Education DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A TOOL FOR ASSIGNING STUDENTS TO GROUPS FOR CLASS PROJECTS*

Group project work is an integral part of many university courses. Assigning students to project groups can be difficult because of the students' diverse backgrounds. Many instructors therefore decide not to assign group projects. This paper develops and validates an instrument that assigns both experienced and inexperienced students to different project groups, thereby creating a balanced, fair environment. The instrument is checked for reliability and validity and then is used to assign students to different project groups. Based on group performance, the end-of-the-semester results also are provided. Path analysis is used to test a causal model. Conclusions and implications for future research are presented.     

学术用途英汉语对比研究（1991—2020）：回顾、现状与展望

学术用途英汉语对比研究在英汉对比视角下讨论学术文本中语言和文化的关系，是对比修辞学和学术用途英汉语研究交叉形成的新兴研究领域。通过回顾发表于1991年至2020年期间的研究论文，介绍学术用途英汉语对比研究的发展背景和前沿动态，特别是该领域的主要研究方法、研究对象、关键结论和研究难点。学术用途英汉语对比研究最初聚焦于语篇结构，后来转向人际意义的实现方式，多数采用对比修辞学、体裁分析和语料库方法，描述英汉学术文本的结构和词语特征异同，分析语言、文化、写作策略等影响因素。经预测，学术用途英汉语对比研究未来的发展方向可能在英汉差异原因解释、语料库规模和学科扩充、短语特征对比、定性定量相结合等方面。     

《白鹿洞学规》精神与台湾书院的具体实践

台湾书院的儒学精神承继自鳌峰书院，也与来台担任地方官的朱子学者密切相关，通过对台湾书院学规文献及各府县通志、人物传记的综合归纳探讨，可追溯儒学从闽地到台湾的重要轨迹。来台地方官宣扬朱子《白鹿洞学规》笃行精神，诠释读书人之应守与应为，期待学子提高道德标准，注重实践，期以改变此移民岛屿民风；而台湾书院士人在获取功名后，身体力行地将朱子学精神发挥于内忧外患的社会，在经世致用中表达了对《白鹿洞学规》精神的诠释。     

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.