Work models: Beyond instructional objectives

While instructional objectives have provided a cornerstone for the practice and science of instruction, they have also locked us into a lexically based conceptual system. In order to realize the interactive potential of computer-based instructional systems, we need a new way of representing performance. This paper presents the concept of a work model which is a unit of practice which allows replication of both information and interaction. In addition, the work model idea also addresses some of the fundamental problems with objectives such as their inability to capture the richness of terminal behavior or how to relate objectives to content.     

Speech and drama training for lectures as a means of improving university teaching

Although considerable resources have been invested in programs for the improvement of college and university teaching, there is little data available on the effectiveness of these programs. The present study assessed the value of speech and drama training as a method of improving lecturing skills in university teachers. It was found that teachers who received speech and drama training showed significant improvement in student ratings of classroom teaching relative to control teachers. Rival hypotheses involving greater motivation to improve in experimental teachers and generalized placebo and self-help effects were ruled out on the basis of student rating data from previous courses and differential findings for target and nontarget rating scales. It is concluded that speech and drama training can make a small but significant contribution to the improvement of university teaching.     

Delay in disclosure of childhood rape: results from a national survey

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to gather representative data regarding the length of time women who were raped before age 18 delayed prior to disclosing such rapes, whom they disclosed to, and variables that predicted disclosure within 1 month. METHOD: Data were gathered from 3,220 Wave II respondents from the National Women's Study (Resnick, Kilpatrick, Dansky, Saunders, & Best, 1993), a nationally representative telephone survey of women's experiences with trauma and mental health. Of these, 288 retrospectively reported at least one rape prior to their 18th birthday. Details of rape experiences were analyzed to identify predictors of disclosure within 1 month. RESULTS: Fully 28% of child rape victims reported that they had never told anyone about their child rape prior to the research interview; 47% did not disclose for over 5 years post-rape. Close friends were the most common confidants. Younger age at the time of rape, family relationship with the perpetrator, and experiencing a series of rapes were associated with disclosure latencies longer than 1 month; shorter delays were associated with stranger rapes. Logistic regression revealed that age at rape and knowing the perpetrator were independently predictive of delayed disclosure. CONCLUSIONS: Delayed disclosure of childhood rape was very common, and long delays were typical. Few variables were identified that successfully predicted disclosure behavior, but older age and rape by a stranger were associated with more rapid disclosure. This suggests that the likelihood of disclosure in a given case is difficult to estimate, and predictions based on single variables are unwarranted.     

Bedbugs

Gene G. Bradbury is a Pastor/Teacher, part time, in Concrete, WA, and spends the rest of his time writing for children and adults.     

Understanding student evaluations of teaching in online learning

In this paper, we have developed a classification model for online learning environments that relates the Instructors Overall Performance (IOP) rating (according to students’ perceptions) with the course characteristics, students’ demographics and the effectiveness of the instructor in his/her teaching roles. To that end, a comprehensive Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) instrument is proposed, which includes not only conventional teaching elements, but also items that encourage twenty-first century skills. The goal of the study is twofold: (i) to quantify the extent to which the selected variables explain the IOP rating, and (ii) determine which teaching and non-teaching variables most affect the IOP rating. The best performing classifier achieved a competitive accuracy, highlighting that the selected variables mainly determine the IOP values. Other important findings include: (i) the IOP value is mainly influenced by the effectiveness of the instructor in his/her teaching roles; (ii) teaching strategies that involve the cooperation between the technical and pedagogical roles should be promoted; (iii) the pedagogical role has the highest impact on the final IOP value; and (iv) the most influential demographic variable is the student’s status (working commitments and family responsibilities).     

Combining Economic and Conjoint Analysis to Determine Optimal Academic Services

In today's era of global competition, organizations must manage their functions and activities in a manner such that they are responsive to customers' needs and can provide excellence in service to the customer while also being efficient and cost conscious. These issues are extremely common in corporate organizations, but such concerns are equally relevant in service industries, including institutions of higher education. This study is conducted at a private, undergraduate institution of higher education. We utilize focus group evaluation and conjoint analysis combined with economic analysis in the form of a newly designed preferred utility economic cost diagram to pick the ideal services that should be provided to enrolled students at the institution. The package of ideal services accounts for preferred utility expressed by students and a new methodology (preferred utility function) to balance these against financial considerations to optimize services and financial gains for a college adult education program. This combination of focus groups and mathematical techniques can be easily employed by educational institutes.