Bureaucracy and its limits: accountability and rationality in higher education   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  

Mark Murphy 《British Journal of Sociology of Education》2009,30(6):683-695

Alongside debates concerning managerialism, marketisation and performativity, the question of accountability in higher education has come to the fore in recent commentary. Discussion of the subject has tended to be divided into two distinct camps. On the one hand, there are strong calls for more accountability to the public purse – a desire to witness more productive returns and efficiency on investment in higher education. On the other, there are academics who rail against the oppressive, panoptican‐like nature of the audit culture, emphasising the debilitating effects of quality assurance mechanisms on academic life. The paper suggests that one way out of this impasse is to place the current accountability agenda – what Travers refers to as the ‘new bureaucracy’ – in the context of Max Weber's account of bureaucracy and rationality. Habermas' reconstructed version of Weber's work is identified as a possible means of delineating the reaches and limits of modern bureaucratic accountability.  相似文献   

Influence of group formation choices on academic performance   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  

Ravi Seethamraju  Mark Borman 《Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education》2009,34(1):31-40

With its multidisciplinary and applied foci, team‐working skills are seen as especially critical in business courses in general and in business information systems courses in particular, and are specifically incorporated into desired graduate attributes by many universities. Past research has focused on the benefits of group working but little work has been conducted to examine the relative contribution of group formation choices on academic performance. This paper reports on a study that develops and validates a data‐collection instrument and identifies four underlying factors that influence formation of groups: convenience, social cohesion, task management and technical skills/knowledge. The results thus suggest that academic performance is influenced by the skills and knowledge of individual members, potential social cohesion among the group members and the task management ability considered at the group formation stage. The study notes that while how a group is formed influences ultimate academic performance, how the group operates is also an important factor.  相似文献   

Book reviews     

Dev Sharma  Robin Scott  Reni Landor  Mark Hancock  Matthew Hutchinson 《Educational Psychology in Practice》2009,25(1):85-94

  相似文献   

The limited benefits of rereading educational texts     

Aimee A. Callender  Mark A. McDaniel 《Contemporary educational psychology》2009

Though rereading is a study method commonly used by students, theoretical disagreement exists regarding whether rereading a text significantly enhances the representation and retention of the text’s contents. In four experiments, we evaluated the effectiveness of rereading relative to a single reading in a context paralleling that faced by students in the classroom. Participants read educational texts (textbook chapters or a Scientific American article) under intentional learning instructions. Learning and memory were tested with educationally relevant summative assessments (multiple choice, short-answer questions, and text summaries). With only several exceptions, rereading did not significantly increase performance on the assessments. We also found that reading comprehension ability did not alter this pattern. It appears that when using ecologically valid materials such as a textbook chapter, immediate rereading may have little or no benefit for improving performance on educationally relevant summative assessments.  相似文献   

Social Perception in Infancy: A Near Infrared Spectroscopy Study     

Sarah Lloyd-Fox  Anna Blasi  Agnes Volein  Nick Everdell  Claire E. Elwell  Mark H. Johnson 《Child development》2009,80(4):986-999

The capacity to engage and communicate in a social world is one of the defining characteristics of the human species. While the network of regions that compose the social brain have been the subject of extensive research in adults, there are limited techniques available for monitoring young infants. This study used near infrared spectroscopy to investigate functional activation in the social brain network of 36 five-month-old infants. We measured the hemodynamic responses to visually presented stimuli in the temporal lobes. A significant increase in oxyhemoglobin was localized to 2 posterior temporal sites bilaterally, indicating that these areas are involved in the social brain network in young infants.  相似文献   

Correlates and Consequences of Spanking and Verbal Punishment for Low-Income White, African American, and Mexican American Toddlers   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Lisa J. Berlin  Jean M. Ispa  Mark A. Fine  Patrick S. Malone  Jeanne Brooks-Gunn  Christy Brady-Smith  Catherine Ayoub  Yu Bai 《Child development》2009,80(5):1403-1420

This study examined the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of spanking and verbal punishment in 2,573 low-income White, African American, and Mexican American toddlers at ages 1, 2, and 3. Both spanking and verbal punishment varied by maternal race/ethnicity. Child fussiness at age 1 predicted spanking and verbal punishment at all 3 ages. Cross-lagged path analyses indicated that spanking (but not verbal punishment) at age 1 predicted child aggressive behavior problems at age 2 and lower Bayley mental development scores at age 3. Neither child aggressive behavior problems nor Bayley scores predicted later spanking or verbal punishment. In some instances, maternal race/ethnicity and/or emotional responsiveness moderated the effects of spanking and verbal punishment on child outcomes.  相似文献   

Harsh Parenting and Child Externalizing Behavior: Skin Conductance Level Reactivity as a Moderator     

Stephen A. Erath  Mona El-Sheikh  E. Mark Cummings 《Child development》2009,80(2):578-592

Skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) was examined as a moderator of the association between harsh parenting and child externalizing behavior. Participants were 251 boys and girls (8–9 years). Mothers and fathers provided reports of harsh parenting and their children's externalizing behavior; children also provided reports of harsh parenting. SCLR was assessed in response to a socioemotional stress task and a problem-solving challenge task. Regression analyses revealed that the association between harsh parenting and externalizing behavior was stronger among children with lower SCLR, as compared to children with higher SCLR. SCLR may be a more robust moderator among boys compared to girls. Results are discussed with regard to theories on antisocial behavior and multiple-domain models of child development.  相似文献   

How to describe and evaluate “deception” phenomena: recasting the metaphysics,ethics, and politics of ICTs in terms of magic and performance and taking a relational and narrative turn     

Mark?CoeckelberghEmail authorView author&#;s OrcID profile 《Ethics and Information Technology》2018,20(2):71-85

Contemporary ICTs such as speaking machines and computer games tend to create illusions. Is this ethically problematic? Is it deception? And what kind of “reality” do we presuppose when we talk about illusion in this context? Inspired by work on similarities between ICT design and the art of magic and illusion, responding to literature on deception in robot ethics and related fields, and briefly considering the issue in the context of the history of machines, this paper discusses these questions through the lens of stage magic and illusionism, with the aim of reframing the very question of deception. It investigates if we can take a more positive or at least morally neutral view of magic, illusion, and performance, while still being able to understand and criticize the relevant phenomena, and if we can describe and evaluate these phenomena without recourse to the term “deception” at all. This leads the paper into a discussion about metaphysics and into taking a relational and narrative turn. Replying to Tognazzini, the paper identifies and analyses two metaphysical positions: a narrative and performative non-dualist position is articulated in response to what is taken to be a dualist, in particular Platonic, approach to “deception” phenomena. The latter is critically discussed and replaced by a performative and relational approach which avoids a distant “view from nowhere” metaphysics and brings us back to the phenomena and experience in the performance relation. The paper also reflects on the ethical and political implications of the two positions: for the responsibility of ICT designers and users, which are seen as co-responsible magicians or co-performers, and for the responsibility of those who influence the social structures that shape who has (more) power to deceive or to let others perform.  相似文献   

Can anti-gravity running improve performance to the same degree as over-ground running?     

Christopher T. Brennan  David G. Jenkins  Mark A. Osborne  Michael Oyewale 《Journal of sports sciences》2018,36(20):2273-2281

This study examined the changes in running performance, maximal blood lactate concentrations and running kinematics between 85%BM anti-gravity (AG) running and normal over-ground (OG) running over an 8-week training period. Fifteen elite male developmental cricketers were assigned to either the AG or over-ground (CON) running group. The AG group (n = 7) ran twice a week on an AG treadmill and once per week over-ground. The CON group (n = 8) completed all sessions OG on grass. Both AG and OG training resulted in similar improvements in time trial and shuttle run performance. Maximal running performance showed moderate differences between the groups, however the AG condition resulted in less improvement. Large differences in maximal blood lactate concentrations existed with OG running resulting in greater improvements in blood lactate concentrations measured during maximal running. Moderate increases in stride length paired with moderate decreases in stride rate also resulted from AG training. The use of AG training to supplement regular OG training for performance should be used cautiously, as extended use over long periods of time could lead to altered stride mechanics and reduced blood lactate.  相似文献   

Prevalence and correlates of resistance training skill competence in adolescents     

Jordan J. Smith  Matthew DeMarco  Sarah G. Kennedy  Mark Kelson  Lisa M. Barnett  Avery D. Faigenbaum 《Journal of sports sciences》2018,36(11):1241-1249

The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence and correlates of adolescents’ resistance training (RT) skill competence. Participants were 548 adolescents (14.1 ± 0.5 years) from 16 schools in New South Wales, Australia. RT skills were assessed using the Resistance Training Skills Battery. Demographics, BMI, muscular fitness, perceived strength, RT self-efficacy, and motivation for RT were also assessed. The proportion demonstrating “competence” and “near competence” in each of the six RT skills were calculated and sex differences explored. Associations between the combined RT skill score and potential correlates were examined using multi-level linear mixed models. Overall, the prevalence of competence was low (range = 3.3% to 27.9%). Females outperformed males on the squat, lunge and overhead press, whereas males performed better on the push-up (p < .05). Significant associations were seen for a number of correlates, which largely differed by sex. Muscular fitness was moderately and positively associated with RT skills among both males (β = 0.34, 95%CIs = 0.23 to 0.46) and females (β = 0.36, 95%CIs = 0.23 to 0.48). Our findings support a link between RT skills and muscular fitness. Other associations were statistically significant but small in magnitude, and should therefore be interpreted cautiously.  相似文献