MBA Students’ Quality Improvement: The Correlation Analysis of Students’ Personal Traits and Attitudes towards Teaching Methods at a Chinese University

MBA education has become the fastest growing segment of education in China in recent years and a segment that can now be considered indispensible. However, how best to teach it has long been a source of debate. One of the key issues is how to match student traits with teaching methods. While engaged as teachers of marketing management, the authors collected data by questionnaire, carried out empirical research and data comparison, and undertook contingency analysis. It was found that different personal traits in students lead to different attitudes towards teaching methods. A student’s major in college, gender, and sector of employment has little influence on attitudes towards teaching methods, while age, the most sensitive factor, plays the biggest role, followed by job and class. Therefore, these factors should be taken into consideration when arranging classes, developing the curriculum, and planning teaching methods.     

The deployment,training and teacher relationships of teaching assistants supporting pupils with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in mainstream secondary schools

Growing numbers of pupils with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are attending mainstream schools, and increasing numbers of additional staff are being deployed to support them. Recent research has cast doubt on the effectiveness of this support, by highlighting issues relating to deployment and training, and to relationships with class teachers. This study, conducted by Wendy Symes, who is a Research Associate at the University of Manchester, and Neil Humphrey, who is Professor of Education in the same university, interviewed 15 teaching assistants supporting pupils with ASD in four mainstream secondary schools in the north‐west of England to explore these issues. Analysis yielded several key findings. The majority of teaching assistants worked with just one pupil at a time and worked in a variety of lessons. Their role primarily involved helping pupils to stay focused and follow instructions. Many teaching assistants had no experience of ASD prior to starting their job. The amount of training received varied, but all felt that generic training about ASD was not helpful. A lack of time for joint planning with teachers was raised as a key concern. These findings are discussed in relation to the growing literature on inclusive education for pupils with ASD.