The impact of Multiple Mini Interviews on the attrition and academic outcomes of midwifery students

BackgroundAdmission to the Bachelor of Midwifery (BMid) in Australia has traditionally been based on academic ranking. The BMid is a high demand course offered to a limited number of students and therefore choosing applicants who complete the degree is important. Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) are used to assess non-cognitive skills and select students into healthcare degrees. One university in Australia has introduced MMIs as part of the application process for the BMid.AimCompare attrition rates and Grade Point Average (GPA) scores between students admitted into the BMid using both academic ranking and MMIs, to those admitted on academic ranking alone.MethodsA basic convergent mixed methods design, using an explanatory unidirectional framework to integrate data. Attrition rates, GPA, and multiple mini interview scores (2013–2019), were linked and compared for before and after the use of MMI’s. Focus groups with students, interviewers, and hospital-based educators, explored stakeholder experiences. Open-ended questions from an applicant survey were added to the qualitative data set, which was analysed thematically.FindingsStudents who enrolled via the MMI’s had significantly lower attrition rates than those enrolled before MMI’s were introduced. GPA scores were significantly higher for students who enrolled via the MMI’s. Integration of data found MMI’s identified students passionate to undertake midwifery, and that success at the interviews increased students’ confidence to successfully complete their studies.ConclusionMMI’s as part of the entry process into the BMid enabled identification of applicants more likely to remain in the course and succeed in their studies.     

史评结合，切中肯綮 ——评《狄更斯学术史研究》

赵炎秋等所著《狄更斯学术史研究》一书,是国内首次对英美、中国、日本、俄罗斯等地区和国家的狄更斯学术史进行多层次、多角度、全方位的梳理、归纳、分析与评论的著作;其资料收集详实,阐述简明扼要,批评切中肯綮;著作既具有开阔的国际视野,又立足中国的本土研究,为国内狄更斯研究提供了充实资料,也为学术史研究提供了范式。     

Understanding Patterns of Publishing Activity in Academic Research Occupations*

While it is widely understood that faculty in various disciplines tend to publish at different rates and in different forms, knowledge of these differences is too limited to facilitate systematically differentiated performance appraisal and reward systems. In this study, theory concerning knowledge production system characteristics as influences on individual performance is applied to academic research occupations using a classification scheme developed by Biglan [4]. Regression analysis is applied to a general (industry-wide) sample of United States faculty, with publishing patterns as performance measures. Each dimension of the classification scheme is found to have predictive validity. Output patterns are consistent with a conceptualization of research occupations in terms of (1) transformational/technological processes, (2) research mission, and (3) input/subject matter characteristics. The results offer a basis for generating disciplinary publishing norms and differentiated reward systems.     

MANAGEMENT OF COLLEGE STUDENT RECRUITING ACTIVITIES USING GOAL PROGRAMMING*

A shrinking pool of potential students, due to a declining birthrate as well as uncertain economic times, is creating the need for more effective recruiting of college students. One approach using a goal programming model has been developed and is currently being used to manage recruitment activities in a small four-year college in Nebraska. The model identifies both the type and number of activities that must be completed each quarter in order to reach an enrollment goal for a given year. Factors such as budget, time, manpower, and marketing strategies are highlighted in the model. The results of the goal programming model encouraged more field activities in the first two quarters with emphasis on new-candidate identification. The third-quarter recruiting strategy is more balanced while the fourth-quarter emphasis is placed on follow-up activities that occur chiefly in the office. Use of this model will enable recruiters to meet enrollments while managing recruiting resources and activities in order to remain within the recruiting budget.     

ONE APPROACH TO REALLOCATING INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES: THE HOUSTON MODEL

In this paper a model for deciding which instructional departments should receive and surrender new or reallocatable resources is developed. It combines a two-dimensional assessment of resource needs based on instructional characteristics and the academic priority of the department to arrive at resource allocation priorities. Unusual features of the model are its reliance on judgments of departmental centrality to institutional mission as the discriminating variable in ascribing academic priorities and the careful avoidance of “halo effects” through independent assessment of resource needs and academic priorities. The model is sensitive enough to discriminate between competing claims for scarce resources while retaining a simplicity of logic that makes its mechanics understandable to those with little grounding in the decision sciences.     

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF COMMITTEE COMPOSITION AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING TOOL

This paper describes the development of a classification of committees frequently seen in response to authority-task problems in universities. It then reports data that describe how twenty high-level, experienced administrators, when presented with a series of seven hypothetical cases representing each type of committee, chose to compose each committee. Implications of this work for understanding the use of committees as strategic problem-solving tools are explored.