An analysis of the needs for nonacademic staff and operating funds in a university

Regressions can be used to analyze the relationship between departmental activities and the need for nonacademic staff and operating funds. Support costs are broken into task categories and related to certain basic variables describing the composition and activity of the unit (e.g., FTE academic staff, teaching load). The results are then linked in a total model which predicts the cost for departmental support based on institutional activity variables. Beside the number of students, there are other variables such as the number of fields of study, number of teaching and research staff, and the laboratory equipment. The model is generalizable to many national settings.Presented at the Twentieth Annual Forum of the Institution for Institutional Research, April 1980.     

Self-Assessment of Governance Teams in an Argentine Private University: Adapting to Difficult Times

Argentine Universities like similarinstitutions all around the world are facing acomplex and challenging environment thatdemands a more sophisticated leadership and thedevelopment of complex managerial skills. Inthis paper we propose that enhancing thequality of collective decision making, andbuilding more complex teams as a way topreserve collegiality in academic governance,can help the institutions to survive andsucceed in a hostile context. We analyse thecase of a private university, and we presentsome conclusions of the process ofself-assessment initiated by the governanceteams at both institutional and academic unitlevels.     

Mathematical development: the role of broad cognitive processes

This study investigated the role of broad cognitive processes in the development of mathematics skills among children and adolescents. Four hundred and forty-seven students (age mean [M] = 10.23 years, 73% boys and 27% girls) from an elementary school district in the US southwest participated. Structural equation modelling tests indicated that calculation complexity was predicted by long-term retrieval and working memory; calculation fluency was predicted by perceptual processing speed, phonetic coding, and visual processing; problem solving was predicted by fluid reasoning, crystallised knowledge, working memory, and perceptual processing speed. Younger students’ problem solving skills were more strongly associated with fluid reasoning skills, relative to older students. Conversely, older students’ problem solving skills were more strongly associated with crystallised knowledge skills, relative to younger students. Findings are consistent with the theoretical suggestion that broad cognitive processes play specific roles in the development of mathematical skills among children and adolescents. Implications for educational psychologists are discussed.     

Aesthetic experiences in the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna): contributions to environmental education practice and research

In this paper, we reflect on a study in Brazil’s Cerrado that attempts to address a lack of attention to an aesthetic dimension in environmental education practice and research. We start by tracing this lack to the overvaluing of the cognitive sphere in the educational process, noting its echo in the low aesthetic value attributed to the Cerrado biome. Then, through reflecting on an empirical, interview based study of sensations, perceptions and feelings evoked by aesthetic experiences in the Cerrado, we draw on insights from a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to identify key themes for environmental education research and practice in this regard. These include: recognising the singularity of experience; attending to the qualities of experience; acknowledging the value/s of ‘lighter’ and ‘darker’ experiences; and deepening emotions and verbal communication. In our final considerations, we discuss the limitations of the study, alongside new directions in studies of perception, experience, aesthetics and pedagogy that may also advance attention to an aesthetic dimension in environmental education practice and research.     

Undergraduate Research or Research-Based Courses: Which Is Most Beneficial for Science Students?

Research in Science Education - Over the last 25 years, both research literature and practice-oriented reports have claimed the need for improving the quality of undergraduate science...     

Emotional climate of a pre-service science teacher education class in Bhutan

This study explored pre-service secondary science teachers’ perceptions of classroom emotional climate in the context of the Bhutanese macro-social policy of Gross National Happiness. Drawing upon sociological perspectives of human emotions and using Interaction Ritual Theory this study investigated how pre-service science teachers may be supported in their professional development. It was a multi-method study involving video and audio recordings of teaching episodes supported by interviews and the researcher’s diary. Students also registered their perceptions of the emotional climate of their classroom at 3-minute intervals using audience response technology. In this way, emotional events were identified for video analysis. The findings of this study highlighted that the activities pre-service teachers engaged in matter to them. Positive emotional climate was identified in activities involving students’ presentations using video clips and models, coteaching, and interactive whole class discussions. Decreases in emotional climate were identified during formal lectures and when unprepared presenters led presentations. Emotions such as frustration and disappointment characterized classes with negative emotional climate. The enabling conditions to sustain a positive emotional climate are identified. Implications for sustaining macro-social policy about Gross National Happiness are considered in light of the climate that develops in science teacher education classes.     

The Hispanic Experience in Physical Education Teacher Education Programs: A Qualitative Study

The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of Hispanic faculty involved in physical education teacher education programs at predominantly White colleges and universities in the United States. The study was positioned in the theoretical framework of organizational socialization. Participants were Hispanic (n = 6) faculty from various kinesiology-based programs in tenure-track positions at institutions of higher education in the United States. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and transcribed, triangulated, and analyzed with constant comparative procedures. We uncovered the following themes: (a) underrepresented, (b) socialized, and (c) cultured and determined. The study’s findings magnify the need for faculty and administrators to heighten their awareness and implement strategies to improve the organizational socialization of Hispanic faculty, particularly at predominantly White doctoral-granting colleges and universities. This means, for instance, identifying strategies to recruit, prepare, retain, and mentor Hispanic faculty at such institutions.