Assessing the relative performance of U.K. university technology transfer offices: parametric and non-parametric evidence

We present evidence on the relative performance of U.K. university technology transfer offices (TTOs) using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier estimation (SFE). U.K. TTOs are found to exhibit low-levels of absolute efficiency. There also appear to be decreasing returns to scale, implying that TTOs may need to be reconfigured into smaller units. The development of regionally-based sector focused TTOs is also advised. Consistent with qualitative evidence from U.S. TTOs, we find that there is a need to upgrade the business skills and capabilities of U.K. TTO managers and licensing officers.     

Mitigation of Blast Effects on Aluminum Foam Protected Masonry Walls

Terrorist attacks using improvised explosive devices (IED) can result in unreinforced ma-sonry (URM) wall collapse. Protecting URM wall from IED attack is very complicated. An effective solution to mitigate blast effects on URM wall is to retrofit URM walls with metallic foam sheets to absorb blast energy. However, mitigation of blast effects on metallic foam protected URM walls is currently in their infancy in the world. In this paper, numerical models are used to simulate the per-formance of aluminum foam protected URM walls subjected to blast loads. A distinctive model, in which mortar and brick units of masonry are discritized individually, is used to model the perform-ance of masonry and the contact between the masonry and steel face-sheet of aluminum foam is modelled using the interface element model. The aluminum foam is modelled by a nonlinear elas-toplastic material model. The material models for masonry, aluminum foam and interface are then coded into a finite element program LS-DYNA3D to perform the numerical calculations of response and damage of aluminum foam protected URM walls under airblast loads. Discussion is made on the effectiveness of the aluminum foam protected system for URM wall against blast loads.     

Problem solving and classical genetics: Successful versus unsuccessful performance

Expert-novice problem-solving research is extended in this study to include classical genetics. Eleven undergraduates (novices) and nine graduate students and instructors (experts) were videotaped as they solved moderately complex genetics problems. Detailed analysis of these “think aloud” protocols resulted in 32 common tendencies that could be used to differentiate between successful and unsuccessful problem solvers. Experts perceive a problem as a task requiring analysis and reasoning and they tend to use a knowledge-development (forward-working) approach. They make frequent checks on the correctness of their work, use accurate and detailed bookkeeping procedures, and have a broader range of heuristics to apply to the problem. It is clear that studying problem solving using the expert/novice design requires that the problems be difficult enough to require more than more recall and yet simple enough to allow novices a chance for solution. Applying elementary probability concepts seemed to be the most difficult aspect of many of the genetics problems, even for the experts.     

Leadership development,wicked problems and action learning: provocations to a debate

The paper examines whether, if leadership is defined by the willingness to tackle wicked issues, and if action learning is employed for leadership development purposes, do the action learning participants on leadership development programmes address such wicked issues? It adopts a version of dialogical sense-making to consider this and describes an attempted literature review which led to a series of questions on academic motivations, puzzles and problems, when exactly a problem is wicked, the possible difference between private and public problems, leader development and leaderful practice. It failed to identify such evidence and it is postulated that this is due to the individual-focused nature of leader development.     

An Evaluation of the Use of Peer Assessment in Higher Education: a case study in the School of Music,Kingston University

The following paper outlines and evaluates the implementation of the use of peer assessment in higher education (HE), using the BA in music course at Kingston University as a case study. The rationale of the peer assessment systems introduced into two curriculum areas is examined, and the operation of the scheme is evaluated, by the use of lecturer interviews, attitudinal questionnaires completed by the participating students, and the assessments and feedback produced. Conclusions drawn are that the introduction of peer assessment seems to improve students’ critical faculties and gives them a greater ownership of the whole assessment process.     

Connected Chemistry—Incorporating Interactive Simulations into the Chemistry Classroom

The aim of this paper is to describe a novel modeling and simulation package, connected chemistry, and assess its impact on students' understanding of chemistry. Connected chemistry was implemented inside the NetLogo modeling environment. Its design goal is to present a variety of chemistry concepts from the perspective of emergent phenomena—that is, how macro-level patterns in chemistry result from the interactions of many molecules on a submicro-level. The connected chemistry modeling environment provides students with the opportunity to observe and explore these interactions in a simulated environment that enables them to develop a deeper understanding of chemistry concepts and processes in both the classroom and laboratory. Here, we present the conceptual foundations of instruction using connected chemistry and the results of a small study that explored its potential benefits. A three-part, 90-min interview was administered to six undergraduate science majors regarding the concept of chemical equilibrium. Several commonly reported misconceptions about chemical equilibrium arose during the interview. Prior to their interaction with connected chemistry, students relied on memorized facts to explain chemical equilibrium and rigid procedures to solve chemical equilibrium problems. Using connected chemistry students employed problem-solving techniques characterized by stronger attempts at conceptual understanding and logical reasoning.     

Metropolitan College: Building Community Value Through Education–Business Partnerships

Metropolitan College is a distinctive and innovative business–education partnership that provides educational opportunities to many Kentucky residents who would otherwise be unable to attend college. The program also provides significant, tangible benefits to the business and education partners, as well as to the local and statewide community. This article outlines the structure of the Metropolitan College, chronicles some measures of program impact, and briefly describes the values on which the program was founded and continues to operate.     

Distance Teaching by Cyclops: an educational evaluation of the Open University's telewriting system

The trend towards courses with low, widely scattered student populations in the Open University makes the provision of face-to-face tutorials difficult. Telephone tuition is being used as an alternative. One major drawback of this is the lack of a graphics facility for communicating writing and drawings.
To help overcome this the Open University has developed a graphics telewriting terminal called Cyclops which allows for the live transmission of writing and drawing by telephone.
This paper describes the Cyclops telewriting system and explains how it has been used in a two-year trial project, funded by British Telecom, for tutoring Open University students in the East Midlands region of England. Preliminary findings from the evaluation of the trials are discussed and suggestions for setting up similar distance-teaching systems are offered.
The two-year trial of Cyclops is proving that telewriting tutorials are both educationally effective and acceptable to a large number of students and tutors.     

走向消费伦理——致金惠敏(2007年9月21日)

从评价性的角度考察消费文化,其价值有两方面的含义:首先是它与经济价值的创造有关;其二是它与一般价值问题的联系.这两个方面相互关联.消费需要靠生产来维持,而生产若是要维持挥霍性的消费,则可能带来严重的环境灾难,这同时也就是人类的灾难.在消费中提倡一种对自然、对地球家园的负责任的"消费伦理",换言之,唤醒消费者的责任意识,于是便提上了当今消费文化研究的议事日程.     

Economic evaluation research in the context of Child Welfare policy: a structured literature review and recommendations

Objectives

With over 1 million children served by the US Child Welfare system at a cost of $20 billion annually, this study examines the economic evaluation literature on interventions to improve outcomes for children at risk for and currently involved with the system, identifies areas where additional research is needed, and discusses the use of decision-analytic modeling to advance Child Welfare policy and practice.

Methods

The review included 19 repositories of peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed “gray” literatures, including items in English published before November, 2009. Original research articles were included if they evaluated interventions based on costs and outcomes. Review articles were included to assess the relevance of these techniques over time and to highlight the increasing discussion of methods needed to undertake such research. Items were categorized by their focus on: interventions for the US Child Welfare system; primary prevention of entry into the system; and use of models to make long-term projections of costs and outcomes.

Results

Searches identified 2,640 articles, with 49 ultimately included (19 reviews and 30 original research articles). Between 1988 and 2009, reviews consistently advocated economic evaluation and increasingly provided methodological guidance. 21 of the original research articles focused on Child Welfare, while 9 focused on child mental health. Of the 21 Child Welfare articles, 81% (17) focused on the US system. 47% (8/17) focused exclusively on primary prevention, though 83% of the US system, peer-reviewed articles focused exclusively on prevention (5/6). 9 of the 17 articles included empirical follow-up (mean sample size: 264 individuals; mean follow-up: 3.8 years). 10 of the 17 articles used modeling to project longer-term outcomes, but 80% of the articles using modeling were not peer-reviewed. Although 60% of modeling studies included interventions for children in the system, all peer-reviewed modeling articles focused on prevention.

Conclusions

Methodological guidance for economic evaluations in Child Welfare is increasingly available. Such analyses are feasible given the availability of nationally representative data on children involved with Child Welfare and evidence-based interventions.

Practice implications

Policy analyses considering the long-term costs and effects of interventions to improve Child Welfare outcomes are scarce, feasible, and urgently needed.