Agency,context and change in academic development

This article explores the notions of change that seem to underpin the ways in which academic developers practice within specific organizational contexts and cultures. Drawing on a two-year empirical study across UK institutions it links concepts of change to the different 'orientations' that developers consider appropriate to their strategic terrain. It provides an opportunity for colleagues to examine their own concepts of change and a conceptual tool for auditing the extent to which the approaches adopted in our Units and Centres might appropriately address the cultures and needs of our organizations.     

A Case Study in the Measurement of Educational Efficiency in Open and Distance Learning

Open and distance learning (ODL) gives learners control of the time, place, and pace of learning, often being characterized as flexible learning. However, this flexibility goes hand‐in‐hand with procrastination and non‐completion. As a result, the efficiency of the educational process is of importance to ODL providers, government funding agencies, and learners themselves. Despite its importance, measuring efficiency in ODL is problematic. This article presents a case study in measuring educational efficiency using a method which reflects the special characteristics of ODL. The article concludes with a discussion of the wider applicability of the measurement method in the context of lifelong learning.     

Reinventing the Past: the Case of the English Tradition of Education

This paper explores the linkages between national identity and educational traditions, and the range and flexibility of the incarnations of tradition. It investigates in detail three versions of a specifically English tradition in education that have been generated at different times in England over the past century. These are Cyril Norwood's account of the English tradition in the 1920s, Fred Clarke's portrayal of education and social change in the 1940s, and the ideals of teachers' professional autonomy as they were articulated in the post-war period. In each instance the 'tradition' developed as responses to contemporary challenges and threats, and asserted particular images of the past to justify a given approach to present and future changes. These representations of the national tradition have thereby established sets of values and principles drawn from idealised versions of the educational past that provided guidelines for reform, and the direction and guide-lines of change.     

Newton's Third Law after Newton

Newton's third law is not something which students easily accept. This is largely due to the widespread notion that the force exerted by a moving body is directly related to the speed or to the mass of the body (or to both) and not to the nature of any interaction in which that body might be involved. The aim of the paper is to identify some of the issues upon which debate took place over the phenomenon of impact in the early 18th Century. This is achieved by studying a number of the popular textbooks and commentaries on mechanics which were published at that time. Some implications for teaching Newtonian mechanics are outlined. Specializations: physics education, concept development, history and philosophy of science in science teaching.     

Rank-based Statistics in Biotechnology

A biotechnological method for cell and enzyme immobilisation is outlined and the need for statistical thinking associated with experimental outcomes is discussed. A solution to the statistical issue of comparing sets of data is proposed based on analysis of ranks. The use of the box-and-whisker technique is advocated.     

The Expression of Dominance and Perceptions of Supervisor Credibility in Supervisor/Employee Relationships

In the workplace, a supervisor’s communication of dominance can be used to help accomplish tasks and complete work. Further, perceptions of credibility can be integral in influencing employees and creating an open work climate. The goal of this investigation was to understand how supervisors’ messages of dominance were related to perceptions of supervisor credibility. In this study, 303 participants working in various industries completed measures of interpersonal dominance and credibility about their direct supervisor. As hypothesized, influence and focus/poise were positively related to competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness, whereas conversational control was negatively related to goodwill and trustworthiness. Further, self-assurance was negatively related to goodwill. Regression analyses determined that influence and focus/poise had the strongest relationship to all three dimensions of credibility.     

A historical‐sketch of intercollegiate debating: III

LANGUAGE AND PHILOSOPHY. Studies in Method. By Max Black. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1949; pp. xiii+264.

ELEMENTE DER LITERARISCHEN RHET‐ORIK. Eine Einführung für Studierende der romanischen Philologie. Von Heinrich Lausberg. München: Max Hueber Verlag, 1949: pp. 93.

AFRICANISMS IN THE GULLAH DIALECT. By Lorenzo Dow Turner. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1949; pp. xi+317. $7.50.

A WORD GEOGRAPHY OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. By Hans Kurath. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, Studies in American English, No. 1, 1949; pp. xi+88+163 maps. $4.00.

THE GOLDEN NIGHTINGALE; Essays on Some Principles of Poetry in the Lyrics of William ButlerYeats. By Donald A. Stauffer New York: The Macmillan’ Company, 1949; pp. 165‐$3.00.

STUDIES IN POETRY. An Introduction to the Critical Reading of Poems. By Neal Frank Doubleday.’ New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949; pp. xxiii+380. 52.25.

TRAVELLING TONGUES. By Kenneth Harris. London: John Murray, 1949; pp. 215. 8s 6d.

STAGE TO SCREEN. Theatrical Method from Garrick to Griffith. By A. Nicholas Vardac. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1949; pp. xxvi+283. 56.00.

ACTORS ON ACTING. Edited with Introductions and Biographical Notes by Toby Cole and Helen Krich Chinoy. New York: Crown Publishers, 1949; pp. xiv+596. $5.00.

THE IDEA OF A THEATER. By Francis Fergusson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949; pp. xiv+240. $3.75.

STAGE MAKE‐UP. By Richard Corson. (Revised edition). New York: Appleton‐Century‐Crofts, Inc., 1949; pp. vii+211. $3.50.

CHILDREN WITH MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HANDICAPS. By J. E. Wallace Wallin. New York: Prentice‐Hall Inc., 1919; pp. xxii+ 549. $5.00.

PUBLIC SCHOOL AUDIOMETRY. Principles and Methods. By Loraine Anson Dahl. Danville, Illinois: The Interstate Printers and Publishers, Inc., 1919; pp. 290. $3.00.

CLINICAL AUDIOLOGY. By Maurice Saltzman, M.D. New York: Grune and Stratton, 1919; pp. xiii+195. $5.00.

ACUTE LARYNGOTRACHEOBRONCHITIS. By A. Harry Neffson, M.D. New York: Grune and Stratton, 1949; pp. vii+197. $5.00.

YOUR CHILD'S SPEECH AND HOW TO IMPROVE IT. By Amy Bishop Chapin and Ruth Lundin. Cleveland: The Press of Western Reserve University, 1949; pp. 30. 75c.

THE COMMAND OF WORDS. By S. Stephen‐son Smith. (Second edition). New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1949; pp. xii+ 305. $3.50.

PORTFOLIO OF TEACHING TECHNIQUES. New Facts and Techniques to Invigorate Classroom Teaching—Including Tested Practices in Group Dynamics for the Classroom Teacher. Edited by the Staff of the Educator's Washington Dispatch. New York, New London, and Washington: Educator's Washington Dispatch, 1949; pp. 31. 75c.

TWO LESSONS OF GROUP DYNAMICS. So You Appointed a Committee. When a Schoolman Runs a Conference. By the Staff of the Educator's Washington Dispatch. New York, New London, and Washington: Educator's Washington Dispatch, 1948; pp. 10. 25c.

WEBSTER'S GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. John P. Bethel, General Editor. Springfield, Massachusetts: G. &; C. Merriam Company, 1949; pp. xxx+1293. §8.50.

DIPHTHONGS IN AMERICAN SPEECH. By George Whiting Hibbitt. New York: Columbia University Bookstore, 1948; pp. 86. $2.50.

GENERAL SPEECH. An Introduction. By A. Craig Baird and Franklin H. Knower. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Company, Inc., 1949; pp. ix+500. $3.50.