Instructor Credibility as a Mediator of Instructors’ Compulsive Communication and Student Communication Satisfaction in the College Classroom

The purpose of this investigation was twofold: (a) from a dialogic pedagogy perspective, to determine the possible negative association between instructors’ compulsive communication and student communication satisfaction; and (b) using Expectancy Violations Theory as a framework, to test the extent to which instructor credibility mediated the negative association between compulsive communication and student communication satisfaction. We found that students’ perceptions of instructors’ compulsive communication is linked to lower levels of student communication satisfaction. Importantly, results also showed that instructor credibility tempers the negative association between instructors’ compulsive communication and student communication satisfaction.     

Using SERVQUAL to Measure the Quality of the Classroom Experience

Over the last three decades, higher education institutions have found themselves using vernacular that was once chiefly found in business disciplines, such as value‐added and competitive advantage. With the rising costs of tuition, newer‐generation students are seeing themselves more and more as customers and universities are beginning to adopt customer‐centric strategies and missions. However, even with this paradigm shift, little research has been done to extend traditional service management concepts to educational settings. This research attempts to bridge this gap by applying the SERVQUAL scale, a well‐validated and widely used service operations construct, to the classroom environment. The findings show that the SERVQUAL scale exhibits both reliability and convergent and divergent validity; in fact, in these regards, it outperforms traditional student assessment scales. Moreover, the scale can explain significant amounts of variances in student‐related outcome variables such as satisfaction and learning. This innovative approach to measuring classroom service quality does indeed show that students can be viewed as customers and has far‐reaching implications to all stakeholders in the delivery of higher education.     

Influence Tactics in the Classroom and Their Relationship to Student Satisfaction*

We argue that an instructor's use of influence tactics can be classified as soft, rational, and strong in nature and that the use of these tactics will have a differential impact on student satisfaction. We find support for the existence of the three categories of influence. We find that student satisfaction is positively influenced by the use of soft and rational tactics, but is uninfluenced by the use of strong tactics.     

The strategic value of data resources in emergent industries

In this paper we examine the strategic role of data resources in emergent industries. We contrast the resource-based view and the relational view theories to examine how data resources can help organizations create and capture value. We compare two organizations from two different industries to understand how different types of data resources can provide a competitive advantage. We also examine the role of strategic partnerships in capturing value created through the exploitation of data resources. We conclude that while data often serve as a required resource for entry into new markets, strategic partnerships play a critical role in capturing value created through the exploitation of data resources. The emergent partnership structures are remarkably similar across the two organizations. They target rapid market expansion through encapsulation of data resources within highly scalable web services and the use of standardized legal contracts. We also find that temporal decoupling between value creation and value capture can expose firms to the erosion of the competitive advantage gained through investment in data resources.     

Building bridges to student learning: Perceptions of the learning environment,engagement, and learning outcomes among Chinese undergraduates

The study examined the relationships among students’ perceptions of the learning environment, prior academic achievement, engagement, and learning outcomes (cumulative university GPA, generic skills development, and learning satisfaction) with a sample of 2,616 seniors from a full-time research-oriented university in Mainland China. The results supported a model which showed that students’ perceptions of the learning environment and prior academic achievement had direct effects on learning outcomes, and indirect effects via their engagement. The effects, however, varied depending on the type of the outcome in question: (1) Student engagement mediated the relationship between course experience and generic skills development, (2) cocurricular experience positively predicted learning satisfaction, (3) first semester GPA positively predicted cumulative university GPA, and (4) National College Entrance Examination scores did not correlate with any other factor. A major proportion of the variance in the three types of learning outcomes was accounted for by the model, showing its effectiveness in predicting university students’ learning. Implications for improving undergraduate education in China are provided.     

The “Mere Presence” Hypothesis: Investigating the Nonverbal Effects of Cell-Phone Presence on Conversation Satisfaction

Prior research has supported the mere presence hypothesis, which suggests that cell phones act as an environmental nuisance that negatively impact the quality of face-to-face interactions. This study conducted an experiment to determine whether cell-phone presence negatively influences conversation satisfaction. Specifically, network member dyads (N = 46) engaged in unstructured conversations where one partner’s cell phone was either absent or present. The results revealed that, whereas the mere presence of a cell phone did not influence conversation satisfaction, individuals’ recollection of whether or not a cell phone was present did significantly negatively impact their pre- to posttest reports of conversation satisfaction. Implications of these findings for research on the mere presence hypothesis as well as directions for future research are discussed.     

Relational aggressive behaviour: the contributions of status stress and status goals

Relational aggression is a destructive behaviour that increases during adolescence. In order to develop effective interventions aimed to combat relational aggression, there is an urgent need to study what motivates this behaviour. This study investigates the association between status stress, status goals, and relational aggressive behaviour in a sample of 345 adolescents from Norwegian secondary schools. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used as the statistical tool. The results showed that status goals were associated with both self- and peer-reported relational aggression. Status stress contributed significantly to explaining variation in self-reported relational aggression but not in peer-reported relational aggression. The possibility that self- and peer report may partly identify different relational aggressive peers with different characteristics is discussed. No significant gender differences emerged in the associations studied.     

新疆高校大学生手机短信消费动机调查

手机短信已成为高校校园文化的一部分。文章运用问卷法和访谈法调查新疆高校大学生手机短信消费动机。调查表明:手机短信不仅是大学生满足心理需求的手段,而且是人际交往的有效工具;最后,对如何构建校园短信文化提出了建设性的意见。     

基于改进熵的灰色关联模型及其应用

为了克服熵权法特殊约定的局限性,本文对传统的熵权法进行改进,扩展了其适用范围,使其使用更方便。文章结合灰色关联分析,建立了改进熵灰色关联模型,并将其应用到综合评价中,通过实例说明了方法的合理性。     

高校海归教师首聘期工作满意度演进:1979-2017年的实证研究

改革开放以来,海归人才已成为高校教师队伍中的重要组成部分。对不同年代归国教师的首聘期工作满意度及其变化趋势、影响因素进行分析,是对高校人才政策环境和海外引才效果的检验。课题组以全国48所研究型大学1979-2017年期间归国的541名教师为样本,开展问卷调查。研究发现,过去40年海归教师首聘期总体满意度水平不高。通过对四个时期多维度满意度的量化分析发现:薪酬待遇和文化适应等方面的满意度存在显著差异;随着时间的推移,工作自主性、压力和科研团队等方面的满意度呈现下降趋势;薪酬待遇满意度的平均水平最低,但近年来已略有提升。基于研究发现,提出增加海归教师工作自主性和职业认同感、提高基础薪资和建立稳定的薪酬增长机制等建议。