Economic instrumentalism and integration in Australian External Studies

In this article Derek Rowntree of the Open University UK's, Institute of Educational Technology, examines the implications of quality assessment for distance education and other forms of materials‐based learning. He suggests that materials‐based teaching cannot properly be judged in quite the same terms as the conventional, face‐to‐face teaching that academic peers are most familiar with. So what might they be looking for when they come to assess the quality of a department's materials‐based teaching? And what might we expect to result from such assessments?     

Young People's Voluntary and Campaigning Activities as Sources of Political Education

The article begins by examining the predominant image of young people today as alienated, apathetic, and uninvolved in their communities. It is argued that any debate about participation and politics should consider young people's involvement in voluntary and campaigning activities. Using data from a study of 1160 14-16 year-olds, it is shown that a considerable number of young people are involved in volunteering and campaigning, and also that these activities are influenced by gender, ethnicity, locality and the family. The article then explores the ways in which participation in volunteering and campaigning can promote the development of young people's political knowledge, awareness and understanding. It is demonstrated that involvement in these activities affects young people's political development in five ways, specifically in developing an understanding of the needs of different groups in society; a sense of influence over political and social events; a growing sense of party political differences and voting intent; reflection on social structures and processes; and acquiring skills useful in political campaigning. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Development and validation of an assessment of adult educators' reading instructional knowledge

The purpose of this paper is to describe briefly the development and utility of the Assessment of Reading Instructional Knowledge-Adults (ARIK-A), the only nationally normed (n?=?468) measure of adult reading instructional knowledge, created to facilitate professional development of adult educators. Developmental data reveal reliabilities ranging from 0.73 to 0.85 for five ARIK-A scales (alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and assessment) and 0.91 for the composite score; factor analytic data and expert review provide support for construct validity as well. Information on how to use the ARIK-A to determine mastery and relative standing is presented. With two alternate forms, the ARIK-A is a promising and needed tool for adult education practitioners within continuing education and professional development contexts.     

Consensus statement on placebo effects in sports and exercise: The need for conceptual clarity,methodological rigour,and the elucidation of neurobiological mechanisms

In June 2017 a group of experts in anthropology, biology, kinesiology, neuroscience, physiology, and psychology convened in Canterbury, UK, to address questions relating to the placebo effect in sport and exercise. The event was supported exclusively by Quality Related (QR) funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The funder did not influence the content or conclusions of the group. No competing interests were declared by any delegate. During the meeting and in follow-up correspondence, all delegates agreed the need to communicate the outcomes of the meeting via a brief consensus statement. The two specific aims of this statement are to encourage researchers in sport and exercise science to

1. Where possible, adopt research methods that more effectively elucidate the role of the brain in mediating the effects of treatments and interventions.

2. Where possible, adopt methods that factor for and/or quantify placebo effects that could explain a percentage of inter-individual variability in response to treatments and intervention.     

Item analysis of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised

Indices of item diffculty and item discrimination were analyzed for the items comprising the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Revised as obtained from a group of 142 subjects with Full Scale IQs below 96. Item validities were estimated by computing the biserial correlation between dichotomized item responses and the total weight score. Kendall's tau was computed for each item. The item difficulties for each subtest except Information and Vocabulary are roughly in the same rank order as those obtained by the stadardization group. Evidence from the study indicates that the increase in the number of items on the WISC-R helped to increase its internal Validity. Analysis of the data ragarding the internal consistency of the test indicates that the majority of the items operate as significant discriminators. Changes in the order of that administration and /or revision of the record form would not seem warranted on the basis of the present study.