Engaging associates and unleashing productivity: The case for Simplified GainSharing

Simplified GainSharing is a blue‐collar incentive plan that is geared to a distribution center (DC) environment and is based on sliding scales with no caps. It has returned millions of dollars over the years in increased performance in every DC that has used it. This article illustrates the easy techniques that will make the execution of pay‐for‐performance plans significantly more successful. When the principles discussed here are properly applied, any workforce can come alive with profitability. The material in this article is paraphrased from our book, Warehouse Productivity, published in 2005 by Alexander Communications Group.     

Portable Computers & Interactive Multimedia: A New Paradigm for Interpreting Museum Collections

This paper describes a GEMISIS doctoral research project nearing completion at the University of Salford, U.K. and offers some preliminary findings. The aim of the project was to design an interactive multimedia application for a portable computer in a museum setting, to assess the application as an aid to interpretation and to examine its impact on the visitor's understanding and enjoyment of the museum experience. It will discuss the introduction of portable computers into museum galleries, briefly describe the design and development process of the interactive multimedia application, review the methodology employed and provide a summary of preliminary findings.     

Working for learning: teaching assistants developing mathematics for teaching

This article derives from a case study of 10 secondary school teaching assistants (TAs) who did not have conventional pre-qualifications in mathematics but who undertook an honours degree in mathematics education studies at a Higher Education Institution in England whilst continuing to work as TAs in school. Work-based learning was thus undertaken in parallel with advancement through the hierarchical undergraduate mathematics curriculum. Lave and Wenger’s work on communities of practice is used as a framework to explore the TAs’ learning of mathematics alongside their professional work in schools. This case illustrates how and where institution-based undergraduate teaching relates to work in school, and where it does not, thus signalling the importance of the TAs’ informal learning strategies in bringing together these experiences.     

Educational reform in North Cyprus—Towards the making of a nation/state?

The Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) aspires to take its place in Europe and the global ‘knowledge economy’. In order to do so, it needs not only to be politically recognised as legitimate and to develop the kinds of economic and governance structures that signify a functional state, but also to produce a cultural imaginary of itself as a nation. In this paper, we mobilise Appadurai's theorisation of deterritorialisation, flows and context generation in order to examine the ways in which the implementation of educational reforms in TRNC might contribute to this ambition. We show that the ethnoscape and financescape combine to make education reform difficult, with specific challenges arising from the mixed commitment of the workforce, the capacity of the education bureaucracy to align support with policy mandates, and the ‘fit’ between the policy and local needs. We conclude by suggesting that TRNC faces the dilemma of working with cultural heterogeneity: Appadurai identifies this as a key ideoscape challenge for all nation/states.     

Increased course structure improves performance in introductory biology

We tested the hypothesis that highly structured course designs, which implement reading quizzes and/or extensive in-class active-learning activities and weekly practice exams, can lower failure rates in an introductory biology course for majors, compared with low-structure course designs that are based on lecturing and a few high-risk assessments. We controlled for 1) instructor effects by analyzing data from quarters when the same instructor taught the course, 2) exam equivalence with new assessments called the Weighted Bloom's Index and Predicted Exam Score, and 3) student equivalence using a regression-based Predicted Grade. We also tested the hypothesis that points from reading quizzes, clicker questions, and other "practice" assessments in highly structured courses inflate grades and confound comparisons with low-structure course designs. We found no evidence that points from active-learning exercises inflate grades or reduce the impact of exams on final grades. When we controlled for variation in student ability, failure rates were lower in a moderately structured course design and were dramatically lower in a highly structured course design. This result supports the hypothesis that active-learning exercises can make students more skilled learners and help bridge the gap between poorly prepared students and their better-prepared peers.     

The School Placement of Pupils with Down's Syndrome in England and Wales

Data on the placements of over 3,000 children with Down's syndrome (born between 1980 and 1992) were collected from 94 areas around the country, over the 12 year period studied. Analysis showed an increase in the proportion of children attending mainstream schools, with wide local variations. Very small numbers of children had mixed placements (part-time mainstream/special school) and placements in specially resourced units. Changes in school type occurred from mainstream to special school, typically at around 8 or 9 and again at 11 to 12 years. There was a disproportionate number of boys with Down's syndrome in special schools, apparently because more boys than girls entered special schools at 5 or 6 years old.     

Propriety, process and purpose: considerations of the use of the telephone interview method in an educational research study

While the use of the telephone has increased as a means of collecting research data in a range of areas, there are few examples of studies where telephone interviews have been conducted to collect qualitative data. The field of educational research is no exception to this. This paper focuses on a study carried out in Higher Education (HE) investigating student withdrawal. It explores the ethics of interviewing by telephone a group of former students; issues that arose in the carrying out of the research, particularly relating to the quality of the data; and the impact of the study’s purpose on its conduct. The paper discusses the value of telephone interviewing to collect qualitative data and offers some practical suggestions for future use.