Audit, Assessment and Academic Autonomy

The current preoccupation in British higher education with quality assessment, quality assurance and the monitoring of academic standards is traceable to a set of government policies which constitute an agenda for the radical overhaul of the ideals by which higher education has operated in Britain hitherto. Intent on overturning the collegial ethos of British higher education, and determined to replace the notion of a self-justifying and self-regulating academic community with a system in which universities operate primarily as pan of the national wealth-creating process, the Conservative government has used the quality debate to impose upon the universities a culture of compliance with norms of its own choosing. The net result of this process has been a deliberate undermining of academic autonomy.     

Student response to the TIMSS test

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) involved 47 countries, thousands of students, and their teachers and schools. Included in the battery of tests and other instruments was a Student Questionnaire that was concerned with the personal and school contexts of the students in relation to their mathematics and science learning. Quite late in the planning of this very expensive study, it transpired that no country had considered gathering data on the students’ sense of the relevance of the science topics in the achievement tests, of their science learning, or, their metacognitive awareness of this learning. This paper reports one last minute attempt to collect these data from one group of student in Population 3—the students in the final year of schooling. Like many other aspects of TIMSS, the psychometric dominance in its design meant that this study was logistically very difficult, but some interesting findings are reported.     

Amplitude of the rabbit’s unconditioned nictitating membrane response in the presence of a conditioned inhibitor

Using a light or backshock as the reinforced CS (A) and a tone or backshock as the conditioned inhibitor (X), rabbits experienced conditioned inhibition training in an A+/AX? paradigm. Following training, the amplitude of the unconditioned nictitating membrane response elicited by a mild (.5-mA) paraorbital shock was measured in the presence of X and AX and expressed as a percentage of the amplitude of the UR to the shock presented alone. In Experiment 1, the effect of X and AX on UR amplitude for conditioned inhibition animals was compared with that of control animals treated to a variety of pretest procedures. In general, UR amplitude in the presence of X exceeded that observed to the US presented alone. There was no consistent difference between the experimental and control groups. In Experiments 2–5, A test trials were added as an alternative reference point. Again, UR amplitude increased rather than decreased UR amplitude. In addition, X as a conditioned inhibitor enhanced the facilitating effect of A on UR amplitude in four out of five experiments. These findings have implications for theories of the “locus of action” of conditioned inhibitors.     

信心回归:破解难题给举办者一个良好的成长环境——举办者信心丧失是民办教育发展的最深层危机

广东民办学校经营成本高企,不少民办学校难以为继。而对产权和回报的诉求与目的上的歧视,严重地制约着民办学校举办者的积极性和不断投入的水平。要给民办教育举办者营造一个良好的成长环境,使民办教育投资重振信心,必须使民办教育投资权益回归《物权法》,以增加民办教育可持续发展的基本动力。     

以对话为学习策略的小学语文教学模式探索

以对话为学习策略的语文课堂教学模式旨在构建以“对话核心主题”为中心点、以“对话分主题”为线索、以“对话依托点”为具体内容的课堂操作程式。实验研究表明,实验班学生对语文课学习的兴趣明显提高,语文“双基”得到较好的落实,并拓展了学生思维的广度与深度,激发了学生的创新意识,提升了学生的学习能力。     

A survey of pediatricians' attitudes and experiences with court in cases of child maltreatment

OBJECTIVES: To explore pediatricians' attitudes and experiences with the court system in child maltreatment cases. DESIGN: An anonymous, cross-sectional survey of a random sample of pediatricians registered with the North Carolina Medical Board. RESULTS: The response rate of the study was 60% (N=270). Few pediatricians (10%) reported that they had "ever" suspected maltreatment but decided not to report it. Pediatricians were equally likely to recall positive and negative experiences in court for child abuse cases. Pediatricians with negative court experiences were more likely to view reporting as time-consuming and were more than twice as likely not to report suspected cases of maltreatment (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.04, 6.0). Seventy-five percent of pediatricians felt that court is harmful or distressing for children. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of pediatricians report suspected cases of child maltreatment. Pediatrician's court experiences play a role in the response to child maltreatment cases, influencing attitudes towards the legal system and the process of caring for maltreated children. Future research efforts should address physicians' concerns about the impact of court on children, ways to improve the working relationship between the legal system and physicians, and the training needs of physicians in child maltreatment, including testifying and understanding the court process.