Reviews

The Development of Scientific Thinking Skills. Deanna Kuhn, Eric Amsel, and Michael O'Loughlin, Academic Press, 1988. 249 pp.

Understanding the Representational Mind, Josef Perner, MIT Press, 1991. 348 pp.

Literacy as Involvement: The Acts of Writers and Readers, and Texts. Deborah Brandt. Carbondaie: Southern Illinois, 1990. 159 pp.

Dialogue, Dialectic, and Conversation: A Social Perspective on the Function of Writing. Gregory Clark. Carbondale: Southern Illinois, 1990. 93 pp.

Hypermedia and Literary Studies. Ed. Paul Delany and George P. Landow. Cambridge: MIT P, 1991. 352 pp.

Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. Jay David Bolter. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1991. 258 pp. Also from Erlbaum, Writing Space: A Hypertext for Macintosh.

Writing and Speaking in Business. Gretchen N. Vik, Clyde W. Wilkinson, and Dorothy C. Wilkinson. 10th ed. Homewood: Irwin, 1990. 636 pp.

Communication for Management and Business. Norman B. Sigband and Arthur H. Bell. 5th ed. Glenview: Scott, 1989. 783 pp.

Business Communication Today. Courtland L. Bovee and John V. Thill. 2nd ed. New York: Random, 1989. 680 pp.

Guidelines for Preparing Proposals: A Manual on How to Organize Winning Proposals. Roy Meador. Chelsea: Lewis, 1985. 116 pp.     

A solid base for decisions

To gain insight into the use of the VSNU research quality evaluations (since 1993) in the practice of research and of institutional management in Dutch universities, interviews were held in eight cases evaluated in the first year of this procedure. The main conclusions are that use of these research evaluations is universal, both instrumentally (in decisions directly based on the judgements) and incrementally (in decision-making processes not directly linked to the evaluation). Underlying this is conceptual use: an important change in deans and rectors views of their role in managing research, which they now can realise, because the VSNU research evaluations give them, for the first time, solidly legitimate arguments on which to base strategic decisions. Next to use, other effects can be discerned within universities, pointing to a growing dependency of researchers on managers, necessitating amongst others ever more consciously strategic publication behaviour. Whether quality of research improves in this way, cannot be answered here, but certainly it is more difficult for academics not to engage in research.     

Transforming evaluation thinking and behaviour: programmes develop,teachers learn and student learning outcomes improve

This article examines evaluation intervention influence on programme performance through surveys, qualitative evaluation, questionnaires, interviews and test scores. The study uses quantitative (SPANOVA and MANOVA) and qualitative (the constant comparative method) data analysis, together with examining practical significance through effect size and power analysis. Major findings show positive contributions of evaluation intervention to quality management, teacher pedagogical skills and student learning outcomes (SLOs). Quantitative and qualitative findings, however, diverge regarding evaluation impact on programme research. A positive transfer of evaluation ownership discourse from decision-maker to implementer stakeholders has been observed. The study recommends evaluation intervention for programme, institutional and individual development alongside quality improvement.     

Respecting Respect: Exploring a great deal

For some people, respect is due to people of particular standing and involves formality and deference. For others, respect is based on regard and attention. This approach is essentially informal. This article explores young people's interpretations of respect and shows how an understanding of its theory and practice may enhance relationships between adults, especially those employed in the social professions, and young people. Two frameworks are employed to assist in exploring the issues involved; one is located in communication theory within educational contexts (Burbules, 1993) and the other in the politics of self-definition (Wilson, 1993). The discussion draws on three pieces of empirical research involving young people and professionals. The different interpretations of respect are shown to provide a means of understanding a source of conflict between professionals with positions of authority in young people's lives and the young people themselves.     

Emotional intelligence and academic attainment of British secondary school children: a cross-sectional survey

Trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) covers a wide range of self-perceived skills and personality dispositions such as motivation, confidence, optimism, peer relations and coping with stress. In the last few years, there has been a growing awareness that social and emotional factors play an important part in students’ academic success and it has been claimed that those with high scores on a trait EI measure perform better. This research investigated whether scores on a questionnaire measure of trait EI were related to school performance in a sample of British pupils. Results showed that high performing students had higher trait EI scores than low performing students and that some aspects of trait EI (motivation and low impulsivity) as well as total trait EI were significant predictors of academic achievement after controlling for prior attainment at school. Therefore, initiatives to develop the emotional and social abilities of schoolchildren might be worthwhile and more effective than concentrating solely on teaching and curriculum activities.     

Going Deep into Mechanisms for Moral Reasoning Growth: How Deep Learning Approaches Affect Moral Reasoning Development for First-year Students

The purpose of this paper was to determine the effects of deep approaches to learning on the moral reasoning development of 1,457 first-year students across 19 institutions. Results showed a modest positive relationship between our measures of deep approaches to learning and moral reasoning at the end of the first year of college even after controlling for precollege moral reasoning. After accounting for a host of demographic and relevant student characteristics and for the natural clustering of students, we found that the integrative learning subscale, which captures students’ participation in activities designed to integrate information from varied sources and diverse perspectives, positively affected moral reasoning among first-year students. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Some practical limits of curriculum vocationalization as a remedy to school leavers' unemployment: Focus on Malawi

The article argues, in relation to Malawi, that curriculum vocationalization of general academic education as a ploy for solving school leavers' unemployment seems more of a myth than a practical reality. In that vocational education costs twice as much as general education, and bearing in mind that there are a number of partially or indeed unmet basic human needs, Malawi may not have enough resources to effectively vocationalize given her relative poverty. And even if there were enough resources, emerging evidence suggests that schools can prepare their pupils for the labour market only to a limited degree because of the variety and frequent changes of occupations. Accordingly, the paper concludes that vocational training should be left to specialist institutions outside general education, and should be employment-based as far as possible.

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Zusammenfassung Der Artikel argumentiert, daß in Bezug auf Malawi die berufliche Orientierung des Curriculums der allgemeinen akademischen Bildung als Lösung für die Arbeitslosigkeit von Schulabgängern eher einen Mythos als eine praktische Realität darstellt. Darin kostet Berufsbildung doppelt soviel wie die allgemeine Bildung, und wenn man bedenkt, daß es eine ganze Reihe von teilweise oder überhaupt nicht erfüllten menschlichen Grundbedürfnissen gibt, könnten die Ressourcen Malawis nicht ausreichend sein, um dem Curriculum in Anbetracht der relativen Armut wirkungsvoll einen beruflichen Schwerpunkt zu verleihen. Selbst wenn es genügend Ressourcen gäbe, gibt es neuerdings Anzeichen dafür, daß die Schule ihre Schüler auf Grund der Vielfalt und häufigen Veränderungen der Berufszweige nur bedingt auf den Arbeitsmarkt vorbereiten kann. Dementsprechend schließt der Artikel mit dem Argument, daß berufliche Fortbildung speziellen Einrichtungen außerhalb der allgemeinen Bildung überlassen und so weit wie möglich berufsorientiert sein sollte.

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Résumé L'article suggère, sur l'exemple du Malawi, qu'une orientation professionnelle des curriculums dans l'éducation générale supérieure en tant que moyen pour résoudre le chômage des professionnels débutants est davantage un mythe qu'une réalité pratique. Dans la mesure où la formation professionnelle coûte deux fois plus que la formation générale, et sans oublier que trop de besoins fondamentaux ne sont que partiellement ou nullement satisfaits, les ressources du Malawi pourraient être insuffisantes en regard à sa relative pauvreté pour donner avec efficacité un accent professionnel à son système éducatif. Supposant même qu'il en serait le cas, les faits démontrent que les écoles ne peuvent préparer leurs élèves que de façon limitée au marché du travail, en raison de la diversité des formations et du changement fréquent d'activité. L'article conclut donc par l'assertion que la formation professionnelle devrait être confiée à des institutions spécialisées distinctes de celles de la formation générale, et réalisée autant que possible dans les entreprises.