Creating Reusable Educational Components: Lessons from DLESE

Reuse of educational materials is integral to many educator tasks, from designing a course to preparing for a lab or class. This article describes a study on the reuse of educational materials in the context of the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE), a community-owned and governed facility offering high-quality teaching and learning resources for Earth system education. The study noted that educational resource designers often do not develop components with reuse in mind, making it more difficult or impossible for other educators to find and use their material, and that the 'findability' and reusability of community-created digital educational resources is highly dependent on the presentational and structural design of the resources themselves. The authors recommend that all resources clearly state the creator's name and contact information, relevant copyright restrictions, the most significant date for the resource (specifying creation or revision), and the intended grade level. Educational levels: Graduate or professional, Graduate or professional, Graduate or professional

An Empirical Investigation of the Predictors of Executive Career Success

The present study examined the degree to which demographic, human capital,motivational, organizational, and industry/region variables predicted executive career success. Career success was assumed to comprise objective (pay, ascendancy) and subjective (job satisfaction, career satisfaction) elements. Results obtained from a sample of 1,388 U.S.executives suggested that demographic, human capital, motivational, and organizational variables explained significant variance in objective career success and in career satisfaction. Particularly interesting were findings that educational level, quality, prestige, and degree type all predicted financial success. In contrast, only the motivational and organizational variables explained significant amounts of variance in job satisfaction. These findings suggest that the variables that lead to objective career success often are quite different from those that lead to subjectively defined success

Effects of Selection Systems on Job Search Decisions

On the basis of Gilliland\u27s (1993) model of selection system fairness, the present study investigated the relationships between selection procedures, perceived selection system fairness, and job search decisions in both hypothetical and actual organizations. We conducted two studies to test the model. In Study 1, we used an experimental method to examine job seekers\u27 perceptions of, and reactions to, five widely used selection procedures. Results suggested that applicants viewed employment interviews and cognitive ability tests as more job related than biographical inventories (biodata), personality tests, and drug tests, and that job relatedness significantly affected fairness perceptions, which in turn affected job search decisions. Study 2 examined the hypothesized relationships between the selection systems and job seekers\u27 pursuit of actual, relevant organizations. Results from both studies offer support for the hypothesized model, suggesting that selection tests have differential effects on perceived selection system validity and fairness, which affect subsequent job search decisions

Recruiter Perceptions of Applicant Fit: Commonalities and Differences

To date, normative selection models have focused primarily on matching individual knowledges, skills, and abilities to job requirements. However, it has increasingly been argued that people should also be selected for fit to broader organizational characteristics such as strategy, culture and values. Despite the apparent reasonableness of these claims, there has been little research on how employers actually go about the task of screening or selecting for broader organizational fit. Accordingly, the present study examined how organizational recruiters assess applicant fit. Fifty-four campus recruiters in four colleges provided examples of best-fitting and worst-fitting applicants from just-completed interview schedules, along with specific descriptions of what it was that made each applicant fit or not fit . Examination of interview transcripts suggested that despite the recent emphasis on unique organizational values, strategies, or cultures in discussions of fit, by far the most frequently-mentioned determinants of fit were either (1) job-related coursework or experience, or (2) generally (rather than uniquely) desirable personal characteristics such as articulateness, positive personal appearance, and good general communication skills. However, some systematic differences were detected in the extent to which particular characteristics were sought by recruiters in different colleges or by those recruiting for different types of vacancies. Findings are related to previous research, and implications for applicants, employers, and future researchers are offered

Occupations, Organizations, and Boundaryless Careers

[Excerpt] The central premise of this chapter is that, as organizations become less important in defining career pathways and boundaries, occupations will become increasingly more important. While occupational demarcations have always had a significant, albeit often unacknowledged, impact on individual career patterns, the significance of such demarcations for careers is likely to be heightened by current trends in employment relationships. In this chapter, then, I review the sociological literature on occupational labor markets and on the structure of professional occupations, in an effort to shed light on a number of issues associated with occupationally based careers. Of specific concern are three questions: What kinds of job and occupational characteristics foster such careers? When occupations become the major locus of careers, what are the consequences for organizations? And finally, what are some of the key career-management issues for individuals pursuing occupation-ally based careers

Accountability and Moral Competence Promote Ethical Leadership

Accountability and moral competence are two factors that may have a positive effect on ethical leadership in organizations. This study utilized a survey methodology to investigate the relationship among accountability, moral competence and ethical leadership in a sample of 103 leaders from a variety of industries and different countries. Accountability was found to be a significant positive predictor of ethical leadership. Moral competence was also found to moderate this relationship such that increases in moral competence enhanced the positive effects of accountability on ethical leadership. The results of the study suggest that organizations can increase ethical leadership throughout the company via accountability (especially self-accountability) and moral competence by training their leaders to use self-monitoring behaviors and increasing moral education

How Educators Can Eradicate Disparities in School Discipline: A Briefing Paper on School-Based Interventions

The number of students issued suspensions in U.S. schools continues to be extremely high, resulting in thousands of students missing school every day. Simultaneously,disparities in school suspension continue to worsen, indicating that students in some groups are missing school far more often and disproportionately(particularly, boys, African American students, students with disabilities, and in some regions, Latino and American Indian students). These disparities are also true of referrals to law enforcement and school-based arrests nationwide. According to recent data collected by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, students of color made up 75% of referrals to law enforcement and 79% of schoolbased arrests, even while students of color comprise 39% of the nation's public school population.Punitive school discipline matters tremendously to the educational opportunity of young people: New knowledge on school discipline shows that even a single suspension or a single referral to the juvenile court system increases the odds of low achievement and dropping out of school altogether. Moreover, research shows that schools and educators -- not just students themselves -- make a difference in how discipline is meted out

Interviewer Assessments of Applicant Fit : An Exploratory Investigation

Although both strategic management theorists and practicing recruiters endorse selecting applicants on the basis of fit, precise delineation of fit in a selection context remains elusive. Moreover, the majority of previous work in this area has been based on anecdotes, case studies, or prescriptions rather than empirical evidence. The present investigation examines interviewers\u27 assessments of job applicants in terms of both general and firm-specific employability (i.e., fit). Results suggest that (1) assessments of general employability differ from firm-specific assessments, (2) there is a firm-specific component to interviewers\u27 evaluations of job applicants, and (3) interpersonal skills, goal orientation, and physical attractiveness contribute to assessments of fit (holding general employability constant), while objective qualifications (e.g., grade point average, extracurricular offices, years experience) do not. Suggestions for future research are offered

Designing an Analytic Deliberative Process for Environmental Health Policy Making in the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex

Using a National Research Council Report as a centerpiece, Drs. Tuler and Webler evaluate the effectiveness of a conceptual approach to risk policy-making

Gender Differences in Current and Starting Salaries: The Role of Performance, College Major, and Job Title

Starting and current salaries of 3,564 men and 1,053 women hired between 1976 and 1986 by a large, private firm were examined. Using a comprehensive model including year of hire, potential experience, education degree, college major, firm tenure, performance, and job title, men were found to have 5.8% higher current salaries. Among college graduates, men ~alized a 2.9% current salary advantage. Further analyses suggested that the bulk of the current salary disadvantage of women could be attributed to a one-time salary shortfall incurred at the time of hire. Although among college graduates, for example, differences in college major explained much of the starting salary advantage for men, an unexplained 4.8% advantage in starting salaries remained. Although women were more likely to leave the firm, correction for this potential source of sample selection bias did not change the pattern of results. Finally, we suggest that the fact that women experience a greater salary disadvantage at entry may stem from the smaller amount of job-relevant information available for applicants relative to current employees.