How to slice the pie: Regulating the distribution of copyright revenue in the music industry

This paper argues that the different bargaining strengths between music creators and music companies results in inefficient and unfair copyright revenue distrribution. On that basis it suggests two forms of regulatory intervnetion. Fair Trade Music is a voluntary certification scheme which would set a satndard of ‘fair remuneration’. The second option is mandatory regulation of the distribution of copyright revenue to ensure a minimum proportion goes to the music creator. Both schemes are considered against the benefits and obstacles in their practical implementation, ability to achieve the regulatory goal, political reactions and international obligations. Ultimately, this paper does not recommend adoption of a mandatory regulation and advises a cautionary approach to Fair Trade Music. Ostensibly it is unlikely the government will pursue either regulatory response without some politcal impetus

Session 1 - Vocational Education and Training: basics for teaching and research in Vocational Education and Training at universities

This session highlights the basics of Vocational Education and Training (VET). Each university has its own characteristics. The contributions seek to encourage various forms of VET. Challenges for universities and other institutions are emphasised. The contributions help draw conclusions for the Further structuring of VET in Sub-Saharan Africa. Other country-specific articles from the session concentrate on the characteristics and orientation of VET systems, thereby helping create an overall picture of the status of VET in all participating countries. The participants endeavored to analyze the current situation of VET in Sub-Saharan Africa by exploring the character and individual design of the current VET systems in the participating countries

The Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Teachers\u27 Perceptions of the Effect of Mobile Technology Initiatives on Classroom Climate

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument to measure teacher’s perceptions of the effect of mobile technology initiatives on classroom climate. The process proposed by Benson and Clark (1982) was used to develop the instrument in four phases: planning, item construction, quantitative evaluations, and validation. A 115-item pool was constructed and tested on a pool of K-12 educators (N=334) in mobile technology teaching environments. The pool was refined through a principal axis factor analysis to create a 35-item instrument. The Mobile Technology Classroom Climate Survey (MTCCS) was developed with four factors: Student Centered Innovation (α = 0.88), Challenges (α = 0.87), Policies and Support (α = 0.76), and Technical Skills (α = 0.76). The instrument domains are consistent with the literature that suggests mobile technology has increased student engagement (Argueta et al., 2011; Bebell & O’Dwyer, 2010; McLester, 2011; Rosen, 2011), teacher concerns about student distraction (Shieh, 2012) and shallow thinking (Bauerlein, 2011), and the importance of professional development (Cuban, 2009; Overbay, Mollette, & Vasu, 2011). Implications for future research include a need to explore associations between MTCSS results and student or teacher outcomes and a study of potential a relationships between the MTCCS and other classroom climate instruments, in an effort understand the impact of technology rich environments on classroom climate and to establish concurrent validity of the instrument

The link between learning knowledge and action. An approach towards a scientific educational term or reflection

The paper discusses reflection in educational science as a term connected to the concepts of learning, konowledge and action

Farmer attributes associated with farm profitability - a study of dairy farms in Great Britain

How farmer attributes influence farm businesses performance and profitability is poorly understood. This thesis sets out to ascertain the farmer attributes that are associated with farm performance and profitability. For the first time from a farm management perspective, the management and job performance literature is reviewed comprehensively. A broad exploratory study focusing on farmer attitudes is reported along with a focused study on farmer personality attributes. Participants in both studies were dairy farmers in Great Britain. Linear models are presented in both studies. Just six and three variables were included in each model in the respective attitudes and personality studies. Models in both studies predict more than 40% of the variation in profitability. Cumulatively, more than half the profitability variation can be predicted by the GCA, Detail Conscientious competence, Leadership competence, temperament, attitudes and beliefs of farmers. These findings underline the major significance farm manager attributes are likely to have in driving farm profitability. The qualification ‘likely’ is used as causality has yet to be clearly established in agriculture (unlike in other sectors). The findings reported here relating to dairy farms are consistent with findings in other sectors. They thus appear to be broadly applicable and so likely to be of similar relevance to farms in sectors other than dairy. The effect sizes and the proportion of variation explained are large and may be surprising but are also similar to those found in other sectors. Strategic development and management of the highlighted farmer attributes is advised to facilitate potentially large improvements in farm profitability and financial viability. For farm management research, these may be pivotal findings offering several promising avenues for future research

Vocational Education and Training in Sub-Saharan Africa: Current Situation and Development

There is a rising demand for specialist workers in several countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The area still lacks a consistent system of professional training and further education. The conference transcript comprises practical knowledge collected by the authors to depict the current state of professional training within the Sub-Saharan African countries. The paper also introduces the reader to concepts for the development of a professional training system and provides an overview of the strategies and plans of different countries and institutions. The included articles were written within the framework of a symposium on the status quo and the perspective of professional training and further education. This gathering took place in Namibia in August 2016 and brought together researchers and business actors from the Sub-Saharan states, Europe, Australia, and Asia.In einigen Ländern der südlichen Saharazone (SSA) steigt die Nachfrage nach Fachkräften. Ein durchgängiges System der beruflichen Aus- und Fortbildung ist in der Region noch nicht etabliert. In dem Tagungsband tragen die Autor:innen Praxiswissen zur Situation der beruflichen Bildung in den afrikanischen Subsahara-Staaten zusammen. Sie stellen Konzepte für die Entwicklung eines Systems zur beruflichen Ausbildung vor und geben einen Überblick über Strategien und Vorhaben verschiedener Länder und Institutionen. Die Beiträge entstanden im Rahmen eines Symposions zum Status quo und zur Perspektive der beruflichen Aus- und Fortbildung. Es fand im August 2016 in Namibia mit Teilnehmer:innen aus Wissenschaft und Praxis der Subsaharastaaten, Europa, Australien und Asien statt

Assessment of Networking of Higher Education Institution

Networking phenomenon of a Higher Education Institution (HEI) is investigates in this dissertation, thus addressing the problem of networking assessment evolving from the need to use the networking for the strategic management of the HEI in a more extensive way. Also the possibilities of managing the networking of higher education more effectively are investigated in order to support growing networking based activities of internationalisation, collaboration and interdisciplinarity indicating the relevance of the thesis. At a scientific level, a lack of different tools for assessing and monitoring the networking and portfolio of the HEI can be noticed, which may assist in understanding the surrounding network on more systematic grounds. The object of the dissertation is the networking (entering and participation in the network and interaction with other institutions) of the Higher Education Institution. The core of the dissertation is the development and empirical testing of a Networking Assessment Model that would increase the strategic use of networking in order to improve the competitiveness of HEIs. The dissertation consists of the introduction, three chapters, general conclusions and 9 annexes. Chapter 1 presents networking phenomena in contemporary management and further proceeds with a review of networking in public sector management which leads to the analysis of network assessment methods and to the formulation of the scientific problem of the thesis. Chapter 2 turns the structure and overview of the Network Assessment Model (NAM) into a more detailed explanation of three stages of the model: Stage 1 adapts multi-criteria methods for the assessment of networking, Stage 2 presents assessment applying network pictures and Stage 3 explains how to transform the results of network assessment into strategic insights. Chapter 3 assesses the networking of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University in order to test the NAM and derives recommendations for strategies on developing more effective networking in the fields of research and studies. 6 publications focusing on the subject discussed in the dissertation have been issued: 4 of those have been included in internationally recognized databases, 1 represents conference material and 1 is a study

Qualitative research in psychology

"The first 'Workshop Qualitative Research in Psychology' took place in Blaubeuren, Germany from October 20-22, 2000. The meeting was organized by the Center for Qualitative Psychology of the University of Tübingen, Germany. The purpose of the meeting was to begin a network of qualitative psychologists. Thirty-two participants got to know each other, presented and discussed their research, discussed potential further developments within the field of qualitative psychology, and inspired each other with plans for the future. There were psychologists from Germany, Spain, Latvia, Finland, and the United States, most of whom were working as researchers within university contexts. The workshop took place at the retreat house of the University of Tübingen in a small village called Blaubeuren. A comfortable place with beautiful landscape, welcoming staff at the house and delicious food created a friendly atmosphere for the meeting from the start. The meeting started with an evening opening session in which all participants briefly introduced themselves and their interests in qualitative psychology. In order to communicate with each other, all of the participants spoke English. The introductions helped people to seek each other out afterwards in more informal conversations during the following two days." (author's abstract). Contents: Group I: Examples of Applications of Qualitative Methods, Part I - Discussion (summarized by Leo Gürtler) (17-20); Irmentraud Ertel: Categorizing the Content of Everyday Family Communication: What Do Families Talk About in Everyday Life? (21-31); Michaela Gläser-Zikuda: Emotions and Learning Strategies at School – Opportunities of Qualitative Content Analysis (32-50); Leo Gürtler: The role of subjective theories on love (51-65); Inge M. Lutz: Deciding which Kinds of Data to Collect in an Evaluative Study and Selecting a Setting for Data Collection and Analysis (66-76); Thomas Irion: Dynamics of a qualitative research design. An interactive approach to interactive reception (78-89); Ilze Plaude and Josef Held: Cross-cultural youth research as an international and interdisciplinary cooperation project: "International Learning" (90-98). Group II: Examples of Applications of Qualitative Methods, Part II - Discussion (summarized by Mechthild Kiegelmann) (99-101); Silke-Birgitta Gahleitner: Ways of combining qualitative and quantitative procedures exemplified in a study on the gender-specifics of coping with sexual violence (102-116); Mechthild Kiegelmann: Qualitative Research With a Genuine Psychological Approach: The Method of Voice Analysis (117-134); Tamara Beauboeuf: Toward a method of ideological becoming (135-142); Carlos Kölbl: Methods which are accommodated to their research object: On the adequate investigation of historical consciousness at youth age (143-149); Stephan Marks: Research Project 'History and Memory' (Geschichte und Erinnerung) (150-154); Antonio Medina Rivilla, M. Concepción Domínguez Garrido, Ramón Pérez Pérez, Tiberio Feliz Murias: Research Organization and Word Analysis from Discussion Groups about In-Practice Training (155-173); Antonio Medina Rivilla, M. Concepción Domínguez Garrido, Ramón Pérez Pérez, Tiberio Feliz Murias: Coding, Inquiring, and Analysis of Data from Discussion Groups about In-Practice Training (174-201). Group III: Specific Methodological Questions - Discussion (summarized by Günter L. Huber) (201-205); Günter L. Huber: The Analysis of Qualitative Data as Process of Classification (206-216); Gerhard Kleining, Thomas Burkart: Group-Based Dialogic Introspection and its Use in Qualitative Media Research (217-239); Julia Nentwich: The Process of Understanding in Qualitative Social Research (241-245); Bernd Reinhoffer: Forming Categories in Qualitative Data Analysis. The Teaching Research Project "Teachers' Attitude and Practice concerning Elementary Science in Primary School" (246-261); Hannu Soini: The Contribution of Qualitative Approaches to Learning Research: A Critical Incident Technique as a Research Method for Studying Student Learning (262-273); Leo Gürtler, Josef Held, Günter L. Huber, Mechthild Kiegelmann: Contributions of Qualitative Approaches to Psychological Inquiry (274-282)