From study to work: methodological challenges of a graduate destination survey in the Western Cape,South Africa

Current literature proposes several strategies for improving response rates to student evaluation surveys. Graduate destination surveys pose the difficulty of tracing graduates years later when their contact details may have changed. This article discusses the methodology of one such a survey to maximise response rates. Compiling a sample frame with reliable contact details was most important, but may require using additional sources of information other than university records. In hindsight, graduates should have been contacted prior to the survey to introduce it and stress its importance, while email and postal reminders appeared to have a limited effect on non-respondents. Due to varying response rates between participating universities, online responses were augmented with a call centre administering the survey telephonically to non-respondents. Although overall differences between online and telephonic responses appeared to be small, certain question items may need to be treated with caution when conducting telephonic surveys.     

Assessment for Learning in the writing classroom: an incomplete realisation

An Observation Guide, designed to help New Zealand teachers identify areas of teaching strength and aspects for development, was developed as part of a wider project. In the second phase of this project, 18 middle school teachers used the Guide to gather and record evidence as they participated in seven rounds of reciprocal peer observation and feedback during writing lessons with Grades 6–8 students. We report here on data from round 6 observations about the assessment for learning (AfL) strategies reported as evident in teachers’ practices, how these strategies were implemented and potential gaps in practice. AfL has at its heart a core of interdependent strategies that collectively contribute to the development of autonomous, self-regulating learners and quality learning. While the middle school teachers shared goals for learning and communicated what counted as successful achievement to students, they appeared to struggle when articulating goals in terms of literacy learning and conveying the substantive aspects and quality expected in students’ writing. In addition, despite AfL's promotion of learner autonomy, few teachers openly afforded students focused opportunities to take a meaningful role in their learning through the appraisal of their own and peers’ writing and the joint construction of feedback. As such, teachers’ AfL practice in the writing classroom failed to realise its full potential. It is argued that the promise of AfL can only be reached when strategies are enacted in ways that reflect its unitary nature, promote quality outcomes and give students a central role in their learning.     

Sarah Bernhardt's first “farewell” tour, 1905‐06: Little rock,arkansas welcomes Camille

Between 1800 and 1918, Sarah Bernhardt toured America nine times. Although she received critical praise and large profits from extended runs in cities, she often performed in smaller towns between cities to help defray the expenses of touring. Bernhardt's performance of Camille in Little Rock, Arkansas on March 6, 1906 was hailed as “the greatest dramatic event in the history of Little Rock.” This study details the events of Bernhardt's visit, discussing its impact on the social and cultural life of the city.     

The function of mundane ritualizing in adult friendship and marriage

Rituals serve important functions in both friendships and married relationships. This study served, to investigate the categorical structures of rituals in both of these relationship types. In married relationships, seven categories of ritual functions emerged including: Relational Masonry, Relational Maintenance, Life Management, Fun/Enjoyment, Togetherness, Talk‐Time, and Anti‐Ritual. In friendships, seven categories of ritual functions also emerged including: Personal & Relational Stimulation, Personal Improvement, Relational‐Affirmation, Support, Self‐Affirmation, Escape, and Anti‐Ritual.     

Data Rules: How Mapping Technology Drives Better Customer Service

Is your library market-driven, product-driven or customer-driven? New internet-based data and tools are now available for public libraries that enable you to be customer-driven—for your own unique service area. This article shows how three library systems are using these tools—focused on market segmentation data and geographic information system (GIS) technology—to deliver more relevant customer services. Each solution described in the article was developed in close collaboration between CIVICTechnologies and the library, involving research to understand the library's objectives and desired outcomes, and using the data needed to meet each library's unique challenge.     

Mastering cognitive development theory in computer science education

To design an effective computer science curriculum, educators require a systematic method of classifying the difficulty level of learning activities and assessment tasks. This is important for curriculum design and implementation and for communication between educators. Different educators must be able to use the method consistently, so that classified activities and assessments are comparable across the subjects of a degree, and, ideally, comparable across institutions. One widespread approach to supporting this is to write learning objects in terms of Bloom’s Taxonomy. This, or other such classifications, is likely to be more effective if educators can use them consistently, in the way experts would use them. To this end, we present the design and evaluation of our online interactive web-based tutorial system, which can be configured and used to offer training in different classification schemes. We report on results from three evaluations. First, 17 computer science educators complete a tutorial on using Bloom’s Taxonomy to classify programming examination questions. Second, 20 computer science educators complete a Neo-Piagetian tutorial. Third evaluation was a comparison of inter-rater reliability scores of computer science educators classifying programming questions using Bloom’s Taxonomy, before and after taking our tutorial. Based on the results from these evaluations, we discuss the effectiveness of our tutorial system design for teaching computer science educators how to systematically and consistently classify programming examination questions. We also discuss the suitability of Bloom’s Taxonomy and Neo-Piagetian theory for achieving this goal. The Bloom’s and Neo-Piagetian tutorials are made available as a community resource. The contributions of this paper are the following: the tutorial system for learning classification schemes for the purpose of coding the difficulty of computing learning materials; its evaluation; new insights into the consistency that computing educators can achieve using Bloom; and first insights into the use of Neo-Piagetian theory by a group of classifiers.     

Knowledge translation and research careers: Mode I and Mode II activity among health researchers

Defining knowledge translation activities using Gibbons and Nowotny's Mode I and II forms of knowledge production, health researcher (N = 240) characteristics are compared with their knowledge translation activities. Applied researchers (n = 168) engaged in more Mode II activity (p < .001), perceived their work as having more impact (p < .001), and reported higher levels of relational capital (p < .001) when compared to basic researchers (n = 72). Those from medical schools (n = 128) had more publications (p = .004) as did applied researchers in medical school compared to applied researchers from other faculties (p = .001). These findings provide early empirical insights into emerging tensions in environments where Mode I and Mode II activities co-exist; tensions that may extract unintended costs from researchers. Such costs may be paid in the currency not only of tenure and promotion, but also of successful grant and career scientist award acquisition.     

九个好习惯,练就职场达人

既然三月有一个属于女性的节日,那么就让我们一起来关注这个话题.美国一项研究调查发现,如果一位女性拥有某些重要特质,无疑将有助于其获得更多晋级和提升的机会,这些特质包括了自信,坦率,实力,竞争力,是否能够清晰、大胆地表达自己的需求,甚至有些阳刚之气的女性都更易获得职场成功!如果你想深入发掘职场潜能,拓展成功机会,就要主动出击.     

The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory: Normative Data for American Sign Language

To This is a 1 test per thousand learn more about normal language development in deaf children, we have developed the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory for American Sign Language (ASL-CDI), a parent report that measures early sign production. The ASL-CDI is an inventory of sign glosses organized into semantic categories targeted to assess sign language skills in children ages 8 to 36 months. The ASL-CDI uses a recognition format in which parents check off signs that their child produces. The form has demonstrated excellent reliability and validity. To date, normative data have been collected from 69 deaf children with deaf parents who are learning sign language as a first language. We discuss the development of the ASl-CDI and preliminary cross-sectional and longitudinal findings from this early data collection with particular focus on parallels with spoken language acquisition. We also discuss the acquisition of first signs, negation, wh-questions, and fingerspelling with developmental patterns provided based on age, as well as vocabulary size.     

An empirical taxonomy of youths' fears: Cluster analysis of the American fear survey schedule

Fears profiles among children and adolescents were explored using the Fear Survey Schedule for Children‐American version (FSSC‐AM; J.J. Burnham, 1995, 2005). Eight cluster profiles were identified via multistage Euclidean grouping and supported by homogeneity coefficients and replication. Four clusters reflected overall level of fears (i.e., very low, below average, moderate, and multiple), and four others exhibited specific peaks associated with school‐related fears, medical fears, and scary things. Demographic characteristics associated with cluster profile membership revealed variability primarily based on gender and age, with some differences associated with community type. Comparisons with prior results on earlier fear surveys and implications for school refusal behavior provide a useful context for discussion. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 673–683, 2006.