Systematic Comparison of Decision Accuracy of Complex Compensatory Decision Rules Combining Multiple Tests in a Higher Education Context

This real‐data‐guided simulation study systematically evaluated the decision accuracy of complex decision rules combining multiple tests within different realistic curricula. Specifically, complex decision rules combining conjunctive aspects and compensatory aspects were evaluated. A conjunctive aspect requires a minimum level of performance, whereas a compensatory aspect requires an average level of performance. Simulations were performed to obtain students' true and observed score distributions and to manipulate several factors relevant to a higher education curriculum in practice. The results showed that the decision accuracy depends on the conjunctive (required minimum grade) and compensatory (required grade point average) aspects and their combination. Overall, within a complex compensatory decision rule the false negative rate is lower and the false positive rate higher compared to a conjunctive decision rule. For a conjunctive decision rule the reverse is true. Which rule is more accurate also depends on the average test reliability, average test correlation, and the number of reexaminations. This comparison highlights the importance of evaluating decision accuracy in high‐stake decisions, considering both the specific rule as well as the selected measures.     

Situated Learning: Conceptualization and Measurement

A focus on the interaction between cognitive schemas and context in situ has been suggested as fundamental in organizational decision making and information interpretation. Past research suggests that the situation and the social interaction that occur during learning at the cognitive level consist of factors that affect the process, but the research lacks a coherent explanation for how those factors affect it. We propose a conceptualization of learning, termed situated learning, which accounts for these factors. By drawing on situated cognition theory, social learning theory, and the theory of mental models, we identify and measure four components of situated learning, that is, thematic focus, cognitive absorption, social structure, and participation. Among the most important lessons for researchers and practitioners is the need to consider learning as a constellation of the four components instead of an indivisible phenomenon. This perspective can enhance our understanding of cognitive processes, such as information interpretation and decision making.     

Bases of competence: an instrument for self and institutional assessment

The Bases of Competence model provides a general framework for learner‐centred skill development and programme‐focused outcomes assessment. Based on previous research, the Bases of Competence model describes 17 skills and four base competencies important to graduates to achieve high performance in the workplace. Taking this work from research to relevant educational application as a tool for student self‐assessment and institutional outcomes assessment is the focus of this paper. Results from a multi‐year, multi‐course assessment initiative indicate that students rate themselves stronger in the foundation base competencies of Communicating and Managing Self, and weaker in more complex competencies of Managing People and Tasks and Mobilising Innovation and Change. Comparisons of skill confidence within each base competence as well as between year, student level, gender and beginning versus end of semester are presented as well. These results are discussed and suggestions made for programme design.     

How Future Goals Enhance Motivation and Learning in Multicultural Classrooms

This review examines the impact of future goals on motivation and learning in multicultural classrooms. Across cultures, schooling is a future-oriented investment. Studies of minority students' school achievement have advanced future goals as a crucial protective factor in the face of frequent school failure. At the same time, cultural discontinuities and limited opportunities in minority students' school careers may weaken the motivational force of the future. Our review of the seemingly contradictory evidence on the role of the future in minority students' school achievement calls for a more fine-grained motivational theory of the future. Specifically, converging findings support conceptual distinctions (a) between positive and negative perceptions of the instrumentality of school tasks for future goals, and (b) between internal and external regulation of classroom behaviour by future goals. Thus, positive instrumentality and internal regulation enhance intrinsic motivation and adaptive learning in multicultural classrooms. We conclude that the motivational force of future goals can be generalized to minority students and that it depends crucially on perceived instrumentality and internal regulation.     

Physically abused children's regulation of attention in response to hostility

The present study examines the effects of early emotional experiences on children's regulation or strategic control of attention in the presence of interpersonal hostility. Abused children's reactions to the unfolding of a realistic interpersonal emotional situation were measured through multiple methods including autonomic nervous system changes and overt behavioral performance. Although physically abused and non-physically abused 4-year-old children did not differ in terms of their baseline levels of arousal, marked differences in physically abused children's regulatory responses to background anger emerged. These data suggest that the emergence of anger leads to increases in anticipatory monitoring of the environment among children with histories of abuse. Results are discussed in terms of risk factors in the development of psychopathology.     

Paying for What? How Much? And Why (Not)? Predictors of Paying Intent for Multiplatform Newspapers

Propelled by the recent economic recession that caused substantial declines in advertising revenue, some major newspapers have renewed their efforts to find alternative revenue models. This renewed interest in paid content strategy triggered another round of debates on the viability of the “paywall.” To address the recurring industry debate, this study, based on a national survey of 767 U.S. online adults, systematically evaluated users' paying intent for different newspaper formats, the amount they are willing to pay, as well as users' responses to various payment models being considered by the industry. Results showed the print edition outperforms other formats (Web & “apps”) in terms of usage, preference, and paying intent; and is perceived as the most valuable platform. Paying intent for the online formats (Web & apps) was weak, and so was people's response to each of the 6 payment models under study. Therefore, how users are charged does not make much difference—whether they are charged does. The analysis also identified the predictors of paying intent for newspaper formats and different payment models. Although multiplatform news delivery has become a reality, paying intent for digital news content remains elusive.     

The Impact of Digital Technology on the Distribution Value Chain Model of Independent Feature Films in the UK

In response to the newspaper crisis, U.S. newspapers are seeking new business models for their online operation, but often ignore non-local readers who constitute a non-traditional niche audience with market potential. This study attempts to expand the understanding of the U.S. online newspaper readership in the dual-geographic market by empirically comparing local and long-distance users on demographic characteristics, online behavior, and satisfaction level with the newspaper site. Utilizing a dataset containing 28 newspaper Web sites' 25,964 visitors, this study performed a large-scale, in-depth analysis of online newspapers' long-distance readership unseen in previous research. Results show that more than one fourth of these newspaper sites' online users reside outside the print market. Most long-distance users have personal ties with the geographic area associated with the newspaper. Compared with local users, long-distance users tend to be male, older, better educated, and with a higher income. They are more likely to obtain local sports information from the site, but are less likely to visit the classifieds areas of the site. They also tend to be more loyal to and satisfied with the newspaper site. Newspapers should perceive long-distance users as a potential audience segment rather than an inconvenient truth when developing content, pricing, and marketing strategies.