Similarity grouping of Australian universities

The Unified National System of Australian Universities was created out of universities, institutes of technology and colleges of advanced education. In this study similarity clustering of universities within this system is attempted based on two data sets: one based on evaluative ratings and the other on quantitative performance indicators. With the exception of three traditional universities that tended to cluster together across data sets no consistent clustering emerged. Within data sets there was no tendency for the emergent clusters to reflect the origins of the institutions in any consistent manner. It is suggested that the Unified National System has not reduced diversity.     

Learning to Make Good Decisions: A Self-Regulation Perspective

Two studies were conducted to determine the extent to which feedback could improve the decision-making of adolescents and adults. In Experiment 1, 96 eighth graders and adults engaged in a task that required a choice between easy and hard questions. Two types of feedback (i.e., verbal and outcome) were used to help participants identify the type of question that would be most likely to earn them points. Results showed that (1) neither group benefited from verbal feedback, and (2) adults benefited more from outcome feedback than eighth graders. In Experiment 2, two types of feedback were once again employed in the context of a medical decision-making task. Fifty-five adults and adolescents participated. As was found in Experiment 1, adults seemed to benefit more from feedback than adolescents. In addition, intelligence was unrelated to performance. The results are interpreted within the perspective of a self-regulation model of decision-making.     

Models of Competence and Teacher Training

The use of competence as a basis for the education and training of teachers has become commonplace. Department for Education (DfE) circulars 9/92 (DfE, June 1992) and 14/93 (DfE, November 1993) have indicated the way forward for competence‐based teacher training. This paper suggests that it is possible to identify three models of competence which seem to dominate research. The first is broadly behaviourist in its approach and depends largely upon the inculcation of domain‐specific behaviours. The second can be termed a process model, which attempts to map out the process of competent action in terms of flexibility. The third may be described as a cognitive model, since it attributes such importance to knowledge and understanding in underpinning competent action. Each of these models is examined in relation to certain key variables: their interpretation of knowledge and understanding, methods of assessment, and forms of training. A final section draws attention to important factors which operate in competent performance and which must be realised in any competency approach to the training and education of teachers.