Bias hypotheses under scrutiny: investigating the validity of student assessment of university teaching by means of external observer ratings

To advance the discussion on the validity of student evaluations of university teaching, student ratings of two teaching dimensions – student involvement and rapport – were compared with corresponding observer ratings. Seven potential bias variables were tested with regard to their impact on the students’ teaching assessment: three teacher characteristics (first impression, enthusiasm, humour) and four student characteristics (prior interest, expected grades, study experience, class attendance). Bias was defined as an impediment of the students’ assessment of teaching on course level. By means of bivariate correlations with course averages and two-level latent moderated structural equations, data of 1,716 students in 80 courses were analysed. Results showed that all three teacher characteristics were genuinely connected to rapport, and even explained variance of the student-rated variable when controlling for observer-rated rapport. The assessment of student involvement was not modified by the teacher characteristics except for teacher enthusiasm, which affected the student evaluation when controlling for observed involvement and, moreover, moderated the relation between the observed and the student-rated variable. For the examined student characteristics, no biasing effects were found – neither on rapport nor on student involvement.     

Self-esteem as a predictor of future school achievement

Self-esteem as a predictor of future school achievement was studied in 1253 randomly selected adolescents. Self-esteem was assessed with the Coopersmith’s Self-Esteem questionnaire when the students started a Junior or Senior High School. School achievement was measured when they graduated. Self-esteem appeared to be a valid predictor of the future grade average. From the components of self-esteem, general self-esteem and home-parents predicted the future performance while social self correlated slightly negatively with school achievement. A gender based difference was found: in boys the role of self-esteem was similar in all school stages while in girls the self-esteem was more significant in a comprehensive (i.e. compulsory) school and its role decreased in the later, voluntary schooling.     

Different,yet similar: factors motivating international degree collaboration in higher education. The case of Finnish-Russian double degree programmes

ABSTRACT

The study investigates factors motivating universities to engage in international degree collaboration. The Finnish-Russian university framework is used as the locus for studying international collaboration. The paper employs resource dependency and institutional, stakeholder and market push and pull perspectives in a conceptual model explaining the drivers of international degree collaboration. The research focuses on the interaction of the various factors that motivate partners to seek international degree cooperation, possible sources of conflict, and issues of compatibility and complementarity. In particular, the study compares the roles of different stakeholders and the institutional contexts of Finland and Russia. The motives of the Finnish and Russian universities included in the study were found to be generally compatible, yet different enough to complement each other.     

Opportunities for professional learning dialogue generated by cross-phase collaboration in languages between primary and secondary initial teacher education students

School partnerships to manage transition between primary and secondary settings are well developed. However, studies show that some aspects of transition in Modern Languages leave much to be desired, as mentioned in a recently published report on KS3 provision ([Office for Standards in Education. 2015. “KS3: The Wasted Years?” https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/key-stage-3-the-wasted-years]), even if the importance of a seamless continuum to manage change effectively is clearly emphasised by policy makers and advocated by research. Addressing transition issues entails considering a myriad of parameters. Government policy and ‘good practice’ cannot be implemented without consideration for school characteristics and teachers’ professional circumstances and areas of expertise. The focus of this article lies on uncovering opportunities for professional learning offered by cross-phase collaboration between primary and secondary students on initial teacher training programmes. Students took part in a small-scale project and they were challenged to work collaboratively and to co-plan and co-teach a lesson to primary school pupils. The project investigated outcomes of collaboration for professional learning. Data, both quantitative and qualitative, were collected through questionnaires. Results showed the impact of collaboration on students’ self-awareness and awareness of their colleagues’ areas of developing expertise as well as implications for professional practice.     

Adult education in a workplace context: recognising production workers’ responses and partnership challenges

Abstract

This article is about a larger regional Swedish partnership programme that was established to develop site-based education for production workers. A partnership is seen as composed of different practice architectures. The actors involved represented larger transnational as well as smaller manufacturing companies, employers, the metal workers’ trade union, educational organizations, university researchers and public labour market authorities. Adult education teachers were engaged to act as leading action researchers on company-specific projects. The partnership programme is used here to illustrate the problem of supporting recognition under shifting partnership circumstances. The aim is to analyse enabling and constraining conditions affecting the teachers’ efforts as well as new possibilities that appeared as the partnership evolved over time. The article illustrates how the development of site-based education within a partnership framework means to develop a new practice that is very sensitive to local circumstances. It also shows how local meetings between people both enable and constrain, but also may open up a space for mutual recognition. A normative argument is that local spaces for mutual recognition need to be supported in a respectful way. Recognition of the particularities of each site is vital for this to happen.     

Stress and Resources in Vocational Problem Solving

By adapting the job demands-resources model of Demerouti et al. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512, (2001) to vocational problem-solving situations, we aimed to investigate how, and to what extent, problem-solving demands and personal resources affect stress responses and task interest. Therefore, we used a problem-solving task from the business administration domain in a computer-based office simulation. We assigned 58 participants into two groups. The treatment group worked on the problem scenario, whereas the control group was instructed to inspect the computer-based scenario and to check the software’s usability without solving the problem. Problem-solving demands, perceived stress, task interest, cardiovascular parameters, and cortisol concentration were assessed before, during and after the task at several time points. The vocational problem-solving task was associated with perceived time pressure, uncertainty, mental effort, task difficulty, and perceived stress. In addition, we found higher heart rate and cortisol concentration and lower heart rate variability values in the treatment group (compared to the control group) at the end of the task. Furthermore, we found that content knowledge buffers the impact of problem-solving demands on stress responses and it maintains task interest under high mental effort. Overall, we found evidence that vocational problem-solving activities bear stress-evoking potential and personal resources may provide buffering and maintaining functions.     

Citing as a sourcing practice: students’ citing self-selected online sources in their essays (Las citas como práctica del uso de las fuentes: las citas de fuentes en línea seleccionados por los estudiantes en sus trabajos)

ABSTRACT

This study examined upper secondary school students’ citations of self-selected online sources in their essays. Students (n = 140) conducted online inquiry about either effects of social media on people’s quality of life (SM) or allowance of genetic manipulation of organisms (GMO). Students, working either individually or in pairs, explored online sources with the help of a graphic organizer, after which they composed their essays. To capture the quality of citations identified in the essays, they were evaluated in terms of accuracy and richness of source features. Further, regression analysis was used to examine the effect of topic, grade level and work mode on the number and quality of citations. Results showed that students seldom cited sources in their essays, and when they did, citations were mostly accurate but less often rich in source features. When writing about SM, students most frequently cited media sources, while sources with ideological, political or religious motives were frequently cited in GMO essays. Students’ grades and work modes predicted the number of citations and number of accurate citations.     

Metacognition in joint discussions: an analysis of the patterns of interaction and the metacognitive content of the networked discussions in mathematics

The aim of this study was to examine metacognition in computer-supported collaborative problem solving. The subjects of the study were 13-year-old Finnish secondary school students (N = 16). The Knowledge Forum learning environment was used to support student pairs’ problem-solving task involving polygons in a geometry course. The data consist of the student pairs’ posted computer notes (n = 95). To examine metacognition in a social context in the networked discussions, the features and patterns of networked interaction, the metacognitive content of the computer notes and their relations were examined. To examine the features of networked interaction, the social network analysis measures were used. The patterns of networked interaction were displayed with the multidimensional scaling technique. In the analysis, metacognitive contents of the computer notes were categorized as metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive skills, and not metacognitive. Further, with the correspondence analysis, we examined how the student pairs’ metacognitive activity was distributed. The results of the study revealed that the metacognitive activity varied among participants, although some aspects of metacognition such as planning were never encountered. It was found that there is a relation between metacognitive activity and the features of interaction. The student pairs who monitored and evaluated the ongoing discussions had a strategically optimal position in the communication network.     

Academic leadership in different disciplinary contexts

Conclusions In university settings good leadership seems to depend, among other factors, on the culture of the department and the nature of academic work in the field involved. Consequently, it is important to find solutions valid for the department involved. The development work of academic leadership should be carried out in voluntary co-operation with the academic staff, starting with the analysis of the current leadership culture. The departments may also have to change their cultures somehow in the future because of the rapidly changing environment. The longer and the more successfully the ideas, assumptions, and values dealing with the leadership have been working, the more difficult these changes might prove to be (Schein 1985). This is a shortened version of the paper delivered at the 16th Annual EAIR Forum (Amsterdam 1994): the full text can be obtained from the author.