TYPES OF ACADEMIC EXCHANGES AND TARGET GROUPS: BALANCES AND IMBALANCES

The article considers, on one hand, the need to increase East‐West and West‐East academic exchanges in Europe, and on the other, to reduce or to rationalize imbalances. The three major segments of university populations, students, faculty members, and administrators, are each examined with regard to participation in exchanges, and pertinent suggestions are made. The author particularly insists on the importance of involving university administrators in exchange programmes even to the extent of moving them physically to other universities for stays of varying length. In closing, he evokes the setting up of the European Association of International Exchange Administrators.     

Redefining Successful Interpretation in Art Museums

Abstract This article aims to capture the spirit and content of a lively exchange among museum staff members at the Denver Art Museum. It began as a conference call and continued as an online dialogue about how definitions of success have evolved with advances in technology and changing expectations of visitors. Together we explored how DAM staff encourage more active participation in the museum and the creative tension that ensues between visitor co‐creation and institutional control. Woven throughout this conversation are examples that demonstrate the need to move fluidly between high tech and low tech interpretives, onsite and online experiences, and the impact of environments that break down museum stereotypes. It is our hope that this discussion will spark similar dialogues among colleagues in individual institutions and in the profession at large. Readers are encouraged to respond through the blog at Curator’s new website: http://www.curatorjournal.org .     

Evaluating the Influence of an Urban High School Reform Effort on College Readiness and Access Outcomes: A Quasiexperimental Cohort Study

It is widely accepted that postsecondary education has become a necessity for US youth. College access, however, has been found not to be equal for all. As a result, federally funded college-readiness programs, such as Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), have been established to increase the numbers of economically disadvantaged students with access to college. This quasiexperimental case study compared academic and nonacademic college-readiness indicators between cohorts of GEAR UP students and nonparticipants in 1 urban high school. Overall, cohorts of GEAR UP students outperformed their non-GEAR UP peers on all measures (grade-point average, attendance rate, behavior, graduation rate, and college enrollment) despite a dramatic demographic shift that led to greater proportions of educationally disadvantaged students in the GEAR UP cohorts.     

在工作过程中学习工作过程知识

通过讨论在工作过程中学习的直接原因和个人动机,说明了工作中学习的主要内容是工作过程知识,指出工作过程中学习的方式是隐性的。从不同角度对焦点意识和背景意识进行了区分,帮助正确理解职业教育的学习内容有着重要的意义。     

Visual Learning and the Brain: Implications for Dyslexia

ABSTRACT— The central and peripheral visual fields are structurally segregated in the brain and are differentiated by their anatomical and functional characteristics. While the central field appears well suited for tasks such as visual search, the periphery is optimized for rapid processing over broad regions. People vary in their abilities to make use of information in the center versus the periphery, and we propose that this bias leads to a trade-off between abilities for sequential search versus contemporaneous comparisons. The parameter of periphery-to-center ratio (PCR) describes the degree of peripheral bias, which evidence suggests is high in many people with dyslexia. That is, many dyslexics favor the peripheral visual field over the center, which results in not only search deficits but also (more surprisingly) talents for visual comparison. The PCR framework offers a coherent explanation for these seemingly contradictory observations of both deficit and talent in visual processing. The framework has potential implications for instructional support in visually intensive domains such as science and mathematics.     

Nonlongitudinal Estimation of Growth Curve Parameters: The Cohort Growth Model

The cohort growth model (CGM) is a method for estimating the parameters of a latent growth model (LGM) based on cross-sectional data. The CGM models the interindividual differences in the growth rate, and it models how subjects’ growth rate is related to their initial status. We derive model identification for the CGM and illustrate, in a simulation study, that the CGM provides unbiased parameter estimates in most simulation conditions. Based on empirical data we compare the estimates of the CGM with the estimates of the LGM. The results were comparable for both models. Although the estimates of the (co)-variances were different, the estimates of both models led to similar conclusions on the developmental change. Finally, we discuss the advantages and limitations of the CGM, and we provide recommendations for its use in empirical research.     

Perceptions of diverse educators regarding ethnic-minority deaf college students, role models, and diversity

IN A QUALITATIVE STUDY, the researchers documented the perceptions of deaf and hearing ethnically diverse university faculty and staff regarding issues related to the education of ethnic-minority deaf college students. These experienced educators commented on the importance of ethnic-minority role models for deaf college students, the academic preparedness of ethnic-minority deaf students, these students' level of comfort on campus, and the success of institutional efforts to increase awareness regarding ethnic diversity. The insightful reflections of these diverse educators can be informative in improving the educational experience of ethnic-minority deaf students.     

Bias hypotheses under scrutiny: investigating the validity of student assessment of university teaching by means of external observer ratings

To advance the discussion on the validity of student evaluations of university teaching, student ratings of two teaching dimensions – student involvement and rapport – were compared with corresponding observer ratings. Seven potential bias variables were tested with regard to their impact on the students’ teaching assessment: three teacher characteristics (first impression, enthusiasm, humour) and four student characteristics (prior interest, expected grades, study experience, class attendance). Bias was defined as an impediment of the students’ assessment of teaching on course level. By means of bivariate correlations with course averages and two-level latent moderated structural equations, data of 1,716 students in 80 courses were analysed. Results showed that all three teacher characteristics were genuinely connected to rapport, and even explained variance of the student-rated variable when controlling for observer-rated rapport. The assessment of student involvement was not modified by the teacher characteristics except for teacher enthusiasm, which affected the student evaluation when controlling for observed involvement and, moreover, moderated the relation between the observed and the student-rated variable. For the examined student characteristics, no biasing effects were found – neither on rapport nor on student involvement.