Student perceptions of the fairness of grading procedures: a multilevel investigation of the role of the academic environment

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of assessment method (essays vs. examinations) and instruction method (seminars vs. lectures) on student perceptions of the fairness of the assessment process. Department-specific combinations of these factors give a unique profile to the assessment process and to the way students interact with faculty. It is argued that the conditions thus created place students in some departments in a more advantageous position when it comes to meeting justice-related expectations. The variables of interest are procedural justice (PJ) and informational justice (IJ). For PJ, aspects regarding the amount of control students can exert on the grading process (PJ-C) are distinguished from aspects regarding the perceived validity of grading procedures (PJ-V). The sample consists of 1549 students from 48 departments of a German university. Analysis is done via multilevel mixed effects models. Models also check for cross-level interactions between effects of the academic environment and student socioeconomic status (SES). Results show that PJ-C and PJ-V are significantly affected by the assessment method. Higher proportions of essays relative to examinations in a department lead to higher ratings of PJ-C, while they decrease ratings of PJ-V. Ratings of IJ are higher as well if assessment is more essay-based, although this only affects low-SES students. Regarding the instruction method, a higher proportion of seminars was found to significantly increase PJ-C and IJ. Again, effects on IJ are moderated by parental SES. Policy implications for reducing feelings of injustice are discussed.     

A Virtual Notebook for biomedical work groups

During the past several years, Baylor College of Medicine has made a substantial commitment to the use of information technology in support of its corporate and academic programs. The concept of an Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) has proved central in our planning, and the IAIMS activities that we have undertaken with funding from the National Library of Medicine have proved to be important extensions of our technology development. Here we describe our Virtual Notebook system, a conceptual and technologic framework for task coordination and information management in biomedical work groups. When fully developed and deployed, the Virtual Notebook will improve the functioning of basic and clinical research groups in the college, and it currently serves as a model for the longer-term development of our entire information management environment.     

Rivals for the crown: Reply to Opthof and Leydesdorff

We reply to the criticism of Opthof and Leydesdorff on the way in which our institute applies journal and field normalizations to citation counts. We point out why we believe most of the criticism is unjustified, but we also indicate where we think Opthof and Leydesdorff raise a valid point.     

Resistance in action learning: struggling with self-efficacy and the social Self – and what about the set advisor?

This account of practice explores the concept of resistance in action learning. Resistance is conceptualized as an attempt of self-protection that is manifested in action learners' struggles with their sense of self-efficacy and their social Self. These struggles are an inherent part of the action learning process and may elicit defensive undercurrents that constrain learning. I contribute to debates on criticality in action learning by recognizing the centrality of resistance as a source of learning for participants and set advisors. The intended contribution of this paper is to illuminate the importance of engaging with these limiting processes which can spark a powerful learning experience that reverberates long after the action learning programme has finished. Furthermore, I reflect on the opportunities this alternative view on resistance may provide for us as action learning facilitators and discuss how we may incorporate these reflections in our practice.     

Feedback seeking behaviour in higher education: the association with students’ goal orientation and deep learning approach

To make sure that feedback fulfils its aspirations, students’ active role in feedback should be acknowledged in higher education: It is students’ uptake of feedback that determines its effectiveness. In this study, feedback seeking behaviour of students is introduced in order to enrich our knowledge about students’ active role in feedback. Goal orientation was studied as antecedent of feedback seeking behaviour, and students’ deep learning approach as a mediating factor. Results indicated that students use both monitoring and inquiry strategies of feedback seeking, but they preferred monitoring. The association between feedback seeking behaviour and goal orientation was stronger for mastery goals than for performance goals. The preference for monitoring is stronger for students with more performance goal orientation. Deep learning approach was found to be a mediator in the relationship between goal orientation and feedback seeking behaviour. It can be concluded that students with the goal to learn from the activity will use more deep learning strategies and will seek more feedback, both in an active and passive way. This effect is less present for students with performance goals.     

Fostering Teacher Educators’ Professional Development on Practice-Based Research Through Communities of Inquiry

Practice-based research and supervising students’ research has become an important task for higher vocational institutes, including the teacher education departments. However, conducting practice-based research is not always common practice for a great number of teacher educators. Therefore, professional development activities are undertaken to support teacher educators in their new role as a researcher. This paper reports on one of those activities: a community of inquiry in which teacher educators conducted a collaborative research on a shared topic derived from their practices, in order to examine teacher educators’ professional development and to identify key characteristics for setting up such a community. All participants reported developments in practice-based research skills and knowledge, and developments regarding supervising students’ research. In addition, they reported on developments in their beliefs regarding research and on the topic under research. They also reported the impact of the community on other parts of their profession. Commitment, time, teacher educators as experienced researchers and completing the research stages are identified as key characteristics.