How the admission criteria to a competitive-entry undergraduate programme could be improved

The introduction of a new standards-based secondary school assessment system, the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), necessitated significant changes to the admissions processes for New Zealand universities, particularly for competitive-entry programmes such as medicine, engineering and pharmacy. Selection to such programmes was traditionally based on marks or grades in designated science subjects. Under NCEA, the emphasis changed to the number of credits obtained. This article uses the case of pharmacy at The University of Auckland to examine whether the admission criteria under NCEA are ‘fit for purpose’ in terms of academic progression during the degree. The negative consequences of students having to repeat courses are both academic and financial. Using data from six cohorts of NCEA entrants to the Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) degree, the findings of this study clearly suggest that the best predictor of course success, measured by not failing courses, is the NCEA Grade Point Average. This is at variance with the current practice for admission to pharmacy and other limited-entry degrees which rely on prerequisite courses and the number of NCEA Credits gained. These results suggest that a reappraisal of admissions processes for pharmacy and similar programmes is required.     

Exploring Person Fit with an Approach Based on Multilevel Logistic Regression

The idea that test scores may not be valid representations of what students know, can do, and should learn next is well known. Person fit provides an important aspect of validity evidence. Person fit analyses at the individual student level are not typically conducted and person fit information is not communicated to educational stakeholders. In this study, we focus on a promising method for detecting and conveying person fit for large-scale educational assessments. This method uses multilevel logistic regression (MLR) to model the slopes of the person response functions, a potential source of person misfit for IRT models. We apply the method to a representative sample of students who took the writing section of the SAT (N = 19,341). The findings suggest that the MLR approach is useful for providing supplemental evidence of model–data fit in large-scale educational test settings. MLR can be useful for detecting general misfit at global and individual levels. However, as with other model–data fit indices, the MLR approach is limited in providing information regarding only some types of person misfit.     

A Conspiracy of Fishes,or, How We Learned to Stop Worrying About #GamerGate and Embrace Hegemonic Masculinity

Recently, the margins between gaming and feminism have become increasingly contentious (Salter & Blodgett, 2012 Salter, A., & Blodgett, B. (2012). Hypermasculinity & Dickwolves: The contentious role of women in the new gaming public. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 56, 401–416. doi:10.1080/08838151.2012.705199[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]). This article addresses a cultural moment where masculine gaming culture became aware of and began responding to feminist game scholars by analyzing GamerGate conspiracy documents and social media discussions related to the now infamous “DiGRA fishbowl.” Worries about the opacity of academic practices and a disparaging of feminist knowledge-making practices dominate these documents. By looking at these discussions and practices through the lens of conspiracy theories (Fenster, 2008 Fenster, M. (2008). Conspiracy theories: Secrecy and power in American culture (2nd edition). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]; Hofstadter, 1952 Hofstadter, R. (1952). The paranoid style in American politics and other essays. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [Google Scholar]) and counterknowledge (Fiske, 1994 Fiske, J. (1994). Blackstream knowledge: Genocide. In Media matters: Everyday culture and political change. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]) we consider the broader meaning of GamerGate's attention to academia.     

游在石油中……

过去一段时间，人们关注的焦点毫无例外地聚集在墨西哥湾沿岸，因为泄漏的石油已经开始被冲上岸边的海滩和湿地。但是就在上周，当我潜入距离路易斯安那州南部的帕斯阿卢特湿地几英里远的浮油层时，我可以从另一种方式来看这次石油泄漏带来的后果。我亲眼目睹的是一个极为离奇、极为恶心的场景，它远远超出我可以想象到的程度。     

An integrated assessment of the effects of Title I on school behavior,resources, and student achievement

We examine the effects of Title I on school behavior, resources, and academic performance using a rich set of school finance and student-level achievement data from one large urban school district using a regression discontinuity design. We find that Title I eligibility raises Federal revenues of schools by about $460 per student. This is partially offset by decreases in revenues from state categorical aid grants, so that the net increase to schools is about $360 per student. We find no impact on overall school-level test scores, but also no impact among the subgroups of students most likely to be affected by Title I. A novel finding is that schools appear to respond to the incentives embedded in the Title I allocation process by manipulating the fraction of their students signed up for free lunch to secure more Federal funds.     

“Everyone rolls up their sleeves and mucks in”: Exploring volunteers’ motivation and experiences of the motivational climate of a sporting event

Research examining volunteer motivation and satisfaction has been criticised for the limited explanation of the cognitive and social processes that may underpin the proposed relationships among motivation, satisfaction, performance and retention (Costa, C.A., Chalip, L., Green, B.C., & Simes, C. (2006). Reconsidering the role of training in event volunteers’ satisfaction. Sport Management Review, 9(2), 165–182.; Cuskelly, G., Hoye, R., & Auld, C. (2006). Working with volunteers in sport. Theory and practice. London: Routledge.). Self-determination theory (SDT) (Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.; Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. (2000a) has proven useful in both for- and not-for-profit domains (e.g., Baard, P.P. (1994). A motivational basis for consulting with not-for-profit organizations: A study of church growth and participation. Consulting Psychology Journal, 46(3), 19–31.; Deci, E.L., Connell, J.P., & Ryan, R.M. (1989). Self-determination in a work organisation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74(4), 580–590.; Hollembeak, J., & Amorose, A. J. (2005). Percevied coaching behaviors and college athletes’ intrinsic motivation: A test of self-determination theory. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 17(1), 20–36.) and appears particularly suited to understanding volunteer motivation. Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.). Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine sport event volunteers’ motivation and experiences of the motivational climate at a large sport event using self-determination theory. The participants were volunteers at the NZ Master's Games held biannually in Dunedin, NZ. They participated in focus group interviews in which their experiences as volunteers at the event were discussed. In general, the findings support tenets of self-determination theory. Participants reported intrinsic motivation toward volunteering but also forms of extrinsic motivation toward some volunteer tasks. With regard to the motivational climate, volunteers experienced support for their autonomy, and felt that their competence and sense of relatedness were fostered. These findings suggest that SDT is a viable framework for examining volunteer motivation.