Testing the Efficacy of a Scholarship Program for Single Parent,Post-Freshmen,Full Time Undergraduates

This study examines the efficacy of a scholarship program designed to assist single parent, post-freshmen, full time undergraduate students and predictors of success among a sample of said students, where success is defined as progress toward completion, academic achievement, and degree completion. Results of fixed effects regression and hierarchical linear modeling indicated that single parents who participated in the scholarship program had higher levels of academic achievement, degree completion rates, and greater progress toward completion than non-participants. Consistent significant predictors of success included participation in a scholarship program, full-time status, and whether someone already held a Bachelor’s degree. The findings suggest that the structure of a single parent program that includes requirements for GPA, full-time status, and credit accumulation, as well as personal, professional, and financial resources for participants may be an efficacious model for other colleges to implement in order assist in the success of single parent undergraduate students.     

NASA and the search for life in the universe

Almost from its beginnings in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) set up a life-science program. Because one of the priorities of the organization is to search for life beyond Earth, NASA began designing spacecraft to unravel the mysteries of Mars. The effort to search for life on Mars culminated in the landing of two Viking spacecraft on the surface of the planet in 1976. Although the biology experiments conducted as part of these missions provided some evidence for the possibility of life, the scientific consensus was that they drew a blank. In 1996, however, the 'Mars rock' rekindled interest in life in our solar system. The discovery of an ocean on the Jovian moon Europa, of organic molecules on the Saturnian moon Titan and persuasive evidence that water once flowed on Mars suggests that the solar system is still of considerable exobiological interest. In addition, since 1995 approximately 175 planets have been found beyond our solar system. Although these discoveries are gas giants, NASA spacecraft might soon detect Earth-sized planets. The search for life in the universe continues.     

Implications of managerial control on performance of Dutch academic (bio)medical and health research groups

Our paper examines the relationship between managerial control and research performance of academic groups. An understanding of the determinants of research performance is a prerequisite for designing effective micro- and macro-research policies. The paper focuses on Dutch medical and health research groups. Our paper addresses the following question: do (certain) research management activities enhance the performance of academic groups? A quantitative approach was used to gather data from research leaders in 160 groups. Correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression analysis show that several aspects of research management have a positive relationship with research performance. Furthermore, this study reveals that managerial choices of Dutch (bio)medical and health research leaders give rise to differences in performances measures. Additionally the disciplinary setting is found to have an impact on relationships between managerial control and performance. The paper concludes by giving suggestions for further research as well as considering possible implications for research policy.     

Win, Place or Show: Gauging the Economic Success of the Renoir and Barnes Art Exhibits

Special art exhibits, sometimes known as``blockbusters', are often thought of as tourism andbusiness generators. This belief is fostered byeconomic impact studies that bravely estimate thetotal gross domestic product or total jobs ``created'by such exhibits. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm of theexhibit promoters often leads them to the uncritical useof methodologies that exaggerate the size of theexhibit's contribution to the local economy. Fortunately, such methodologies are well understoodand corrective measures are available to make theestimates they produce more realistic and useful foradvocacy purposes. This paper presents a comparisonof two studies done in Canada to provide arts managerswith a gauge for realistically forecasting thepotential impact of planned ``blockbusters'.Several Canadian art galleries have recently hostedspecial art exhibits, notably the Renoir Portraits atthe National Gallery of Canada and the BarnesExhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario. They havesurveyed the visitors to them using a correctivemethodology that enables researchers to determinewhich visitors came to the region only because of theexistence of the exhibit and which would have come tothe region and spent money whether the exhibit existedor not. These data enables researchers to estimatequite accurately the amount of visitor spending thatis actually due to the exhibit. This lower, but morecredible, estimate is very useful in helping promotersobtain exhibit sponsorship from local tourismbusinesses who have become skeptical of theexaggerated claims of economic impact estimates basedon standard survey approaches.     

New research paradigms in instructional technology: An inquiry

In this paper, we review the current state of research paradigms in the field of instructional technology from the perspective of research standards and paradigms recommended by Leslie J. Briggs in the early 1980s. Our analysis of articles published in Educational Technology Research and Development from 1992 to 1996 revealed that relatively few research paradigms were used and that studies did not, for the most part, adhere to Briggs's (1984) Culture Four standards. Perhaps the most startling result was that more than half the articles published were not empirical studies at all. We discuss some reasons for these findings and suggest that instructional technology (IT) researchers make a renewed commitment to Briggs's standards. IT researchers can again advance knowledge in the field in significant ways by collaborating with partners in the field and focusing on questions related to instructional design processes, questions that require the use of more developmental research methods. She is President Elect of AECT and will assume the presidency in February 2000.     

Reframing austerity: financial morality,savings and securitization

ABSTRACT

Austerity in the twenty-first century is different, compared both with the past, and across locations. This analysis explores the different role played by households in policies designed to maintain financial market liquidity in the context of aspirations of state deficit reduction. While in Europe there is austerity as popularly depicted, in the United States, where mortgage-backed securities have become central to monetary policy, the agenda is to keep households meeting their debt obligations. These differences are explained in terms of different conceptions of monetary policy and evolving conceptions of money itself. The evidence portends a changing role for households and their financial payments in anchoring the money system.