Developing a road performance index using a Bayesian belief network model

There is a high demand to develop and incorporate decision support tools, by the transportation sectors and other concerned agencies, to improve their infrastructure assets management under shrinking budgets and increasing demands. This paper develops a proof-of-concept Bayesian belief network (BBN) model to rank roads in a network system based on several key performance indicators (KPI) using a probabilistic framework. For a given road network, the proposed tool is capable of ranking or prioritizing the segment of roads for high level management objectives. To demonstrate the application of the proposed model, various scenarios are elaborated and discussed in detail. Finally, the sensitivity analysis is carried out to evaluate the effects of different KPIs.     

BOOK REVIEW

The application of total quality management (TQM) to the college classroom has been hotly debated. Those critical of its use argue that it is too confining and would stifle academic creativity. Such assessments are self‐defeating and encourage educators to turn their backs on a useful tool before even attempting to use it. Properly used according to the methods described herein, TQM can be effective in the classroom and prove to be a valuable augmentation to traditional academic planning methods     

Noncredit Program Data Collection at Community Colleges: A Scoping Review

ABSTRACT

Noncredit enrollment at community colleges has grown significantly over the past two decades. However, unlike credit bearing programs, noncredit programs are seldomly empirically examined and evaluated, particularly those that are not grant funded. The lack of data results in a gap in knowledge about program effectiveness, as well as the students who participate in noncredit programs, it is difficult to objectively discuss the effectiveness of programs and develop valid policies to support them. This paper specifically aims to: (a) map the relevant literature regarding noncredit program data collection; (b) summarize existing knowledge about data collection processes; and (c) identify existing knowledge gaps in what is known about noncredit data collection. An established five stage process for conducting a scoping review guided the process: (a) identifying the research question; (b) identifying the related body of literature; (c) study selection; (d) presenting of data; and lastly, (e) collating, summarizing, and reporting results. The majority of data collected were head counts, types of courses offered and minimal demographic information. The results also show that, despite higher enrollments and the popularity of programs, there is a lack of comprehensive information on student needs. Thus, it is crucial to develop a standardized data collection system for all noncredit programs; collect data at a student level; and provide more detailed information regarding enrollment, completion, and outcomes such as employment and wage gains, as well as qualitative factors such as student satisfaction.     

International Communications

Alan P.L. Liu, Communications and National Integration in Communist China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971—$8.50)

Hamid Mowlana's International Communication: A Selected Bibliography (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1971—$3.75, paper)

Joan Bakewell and Nicholas Garnham, The New Priesthood: British Television Today, (London: Penguin Press, 1970—about $7.00)

Michel Verhayden, La Radio-Television Face Au Pouvior: L'experience Belge (Louvain: Universities Catholique, Centre des Techniques de Diffusion, 1970—$5.20, paper)     

World Communication

GLOBAL INFORMATION AND WORLD COMMUNICATION: NEW FRONTIERS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS by Hamid Mowlana (New York.: Longman, 1986—price not given)

IBM VS. JAPAN: THE STRUGGLE FOR THE FUTURE by Robert Sobel (Briarcliff Manor, NY: Stein & Day, 1986—$18.95)

TELECOMMUNICATIONS—ASIA, AMERICAS, PACIFIC: PTC '86 PROCEEDINGS edited by Dan J. Uedemeyer (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986—$45.00, paper)

JAPANESE-U.S. SPACE POLICY ISSUES: COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE AND LAUNCH VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY by Neil W. Davis (Information Resources Policy Program, Harvard University, 200 Aiken, Cambridge, MA 01238—price not given, paper)

FROM TELECOMMUNICATIONS TO ELECTRONIC SERVICES: A GLOBAL SPECTRUM OF DEFINITIONS, BOUNDARY LINES AND STRUCTURES by Robert Bruce, et al (for information contact International Institute of Communications, Tavistock House South, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9LF)     

Courses for teaching leadership capacity in professional engineering degrees in Australia and Europe

Recently, many educational institutions across the globe have implemented engineering leadership programmes either as a part of a formal engineering curriculum or where leadership development is embedded into separate in-house programmes. This shows the clear intent of these educational institutions to prepare their engineering students for solving real-world problems, recognising that both technical and leadership skills are valuable for tomorrow's engineers. Leadership programmes in engineering education have been implemented in various formats with varying degrees of success. It has already been identified in research studies that 80–90% of engineering leadership programmes offered explicitly across the globe were based in the United States of America. However, in Europe and Australia, there is a noticeable lack of engineering leadership programmes, particularly in undergraduate curricula. The programmes that are offered across Australia and Europe have distinct design and delivery styles but there are certain key features that are common to most of the programmes, including professional partnerships, mentoring, engineering design and project-based approaches.     

Relationship between parenting styles and academic performance of adolescents: mediating role of self-efficacy

The literature supports the importance of parenting styles that are necessary to fulfill the developmental needs of the children and eventually improve their quality of life. Baumrind’s typology of parenting styles was used. There are many studies that examined the relationship of parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles) and academic performance, but there is lack of measurement of the relationship with respect to Pakistan. Current study analyzed the relationship of parenting styles and academic performance along with self-efficacy as mediating variable. Sample of the study consists of 313 university students from four academic departments. Measures included the parenting styles and self-efficacy. GPA was taken as a measure of academic performance of adolescents. Self-reported questionnaire was used to take the response from students. With the help of structural equation modeling, structural model was tested. Results of the study indicate that parenting styles individually have no significant relationship with the academic performance. In addition to this, self-efficacy only mediates the relationship of authoritative parenting style and academic performance. It can be concluded that self-efficacy in individuals is an important attribute necessary for the psychological development of the adolescents. Self-efficacy enhances the individual’s confidence to progress. There is a need to conduct more research on the relationship of parenting styles and academic performance in Pakistan. Implications for parents, teachers, are discussed.     

Early career researchers and their authorship and peer review beliefs and practices: An international study

This article reports on the findings of an international online survey of early career researchers (ECRs) with regard to their authorship and peer review, attitudes, and practices, which sought to discover how the new wave of researchers were utilizing these key aspects of the scholarly communications system. A questionnaire was developed on the back of a 3‐year longitudinal, qualitative study and was distributed through publisher lists, social media networks, university networks, and specialist ECR membership organizations. Identical English, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, and French versions of the questionnaire were used. Results from 1,600 respondents demonstrated that 82.7% had co‐authored a paper, and most had performed a variety of authorship tasks. Almost half the respondents reported being subject to various authorship policies, although a quarter said they were not aware of any such policies. Almost all Chinese ECRs reported being subject to authorship policies, but only a third of UK ECRs reported the same. Three‐quarters of ECRs had experience in responding to peer review, and half had been peer reviewers. Half the respondents had a good experience of review and viewed it as a valuable way to improve their authorship skills. However, there was some criticism of some shortcoming such as lengthy peer review and superficial or uninformed comments by reviewers. Double‐blind review was the preferred methodology, and there were few suggestions for how to improve the review process.     

The impact of open access publishing (and other access initiatives) on use and users of digital scholarly journals

Oxford University Press moved one of its most prestigious journals, Nucleic Acids Research (NAR), to a full open access (OA), author‐pays publishing model in January 2005. A deep log analysis study was carried out in order to determine the impact of this move to OA on the use and users of the journal. Surprisingly the findings showed that although there was a 143% increase in use from early 2003 to January 2005, it was search engines and robots that accounted for a high proportion of the increased use. Robots were responsible for half of sessions in the second quarter of 2005, compared to 1% in the second quarter of 2003.