Investigating university tutor perceptions of assessment feedback: three types of tutor beliefs

Feedback is a key element in effective teaching and learning. The issue of how teachers perceive the role of feedback will impact significantly their feedback approaches, the amount of the detail of their feedback and the time and effort expended on the feedback provision. This research was designed with the purpose of exploring how a group of over 50 tutors who were supporting an online university English course perceived, understood and interpreted the processes of assignment feedback. A factor analysis study based on questionnaire data revealed three sets of tutor beliefs towards assessment and tutor feedback: traditional–autonomous–global (TAG), student‐centred (SC) and traditional‐local (TL). Follow‐up in‐depth interviews were conducted with tutors. The TAG tutors saw scores as the most important feedback to students, but doubted the value of detailed feedback. SC tutors maintained that good tutor feedback should offer more than mere scores, and that students needed feedback in order to improve. TL tutors tended to underline all the errors and provide detailed feedback. They were negative towards the idea of their feedback being monitored. The authors identified some differing and converging tutor perceptions on assessment feedback, the understanding of which could arguably play an important role in introducing changes in tutor feedback culture.     

Development and initial validation of the Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence Questionnaire

The development of talent is a complex process mediated by a host of psychological, social, physical, and environmental variables. Unfortunately, the multiple processes involved in talent development are frequently ignored by the systems and protocols employed in sport. Modern approaches to talent development are beginning to stress the initial possession, then subsequent development, of generic psychological characteristics (e.g. psychological characteristics of developing excellence; MacNamara, Button, & Collins, 2010a , 2010b ) as the best way to realize latent potential. Accordingly, this paper describes the development and initial validation of the Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence Questionnaire (PCDEQ). In the first phase, an initial list of 160 items was developed. A combination of expert panel reviews, cognitive interviews, and a pilot test was used to assess the relevance, representativeness, and validity of each item. Ninety-six items were retained following these steps. Exploratory factor analysis, with a sample of 363 athletes, revealed an interpretable 59-item, 6-factor solution with good internal consistency (0.870, 0.866, 0.847, 0.741, 0.749, and 0.701 respectively). The Psychological Characteristics of Developing Excellence Questionnaire would appear to hold promise as a useful tool to provide coaches and athletes with information about the psychological characteristics of developing excellence that are being properly addressed or neglected during different stages of development or in different contexts.     

Gender and ethnic differences in perceptions of equal opportunity climate and job outcomes of US Army Reserve component personnel

We examined equal opportunity climate (EOC) perceptions of reserve component personnel in the US Army (n = 949). We expected that gender and ethnic group membership would influence perceptions of the equal opportunity climate; and that gender and ethnic group membership would moderate the relationship between equal opportunity climate perceptions and ratings of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and workgroup effectiveness. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found the women and minorities perceptions regarding the equal opportunity climate were less favorable than White men. We also found that both gender and ethnicity moderated the relationship between equal opportunity climate perceptions and job outcomes of these groups. Our findings suggest that different groups are sensitive to particular aspects of EOC (e.g., harassment or discrimination) and that these sensitivities affect job-related outcomes.     

Don''''t Punish Every Mistake

In one of my assignments as a young infantry(步兵)officer,I was sent tothe 48th Infantry near Frankfurt,Germany.In those days our prize weaponwas a huge 280-mm atomic cannon. One day Captain Tom Miller assigned my platoon to guard a 280.Ialerted my men,loaded my.45 caliber(口径)pistol and jumped into my jeep.I