MEASUREMENT OF UNIVERSITY OUTPUT: MODEL AND CASE STUDY

A model for measuring output of university departments is developed. The model includes teaching, research and other activities. The weighting factors for each activity is given. The model is applied to the departments of the College of Commerce of Kuwait University. Discussions and recommendations are presented.     

Speculative method in digital education research

The question of ‘what works’ is currently dominating educational research, often to the exclusion of other kinds of inquiries and without enough recognition of its limitations. At the same time, digital education practice, policy and research over-emphasises control, efficiency and enhancement, neglecting the ‘not-yetness’ of technologies and practices which are uncertain and risky. As a result, digital education researchers require many more kinds of questions, and methods, in order to engage appropriately with the rapidly shifting terrain of digital education, to aim beyond determining ‘what works’ and to participate in ‘intelligent problem solving’ [Biesta, G. J. J. 2010, “Why ‘What Works’ Still Won’t Work: From Evidence-Based Education to Value-Based Education.” Studies in Philosophy and Education 29 (5): 491–503] and ‘inventive problem-making’ [Michael, M. 2012, “‘What Are We Busy Doing?’ Engaging the Idiot.” Science, Technology &; Human Values 37 (5): 528–554]. This paper introduces speculative methods as they are currently used in a range of social science and art and design disciplines, and argues for the relevance of these approaches to digital education. It synthesises critiques of education’s over-reliance on evidence-based research, and explores speculative methods in terms of epistemology, temporality and audience. Practice-based examples of the ‘teacherbot’, ‘artcasting’ and the ‘tweeting book’ illustrate speculative method in action, and highlight some of the tensions such approaches can generate, as well as their value and importance in the current educational research climate.     

Negotiating managerialism: professional recognition and teachers of sustainable development education

Policy strategies to reward teachers for field-specific expertise have become internationally widespread and have been criticized for being manifestations of neoliberal globalization. In Scotland, there is political commitment to such strategies, including one to award recognition to teachers for expertise in sustainable development education (SDE). This study examined 22 application forms for that award, conducted face-to-face discussions with 8 successful teacher applicants, and with two policy-making actors and analyzed the websites of relevant policy institutions. The study asked how the concept of ‘the professional teacher of SDE’ was negotiated through the policy. In both policy and teacher discourse, there was a struggle to reconcile the constructions of the teacher as an individualized generic manager and as committed to SDE as a networked, disciplinary field of endeavor. Managerialism is a neoliberal technology, so these tensions are interpreted as traces of neoliberal ideology. Moreover, their negotiation is interpreted as de- and re-bordering engagements with globalization. The critical potential of these interpretations is in the revealed incompleteness of the engagements, leaving teachers and policy-makers with scope to manage responses to neoliberal globalization in SDE.     

The Role of Fitness Professionals in Public Health: A Review of the Literature

Kinesiology researchers have long had an interest in physical activity, fitness, and health issues and in the professional education and work practices of teachers and coaches. The professional development needs and practices of “fitness professionals,” however, have not been a major concern for researchers in the field. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the evidence on fitness professionals, their role in physical activity for health agendas, and the professional education and training that is available to support them. The analysis indicates that there is a mismatch between the expectations placed upon fitness professionals and the training and professional education that is available to them. It is argued that pedagogy researchers in kinesiology could usefully turn their attentions to this occupational group.     

Exploratory Mediation Analysis via Regularization

Exploratory mediation analysis refers to a class of methods used to identify a set of potential mediators of a process of interest. Despite its exploratory nature, conventional approaches are rooted in confirmatory traditions, and as such have limitations in exploratory contexts. We propose a two-stage approach called exploratory mediation analysis via regularization (XMed) to better address these concerns. We demonstrate that this approach is able to correctly identify mediators more often than conventional approaches and that its estimates are unbiased. Finally, this approach is illustrated through an empirical example examining the relationship between college acceptance and enrollment.     

EPRs in the consultation room: A discussion of the literature on effects on doctor-patient relationships

In this paper we discuss expected and reported effects on care provider-patient relations of the introduction of electronic patient records (EPRs) in consultation settings by reviewing exemplary studies and literature on the subject from the past decade. We argue that in order for such assessments to be meaningful, talk of effects of “the” EPR needs to be replaced by an “unpacking” of EPR systems into their constituent parts and functionalities, the effects of which need to be assessed individually. Following from this principle, the paper discusses EPR systems ranging from simple data entry and retrieval systems to more sophisticated multi-user and multifunctional on-line systems. On a second level, our analysis of the literature is informed by the question which model of ideal patienthood underlies the assessment of effects of EPRs. To this end, we identify three “models of patienthood” implicit in writing about benefits and drawbacks of EPRs for patients: the autonomy, the consumer, and the holistic models, and argue that assumptions concerning these models need to be reflected upon more critically to improve understanding of what exactly EPR use does to the doctor-patient relationship.     

Learner control of context and instructional support in learning elementary school mathematics

Learner-control strategies for selecting problem context and the level of instructional support were examined separately and in combination on a computer-based mathematics unit on the metric system. Subjects were 240 sixth-grade students assigned to 15 treatments formed by crossing five context conditions (animals, sports, clothing, nocontext, and learner control) with three instructional support conditions (minimum, maximum, and learner control). As hypothesized, comparisons of instructional support conditions on posttest achievement showed performance to be lowest under learner control. Subjects opted to view very few items and to decrease the amount they selected over the course of the instruction. No effects were associated with the context variable, although on one of the three lessons, learner-control subjects made significantly fewer on-task errors than did no-context subjects. Further analyses showed a strong tendency by learner-control context subjects to vary their selection of contexts across lessons. Subjects in the context and instructional support learner-control strategies indicated positive attitudes toward the strategies.     

Uses and effects of learner control of context and instructional support in computer-based instruction

The present study examines uses and effects of learner-control of the context or theme of practice examples on a statistics lesson in combination with learner control of the number of examples examined. Subjects were 227 undergraduate students assigned to 15 treatments formed by crossing five context conditions (learner control, education, business, sports, no-context) with three instructional support conditions (learner-control, maximum, minimum). No differences in achievement were attained as a function of either treatment variable. Findings showed, however, that learners who received preferred contexts (i.e., learner-control-context subjects) selected a greater number of examples than those who received prescribed contexts. In addition, achievement was positively related to the frequency with which subjects varied the number of examples selected across lessons. Despite the absence of achievement benefits, the learner-control-context strategy elicited highly favorable student reactions as a learning orientation.     

The Effects of Interactive Reading Homework and Parent Involvement on Children's Inference Responses

This study examined the effects of (a) interactive reading homework, and (b) parent involvement with children during homework on students' responses to inference questions. Interactive reading homework refers to homework designed to involve both parents and children and to facilitate student reasoning. The participants were 84 parents and 84 second grade students from three Alabama elementary schools. Data were gathered using pre- and post student inference tests, parent behavior checklists, and parent homework questionnaires. The results indicated that interactive reading homework increased both parental involvement during the completion of reading homework assignments and students' ability to draw inferences.     

Perseveration of associative strength in rabbit nictitating membrane response conditioning

The present experiment used a transfer-of-training procedure in rabbit nictitating membrane response (NMR) conditioning to determine whether a retention interval and/or extinction could reduce associative strength. The experimental design required that groups receive 0, 3, 15, 45, 150, or 240 CS-US pairings in Stage 1. Next, the groups were given, in succession, a 10-day retention interval and 480 CS-alone trials. In Stage 2, all groups obtained 240 CS-US pairings for NMR conditioning. Another group was also employed and received only the 240 CS-US pairings in Stage 2. The results indicated that 15 to 240 CS-US pairings in Stage 1 substantially enhanced NM CR performance in Stage 2 despite the interpolation of the retention interval and CS-alone trials. When 3 CS-US pairings had been given in Stage 1, no augmentation in the NM CR performance rate occurred in Stage 2. However, the 3 CS-US pairings were effective in prohibiting the 480 CS-alone trials from retarding subsequent NM CR performance. Without any pairings in Stage 1, the 480 CS-alone trials produced strong latent inhibition of NMR conditioning in Stage 2. The data were used to support the theoretical view that associative strength resulting from CS-US pairings is relatively permanent. Moreover, the findings were relevant for an evaluation of Pearce and Hall’s (1980) recent statements concerning CS associability and the relationship between excitatory and inhibitory processes.