The ceiling to coproduction in university–industry research collaboration

The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into government attempts at bridging the divide between theory and practice through university–industry research collaboration modelled under engaged scholarship. The findings are based on data sourced from interviews with 47 academic and industry project leaders from 23 large-scale research projects. The paper demonstrates a ceiling to the coproduction of knowledge arising from the preconceived beliefs of both academics and industry partners regarding project roles and responsibilities. The findings show that coproduction was constrained by academic partners assuming control over much of the research activities and industry partners failing to confront or challenge academic decision-making because both academics and industry partners placed a higher value on academic knowledge compared with applied or practical knowledge. It is argued the theory of engaged scholarship, and consequent initiatives to encourage engaged scholarship, fail to account for the superior status of academic knowledge.     

Science Teachers’ Representations of Classroom Practice in the Process of Formative Assessment Design

Formative assessment has been recognized as an essential element of effective classroom practice; as a result, teachers are increasingly required to create formative assessments for their classrooms. This study examines data drawn from a long-term, site-based professional development program that supported a department of biology teachers in the iterative design and enactment of common formative assessment tools. We analyze teacher conversations to understand how teachers collaborated to design formative assessments. Results indicate that when teachers attended to problems of practice related to teaching evolution, increased transparency in their talk helped build consensus about the design of formative assessment tools. These results highlight the importance of encouraging transparency in teacher dialog when they are engaged in collaborative design of formative assessments.     

Campus Strategic Action in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fisher</Emphasis> Case: Organizational Stakeholder Advocacy Across the Field of Higher Education

Using a census sampling, this analysis evaluates the campus structures and practices that are predictive of a campus being affiliated with stakeholder legal advocacy regarding the Fisher Supreme Court affirmative action case of 2013. Findings reveal that a campus utilizing selective admissions operated as a sufficient, but not a necessary, requirement to prompt stakeholders to take a legal position in the case. Also, campuses that enrolled and graduated the largest percentages of nonwhite students were inclined to have stakeholders submit amicus briefs advocating support for UT-Austin and the use of race in selective college admissions.     

An Alternate Multiple-Choice Scoring Procedure in a Macroeconomics Course

In the standard scoring procedure for multiple‐choice exams, students must choose exactly one response as correct. Often students may be unable to identify the correct response, but can determine that some of the options are incorrect. This partial knowledge is not captured in the standard scoring format. The Coombs elimination procedure is an alternate scoring procedure designed to capture partial knowledge. This paper presents the results of a semester‐long experiment where both scoring procedures were compared on four exams in an undergraduate macroeconomics course. Statistical analysis suggests that the Coombs procedure is a viable alternative to the standard scoring procedure. Implications for classroom instruction and future research are also presented.     

Comparing Research and Teaching in University Promotion Criteria

This article categorises the different criteria and weightings used to determine promotions in UK universities. The criteria were analysed to determine the extent to which they recognise research and teaching equally as evidence for promotion. The results show that universities have largely adopted formal parity in the criteria for senior and principal lecturers. However, for the higher and more prestigious ranks of reader and professor most universities exclusively require research excellence and do not allow similar applications based on teaching activities. Furthermore, there is a distinct and significant difference between promotion criteria in pre- and post-1992 universities, with the post-1992 universities much more likely to recognise research and teaching equally.     

Using Community-Based Research to Improve BSW Students’ Learning in Community Practice: Bringing the Macro into Focus for Traditional and Distance Learners

This article describes community–university partnership building, course development/management, and evaluation outcomes related to an intensive community-based research project that was integrated in two sections of an undergraduate course on community practice. Pre- and posttest data were collected from 60 BSW students who were enrolled in community practice and who participated in a community-based research project with their state’s fair housing office. The evaluation outcomes focus on changes in professional interest in macro practice, students’ self-efficacy, and differences in students’ learning experiences, based on traditional bricks-and-mortar or distance learning contexts. Results show that students experience increases in self-efficacy related to community assessment and intervention. Qualitative results show that students experienced shifts in their professional goals related to macro practice, increased competence and understanding, and personal transformation. A number of differences emerged between traditional and distance learners. Results are discussed in the context of curriculum development and next steps for institutionalizing CBR in community practice courses.     

College Counselor Attitudes Toward Spiritual and Religious Issues and Practices in Counseling

In this study, 86 mental health professionals employed in university counseling centers in the United States were surveyed on their attitudes toward discussing religious and spiritual topics and toward using religious and spiritual practices in counseling. These participants viewed the use and discussion of spiritual topics/practices more favorably than the use and discussion of religious topics/practices. Differences in attitudes toward specific topics and practices are reported, as are implications for practice.     

Measuring Parental Meta-Emotion: Psychometric Properties of the Emotion-Related Parenting Styles Self-Test

Parental meta-emotion, assessed through interviews, involves parents' philosophy about emotions and has been found to be related to parenting behaviors and children's emotional and social competence (e.g., Gottman, Katz, & Hooven, 1996; Katz & Windecker-Nelson, 2004). The Emotion-Related Parenting Styles Self-Test is a true-false (ERPSST-T/F) self-report version of the meta-emotion interview introduced in a parenting guidebook (Gottman, 1997). Although this test is user-friendly, its psychometric properties have not been evaluated. In the first study, 100 parents (89 mothers, 11 fathers) completed the ERPSST-T/F and evidence was found for the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the measure (Lee, Hakim-Larson, & Voelker, 2000). In the second study, 31 parents (21 mothers, 10 fathers) completed a Likert-type scale version of the ERPSST (ERPSST-Likert) and the internal consistency of the scales was improved. In addition, the scales were found to correlate in expected directions with other measures of parenting attitudes regarding children's emotional expressions, even after controlling for parent gender and social desirability. These findings provide some preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the ERPSST-Likert and provide support for further development of the instrument.     

When will a child be believed? The impact of the victim's age and juror's gender on children's credibility and verdict in a sexual-abuse case

OBJECTIVE: To provide insight into the central dimensions jurors may use when deciding a child victim's credibility and verdict. METHOD: Participants (N = 573) read a simulated trial (robbery or a sexual-assault case in which the defendant was either a stranger or an acquaintance) in which the alleged victim was either a 6- or 13-year-old girl. The trials were constructed to be as similar as possible with only minimal differences in the child's testimony. The supporting evidence was held constant across cases to allow for experimental assessment of the hypotheses. RESULTS: The defendant was more likely to be found guilty in the sexual-assault cases than in the robbery case. The child was perceived to be more credible, honest, and to have a better memory in the sexual-assault cases compared to the robbery case. Perceptions of memory and honesty predicted verdict and punishment. The child's age did not impact credibility or verdict. Finally, women, compared to men, perceived the child as more credible. CONCLUSIONS: Type of case was a potent factor in jurors' determination of guilt and the child's credibility. Contrary to expectations, neither the victim's age nor the interaction between this and type of case impacted verdict or credibility measures.