An Agency Theory Perspective on Student Performance Evaluation

The emphasis in recent research on the responsibility of college and university business instructors to prepare students for future employment underscores a need to refine the evaluation of student performance. In this article, an agency theory framework is used to understand the trade‐offs that may be involved in the selection of various approaches to student evaluation. Understanding these trade‐offs may be particularly important as faculty members seek to balance competing obligations, such as research and service requirements, while ensuring instructional effectiveness. This article presents propositions for examining how various institutional, instructor, and student characteristics influence the selection and use of student performance evaluation techniques (i.e., exams, papers, and group assignments). In conclusion, we suggest that agency theory may serve as a foundation for understanding current evaluation practices and guiding instructors in their selection of appropriate evaluation mechanisms.     

Blockbusters: Ideas for the block center

The values of block play include development of hand-eye coordination, thinking skills, language development, cooperation among children, mathematical concepts, and many others. Guidelines for the block center and activities are described and illustrated. Samples of task cards and sentence strips give practical ideas for the classroom.     

Nonresponse and Online Student Evaluations of Teaching: Understanding the Influence of Salience, Fatigue, and Academic Environments

Technological advances have enabled institutions of higher education to administer course evaluations online, forgoing the traditional paper-and-pencil methods. Consequently, many of these institutions suffer from low response rates, but little research is available on this topic. To increase understanding about course evaluation participation in the online environment, this study examined over 22,000 undergraduates to whom the university administered about 135,000 evaluations. Multilevel models were constructed to analyze the data, and several variables emerged as significant predictors of participation. The results were mostly consistent with previous research and aligned with theories of survey nonresponse. However, the integration of uncommon variables provided new perspectives about course evaluations in particular. Implications for research and practical applications for institutions are also addressed, including ways to combat survey fatigue, increase the salience of the survey, and increase participation in online course evaluations.     

Culturally responsive teaching in the context of mathematics: a grounded theory case study

In this grounded theory case study, four interconnected, foundational cornerstones of culturally responsive mathematics teaching (CRMT), communication, knowledge, trust/relationships, and constant reflection/revision, were systematically unearthed to develop an initial working theory of CRMT that directly informs classroom practice. These cornerstones were found to interact in unique ways. Results have implications for teachers of mathematics who aim to become more culturally responsive, mathematics teacher educators and supervisors, and school administrators who seek to promote equity in mathematics.     

Recorded Student Interviews in Improving Instruction

Abstract

A Valuable Resource: Key Resources on Teaching, Learning, Curriculum, and Faculty Development By Robert J. Menges and B. Claude Mathis San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988, 406 pages, index, $35. Reviewed by Ohmer Milton

Accomplished Advocates for Change: Women in Academe: Outsiders in the Sacred Grove By Nadya Aisenberg and Mona Harrington Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1988, xii + 207 pages. Reviewed by Amy A. Kass

The Power of Scientific Thought: The Cultural Meaning of the Scientific Revolution By Margaret C. Jacob Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1988, xii + 274 pages, $29.95. Reviewed by Robert L. Spaeth     

Film Genre Studies

Les Adams and Buck Rainey's Shoot-em-Ups: The Complete Reference Guide to Westerns of the Sound Era (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1978---$30.00)

David Rothel's The Singing Cowboys (Cranbury, N.J.: A.S. Barnes, 1978---$19.95)

Lawrence H. Suid's Guts & Glory: Great American War Movies (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1978---$12.95/6.95)

Jack G. Shaheen, ed. Nuclear War Films (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1978---$10.00/4.95)

Thomas Cripps' Black Film as Genre (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978---$10.00)

Neil P. Hurley's The Reel Revolution: A Film Primer on Liberation (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1978---$7.95, paper)

Anita Loos' San Francisco, A Screenplay (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1979---$10.00/4.95)

Eugene Rosow's Born to Lose: The Gangster Film in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978---$19.95)