University Presses in the Digital Age: How Pace University Press and Other University Presses Can Survive and Thrive

The age of information has made university presses more important than ever before. The Internet has placed knowledge at our fingertips, but limited budgets and reluctance to embrace digital technologies have left many university publishers struggling to prove their worth rather than gathering and disseminating that knowledge. To demonstrate how a university publishing house can make it in this changing climate, this report will analyze the industry by using a specific publisher as an example, however this analysis can be applied to any small press. Pace University Press, an extremely small press, but one with the potential to survive and grow, can do so by implementing new practices in marketing, distribution, and digital content that will not only bring it into the twenty-first century, but ensure its continued role in the communication of scholars for years to come. These strategies can be beneficial to any university press.     

Ethnic Print Media in Australia

This paper investigates the content of the editorial commentary in the Melbourne-based commercial Italian-language newspaper Il Globo from 1979 to 1989 and argues that throughout the period under examination it consistently maintained a proactive role for, and on behalf of, the Italo-Australian community. A longitudinal study on selected editorials written by then editor-in-chief Nino Randazzo shows that the newspaper lobbied relevant authorities and Australian governments alike on issues that mattered most to the Italian community, especially those related to domestic politics, migrant settlement and immigration. Using a content analysis methodology, the editorials were categorised into commonly emerging themes, highlighting the extent to which the newspaper commented on issues that affected the rapidly changing Italo-Australian community which experienced an important demographic shift from being predominantly Italian-born to increasingly Australian-born.     

Toward Measuring Instructional Interactions “At-Scale”

This study explores two approaches to directly measuring the quality of instruction: teachers' assignments with student work and focused lesson observations. The technical quality and potential feasibility of these approaches for measuring instruction in large numbers of classrooms are compared within two different content areas (reading comprehension and mathematics). Generalizability and decision studies determined the optimal number of observations and assignments needed to obtain a reliable measure of a teacher's practice, and the association of these direct measures of instructional quality with student achievement was estimated. For both content areas, four assignments assessed by two raters yielded a reliable estimate of quality and as few as two observations yielded a reliable estimate of quality when teachers complied with the requirements of the research. The quality of observed instruction and teachers' assignments differentially predicted gains in students' achievement on the Stanford Achievement Test within each content area. The implications for measuring instruction “at-scale” in different content areas are discussed.     

Peer Assessment in Undergraduate Programmes

Abstract

Peer assessment was introduced into the assessment strategy of two marketing modules on two undergraduate programmes at Manchester Metropolitan University. A questionnaire was used to elicit responses from a sample of 80 students concerning their attitudes to and experience of, the peer assessment exercise. Students felt that the benefits of peer assessment were: the increase in personal motivation as a result of their active involvement in the assessment process; the opportunity to compare and discuss the assignment, and the opportunity to gain knowledge and develop a greater understanding of the assignment content and assessment process. Criticisms included the effects of personal bias on the marks awarded, the interpretation of criteria and the ability of the students to assess. Some students regarded peer assessment as an incentive to perform, while others saw it as an unfair system that lacked objectivity. Over half the sample regarded assessment as solely a role for the tutor. The research found that peer assessment made a valuable contribution to the variety of assessment and it enabled students to better understand the assessment process, however, it was a time consuming process for tutors     

Enhancing Educational Research and Development Activity through Small Grant Schemes: A case study

There are many funding schemes in existence for small projects in educational development, but fewer equivalent research schemes. Data from an evaluation of two schemes at one institution are used as the catalyst for considering such schemes in wider contextual and theoretical perspectives. The evaluation analysed success rate data, project reports, and feedback data collected from grant‐holders. This case study addresses four questions: the areas of focus of grant‐holder activity, the extent to which the schemes achieved desired objectives, the ways in which grant‐holders value the schemes, and the factors contributing to success. It provides some supporting evidence for conclusions drawn in broader survey studies, considers the role of educational development units in such schemes and the place of educational development and research in an institution with a science‐based culture and paradigm. Two theoretical lenses help illuminate the data, namely “communities of practice” and Boyer’s classification of academic activities.

Divers modes de financement existent pour des projets de faible en vergure en matière de développement pédagogique, mais beaucoup moins en ce qui a trait à la recherche. Des données provenant de l’évaluation de deux modes de financement existant depuis longtemps au sein de la même institution sont utilisées de façon à situer de tels modes de financement dans des perspectives contextuelles et théoriques plus vastes. Cette étude de cas porte sur quatre questions de recherche: le domaine d’activité du récipiendaire de la subvention de recherche, la mesure selon laquelle les modes de financement atteignent les objectifs envisagés, la valeur accordée par les récipiendaires de subventions aux modes de financement, ainsi que les facteurs contribuant à leur succès. Les résultats de l’étude abondent dans le sens des conclusions tirées lors d’enquêtes beaucoup plus vastes. L’étude considère aussi le rôle d’unités de développement pédagogique à l’égard de tels modes de financement, ainsi que la place du développement pédagogique et de la recherche au sein d’une institution dotée d’une culture et d’un paradigme axés sur la science. Deux optiques théoriques sont utilisées pour faire la lumière sur les données, notamment la notion de “communauté de pratique” de même que la classification de Boyer au sujet des activités universitaires.     

Contextual influences on baseball ball-strike decisions in umpires,players, and controls

Abstract

Baseball umpires, players, and control participants with no baseball experience were asked to call balls and strikes for video clips. In a basic judgement task, umpires and players were significantly better at calling pitches than controls. In a direct information task, borderline pitches were presented following clips of definite balls and definite strikes. Participants called target pitches closer to the strike end of the scale when viewed after definite balls than when they followed definite strikes. Similarly, when borderline pitches were shown in different pitch counts, participants called pitches more towards the strike end of the scale when there were three balls in the count (3–0, 3–2). These findings indicate that the standard for evaluation changes based on the context in which stimuli are processed. Moreover, the strength of the contextual factors is illustrated in that the effects were shown in observers with and without experience in the task. Overall, however, umpires had a greater tendency to call strikes, indicating that they may use a norm of “hastening the game”.     

The effect of recovery strategies on physical performance and cumulative fatigue in competitive basketball

Abstract

To evaluate the effectiveness of recovery strategies on physical performance during a 3-day tournament style basketball competition, 29 male players (mean age 19.1 years, s = 2.1; height 1.84 m, s = 0.34; body mass 88.5 kg, s = 14.7) were assigned to one of three treatment groups: carbohydrate + stretching (7.7 g · kg ^?1 · day ^?1, s = 1.7; ‘n = 9), cold water immersion (11°C, 5 × 1; n = 10) or full leg compression garments (18 mmHg, ～18 h; n = 10). Effects of the recovery strategies on pre–post tournament performance tests were expressed as the mean change (% ± standard deviation of the change score). Changes and differences were standardized for accumulated game time, assessed against the smallest worthwhile change for each test, and reported qualitatively. Accumulated fatigue was evident over the tournament with small to moderate impairments in performance tests. Sprint and agility performance decreased by 0.7% (s = 1.3) and 2.0% (s = 1.9) respectively. Vertical jump decreased substantially after the first day for all treatments, and remained suppressed post-tournament. Cold water immersion was substantially better in maintaining 20-m acceleration with only a 0.5% (s = 1.4) reduction in 20-m time after 3 days compared with a 3.2% (s = 1.6) reduction for compression. Cold water immersion (?1.4%, s = 1.7) and compression (?1.5%, s = 1.7) showed similar substantial benefits in maintaining line-drill performance over the tournament, whereas carbohydrate + stretching elicited a 0.4% (s = 1.8) reduction. Sit-and-reach flexibility decreased for all groups, although cold water immersion resulted in the smallest reduction in flexibility. Basketball tournament play elicited small to moderate impairments in physical test performance. In conclusion, cold water immersion appears to promote better restoration of physical performance measures than carbohydrate + stretching routines and compression garments.     

‘She’ll be right’. Or will she? Practitioner perspectives on risk assessment for led outdoor activities in Australia

Inadequate risk assessment has been implicated as a contributory factor in the deaths and injuries of participants on led outdoor activity (LOA) programmes in both Australia and overseas. The identification and assessment of risks is a required component of LOA programmes, and multiple risk assessment methods and techniques are available to the practitioner. Little, however, is known about the risk assessment approaches currently applied in practice. This study surveyed Australian LOA practitioners to: (1) determine which risk assessment methods and policy guidance are currently used in practice (if any); (2) understand practitioner perspectives around the utility of risk assessments; and (3) identify perceived challenges and barriers in applying these methods to the LOA context. The results paint a concerning picture of confusion and uncertainty in relation to conducting risk assessments, as well as a lack of policy guidance and formal training. The results imply that new and more suitable methods of risk assessment should be developed, focussing on the development, planning and delivery of led outdoor activities.