Practical training and internships in engineering education: Educational goals and assessment

In many engineering curricula a period of practical training in industry is either compulsory or advised. Often the educational goals of such a period are defined as 'learning to put knowledge and skills into practice'. The assessment is usually based on a technical report of the activities during the period. In this paper, how the definition of educational objectives led to the introduction of practical training is discussed. These objectives are acquiring insight in the engineering profession, learning to 'survive' in a different culture and learning to apply as well as broadening technical knowledge and skills. Furthermore, an assessment procedure is introduced which allows for testing whether the students have met the objectives.     

体育多种评价方法的比较研究

运用相关系数的归一化、标准百分的类比和多类多级判别分析的理论方法，分析于娟推铅球的专项素质对专项成绩影响的重要性大小排序，其排序的评价结果较一致。对这3种方法作为评价手段进行相互比较，相关系数的归一化评价方法较其它2种评价方法合理。     

Exploring the Causal Effect of Interpretation Bias on Attachment Expectations

Attachment theory implies that children's inclination to interpret attachment figures behavior as supportive and available causally influences children's trust in their attachment figure's availability. An experiment was conducted to test whether training children (8–12 years old) to interpret ambiguous interactions with their mothers in a more secure way increases their trust in their mother's availability. Participants (N = 49) were randomly assigned to either a secure condition to train children to interpret their mother's behavior as supportive or a neutral placebo condition, where interpretations were unrelated to maternal support. Results supported the hypothesis: After the secure training, children interpreted maternal behavior more securely and trusted more in her availability. This suggests that attachment‐related processing biases causally affect attachment expectations.     

Organisational communication and its relationships with job satisfaction and organisational commitment of primary school staff in Western Australia

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between aspects of organisational communication and dimensions of job satisfaction and general organisational commitment. Participants were 358 staff members from 35 government primary schools in the state of Western Australia, who completed a survey comprising the Organisational Communication in Primary Schools Questionnaire, the Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire and a five item general organisational commitment scale. Factor analyses established 13 aspects of job satisfaction and 9 dimensions of job satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate interrelationships. The findings suggest several aspects of organisational communication were related to job satisfaction and organisational commitment. This article concludes with implications for future research with regard to communication and for the maintenance of optimal levels of job satisfaction and commitment in schools.     

Ahead of the pack? Explaining the unequal distribution of scholarships in Germany

This article investigates to what extent scholarships are unequally distributed among students in Germany and how these inequalities can be explained. Following sociological theory, the article argues that elites seek qualitative ways of distinguishing themselves in a mass higher education system. Using student surveys, we demonstrate that class effects cannot merely be explained with reference to class differences in academic achievement but that higher classes have better access to scholarships independent of earlier school performance. Class differences were particularly persistent when the intermediate classes were compared with higher classes with more education. These findings illustrate that social classes have different strategies when it comes to participating in higher education and suggest that information about and access to scholarships is important in gaining a class advantage.     

Critical action learning: a method or strategy for peer supervision of coaching practice

This paper deals with the on-going practice of a critical action learning set who come together to meet their needs for coaching supervision as a group of executive coaches working from, and within, the University sector in South Wales. The reasons for the successes of, and the challenges around, this practice of four years standing have been articulated using an academic backdrop. The use of multi-factorial supervision has been heralded as being able to give a more rounded form of supervision which, despite its challenges, has, in this example, stood the test of time. Further data are required to try to understand if this form of supervision provides better coaching to the executive field in South Wales and beyond, and what can be learnt from the practice of supervision in general.     

Identifying and addressing themes of job dissatisfaction for secondary principals

Secondary principals serve in important roles that are complex, high-stress, and include demanding job responsibilities. Key stakeholders such as superintendents, school board members, and legislators must understand the challenges facing secondary principals in order to address the current themes of job dissatisfaction. Using new survey data compiled from 176 secondary principals across a state in the Midwest United States, this study shows four themes of job dissatisfaction are plaguing secondary principals: high job demands with unreasonable expectations, managing difficult stakeholders, problematic work/life balance, and lack of support. This study concludes with practical suggestions to address each theme of job dissatisfaction.