Teacher's academic optimism: The development and test of a new construct

The objective of this exploratory study of teacher beliefs was twofold: first, to determine whether the construct of academic optimism could be defined and measured as an individual teacher characteristic as it has been at the collective school level, and second, to identify sets of teacher beliefs and practices that were good predictors of academic optimism. With a diverse sample of American elementary teachers, a second-order principal components analysis supported the hypothesis that academic optimism was a general construct composed of efficacy, trust, and academic emphasis. In addition, dispositional optimism, humanistic classroom management, student-centred beliefs and practices, and organizational citizenship behaviour were individually and collectively related to the explanation of a teacher's sense of academic optimism, controlling for SES.     

Evaluating faculty pedagogic practices to inform strategic academic professional development: a case of cases

An investigation was undertaken into how a process involving peer review and observation of teaching can be used to enhance academics’ teaching practices and inform professional development activities at an organization level. We describe an innovative and highly structured approach to gathering evidence of pedagogic practice from academic peer observers, students, and reflections on practice. Collating multiple perspectives on multiple instances of observed teaching a focused analysis is undertaken to provide an insight into development opportunities for a teaching culture and context. The investigation was undertaken in response to organizational needs in an increasingly competitive higher education sector where strong quality statements around teaching and learning outcomes are a matter of importance for organizational success. This paper will be of interest to academic developers and leaders in quality enhancement in higher education.     

The cross-cultural generalizability of a new structural model of academic self-concepts

Prior research on the structure of academic self-concepts has demonstrated academic self-concepts to be domain-specific and hierarchically organized, but has largely failed to support the hypothesis that general academic self-concept is at the apex of the hierarchy. The present study investigates a new multidimensional nested-factor model of academic self-concepts that incorporates both domain-specific and general academic self-concepts, and the position of general academic self-concept at the apex of the self-concept hierarchy. Data were obtained from representative samples of 15-year-old students in 26 countries (total N = 106,680). Results showed that the nested-factor model provided a good fit to the data in each of the 26 countries, and that general and domain-specific academic self-concepts were meaningfully related to gender as well as to student achievement. Moreover, it emerged that the relationships between academic self-concepts and these student characteristics may differ substantially depending on whether the model applied does or does not account for the influence of general academic self-concept on domain-specific measures of academic self-concepts.     

对劳动价值理论的再认识

深化对劳动价值理论的认识不仅是社会实践发展的要求，同时也是经济学理论发展的必然结果。本文回顾了劳动价值理论的发展历程，指出了发展劳动价值理论的意义，提出了对劳动价值理论的几点新认识。     

Setting strategic direction in academic institutions: the case of the business school

Setting the strategic direction in academic institutions cannot be fully likened to the same challenge in corporations, due to their essential “product” of value creation. Further, the role of the dean is inherently different from that of the CEO; he does not have the same power. Though a business school and a company are not run in the same way, there is no less of a need for the school to make the strategic choices necessary to achieve an internal balance and to create the kind of value the customer expects. In this article, four approaches to strategy in business schools are proposed in order to ensure that the main missions — research, teaching, and citizenship — of the school are operationally carried out.     

The handbook of communication science: A review

HANDBOOK OF COMMUNICATION SCIENCE. Edited by Charles R. Berger and Steven H. Chaffee. Newbury Park, Beverly Hills, London, and New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1987; pp. 946. $59.95.