Evaluation policy in education: the effects of international standards and performativity on Brazil’s postgraduate programmes of excellence

The educational reforms that began in the 1990s have changed Brazilian universities’ direction from welfare state institutions to market organisations. In postgraduate education, strategic alliances with international agencies, governments and corporations have become closer. At the same time, there has been a push for internationalisation of knowledge and more efficiency – with quality assurance and accountability systems. This study, based on the theory of ‘policy enactments’ proposed by Stephen Ball and collaborators, aims to analyse the interpretation and translation of Brazil’s postgraduate education programmes’ evaluation policy. The data are derived from interviews with co-ordinators of four Brazilian postgraduate programmes in education – all regarded by the Higher Education Co-ordination Agency, CAPES, as programmes of excellence and of international standard (during the assessment triennials of 2004, 2007 and 2010). The data analysis provided a critical understanding of the evaluation policy as policy enactment, and of the small margin for manoeuvre in decision-making in response to the policy and performativity’s effect on academic subjectivity and collective practice.     

Innovative Work Behaviour in Vocational Colleges: Understanding How and Why Innovations Are Developed

In workplaces, innovative products and processes are required to address emerging problems and challenges. Therefore, understanding of employees’ innovative work behaviour, including the generation, promotion, and realisation of ideas as components of this behaviour is important. In particular, what fosters innovation development and what triggers these activities is important for its promotion and adoption in contemporary workplaces. To investigate how and why innovations at work are developed and enacted, an explorative study comprising structured interviews with vocational teachers in the German vocational system was conducted. The teachers reported on activities they undertook during the development of a specific innovation. Furthermore, they provided information on factors that made this innovation necessary and that they were activated by. The study indicates that even when opportunities for innovation development existed in a workplace, the needs and goals of teachers were pivotal for these opportunities to be recognised and teachers’ innovative work behaviour to be triggered. By analysing vocational teachers’ work activities, we found that the development of innovations was a complex, iterative and primarily social process. By encouraging teachers to act on opportunities for change and by establishing a collaborative structure at schools, innovation development can be facilitated. We also found that throughout the development of an innovation, reflection played an important role. If the importance of reflective activities is acknowledged by workplaces such as these participants’ vocational schools, this not only fosters innovations but also the teachers’ professional development.     

The course of problematic social media use in young adolescents: A latent class growth analysis

Using four waves of longitudinal data collected in 2015–2019 from 1419 Dutch adolescents (M_age = 12.5, 45.9% female, 21.9% immigrant), this study identified trajectories of problematic social media use (SMU) in parallel with trajectories of SMU frequency. Latent class growth analysis identified two subgroups with relatively high levels of problematic SMU over time: One showed high (24.7%) and one showed average SMU frequency (15.8%). Also, two subgroups with persistently low levels of problematic SMU were identified: One reported low (22.4%) and one reported high SMU frequency (37.1%). Although both subgroups with high levels of problematic SMU reported low subjective well-being, the group with high SMU frequency showed low self-control, whereas the group with average SMU frequency reported poor social competencies.     

Do professors have customer-based brand equity?

This research endeavors to understand whether certain professors have customer-based brand equity (CBBE) in the minds of students. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to conceptualize, develop, and empirically test a model of customer-based professor brand equity. Survey data gathered from 465 undergraduate business students were used to test the model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis findings indicate that certain professors do indeed have CBBE and the transference of the brand-building effort can be successfully applied to professors who are willing to be strong brands. The results show that professor brand characteristics – quality of instruction, competence, and reputation – have an influence on students' feelings of attachment to the professor and to the quality of relationships with the professor brand and therefore, professor brand equity. The ultimate goal of most professors is to inculcate lifelong student learning, but this worthy pursuit gains wings through the professor brand-building effort.     

Finding the Customers: Challenges and Experiences Marketing K-12 Full-time Virtual Schools

Full-time virtual schooling is a growing alternative to traditional schools, although it is an option still unknown to many students. The ability to inform students through marketing is thus foundational to the success of virtual schools. Using a qualitative case study methodology, this article examines marketing patterns for nonprofit virtual schools, including how students find out about virtual schools; the ways in which school leaders market their schools; and changes reported in schools’ marketing and recruitment needs and strategies. This analysis suggests that students find out about virtual schools in many ways, including being referred, rejected, and urged by their local schools. Implications include issues around socioeconomic equity, especially in terms of school access, funding, and educational quality.     

Prevalence of urinary incontinence in high-impact sports athletes and their association with knowledge,attitude and practice about this dysfunction

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) in female athletes practising high-impact sports and its association with knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP).

Design: Observational study.

Methods: A semi-structured evaluation form, KAP survey and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire – Short Form were used. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to verify the association of UI with KAP, sociodemographic, gynaecological and sports-related variables, with significant variables remaining in the model (p?Results: The prevalence of UI in 118 athletes was 82 (70%), of which 19 (23%) had pure stress UI, 19 (23%) had pure urgency UI and 44 (54%) had mixed UI; with 50 (61%) athletes losing urine during training and 37 (45%) during competitions. Regarding the KAP survey, 37 athletes (31%) demonstrated adequate knowledge, 63 (53%) adequate attitude and zero adequate practice. In the multivariate analysis, a sports practice time of over 8 years and dyspareunia presented significant values, with odds ratios (OR) of 2.66 and 2.99, respectively. Knowledge was significantly associated with UI (OR 0.43). UI had a slight impact on QOL.

Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of UI yet low levels of adequate knowledge and practice regarding the occurrence of UI in sports, with sports practice time over 8 years and dyspareunia factors predisposing female athletes to UI by 2.7 and 3 times, respectively. Athletes with adequate knowledge were 57% less likely to develop UI.