each of: higher education; sustainability; and policy. A total of 91 articles were analysed using a multi-stage process that involved sorting data according to typologies (i.e. temporal, terminology, methodology, geography), coding the text of the articles based on topical content, and an indexing method used to label data for further analysis and the development of broader code categories. Results suggest that drivers and barriers associated with the integration of sustainability policy in higher education are well known; yet increased research is needed to understand best practices and processes by which sustainability can be furthered through higher education policy. In addition, findings demonstrate the need for future research to focus on various aspects of the policy process, including policy development and enactment, and on implications of policy for practice. While there have been some reviews of sustainability policy in higher education research to date, this review contributes to this literature by highlighting research primarily focused on sustainability policy within higher education.     

Taking stock of science in the schoolhouse: four ideas to foster effective instruction

In the opening discussion of this special issue, I take stock of science and schooling for students with learning disabilities (LD) before probing four ideas to foster effective instruction in contemporary schools: (a) Turn to science as the best trick we know for solving educational problems; (b) specify clearly what we hope to achieve in our instructional decisions for students with LD; (c) rely on instruction as the best tool we have for improving student performance; and (d) cultivate-and keep-competent and caring personnel. I invite commentary, from the perspectives of researchers, practitioners, and those who prepare teachers and administrators, to assess the status of science in the schoolhouse and to offer practical strategies for how the scientific orientation of schools might be enhanced.     

Taking stock and effecting change: curriculum evaluation through a review of course syllabi

A multi-disciplinary academic unit at a Canadian university completed an evaluation of course syllabi used in its undergraduate programmes over the previous five years. This paper examines the reasons for the evaluation, the processes employed to collect and analyse the data, and how the results will be incorporated into the next steps of the overall curricula reform planned within the unit. The evaluation focused on the unit’s adherence to departmental and university policies, course reading materials, experiential learning opportunities, forms of assessments (e.g. types and weighting of assignments), learning outcomes and instructor-specific policies (e.g. group work expectations, late assignments). While a summary of the results of the evaluation are provided herein, these are meant to highlight the administrative and curricular benefits and uses of the data, rather than an analysis and discussion of the results themselves.     

考试公平是教育公平的重要体现

考试不仅是社会育人、量人、选人的重要机制,而且是教育机会和资源分配的重要依据。在考试中坚持公平性,是促进教育公平建设的重要组成环节,对促进经济和社会发展、贮备人才、实现人力资源强国具有重要的意义和价值。     

Taking stock of research on teacher collaborative discourse: Theory and method in a nascent field

Scholars generally agree that teacher professional conversations can play a critical role in teacher learning on the job. However, empirical research on the topic is relatively diffuse, both theoretically and methodologically. This paper presents a systematic review of 64 articles about teacher team discourse and interaction. The review offers an overview of the field and analyses of studies’ theoretical perspectives on teacher learning, methodological approaches to analyzing discourse, research and intervention designs, and emergent ideas and findings about generative discourse. We conclude with key questions and emphases for the consolidation and further development of this fragmented and nascent field.     

Taking stock of the UN Decade of education for sustainable development: the policy-making process in Flanders

In this paper, we address the implementation of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Flanders, a sub-national entity of Belgium. Our analysis shows how the policy-making process in Flanders is inextricably intertwined with three developments in environmental and educational policy: the increasing impact of ESD policy and discourse on environmental education, the framing of social and political problems as learning problems, and ecological modernisation. These trends give shape to a post-ecologist and post-political policy regime and, thus, affect what is possible and acceptable within Flemish ESD policy. However, this case study also revealed that these developments do not completely determine ESD policy-making in Flanders. Our examination thus allowed us to understand how the actual policy translation in a particular local setting brings about powers that legitimise and maintain as well as counteract the bounds of the policy regime that emerged in the context of the UN Decade.     

Taking stock of environmental education policy in England – the what,the where and the why

Abstract

Taking England as our case study, this paper reviews secondary school environmental education from a policy perspective. By drawing on Stevenson’s typologies for environmental improvement and Lucas’ categorisation of environmental education, we analyse national policy documents, local authority and Multi-Academy Trust policies; and individual school planning documents. Our findings suggest in these areas a general absence of environment education policy, and where identified a rhetoric towards conservative reform framed as technology solutions, where learning is about the environment, rather than for the environment. We explain how the (lack of) environmental education rhetoric is a result of global economic changes and national austerity policies, and offer insights and signposting for policy makers.     

改革实验教学,走绿色化学之路——以无机化学实验教学为例

在化学实验教学中进行绿色化研究,引进多媒体和现代实验新技术手段,将常量实验改为微型、小量-半微量实验,以求从源头阻止污染,培养学生的环境保护意识和创新意识。     

Challenges and problems for research in the field of statewide exams. A stock taking of differing procedures and standardization levels

Statewide exit examinations play an important role in discussions on school effectiveness. Referring to educational governance concepts, this paper presumes a relation between varying organizational structures of statewide examinations across states, and heterogeneous effects on school actors. It is assumed that their ability to affect work in schools depends on how standardized their procedures are. Therefore, their structural elements must be juxtaposed, and their standardization level must be identified. This paper describes the results of a comparative review of statewide exit examinations using the example of 16 OECD-states alongside the categories Historical Context, Organizational Framework, Marking, and Handling of Results, and discusses the examinations regarding their overall standardization. The study is a basis for further research into how differently structured exit examinations affect school work.