激励视角下PPP项目补贴方式研究

从激励理论的视角分析PPP项目中"补建设"和"补运营"这两种补贴方式背后的激励效果,同时进一步将"补运营"分为基于收益的补贴、基于成本的补贴和基于利润的补贴三种补贴模式,研究不同补贴模式下私人部门的最优努力行为以及政府的最优激励系数,并通过对比分析得出政府部门的最佳激励模式。     

Beyond employer engagement and skills supply: building conditions for partnership working and skills co-production in the English context

Education providers and employers working together to prepare young people and adults for employment is internationally accepted as a key factor in effective technical and vocational education. In the English context, however, we argue that two related orthodoxies have prevailed – ‘employer engagement’ and ‘skills supply’ – in which education providers have striven to gain employer involvement in their programmes and meet their skills needs. The effectiveness of these twin orthodoxies has been limited by the ‘New Low Skills Equilibrium’ (NLSE) involving a symbiosis of weaknesses on both the education and employer sides. The article draws on findings of a two-year research and development programme in East London which explored the process of education-employer partnership working to support inclusive growth in key economic sectors. The research suggested that this aim was best supported by processes of ‘co-production’ that actively involved both partners in attempting to address features of the NLSE. The research also pointed to constraining factors. The article concludes by identifying the conditions required for the realisation of co-production approaches that include the development of new collaborative structures – High Progression and Skills Networks (HPSNs) – involving a wide range of social partners at the local and regional levels.     

International brand alliances and co-branding: antecedents of cognitive dissonance and student satisfaction with co-branded higher education programs

The study investigates how in international partnerships the brand credibility of each partner, student-institution identification with each partner, and perceived service quality relate to student satisfaction. A structured survey questionnaire was completed by 528 students taking a co-branded higher education program in Hong Kong or Sri Lanka. The results indicate that the brand credibility of a foreign institution is a stronger influencer on student identification with the foreign institution as compared to the relationship between credibility and identification with the local partner. The negative relationship between organizational identification and cognitive dissonance for each institution in the partnership is also stronger for the foreign institution. As the popularity of international partnerships and co-branded higher education programs continues to grow, the importance and dominance of foreign brand credibility and student identification with foreign institutions is recognized.     

Advocating and administering critical realism in a study of transnational educational collaborative partnerships

ABSTRACT

Transnational higher education is an increasingly important and essential part of the internationalisation of higher education. As the number of global educational institutions and international students participating in these types of initiatives increases, it becomes of paramount importance that research methodologies that investigate the phenomenon are developed and shared within transnational research communities. This article seeks to contribute to transnational education research by exploring a paradigm that has the potential to generate alternative forms of knowledge concerning transnational collaborative partnerships. By exploring functionalist and interpretivist approaches, often applied in partnership research, this article argues that neither approach, when applied in isolation, can fully articulate the notion of a TNE collaborative partnership. The article therefore champions the application of critical realism when investigating these partnerships and provides an empirical example of two Chinese-British case studies to illustrate the application of the paradigm, followed by a vignette of the type of findings generated, and its value to research and practice.     

EARTHWATCH Expeditions Impact Science Education: Exposing Teachers to Science and Technology in the Field and in the Classroom

EARTHWATCH expeditions provide teachers with opportunities to work side-by-side with leading scientists, engage first-hand in scientific discovery, use innovative technology, and renew their commitment to teaching. Educators join international EARTHWATCH teams, consisting of members of the public and a research staff, to explore the intricacies of tropical and dry forests, to unearth remains from the past, to monitor endangered ecosystems and species, and to understand the cultural heritage of our world's peoples. EARTHWATCH, an international non-profit organization, sponsors more than 150 research projects in over 55 countries each year. At work in the field, EARTHWATCH teams revel in the mysteries of science and delight in the thrill of discovery. Hands-on scientific investigations inspire teachers to return to their classrooms with enlightened teaching ideas and a strong commitment to global conservation. Working closely with their students, teachers develop innovative classroom projects using the latest technology to promote international sharing of EARTHWATCH project information and subsequent lesson ideas via the Internet. Engaging the reader in six case studies, the following chapter highlights the educational potential of EARTHWATCH and the impact of technology as an innovative teaching tool in the field and the classroom.     

Student Scientist Partnerships: Shrewd Maneuvers

It is the very strangeness of nature that makes science engrossing, that keeps bright people at it, and that ought to be at the center of science teaching. I believe that the worst thing that has happened to science education is that the great fun has gone out of it—Very few see science as the high adventure it really is, the wildest of all explorations ever taken by human beings, the chance to catch close views of things never seen before, the shrewdest maneuver for discovering how the world works. (Thomas, 1981)     

Enhancing Teachers' Use of Technology Through Professional Development on Electronic Concept Mapping

The majority of public school teachers do not feel well prepared to use instructional technology. Professional development on computer-based concept mapping responds to this concern through focusing on a tool/software that has many applications and is not difficult to master. A subset (n = 18) of science teachers in a Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA) completed a workshop on electronic concept mapping and were provided with school site licenses and other follow-up support (summer institute). They utilized the software in academic enrichment for underserved students, regular classroom instruction, and inservice training for colleagues. Triangulation of findings from data sources (electronic conferencing, lesson plans, workshop evaluations) revealed that HSTA teachers embrace electronic concept mapping as a versatile educational tool. Factors contributing to this enthusiasm included the ease with which students use the software, the transparent nature of the learning process for these students, and the positive attitudes of colleagues whom they have inserviced. The findings from this project are congruent with what experts contend to be critical features of effective teacher professional development: facilitating a community of learners and providing sustained support. This project now funds software use in over 45 public schools.     

Cultivating community: detailing school and community engagement under complex conditions

This article reveals the nature of actions, discussions and relationships which helped forge school-community partnerships for engaged student learning and wider community participation for students and families living under difficult socio-economic circumstances. Specifically, the article draws upon interviews with key personnel and staff involved in the establishment and enactment of a ‘Community Partnerships’ programme to help improve the opportunities for students attending a primary school serving a low socio-economic urban community in south-east Queensland, Australia. Drawing upon the notion of educational practice as a product of ongoing interactions between particular actions (doings), discussions (sayings) and relationships (relatings), which both constitute and are responsive to particular conditions or ‘architectures’ for practice, the article reveals how the conceptualisation, establishment and consolidation of the community partnerships programme was dependent upon specific ‘relatings’ between key district and school personnel, the actions/‘doings’ of these personnel and ongoing ‘sayings’/dialogue about their work. Collectively, these ‘doings’, ‘sayings’ and ‘relatings’ all helped to stimulate new conditions – ‘practice architectures’ – for improved opportunities for students and their families. Teacher education informed by such theorising of community partnerships as the product of specific actions, dialogue and relationship-building is vital for developing improved understandings of such interactions and partnerships over time.