Changes in reports and incidence of child abuse following natural disasters

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research was to investigate if there is a higher incidence of child abuse following major natural disasters. METHODOLOGY: Child abuse reports and substantiations were analyzed, by county, for 1 year before and after Hurricane Hugo, the Loma Prieta Earthquake. and Hurricane Andrew. Counties were included if damage was widespread, the county was part of a presidential disaster declaration, and if there was a stable data collection system in place. RESULTS: Based on analyses of numbers, rates, and proportions, child abuse reports were disproportionately higher in the quarter and half year following two of the three disaster events (Hurricane Hugo and Loma Prieta Earthquake). CONCLUSIONS: Most, but not all, of the evidence presented indicates that child abuse escalates after major disasters. Conceptual and methodological issues need to be resolved to more conclusively answer the question about whether or not child abuse increases in the wake of natural disasters. Replications of this research are needed based on more recent disaster events.     

Secondary school teachers’ perspectives on teaching about topics that bridge science and religion

The question of where to locate teaching about the relationships between science and religion has produced a long-running debate. Currently, science and religious education (RE) are statutory subjects in England and are taught in secondary schools by different teachers. This paper reports on an interview study in which 16 teachers gave their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities when teaching topics that bridge science and religion and the extent to which they collaborated with teachers in the other subject areas. We found that in this sample, teachers reported very little collaboration between the curriculum areas. Although the science curriculum makes no mention of religion, all the science teachers said that their approaches to such topics were affected by their recognition that some pupils held religious beliefs. All the RE teachers reported struggling to ensure students know of a range of views about how science and religion relate. The paper concludes with a discussion about implications for curriculum design and teacher training.     

Introducing an observational measure of standards-based mathematics teaching practices: Evidence of validity and score reliability

The purpose of this study is to introduce a measure of standards-based mathematics teaching practices, the Mathematics Scan (M-Scan), and to examine its validity and score reliability. First, we define standards-based mathematics teaching practices based on eight dimensions that have emerged in recent conceptualizations by researchers and in the context of existing observational measures. Second, we present three sources of validity evidence: content review by experts, analysis of response processes of coders, and convergent and discriminant patterns with existing observational measures. Third, we provide evidence of inter-coder (or inter-rater) reliability through analyses of variance components and calculation of reliability coefficients, using the framework of generalizability theory. Results show the M-Scan holds promise as a useful tool in mathematics education research, measuring indicators of standards-based teaching practices unique to the subject of mathematics.     

Internationalisation in higher education in Latin America: policies and practice in Colombia and Mexico

There is now an extensive literature about internationalisation in higher education. However, much of the research relates to North America and Europe. This paper is concerned with internationalisation in Latin America and seeks to consider perceptions and experiences in Colombia and Mexico, and to compare practice in the public and private sectors. Based on detailed analysis of interviews with senior managers in six universities, the paper shows a growing level of activity, with some increasing levels of planning and strategy. Important differences are identified in the response of public and private universities, reflecting funding differences and freedom to determine institutional priorities.     

Starting with ABC and finishing with XYZ: what financial reporting model best fits a faculty and why?

This article looks at the range of financial reporting models available for use in the Australian higher education sector, the possible application of activity-based costing (ABC) in faculties and the eventual rejection of ABC in favour of a more qualitative model designed specifically for use in one institution, in a particular Faculty. The decision not to implement ABC in the Faculty is examined, looking to the overall purpose and outcomes of Faculty activities. The broader question will be asked, what kinds of obstacles are likely to sound the death knell for ABC use in universities?     

A Framework for Teaching Epistemic Insight in Schools

This paper gives the rationale and a draft outline for a framework for education to teach epistemic insight into schools in England. The motivation to research and propose a strategy to teach and assess epistemic insight followed research that investigated how students and teachers in primary and secondary schools respond to big questions about the nature of reality and human personhood. The research revealed that there are pressures in schools that dampen students’ expressed curiosity in these types of questions and limit their developing epistemic insight into how science, religion and the wider humanities relate. These findings prompted the construction of a framework for education for students aged 5–16 designed to encourage students’ expressed interest in big questions and develop their understanding of the ways that science interacts with other ways of knowing. The centrepiece of the framework is a sequence of learning objectives for epistemic insight, organised into three categories. The categories are, firstly, the nature of science in real world contexts and multidisciplinary arenas; secondly, ways of knowing and how they interact; and thirdly, the relationships between science and religion. Our current version of the Framework is constructed to respond to the way that teaching is organised in England. The key principles and many of the activities could be adopted and tailored to work in many other countries.     

A cross‐disciplinary literature review: Examining trust on virtual teams

Effective and efficient teams communicate, collaborate, and perform, even if these teams are not co‐located. Although much is known about enabling effectiveness on face‐to‐face teams, considerably less is known about similarly enabling effectiveness on virtual teams. Yet the use of virtual teams is common and will likely become more commonplace as organizations continue to update and use increasingly sophisticated technology. Cohort and individual trust between team members is a significant component on most effective teams, virtual or face‐to‐face. This paper examines research on virtual teams and trust across disciplines, including management, e‐learning, business communication, decision making, human resource management, psychology, and IT, to identify major characteristics that increase our knowledge of how to establish and maintain trust in the virtual environment and on virtual teams.