An inventory of peer assessment diversity

Since Topping published his literature review on peer assessment in 1998 Topping, K. 1998. Peer assessment between students in colleges and universities. Review of Educational Research, 68: 249–76. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar], the number of studies on this subject has doubled, if not tripled. However, along with this expansion, the diversity of peer assessment applications increased equally fast. Based on recent literature, this contribution focuses specifically on the diversity that has come to exist in order to update Topping's typology, adding eight variables, extending eight others with extra sub‐dimensions, and including the implementation factors. Five original variables were absorbed into larger entities, leaving 20 variables which were finally grouped into five clusters. For teachers or advisors, this inventory may be of interest as a source of inspiration or as a checklist of important decisions to make when working with peer evaluation. For researchers, it may be a guide towards covering the full scope of particularities when introducing their peer assessment design. Moreover, the framework developed in this paper might relieve the possible confusion originating from the use of a single term to cover a multitude of sometimes incompatible practices.     

Developing research capacity in health librarians: a review of the evidence

This critical review considers current issues of research capacity development in UK health care and the role of health librarianship in this context, placing particular focus on the use of research networks. There is a growing literature base recognising the need for librarians to engage more with research. The concepts of evidence-based health librarianship and clinical librarianship are discussed in the context of research and examples of existing good practice are reviewed. It is suggested that librarians should build on this through better consideration of evidence based methodologies, hierarchies of evidence, improvement of research skills, and a collective endeavour to identify research priorities. The importance research capacity is being given in the Department of Health R&D strategy and the use of networks in achieving this is discussed, and it is suggested that the utilisation of networks and collaboration should be undertaken and explored in more depth in developing research capacity in health librarianship. Areas where librarians currently engage with research and use networks and collaborative practices to contribute to the research base are reviewed. A co-ordinated approach to developing research capacity is called for and it is argued that the use of networks would be beneficial in assisting the process.     

Communicating Across Differences: Toward a Multicultural Approach to Institutional Transformation

In the two decades since Audre Lorde (1984) pointed out that we have no patterns for relating across our differences as equals (p. 115), struggles to transform higher education have come to focus on communication about and across differences. Despite these efforts, conversations in higher education about group difference and equity too often exacerbate feelings of cynicism and disenfranchisement. In this article we discuss research into the actual discourses at work in communication about the cultural politics of institutional practices. We report on an analysis of qualitative data, using this data to help clarify the challenges of relating across differences as equals.Patrick Bruch is Assistant Professor of Writing Studies in the General College at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He received a B.A. in English from Western Michigan University and a Ph.D. in English from Wayne State University. His teaching and research focus on struggles for equality within and through higher education. He thanks Mark Pedelty for helpful feedback on an earlier draft of this article. Rashné Jehangir received her B.A. in Psychology from Lawrence University and her M.A. in Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology from the University of Minnesota. She currently serves as an Associate Counselor Advocate for first-generation, low-income students in the TRIO Student Support Services program in the General College, University of Minnesota. Her current publications focus on cooperative learning, learning communities, and social justice and access policy to higher education. Dana Britt Lundell is Director of the Center for Research on Developmental Education and Urban Literacy (CRDEUL) in the General College at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She received her M.A. in English and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Minnesota. She is Co-Editor of the CRDEUL monograph and 2004 President of the Minnesota Association for Developmental Education (MNADE). Jeanne L. Higbee received her B.S. in Sociology from Iowa State University and earned both her M.S. in Counseling and Guidance and Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She currently serves as Professor and Senior Advisor to the Center for Research on Developmental Education and Urban Literacy, General College, University of Minnesota. Her research interests are related to student development and the access and retention of student populations that traditionally have been underserved in postsecondary educational institutions. Karen L. Miksch is an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, General College. She received her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Affirmative action programs designed to recruit, admit, and retain a diverse student body, as well as access to college preparatory programs, are two ongoing areas of her research. All correspondence should be addressed to Patrick L. Bruch, General College, University of Minnesota, 128 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455     

Family Relationships, Parenting Practices, the Availability of Male Family Members, and the Behavior of Inner-City Boys in Single-Mother and Two-Parent Families

The primary goal of this study was to clarify if and how differences in the functioning of single-mother and two-parent families relate to the occurrence of behavioral problems among inner-city boys (ages 10–15). Data were collected on family relationships, parenting practices, the positive influence of male family members, and the severity of externalizing behavior problems. Results indicated that (1) multiple family risk factors contribute to the occurrence of behavior problems; (2) most family risk factors were generalizable to both single-mother and two-parent families; (3) although boys in single-mother families were at greater risk for developing behavior problems than boys in two-parent families, the risks associated with single motherhood were offset by a structured family environment, an effective disciplinary strategy that allowed for some degree of adolescent autonomy, and the positive involvement of a male family member; and (4) not all differences in the functioning of single-mother and two-parent families were associated with problem behavior, underscoring the importance of distinguishing between adaptive and maladaptive aspects of single-mother family functioning.     

Drawing Pedagogies in Higher Education: the Learning Impact of a Collaborative Cross‐disciplinary Drawing Course

Drawing is taught in higher education across art and design but also, increasingly, in medical education, with a variety of aims and approaches. It is argued that there is a need, in both these disciplinary domains, to make more explicit the underpinning pedagogical approach to drawing and the impact that different approaches have on learning. The research described in this article focuses on an optional drawing course for undergraduate craft students and medical students. The course is run by the College of Arts and Humanities at a UK university and has a thematic focus on the human body. This qualitative case study sets out, in the context of selected theory about the teaching and learning of drawing, to explore what the learning impact of a particular collaborative model of teaching drawing was on a cross‐disciplinary student group. Findings included, with reference to Riley's framework of drawing pedagogies, that a range of philosophical and pedagogical ideas about drawing were blended from the teaching perspective in a way that enabled students from distinct disciplinary backgrounds to engage and learn. A shift was observed in students’ perceptions of drawing, with both sets of students questioning previously held assumptions about the use and value of drawing within their learning. Life drawing and anatomy laboratory drawing, in particular, provoked deep and challenging reflections about different cultural conceptions of the human body and the practice of collaborative drawing, with dialogic reflection, enabling insights to be developed into different disciplinary epistemologies.     

Impact of hostility and withdrawal in interparental conflict on parental emotional unavailability and children's adjustment difficulties

This multimethod, prospective study examined the nature of pathways between interparental hostility and withdrawal, parental emotional unavailability, and subsequent changes in children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and school adjustment difficulties over a 3-year period in a sample of 210 mothers, fathers, and 6-year-old children. The results of autoregressive structural equation models indicated that interparental withdrawal had a detrimental impact on all areas of children's adjustment, whereas interparental hostility had an indirect effect on subsequent changes in child adjustment. An intermediary role of parental emotional unavailability in links between interparental withdrawal and hostility and child outcomes was indicated, with specific, differential effects observed for fathers and mothers.