Unauthorised e-book downloading of students in higher education

This study reveals students’ unauthorised downloading of e-books in higher education. In-person surveys were administered at four university campuses in Taiwan. The 422 valid samples were made up of both undergraduate and graduate students. Students in the more legitimate segment illegally downloaded 0.26 e-books per month on average. Shockingly, students in the less legitimate segment illegally downloaded 18.50 e-books per month on average. Respondents in the less legitimate segment would definitely search for unauthorised e-books if they could not locate those in digital libraries, and they would use software to download. This study examined unauthorised downloading of e-books by students in higher education in hopes of bringing much needed attention to this area. The contributions from this study are not merely to fill a gap in the literature, but to provide a baseline for further research.     

External peer review of assessment: an effective approach to verifying standards?

There is growing international concern to regulate and assure standards in higher education. External peer review of assessment, often called external examining, is a well-established approach to assuring standards. Australian higher education is one of several systems without a history of external examining for undergraduate programmes that is currently considering the approach. What can entrants to external examining at that level learn from the UK higher education system's long history of external examining? To that end, this paper reports on a mixed methods research project designed to investigate current practices in how academic standards are conceived, constructed and applied by external examiners and debates the implications of the findings for the development of external examining in other countries. The findings suggest that the potential of experienced peers in a subject discipline to provide the assurance of standards is limited. It concludes by presenting various possible enhancements that might be considered.     

The Licensing Lifecycle: From Negotiation to Compliance

The license negotiated at the beginning of the electronic resources lifecycle impacts access to the resource throughout the life of the contract. To simplify the negotiating process, the Texas A&M University (TAMU) Libraries developed a licensing checklist. In order to make completed licenses accessible to all library personnel, the TAMU Libraries use the electronic resources management system Centralized Online Resources and Licensing (CORAL) to store license documents and terms. This presentation reviewed the TAMU Libraries’ licensing process, the creation and evolution of the licensing checklist, and the suitability of CORAL to share license details. The presenters also recounted several examples of difficult negotiations and license violations.     

Neuro-linguistic programming and learning theory: a response

In an earlier issue of this journal, Craft (2001) explored Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) in relation to a classification of learning theories. Craft also offered various observations on, and criticisms of, aspects of NLP such as its theoretical coherence, modelling, Dilts’s ‘logical levels’ and possible dissonance of NLP’s espousal of individuality in learning with its experiential emphasis. This article offers a response to Craft’s article. It describes the origins and nature of NLP, and explores its theoretical identity. NLP is portrayed here as based primarily on the cybernetic epistemology of Gregory Bateson (1972, 1979). The article offers a critique of many of the views put across in Craft’s article, and builds on her attempt to position NLP theoretically. The broad aims of this article are to offer an informed perspective on the nature of NLP; to extend the academic literature on NLP; and to develop debate about its relevance to the theory and practice of education.     

After inspection in special schools: action planning and making progress

As a high proportion of special schools 'fail' their inspections, the DfEE commissioned researchers from the University of the West of England (UWE) to examine post-inspection improvement. Can other schools learn from the 'best practice' identified? John Dwyfor Davies, John Lee, Keith Postlethwaite, Jane Tarr and Wan Ching Yee (all of whom lecture and research at UWE) and Gary Thomas, now Chair of Education at Oxford Brookes University, report on their findings, which point strongly to the need for good target-setting and monitoring, together with strong support.