Mapping Stakeholder Perceptions of the Importance of Environmental Issues and the Success in Delivery: A university case study

Environmental responsibility has become a major theme for universities. Most have an Environment Committee that advises their top administrators on practical approaches to enhancing environmental practices and education in the university with a broad mandate to develop a University Environment Policy and Implementation Strategy. An essential input into this process is the response from stakeholders to the performance of the policy and the strategy in terms of actions that are seen as both important to stakeholders and successful in achieving the desired outcomes. While not denying that stakeholders' perceptions may not reflect the actual environmental benefits of a policy, these perceptions are often influential in establishing the effectiveness and acceptability of a suite of environmental strategies. This paper focuses on establishing a framework within which a university can identify how important an issue is to stakeholders and track how successful it has been in addressing the issues of importance. A specific focus is placed on the mapping of these perceptions with each stakeholder segment to reveal the relative degrees of support. As part of the development of the University of Sydney's Environment Policy, the Institute of Transport Studies was commissioned to undertake a survey to identify the views of the university's key stakeholders on a number of environmental issues.     

Bringing Guidance Research and Practice Closer Together: The UK National Guidance Research Forum Website

This article outlines the development of a website in the UK that seeks to bring guidance research and practice closer together. The shared knowledge base underpinning the website was created from the contextualised problems faced by potential user groups (policy makers, managers, practitioners, students, trainees, researchers and trainers). Six expert groups, drawn from these user groups, looked at key issues related to their expertise and provided an on-line commentary on relevant documents and research findings. This developmental process represented a major contribution to research capacity building within the UK guidance community.

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Zusammenfassung. Forschung und Praxis der Berufsberatung näher zusammenbringen: Das Internet-Forum Berufsberatungsforschung in England Dieser Artikel stellt die Entwicklung eines Internetangebots in England vor, dessen Ziel es ist, die Forschung auf dem Gebiet der Berufsberatung und die Berufsberatungspraxis näher zueinander zu bringen. Die vereinigte Wissensbasis, auf der dieses Internetangebot beruht, wurde auf der Grundlage von kontextbezogenen Fragestellungen zusammengetragen, denen potenzielle Benutzergruppen (politische Entscheidungsträger, Führungskräfte von Beratungsdiensten, Berater, Studenten, Wissenschaftler, Lehrende und Lernende) gegenüberstehen. Sechs Expertengruppen, die diesen Benutzergruppen entsprechen, bewerteten zentrale Aspekte und erstellten einen Online-Kommentar zu wichtigen Dokumenten und Forschungsergebnissen. Dieser Entwicklungsprozess lieferte einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Weiterentwicklung der Leistungsfähigkeit der Forschung innerhalb des Berufsberatungsfeldes in England.

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Resumen. Acercando la Investigación y la Práctica de la Orientación: la Página Web del Foro Nacional de Investigación sobre Orientación del Reino Unido Este artículo describe el proceso de desarrollo de una página Web en el Reino Unido que busca un mayor acercamiento entre la investigación y la práctica de la orientación. La base de conocimientos que fundamenta los contenidos de la página se ha creado a partir de la contextualización de los problemas a los que se enfrentan diversos grupos de usuarios potenciales (responsables de las políticas, gestores, orientadores en ejercicio, estudiantes, orientadores en formación, investigadores, y formadores). Seis grupos de expertos, provenientes de estos grupos de usuarios, examinaron algunas cuestiones fundamentales relacionadas con su campo de experiencia, e hicieron comentarios on-line sobre documentos relevantes y resultados de investigación. Este proceso de desarrollo ha supuesto una gran contribución y un importante avance en la construcción de la capacidad investigadora dentro de la comunidad orientadora del Reino Unido.

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Résumé. Approcher la recherche et la pratique en orientation: le site Web du forum de la recherche nationale britannique en orientation Cet article décrit le développement d’un site Web au R-U qui cherche à rapprocher la recherche et la pratique en orientation. La base de connaissances partagées qui sous-tend le site Web a été créée à partir de problèmes contextualisés face auxquels des groupes d’utilisateurs potentiels (décideurs, directeurs, praticiens, étudiants, stagiaires, chercheurs et formateurs) peuvent se trouver. Six groupes d’experts, tirés de ces groupes d’utilisateurs, ont examiné les questions clés liées à leur expertise et fourni un commentaire en ligne sur la documentation pertinente et les résultats de la recherche. La mise en oeuvre de ce processus représente une contribution importante à l’élaboration d’un potentiel de recherche au sein de la communauté britannique de l’orientation.

     

Mexican American Mothers’ Conceptualization of Autonomy Support and Psychological Control in the Context of Cultural Values

This qualitative study explored the intertwining relationships among the concepts of parental autonomy support, parental control, and cultural values for Mexican American families. The study was guided by the following questions: (1) What elements of parental autonomy support are identified in Mexican American parents’ involvement in their children’s academic performance? (2) How do Mexican American parents conceptualize “autonomy support” and “parental control”? Sixteen Mexican American mothers expressed their own goals and strategies for home-based parental involvement to support their adolescents’ academic performance, and responded to the prototypes of autonomy support parenting and use of psychological control. Four themes emerged from the data to explain the participants’ practice: (1) Explain the expectations for behavioral and academic pursuit through persistent “telling” and “reminding”; (2) Respond to children’s feelings from parents’ perspectives; (3) Encourage with provisions, praises, and criticisms; and (4) Allow choices upon trust in child’s sense of responsibility. Discussion is focused on how Mexican-American mothers’ conceptualization of “autonomy support” and “parental control” is influenced by the cultural values of educación and respeto. Culturally appropriate autonomy support training is suggested for effective intervention programs for Mexican-American parents.     

A case for written examinations in undergraduate medical education: experiences with modified essay examinations

Abstract

A modified essay is an open-ended question about clinical presentations, with the goal to test application of basic science principles to novel scenarios. Due to high reliability and validity, multiple-choice question (MCQ) examinations are more commonly used. We have employed a combination of MCQ and modified essay examinations in medical school. The correlation between MCQ and modified essay grades is positive but small, suggesting they may be testing different cognitive levels/skills. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of a non-graded mock modified essay on student’s performance and satisfaction, and outline our best practices. We have found that it is important to involve faculty from multiple disciplines to construct robust cases, and to review examinations and rubrics. The mock modified essay resulted in higher performance and student satisfaction, and fewer students’ comments related to subjectivity, frustration and anxiety. Yet, there was not an improvement in confidence. Moreover, there was no correlation between grades in the mock and graded modified essays, suggesting that the mock modified essay may not be useful to predict academic performance. Yet, the incorporation of a mock modified essay was useful to clarify expectations and provide guidance, potentially reducing the anxiety induced by an unfamiliar assessment.     

Teachers’ beliefs and intentions concerning teaching in higher education

A questionnaire measuring nine different aspects of teachers’ beliefs and intentions concerning teaching in higher education was distributed to teachers at four institutions in the United Kingdom, yielding 638 complete sets of responses. There was a high degree of overlap between the participants’ scores on the subscales measuring beliefs and intentions, and analyses of both sets of scores yielded two factors reflecting an orientation towards learning facilitation and an orientation towards knowledge transmission. However, teachers’ intentions were more orientated towards knowledge transmission than were their beliefs, and problem solving was associated with beliefs based on learning facilitation but with intentions based on knowledge transmission. Differences in teachers’ intentions across different disciplines and between men and women seemed to result from different conceptions of teaching, whereas differences in teachers’ intentions across different institutions and between teachers with different levels of teaching experience seemed to result from contextual factors. Teaching intentions thus reflect a compromise between teachers’ conceptions of teaching and their academic and social contexts     

EVALUATING COURSES

As institutions of Higher Education face up to current legislation, there is a growing pressure on them to clarify and establish their processes of monitoring and enhancing standards. This paper proposes that it is of benefit to institutions when they move from being merely reactive in meeting others’ performance indicators towards taking a proactive approach and developing their own system of review. The authors draw on their experience of applying personal construct theory to present a deliberative evaluation process which involves staff and student perspectives in collaborative review. The authors’ acknowledge the interest and financial support given by the CNAA in the production of an evaluation kit of which an adaptation of this paper forms a part. Further details of the kit (video and supporting booklet) can be obtained from one of the authors at the College of S. Mark and S. John, Derriford Road, Plymouth PL6 8BH.     

Lights,Camera, Action: Facilitating the Design and Production of Effective Instructional Videos

This paper outlines a rudimentary process intended to guide faculty in K-12 and higher education through the steps involved to produce video for their classes. The process comprises four steps: planning, development, delivery and reflection. Each step is infused with instructional design information intended to support the collaboration between instructional support staff and faculty to produce video that will be meaningful to students and support their success in a class. In outlining this approach, the paper also explores technological and pedagogical considerations related to each of these steps that can help faculty and staff determine how best to incorporate video into online classes. Finally, supported by research on best video practices and with examples from our own experiences as instructional designers and instructors, the paper outlines how these steps relate to four broad categories of video: introduce, model, explain/inform and feedback.