Puzzling history – the personal file in residential care: a source for life history and historical research

Since the turn of the century large groups of former institutionalised children have exercised their right to see their ‘personal files’, and this has drawn widespread attention to these documents and their potential in scholarly research. This article explores the meanings of personal files from the period 1945–1984 as sources for both historical researchers and adult care leavers themselves, in the context of the orphanages in Ghent, Belgium. Based on the experiences of those who have consulted their files, we come to the conclusion that the personal files of the Ghent orphans provide some new information but, at the same time, leave a lot of issues unresolved. Although the files offered significant insights for researchers studying the most recent period in the history of the Ghent orphanages, it is difficult to see them as ‘keys to the past’ for former orphans who are trying to (re)construct their own, individual life histories.     

Globalization and the freedom of knowledge

This article considers the transmission of knowledge in higher education. It takes the metaphor of the music industry that pre‐selects the music people can buy. The sales potential is the leading principle in the selection process. Often the small producer is excluded because his or her music is not of commercial interest. The end‐customer does not know what he or she is missing because he or she has never heard the music. It is to be feared that a similar market principle will also influence the selection of knowledge and affect the capacity of higher education institutions to freely generate and transmit new knowledge. The globalization of higher education risks homogenizing the cultural traditions of the non‐Western world through a process of Western cultural domination. On the other hand, the Internet, via open source software like LINUX, might serve to democratize higher education and allow greater grassroots input.     

Latent Markov Factor Analysis for Exploring Measurement Model Changes in Time-Intensive Longitudinal Studies

When time-intensive longitudinal data are used to study daily-life dynamics of psychological constructs (e.g., well-being) within persons over time (e.g., by means of experience sampling methodology), the measurement model (MM)—indicating which constructs are measured by which items—can be affected by time- or situation-specific artifacts (e.g., response styles and altered item interpretation). If not captured, these changes might lead to invalid inferences about the constructs. Existing methodology can only test for a priori hypotheses on MM changes, which are often absent or incomplete. Therefore, we present the exploratory method “latent Markov factor analysis” (LMFA), wherein a latent Markov chain captures MM changes by clustering observations per subject into a few states. Specifically, each state gathers validly comparable observations, and state-specific factor analyses reveal what the MMs look like. LMFA performs well in recovering parameters under a wide range of simulated conditions, and its empirical value is illustrated with an example.     

英汉互译中的跨文化交流意识

翻译是跨文化交流过程中时常涉及的一个中介环节。本文在英汉互译中 ,引入跨文化交流意识 ,旨在立足于传统翻译学对翻译的认识上 ,从跨文化角度深化翻译的内涵 ,并通过分析翻译实践与某些文化因素之间的关联 ,突现出翻译中易出现的文化方面的问题 ,进一步探讨了翻译中应持的文化态度以及翻译者应具备的文化素质     

Criminal justice outcomes of prosecution of child sexual abuse: A case flow analysis

This study examined the progress and disposition of child sexual abuse cases referred for prosecution in four urban jurisdictions. Most cases were accepted for prosecution. The vast majority of cases carried forward for prosecution resulted in guilty pleas. Only 9% of the total sample went to trial. A majority of the small number that went to trial were convicted. Over 3/4 of those convicted were incarcerated. The rate at which cases were carried forward for prosecution and convicted was comparable to that of a national sample of felony arrests overall, but child sexual abuse cases were more likely to go to trial (p < .005) and received more severe sentences (p < .005). Our results are strikingly consistent with those from previous studies of prosecution of child sexual abuse. A new understanding of prosecution of child sexual abuse is recommended that takes into account the large proportion of cases that do not go to trial.     

The Effect of Multidimensionality on IRT True-Score Equating for Subgroups of Examinees

The purpose of this study was to assess the dimensionality of two forms of a large-scale standardized test separately for 3 ethnic groups of examinees and to investigate whether differences in their latent trait composites have any impact on unidimensional item response theory true-score equating functions. Specifically, separate equating functions for African American and Hispanic examinees were compared to those of a Caucasian group as well as the total test taker population. On both forms, a 2-dimensional model adequately accounted for the item responses of Caucasian and African American examinees, whereas a more complex model was required for the Hispanic subgroup. The differences between equating functions for the 3 ethnic groups and the total test taker population were small and tended to be located at the low end of the score scale.     

高校学科团队中魅力型领导对团队创新绩效影响的实证研究

本文在文献回顾的基础上,提出魅力型领导对团队创新绩效的假设模型,并通过对中国高校79个学科团队607名教师的问卷调查验证这一模型。结果显示:魅力型领导能力和行为对团队创新气氛与团队创新绩效具有显著正向效果,但其对团队创新绩效的直接效果不显著,其通过团队创新气氛中介作用的间接效果显著;而且高校学科团队领导能力对团队创新绩效的整体效果高于领导行为。最后指出,在实践管理中高校学科团队领导要提高学科带头能力和组织协调能力,营造平等、自由的团队创新气氛,以提高团队创新绩效。     

高校软实力评价体系设计研究

高校软实力是高校办学的综合实力和核心竞争力,其评价体系的构建,是对高校教育水平的衡量进行定量分析和综合评价的基础。本文在论述高校软实力及其特点的基础上,分析了影响高校软实力的各个因素,并针对目前国内研究现状,提出了高校软实力评价体系设计的原则,建立相应的评价指标体系,以层次分析法对高校软实力进行定量的分析和研究。     

Educational change in Singapore and its ‘tinkering’ around the edges: A critical realist perspective

This article re-examines the contents of Singapore’s Thinking Schools Learning Nation (TSLN) and Teach Less Learn More (TLLM) educational initiatives, introduced and implemented to promote change and to prepare Singaporeans for a twenty-first century knowledge-based economy. Adopting a critical realist perspective that enables investigations into complex social systems, the paper highlights the concepts, change process and possible outcomes of change proposed by realist social theory. An explanatory critique responding to the question, ‘What social structural changes were implemented by the TSLN and TLLM initiatives, and why?’ is developed, tracing the programmes of change in TSLN and TLLM. Findings reported in 2013, by a local large-scale research project, has made claims about the ineffectiveness of the initiatives in bringing about desired changes in classroom instructional practices. The critique questions—given Singapore’s recent and consistent successful performances in international benchmarking tests—whether it is only in the classroom that educational change that matters, counts. It suggests that despite making strong statements about the limited effectiveness of the TSLN and TLLM initiatives, many programs introduced and adopted by primary, secondary and post-secondary institutions, especially under TLLM, were left unexamined by the research project. The explanatory critique theorises that two kinds of changes have taken place—the reorientation of pedagogical practices in post-secondary institutions and extensions of what already exists in the primary and secondary sections. The paper concludes by highlighting some implications the explanatory critique have for research into educational change in general, and for educational change in Singapore.