Self and peer appraisal in higher education

This paper applies the mathematical technique of Data Envelopment Analysis to the problem of appraisal in Higher Education. The technique can be understood as an idealised self and peer appraisal: evaluating others in the same way that we would optimally evaluate ourselves relative to those others. The technique is applied to examples of student and staff appraisal. Although the main focus of this article is on the technique itself (its rationale, the prerequisites for use, and the insights that it yields), we also discuss the wider implications of having and using such a technique to assist appraisal.     

Who Talks to Whom in Malawi's Agricultural Research Information Network?

Purpose: The sector-wide approach currently dominates as the strategy for developing the agricultural sector of many African countries. Although recognised that collaborative agricultural research is vital in ensuring success of sector-wide agricultural development strategies; there have been few efforts to understand the dynamics of national agricultural research/development networks in Africa. This study fills this gap by analysing the dynamics of networking and interactions between institutions in the National Agricultural Research System in Malawi. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study sampled actors in the National Agricultural Research System in Malawi, which included the main public agricultural research department, academic institutions, semi-autonomous research institutions, private companies and international agricultural research institutions. Data was analysed using Social Network Analysis. Findings: Results demonstrate that public agricultural research departments play a central coordinating role in facilitating information sharing; with other actors remaining on the periphery. However, it also shows the important role other actors play to relay information to a wider network of stakeholders. These secondary information pathways can play a very crucial role in ensuring successful implementation of the national agricultural research agenda. Practical implication: Policy-makers are called upon to integrate other research actors into the mainstream national agricultural research information network. This is vital as other research actors are, at the global level, increasingly taking up a greater role in financing and disseminating research and research results. Originality/Value: The study contributes greatly towards knowledge needed for continuing the transformation of African agricultural research; and aligning the African agricultural research vision and practice with the emerging global agricultural research paradigm.     

Cognitive Load Theory and Complex Learning: Recent Developments and Future Directions

Traditionally, Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) has focused on instructional methods to decrease extraneous cognitive load so that available cognitive resources can be fully devoted to learning. This article strengthens the cognitive base of CLT by linking cognitive processes to the processes used by biological evolution. The article discusses recent developments in CLT related to the current view in instructional design that real-life tasks should be the driving force for complex learning. First, the complexity, or intrinsic cognitive load, of such tasks is often high so that new methods are needed to manage cognitive load. Second, complex learning is a lengthy process requiring learners motivational states and levels of expertise development to be taken into account. Third, this perspective requires more advanced methods to measure expertise and cognitive load so that instruction can be flexibly adapted to individual learners needs. Experimental studies are reviewed to illustrate these recent developments. Guidelines for future research are provided.     

Cognitive/information processing psychology and instruction: Reviewing recent theory and practice

With increasing frequency, constructs developed within the field of cognitive/information processing psychology are being employed in the development of instructional theory. This article attempts to organize a broad range of developments in instructional psychology which have this common origin. Particular emphasis is placed on the applicability of constructs such as data structures and procedures. Recent developments in instructional psychology are discussed relative to cognitive task analysis, individual difference variables, and cognitive models of interactive instructional decision-making. Implications for future theory and practice are considered.     

Radical Artists & Art Students versus Management & Bureaucracy during the 1970s

This paper is an account of the impact of Conceptual art and art theory upon art students, studio tutors and managers during the 1970s in certain British art schools. The impact on students resulted in a shift away from the making of physical artefacts to the production of writings and magazines. It also problematised ‘the visual’ and encouraged critiques of art and the art education system. Some tutors responsible for art theory courses were dismissed and some students became politicised and attacked those in charge of art schools and polytechnics. Managers disciplined the students and, in some instances, failed and expelled them. William Furlong and Bruce McLean were two London based artists who responded to the ever‐increasing bureaucracy of art colleges by mounting a parodic performance.     

Functional differentiation of adjunctive drinking and wheel running in rats

Food-deprived rats were exposed to a schedule in which a brief stimulus was presented approximately once every 60 sec. The first leverpress to occur in the presence of the stimulus always turned it off, and produced a food pellet 50% of the time. When the rats were given concurrent access to water, a running wheel, or both, drinking predominated during intervals initiated by pellet delivery, while running predominated during intervals initiated without food. When allowed to obtain all of their food pellets at the beginning of a session, rats drank less and ran more than when the intermittent schedule was in effect, and most drinking occurred within the first half of the session, while running was distributed throughout the session. Adjunctive drinking and wheel running appear to be functionally different, drinking being schedule-induced and food-bound, running being neither.     

Faculty acceptance of a workload survey in one major university

The faculty survey or workload instrument becomes the focal point for both praise and criticism about measuring how faculty spend professional time. While research on the workload instrument often centers on the design and administration of the survey, NCHEMS has questioned how faculty react to such workload analysis, a researchable area seemingly overlooked. In a 1973 report, NCHEMS suggested that faculty reaction or acceptance may be related to the degree of faculty self-governance, experience in completing the survey, the positive use of data for departments, and the expectation that faculty are required to complete the survey for an external governing board. Faculty on one large state-supported midwestern university were asked how they felt about the workload survey administered on campus and whether the NCHEMS' factors were related to their acceptance of the survey. Multivariate analysis and a path model helped to analyze and interpret faculty responses to a questionnaire administered by this author. Results upheld one of the four NCHEMS relationships, namely, that a positive attitude toward a survey is related to perceived value of the data for allocating faculty resources and communication in the department. Several practical and methodological considerations are reviewed to extend research on faculty acceptance.     

大学管理中的几个基本概念

大学经营中有许多概念与管理有关,如管理活动的环节中的计划、组织、引导、调控,管理人员的能力中的沟通能力、自我管理能力,领导者的领导技巧和态度等。探讨大学管理活动中管理人员应尽的职责以及成为领导者所需要的基本技能和领导者应有的领导技巧与正确态度,时间管理与沟通在大学管理过程中的地位和重要性,对于你成为一名出色的管理人员具有重要作用。     

Big girls don't cry: the effect of child witness demeanor on juror decisions in a child sexual abuse trial

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effect of child witness demeanor (defined as crying) on mock jurors' decisions in a simulated First-Degree rape trial. METHOD: One hundred and thirty-three undergraduates serving in the role of mock jurors read a trial summary in which the primary independent variable was the demeanor of the alleged child victim (i.e., calm, teary, hysterical crying). In addition to reading the summary, participants viewed pencil drawings of the witnesses that were presented as "courtroom drawings." RESULTS: The results showed that the teary condition led to more guilty verdicts and a greater belief in the alleged victim than the other demeanor conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study indicate that demeanor can impact the perception of a child who is an alleged sexual assault victim in court. However, it is not simply the case that any display of demeanor will lead to a positive outcome for the alleged victim. Instead, it appears that too little or too much emotion from the alleged child victim negatively affected credibility in the eyes of the mock jurors.