A critical rationalist approach to organizational learning: testing the theories held by managers

The common wisdom is that Popper's critical rationalism, a method aimed at knowledge validation through falsification of theories, is inadequate for managers in organizations. This study falsifies this argument in three phases: first, it specifies the obstructers that prevent the method from being employed; second, the critical rationalist method is adapted for strategic management purposes; last, the method and the hypotheses are tested via action research. Conclusions are that once the obstructers are omitted the method is applicable and effective

Navigating Vertical Transfer Online: Access to and Usefulness of Transfer Information on Community College Websites

Objective: To transfer, students often must navigate complex and imperfect information about credit transfer, bureaucratic hurdles, and conflicting degree requirements. This study examined how administrators and transfer personnel think about institutional online transfer resources and examined community colleges’ online transfer information. Methods: For a sample of 20 Texas community colleges, we spoke to key transfer personnel about the information provided to students and reviewed college websites, assessing the ease of access and usefulness of online transfer information. We used a qualitative case study approach to triangulate findings from our data sources. Results: Approximately two-thirds of colleges in the sample fell below the highest standard on our rubric for either ease of access or usefulness, indicating room for improvement at most institutions. Many personnel recognized the strengths and limitations of their college’s online information, though several were ambivalent about the need for improving online information, arguing that online information is not as promising an intervention as face-to-face advising. Conclusions/Contributions: Our research illustrates the need for colleges to develop and update their online information intentionally, determining which information students need in order to transfer (including transfer guides for partner programs/colleges) and how students might search for that information, and ensuring that necessary transfer information is available and up-to-date. The framework provided by our website-review approach, coupled with a proposed rubric to assess ease of access and usefulness of transfer information, may guide institutions in their evaluation of their online transfer information.Educational Leadership and Polic

Same-sex couples, disputes and dispute resolution

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He Ara Angitu: A Description of Literacy Achievement for Year 0 - 2 students in Total Immersion in Māori Programmes

In response to the recommendations of the Literacy Taskforce Report (1999) and issues highlighted in the Green Paper - Assessment for Success in Primary Schools (1998), the Ministry of Education funded a project in 2000 and 2001 to develop a description of achievement in reading and writing for five-year-old Māori medium students. This provided the opportunity to take a systematic comprehensive look at children’s literacy performance during the first two years of instruction and begin to identify reasonable expectations of progress in reading, written and oral language

U.S. Participation in Global Climate Change Resolutions: Analysis of the Kyoto Protocol

The ratification of treaties, particularly the Kyoto Protocol (KP), is complicated due to domestic forces such as democracies, presidency, and public opinion. The United States is the second largest emitter of carbon emission and has yet to sign on to the stringent mitigation efforts of the KP. Climate change is an issue considered unrelated to national security; however, it is one of the most dangerous national and global threats. Ratification and implementation are domestic factors that increase the stability and credibility of international agreements. The process may be dreadfully slow, but the commitment level of democratic states tends to be significantly high. The lack of legislative support during President Clinton’s administration and President Bush’s links with the energy industry are additional examples of factors constraining support for the agreement. Lastly, public opposition towards anthropogenic climate change stems from disbelief in global warming. Climate change is one of the most pressing global issues present today requiring critical repair. Implementing the stringent goals of the KP is an excellent way towards mitigation and key elements of international governance. The U.S. can maintain its role as a superpower by taking the lead on this issue and avoiding domestic forces constraining the adoption of this agreement. If the U.S. ratifies the KP, other countries are more likely to follow this nation’s footsteps. Although the ratification process is complex, it is important that our current legislative and executive powers push the policy forward by placing it higher on the political agenda through the use of news and online outlets

Effects of on-line collaborative argumentation processes on justifications

Justifications (through evidence or explanations) are central to productive argumentation. This study examines how the participant structures and discourse moves of students engaged in collaborative learning affect their justifications. Forty students working on Knowledge Forum, an on-line collaborative learning environment, posted 136 messages, which were coded and analyzed with an ordered logit, vector autoregression, system of equations. When students disagreed or made claims, they were more likely to use evidence. After a student made an alternative claim, the next student posting a message was less likely to use evidence. When students made claims, disagreed, disagreed with other’s justifications, or read more notes, they were more likely to use explanations. Boys made more claims than girls did, but otherwise, they did not differ significantly in their likelihood of using justification. Together, these results suggest that participant structures and discourse moves are linked to justifications.postprintThe 9th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS 2010), University of Illinois, Chicago, IL., 29 June-2 July 2010. In Proceedings of the 9th ICLS, 2010, v. 1, p. 207-21

The Methodology of Normative Policy Analysis

Policy analyses frequently clash. Their disagreements stem from many sources, including models, empirical estimates, and values such as who should have standing and how different criteria should be weighted. We provide a simple taxonomy of disagreement, identifying distinct categories within both the positive and values domains of normative policy analysis. Using disagreements in climate policy to illustrate, we demonstrate how illuminating the structure of disagreement helps to clarify the way forward. We conclude by suggesting a structure for policy analysis that can facilitate assessment, comparison, and debate by laying bare the most likely sources of disagreement.

The Nature of Legal Dispute Bargaining

The longstanding debate over the relative merits of adversarial and communitarian theories of legal dispute bargaining has been in somewhat of a holding pattern for several years, but recent research in the field of cognitive neuroscience may break the logjam. Laboratory experiments and case studies in that field have shown how dispositions and capacities for social cooperation inherited from natural selection and evolution predispose humans to configure disputing as a mixture of argument over factual reality, disagreement over the interpretation of normative standards, and a search for impartial resolutions that protect the interests of everyone involved equally. This neurobiological inheritance can be difficult to appreciate, resist, and control, but it is something all dispute bargaining theory, adversarial and communitarian alike, must take into account. Theories that ignore it are limited to telling only part of the dispute bargaining story

Leading the Local: Teachers Union Presidents Speak on Change, Challenges

Presidents of 30 local teachers unions in six states speak candidly about their views on a number of education issues, revealing that they are focused on far more than the traditional union priorities of wages, hours, working conditions, and due process for their members