Cultural diversity in online learning: A study of the perceived effects of dissonance in levels of individualism/collectivism and tolerance of ambiguity

Online learning courses are hypothesized to be influenced by the instructors' and students' cultural values. This study collected survey data from online instructors and students to analyze the effects that Hofstede's individualism/collectivism and ambiguity (in)tolerance cultural dimensions exert on online courses offered from an individualist/ambiguity tolerant perspective. Results revealed that the students' cultural dimensions relate significantly to some of their perceptions of culture in the online classroom. Contrary to their individualist peers, collectivist learners felt that their individualist instructors were not usually aware of cultural differences in the online classroom and that their culture was not being considered to make learning relevant to their cultural context. Ambiguity intolerant students, in contrast with their ambiguity tolerant peers, felt that cultural background consideration is important and would appreciate being informed about relevant cultural differences they might experience taking an online course based on a different cultural perspective. Students from ambiguity intolerant cultures also reported less motivation to participate than their counterparts. In addition, language was found to influence the participation patterns when the ambiguity (in)tolerance values of the students were studied. However, language was not found to influence participation patterns for the individualist/collectivist dimension. The results of the study suggest that cultural differences do affect how students perceive the online classroom.     

Total Quality Management at Virginia Commonwealth University: An urban university struggles with the realities of TQM

The chief administrators at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) began formally to explore Total Quality Management (TQM) during the summer of 1991. What they found initially was both surprising and revealing. A major affiliated division of the university, which operates autonomously, had already undertaken a large-scale TQM effort. Early discussions also revealed a core of faculty who were already teaching, conducting research, and providing services to the business community, as well as state and local government agencies, in the TQM arena. These discoveries gave additional impetus for the administrators to pursue a study of TQM. The unfolding of the study and related activities undertaken to date provide insights into theprocess of implementing TQM at a major university.     

Registered Reports in Child Development: Introduction to the Special Section

Registered Reports (RRs) are an emerging format for publishing empirical journal articles in which the decision to publish an article is based on sound conceptualization, methods, and planned analyses rather than the specific nature of the results. This article introduces the Special Section on Registered Reports in Child Development by describing what RRs are and why they are necessary, outlining the thought process that guided the Special Section, describing key thematic insights across the eight articles included in the collection, and providing recommendations for developmental researchers interested in publishing via the RR format. This article also serves as a formal announcement that RRs will be a standard publishing option at Child Development, effective immediately.     

Silences of ethical practice: dilemmas for researchers using social media

Social media, such as social network sites and blogs, are increasingly being used as core or ancillary components of educational research, from recruitment to observation and interaction with researchers. However, this article reveals complex ethical dilemmas surrounding consent, traceability, working with children, and illicit activity that we have faced as education researchers for which there is little specific guidance in the literature. We believe that ethical research committees cannot, and should not, be relied upon as our ethical compass as they also struggle to deal with emerging technologies and their implications. Consequently, we call for researchers to report on the ethical dilemmas in their practice to serve as a guide for those who follow. We also recommend considering research ethics as an ongoing dialogical process in which the researcher, participants, and ethics committee work together in identifying potential problems as well as finding ways forward.     

E Pluribus Unum: Mohawk Indian Students’ Views Regarding the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance

This study examined 191 high school students’ willingness to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, their reasons for participating or not participating in saying the Pledge, and their thoughts about the Pledge during this daily school ritual. The study was conducted in a rural town next to the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation. The majority of the students chose not to recite the Pledge, and Mohawk students were less likely to recite the Pledge than their classmates.     

Building by benchmarking: A method of creating and evaluating an Asian American Studies collection

This article examines the methodology undertaken while investigating whether existing materials pertaining to Asian American Studies at The Pennsylvania State University Libraries could support a new academic program. Presently active academic subareas in the field of Asian American Studies were determined. Then existing collections of thirteen “benchmark” universities were examined according to these subareas and compared to the holdings of Pennsylvania State University Libraries. This method can evaluate the fitness of existing collections to new academic demands and serve as a tool for collection development by identifying present and future areas of academic study.     

Think tanks,education and elite policy actors

The past decade has seen think tanks operate in sophisticated ways to influence the development of education policies. In this paper, I reflect upon the influence of think tanks in the formation of national reform, using the Common Core State Standards initiative in the USA as an illustrative case. In doing so, I explore how certain think tanks, headed by political elites and backed by significant philanthropic funding, have sought to influence the reform initiative. My central argument is that meanings and practices associated with political publics are being transformed as elite policy actors gain influence. Through mobilising significant political and economic power, elites work through think tanks to influence policy debates, re-frame policy problems and advocate for particular policy solutions. The new public formations that are resulting appear to be shifting the conditions of possibility for policy making in education.     

Managerial Work,Organizational Perspectives,and the Training of Managers 1

Hultman, G. 1984. Managerial Work, Organizational Perspectives, and the Training of Managers. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 28, 199‐210. Managers are often looked upon as men of action with an ability to promote change, but research sometimes seems to reveal the opposite. The article addresses itself to the area of planned change and the training of managers. The phenomenon of leadership and leader competence is seen in a new light by means of a discussion about the growing knowledge from research on managerial work and perspectives of organizations. It is suggested that knowledge of the work and the behavior of managers and an awareness of different organizational perspectives can promote understanding about leadership.

     

Transfer of Learning From An Action Reflection Learning™ Program*

Learning transfer from training and development programs to the workplace is a central issue of concern for human resource development specialists. Action Reflection Learning™ (ARL™) is a form of action learning that places emphasis on the development of targeted competencies while teams of participants work on real problems which have been given to them by a sponsor. This article examines the kinds of learning and learning transfer that took place in an international food company that was striving to become a global organization. Data were collected through both field observation and formal interviews and analyzed by a team of researchers. Conclusions about the degree of transfer and the mechanisms and process supporting it are presented.