Opportunity and Risk in Transnational Education—Issues in Planning for International Campus Development: An Australian Perspective

This article, that is based upon the experience of Monash University, identifies a range of opportunities and risks involved in transnational education and addresses a number of key planning issues in establishing an international campus. These include the guiding principles adopted by the university, country selection factors, market research, considerations in developing an appropriate delivery model, and the assurance of the academic quality and educational integrity of the programmes offered. The authors refer to literature in the field concerning corporate risk and identify factors relevant to the higher education sector. The article stresses the need for an appropriate integration of strategic vision, academic priorities, and business considerations to ensure that opportunities offered by transnational education are successfully realized.     

Influence of intertrial interval duration on the intertrial agreement effect in delayed matching-to-sample with pigeons

Accuracy on even-numbered trials was assessed as a function of (1) the relation between the sample on the immediately preceding trial and that on the current trial and (2) the length of the intertrial interval (ITI) that intervened between odd- and even-numbered trials. A relatively long interval intervened between pairs of trials in the clustered-dyads procedure, whereas this interval was equal to the ITI in the massed-trials procedure. Both procedures revealed an intertrial agreement effect in that accuracy was higher when the sample on the immediately preceding trial was identical rather than opposite. A decrease in the magnitude of this effect at longer ITIs was apparent only in the clustered-dyads procedure. The insensitivity of the intertrial agreement effect to variations in ITI in the massed-trials procedure may reflect floor effects and the carryover of memory from multiple prior trials that mask the true magnitude of the intertrial agreement effect at short ITIs.     

Towards an Internet‐based Education Model for Caribbean Countries

Advances in the development of the Internet infrastructure can be used within developing countries to enhance the delivery of high quality education to their citizens. The mechanisms used to deliver educational material, over the Internet, range from the very sophisticated Virtual Classrooms (VCs) in which students in cyberspace interact in near real‐time with instructors at remote sites, to the basic non real‐time delivery of lecture contents. In Caribbean territories where the concentration of high‐quality teachers and teaching facilities are in and around urban cities, VCs can be used to enhance the access of students in remote areas to the materials, experiences, and facilities provided at the urban centers. We present a model for virtual classrooms, which is specifically geared toward Caribbean territories. This model leverages the usage of alternative low‐cost technology to offer VC environment to teaching institutions in remote rural districts via the Internet.     

“I believe I will go out of this class actually knowing something”: Cooperative learning activities in physical chemistry

The purposes of this study were to describe the structure of events during cooperative learning activities—Friday discussion sessions—in a graduate-level thermodynamics course and to understand what these activities meant to the students. First, we describe the structure of Friday discussion sessions in our classroom, which were used to focus student attention on conceptual issues rather than algorithmic problem solving. Second, we delineate findings which emerge from the perspective of the students. We found that cooperative learning activities move students away from rote learning strategies and toward more meaningful strategies which allowed them to integrate concepts over the entire semester. In addition, we discovered that the sharing of insights and ideas between students leads to the development of interpersonal skills and communication skills which the students perceive as an important component of the Friday discussion sessions. Implications for further classroom use, low-status versus high-status students, and assessment are discussed. J Res Sci Teach 34: 819–835, 1997.     

Expansive framing as pragmatic theory for online and hybrid instructional design

Educational technology research and development - This article explores the complex question of how instruction should be framed (i.e., contextualized). Reports from the US National Research...     

Learning to write through reading

Narrowing the gap between what we want to achieve as writings – publishing a report of our project – and what we achieve as readers – finding a study to inform our practice – can be challenging. One solution in enabling us to achieve this goal is to learn from close reading the writing of others, including writing in development. Close reading, appraisal in its broadest term, encourages us to articulate what we, putting us in touch with how an author has organised information, selected their words and structured their arguments.     

The Effects of Metaphor Use and Message Format on Cognitive Processing and Persuasive Outcomes of Condom Promotion Messages

The potential of pictorial and verbal metaphors to gain attention and enhance persuasion is considerable. Few scholars, however, have investigated the persuasive effects of metaphor in health messages. We applied a 2 × 2 factorial experiment to examine the effects of metaphor use (metaphor/literal) and message format (verbal/pictorial) on cognitive processing and persuasive outcomes of condom promotion messages. Results showed no significant differences in cognitive processing according to metaphor or format, but there were differences in attitudes and behavioral intentions according to metaphor and format, with literal and verbal messages performing best. Potential explanations for findings and implications for future research and health message design are discussed.     

Does the Rasch Model Really Work for Multiple-Choice Items? Take Another Look: A Response to Divgi

Divgi's (1986) study concludes, largely on the basis of a proposed test o f fit that is designed to be more powerful than Wright and Panchapakesan's (I 969) test, that the Rasch model is never appropriate for use with multiple-choice type test items. This paper is an attempt to refute the conclusions of Divgi's study.     

Patient and Public Information delivery through NHS library and knowledge services: how Knowledge for Healthcare changed the landscape

Health care library and knowledge services (LKS) are now expected to contribute to the provision of Patient and Public Information (PPI). The challenges of an ageing population, prevalence of long‐term conditions and the encouragement of patients to self manage give added impetus. The Knowledge for Health care PPI Task and Finish Groups developed strategic partnerships with national organizations and produced a suite of resources to support LKS staff. Outputs include guidance, workshop materials, an Ideas Bank and Guide to NHS Choices. The work of the PPI Task and Finish groups will continue to support staff as they develop activities and evidence its impact.