A CASE FOR SELF‐ASSESSMENT BASED ON RECENT STUDIES OF STUDENT LEARNING

An account of an experiment in self‐assessed learning where the lecturer used his authority to give his students responsibility for their own assessment. Students were expected to set their own goals, week‐by‐week, and prepare a self‐assessment, which was open to questioning and discussion by other members of the group, but which involved only the individual student in the final decision.

The difficulties encountered are clearly stated, but the final judgment is that only such methods can achieve deep processing in Higher Education. It is also argued that conventional methods of evaluation are inappropriate for this style of learning.     

Correlates of Work-Life Balance for Faculty Across Racial/Ethnic Groups

Very few studies have examined issues of work-life balance among faculty of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. Utilizing data from Harvard University’s Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education project, this study examined predictors of work-life balance for 2953 faculty members from 69 institutions. The final sample consisted of 1059 (36%) Asian American faculty, 512 (17%) African American faculty, 359 (12%) Latina/o faculty, and 1023 (35%) White/Caucasian faculty. There were 1184 (40%) women faculty and 1769 (60%) men faculty. The predictors of worklife balance included faculty characteristics, departmental/institutional characteristics and support, and faculty satisfaction with work. While African American women faculty reported less work-life balance than African American men, the reverse was true for Latina/o faculty. In addition, White faculty who were single with no children were significantly less likely to report having work-life balance than their married counterparts with children. Faculty rank was a significant positive predictor of work-life balance for all faculty. Notably, the findings highlight the importance of department and institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible. Institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible was consistently the strongest positive predictor of perceived work-life balance for all faculty. In addition, satisfaction with time spent on research had positive associations with work-life balance for all faculty, highlighting how faculty from all racial/ethnic backgrounds value being able to spend enough time on their own research.     

Navigating the discursive tensions of the public university: the case of a South African student

As public universities seek to be locally responsive and compete internationally, tensions arise between expansion and equity, and between discourses of neoliberalism and social justice. This article focuses on how students navigate these tensions, and the implications for how they can act, interact and be. Norman Fairclough’s three-level view of the social and language, and his method of critical discourse analysis are used to analyse longitudinal interviews with an undergraduate science student. This student is, on account of his home and schooling, considered ‘historically marginalised’ at an historically-white, English-medium South African university. The results show how the student navigates multiple positionings that draw on notions of class, language, independence, progress, choice, care, and so on. It is argued that while universities should support students to navigate some of these tensions, there is a need to re-imagine structuring discourses related to the ‘normal’, ‘independent’ university student.     

Prediction of maximal oxygen uptake in sedentary males from a perceptually regulated, sub-maximal graded exercise test

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of predicting the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2(max)) of sedentary men from sub-maximal VO2 values obtained during a perceptually regulated exercise test. Thirteen healthy, sedentary males aged 29-52 years completed five graded exercise tests on a cycle ergometer. The first and fifth test involved a graded exercise test to determine VO2(max). The two maximal graded exercise tests were separated by three sub-maximal graded exercise tests, perceptually regulated at 3-min RPE intensities of 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17 on the Borg ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) scale, in that order. After confirmation that individual linear regression models provided the most appropriate fit to the data, the regression lines for the perceptual ranges 9-17, 9-15, and 11-17 were extrapolated to RPE 20 to predict VO2(max). There were no significant differences between VO2(max) values from the graded exercise tests (mean 43.9 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1), s = 6.3) and predicted VO2(max) values for the perceptual ranges 9-17 (40.7 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1), s = 2.2) and RPE 11-17 (42.5 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1), s = 2.3) across the three trials. The predicted VO2(max) from the perceptual range 9-15 was significantly lower (P < 0.05) (37.7 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1), s = 2.3). The intra-class correlation coefficients between actual and predicted VO2(max) for RPE 9-17 and RPE 11-17 across trials ranged from 0.80 to 0.87. Limits of agreement analysis on actual and predicted VO2 values (bias +/- 1.96 x S(diff)) were 3.4 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1) (+/- 10.7), 2.4 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1) (+/- 9.9), and 3.7 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1) (+/- 12.8) (trials 1, 2, and 3, respectively) of RPE range 9-17. Results suggest that a sub-maximal, perceptually guided graded exercise test provides acceptable estimates of VO2(max) in young to middle-aged sedentary males.     

Regional creative industries policy-making under New Labour

This article analyses creative industries policy in the English regions under New Labour (1997–2010). It examines the ideas behind regional creative industries policies (RCIPs) and their implementation. Focusing on the activities of the English regional development agencies, the primary bodies responsible for the implementation of creative industries policy in the British regions, the article places regional cultural policy during the New Labour period within its broader political, social and economic contexts. It explains and evaluates New Labour's RCIPs, arguing that creative industries policy at the regional level changed over the course of New Labour's three terms of office, becoming increasingly economistic at the expense of a more social democratic vision of regional equality and democracy. We identify three issues that were problematic for New Labour's RCIP: a reliance on the idea of “clusters”, commercialisation and shifting regional governance.     

Classroom materials

Your Energy World Published by U.S. Department of Energy

Blue Wings Flying by Elizabeth DeHuff Pictures by Dorothea Sierra Addison‐Wesley Publishing Co. Readding, Mass. 01867

Early Childhood Filmstrips Series Part I: About Myself Myself and Other People — Alike and Different My Family and Other Families—Alike and Different Everyone Needs Many Things by Ruth Jaynes, Beatrice Woodbrldge & Nancy Curry Bowmar/Noble Publishers, Inc. 4563 Colorado Los Angeles, CA 90039

“Man and His Gods: An Inquiry Into The Nature of Religions” Published by The Center for Humanities, Inc. 2 Holland Ave. White Plains, NY 10603

Alcohol: Facts, Myths and Decisions Published by Science and Mankind, Inc. Communications Park, Box 200 White Plains, New York 10601     

#Handsupdontshoot: connective images and ethical witnessing

In the years since Michael Brown’s death, the hashtag #HandsUpDontShoot has been criticized for supposedly misrepresenting forensic evidence as framed by the Department of Justice. However, an expressive pull has kept alive both the hashtag and the sentiment behind it. The images of #HandsUpDontShoot are compelling in that they offer a glimpse into lived experiences that are often dismissed, ignored, or refuted. In this essay, I trace the aesthetic features of the #HandsUpDontShoot images, which foreground shocking juxtapositions between nonviolent protesters and militarized police forces, to the hashtag’s historical analogue: antilynching photography. Antilynching photography often utilized the aesthetic techniques of remediation, recontextualization, and juxtaposition—aesthetic features used prominently in today’s digital and remix cultures. By noting #HandsUpDontShoot’s use of these same techniques, I illuminate the ways in which Twitter’s connective affordances shape the viewer’s encounter with the images to engender ethical witnessing by affectively linking Brown’s death to shared material experiences of racial minorities. Such encounters propel witnesses beyond distanced objectification and toward an embodied reckoning of those experiences.