Library Marketing on a Small Liberal Arts Campus: Assessing Communication Preferences

As part of a newly created library marketing plan, librarians at the College of Wooster undertook a study of the communication preferences of students, faculty, and staff in early 2015. The results of the survey helped to develop a comprehensive picture of what library resources and services these constituencies are interested in learning about, as well as when, where, and how they prefer to learn about them. This article describes the development, distribution, results, and analysis of the survey, and highlights the importance of campus-specific library marketing practices.     

社会调查活动在化学专业中的实施探索

具有搜集和处理信息并不断深入认识事物本质的社会调查活动,在教育教学中发挥着越来越重要的作用。该文分析了社会调查活动在化学专业教育中的作用,介绍了开展社会调查活动的过程、评价方式及实施中注意的问题。     

留学生口语修辞运用情况调查分析

修辞是调整语辞使其达意传情能够适切的一种努力,对外汉语修辞则是一种跨文化的言语交际行为,留学生的口语修辞比书面语修辞更应该得到重视。本文对在昆明的一些留学生的口语修辞运用情况进行了调查,借此发现他们在口语修辞方面存在的问题,并对如何提高留学生的口语修辞能力提出一些建议。     

Measuring perceptions of the learning environment and approaches to learning: validation of the learn questionnaire

While focus on quality in Danish higher education has been growing in recent years, limited attention has been devoted to developing and thoroughly validating instruments that allow collecting data about university students’ perceptions of the teaching-learning environment. Based on data from a large sample of Danish university students, a Danish version of the Learn questionnaire was validated using confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis. Analyses confirmed the existence of three scales reflecting students’ approaches to learning and six scales reflecting students’ perception of the teaching-learning environment. The results suggest that the Danish version of Learn is a valid instrument to be used for evaluation of the teaching-learning environment as well as for research into Danish university students’ learning strategies.     

Handling missing data: analysis of a challenging data set using multiple imputation

Missing data is endemic in much educational research. However, practices such as step-wise regression common in the educational research literature have been shown to be dangerous when significant data are missing, and multiple imputation (MI) is generally recommended by statisticians. In this paper, we provide a review of these advances and their implications for educational research. We illustrate the issues with an educational, longitudinal survey in which missing data was significant, but for which we were able to collect much of these missing data through subsequent data collection. We thus compare methods, that is, step-wise regression (basically ignoring the missing data) and MI models, with the model from the actual enhanced sample. The value of MI is discussed and the risks involved in ignoring missing data are considered. Implications for research practice are discussed.     

对内蒙古工业化阶段的测试分析

关于工业化的判断标准，主要有四项指标，即人均GDP、产业结构、人顺就业结构和城市化水平。在当前我国已加入WTO及全球信息化的大背景下，也应考虑增加国内外贸易和信息化水平两项指标。依据选择的六项指标，按地区分组计算处理和分类侧度，可以看出内蒙古处在工业化初期阶段。     

Faculty acceptance of a workload survey in one major university

The faculty survey or workload instrument becomes the focal point for both praise and criticism about measuring how faculty spend professional time. While research on the workload instrument often centers on the design and administration of the survey, NCHEMS has questioned how faculty react to such workload analysis, a researchable area seemingly overlooked. In a 1973 report, NCHEMS suggested that faculty reaction or acceptance may be related to the degree of faculty self-governance, experience in completing the survey, the positive use of data for departments, and the expectation that faculty are required to complete the survey for an external governing board. Faculty on one large state-supported midwestern university were asked how they felt about the workload survey administered on campus and whether the NCHEMS' factors were related to their acceptance of the survey. Multivariate analysis and a path model helped to analyze and interpret faculty responses to a questionnaire administered by this author. Results upheld one of the four NCHEMS relationships, namely, that a positive attitude toward a survey is related to perceived value of the data for allocating faculty resources and communication in the department. Several practical and methodological considerations are reviewed to extend research on faculty acceptance.     

‘Student experience’ surveys: some methodological considerations and an empirical investigation

The outcomes of surveys of ‘the student experience’ that are sector‐wide, such as the National Student Survey in the UK and the Course Experience Questionnaire in Australia, are of considerable significance for intending students and institutions. Whilst they may satisfy psychometric criteria, some aspects of their design have been submitted to less attention than they warrant. The use – or non‐use – of negatively stated items in, and aspects of response style following the administration of, such instruments are reviewed. An empirical study follows up some of the issues that are discussed. The article as a whole evidences grounds for both comfort and discomfort on the part of those who construct and administer such surveys.     

Reading,learning and enacting: interpretation at visitor sites in the Wet Tropics rainforest of Australia

The northern Wet Tropics rainforest of Australia was declared a world heritage site in 1988 and now supports an extensive tourism industry that attracts an estimated 2.5 million local and international visits annually. As part of the visitor experience, many sites include both environmental and cultural interpretation experiences, which range from static displays to one‐on‐one guided tours. This paper identifies visitor demand and level of satisfaction with the static signage and displays used at rainforest sites throughout the Wet Tropics. The research involves visitor surveys conducted in 2007 and 2008 and observations at a number of rainforest sites. The results indicate that visitors consider the level of interpretation to be adequate, but appear to use it poorly. While higher at commercial sites, visitor interest in reading the interpretation is very low at public sites. Overall, this article seeks to address whether the aims of nature‐based interpretation, including education and the influencing of attitudes and site behaviour, are being achieved.