The student evaluation of teaching: its failure as a research program, and as an administrative guide

This paper points up the methodological inadequacy of the "student evaluation of teaching" as a research program. We do this by reference to three, interrelated arguments. The first is that the student evaluation of teaching cannot claim to capture the wisdom of a crowd because, as a research program, it fails to meet Surowiecki's conditions for the existence and articulation of the wisdom of a crowd. The second argument extends the first, by stating: (a) the "student evaluation of teaching" research program fails to provide the methodological controls needed to differentiate cause from effect, or put differently (b) the methodological underpinnings of this research program is tantamount to the misapplication of a closed-system paradigm to an open social system. The third argument has two parts. These are that this research program is predicated on: (a) a false analogy between the workings of a business and a university, and therefore (b) on a mischaracterization of the student-professor relationship. These three arguments, these three failures, suggest that the "student evaluation of teaching" research program is methodologically ill-conceived and incoherent, and therefore cannot, with any credulity, serve as a guide to the administration and governance of a university.Student evaluation of teaching, validity, biases, fallacies

Automated Measurement of Heavy Equipment Greenhouse Gas Emission: The case of Road/Bridge Construction and Maintenance

Road/bridge construction and maintenance projects are major contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2), mainly due to extensive use of heavy-duty diesel construction equipment and large-scale earthworks and earthmoving operations. Heavy equipment is a costly resource and its underutilization could result in significant budget overruns. A practical way to cut emissions is to reduce the time equipment spends doing non-value-added activities and/or idling. Recent research into the monitoring of automated equipment using sensors and Internet-of-Things (IoT) frameworks have leveraged machine learning algorithms to predict the behavior of tracked entities. In this project, end-to-end deep learning models were developed that can learn to accurately classify the activities of construction equipment based on vibration patterns picked up by accelerometers attached to the equipment. Data was collected from two types of real-world construction equipment, both used extensively in road/bridge construction and maintenance projects: excavators and vibratory rollers. The validation accuracies of the developed models were tested of three different deep learning models: a baseline convolutional neural network (CNN); a hybrid convolutional and recurrent long shortterm memory neural network (LSTM); and a temporal convolutional network (TCN). Results indicated that the TCN model had the best performance, the LSTM model had the second-best performance, and the CNN model had the worst performance. The TCN model had over 83% validation accuracy in recognizing activities. Using deep learning methodologies can significantly increase emission estimation accuracy for heavy equipment and help decision-makers to reliably evaluate the environmental impact of heavy civil and infrastructure projects. Reducing the carbon footprint and fuel use of heavy equipment in road/bridge projects have direct and indirect impacts on health and the economy. Public infrastructure projects can leverage the proposed system to reduce the environmental cost of infrastructure project

Mapping a multi-sensory identity territory at the early design stage

This article presents a kansei design methodology. It is placed at the very beginning of the design process and aims to influence the following steps in order to improve the user's understanding and experiencing of the designed product. The experimentation combines in a subtle way the design thinking approach of learning by doing and the kansei engineering quantitative approach. The research presented is based on the results of a previous study that defined the semantic and emotional scope of future hybrid cars for European using visual stimuli. This kansei design methodology creates and assesses multi-sensory atmospheres is order to provide tangible direction composed of vision, touch, hearing and smell stimuli. From the cognitive and affective responses of the 42 participants we were able to detail 3 directions for future cars interiors that aim to enrich the styling design briefs and to influence the design strategies such as the management of the different grades. The research presented here was supported by the Kansei Design department from Toyota Motor Europe (TME-KD). This collaboration also brought an industrial context to it.SUPPORTED BY TOYOTA EUROP

Being in the zone and vital subjectivity: On the liminal sources of sport and art

With the aim of re-contextualising the social dimensions of Being in the Zone whilst retaining its psychological resonance, this contribution thinks Bitz alongside van Gennep's notion of liminality and Turner's notion of the liminoid. Bitz research centres around the liminoid spheres of sport and art, and it is in these social contexts that it has its primary meaning. This move enables the articulation of a critical distance from the role the ‘being in the zone’ concept is coming to play in new forms of governance and corporate activity which aim towards a super-productive 'vital subjectivity'. In these contexts, Bitz does not address people as thinking subjects who must self-manage by making decisions, but as unified and (ideally) unconscious mind/bodies seeking experiences composed of an optimal balance of feelings. This optimal balance, at the same time, promises something interesting to the manager: an individual operating at full-capacity and yielding maximum productivity with no need of extrinsic reward. Situating Bitz in relation to liminality contributes to the task of tracing the genealogy of the vital subject back to a set of social practices directly concerned with the incitement and management of affectivity and emotion

Constructive Feedback Course

This short online course aims to help the students develop an understanding of what constructive feedback is and offers them an opportunity to practise giving such feedback in the context of texts related to science, engineering and technology. The course is conceived as a preparation course for the EAST Project during which engineering students from Gaza were asked to act as critical friends offering content-oriented feedback to pre-sessional students at the University of Glasgow. We believe the course can be offered on its own, either in isolation or as part of a wider mentoring scheme for students who want to develop skills in ‘leadership by example’[2]. The course can easily be adapted for any discipline - this would require changing the samples in tasks 5 and 6. The course is intended to be delivered over two weeks and it is run online and asynchronously. In terms of design, it follows the framework of exploration - integration - application (Garrison and Arbaugh, 2007), with each stage being progressively more complex, challenging and open-ended. The students work in groups and the teacher monitors interactions and motivates them to stay on task and track in regard with deadlines via a closed Facebook group. The final task requires submitting an assessed assignment which the tutor gives feedback on. After that there is an extra week for reflection and evaluation. Timings for each activity are approximate and may need to be adjusted depending on the general progress of the course. See the course overview for details. The main technology used is Google Docs and it is recommended that the students have gmail accounts. Although students without gmail accounts are still able to access and edit the materials, tracking their contributions will not be possible. When setting up the documents, attention has to be paid to shareability settings so that there is no barrier to access. Padlet is used for sharing personal experiences and reflections at the beginning and end of the course respectively. A closed Facebook group is used as a news and discussions forum and for collective feedback. A public blog may be used for documenting the process. All the documents are created by the teacher; he or she creates an empty template for each group[3] and pastes the subsequent tasks into them on the task start date. This increases the teacher’s workload but helps them monitor their students’ progress and has a motivational effect on the students. An alternative approach would to be to ask the students to copy the template, and the task instructions could be provided in other ways, for example via Facebook, in order to decrease the workload. The course can be enriched by synchronous sessions during which the teacher can provide collective feedback and the students have an opportunity to ask questions and express their concerns. Adding a video element, for example to introduce the whole course, individual tasks or to give feedback, may constitute an added value too

TEACHING RHETORICS THROUGH LANGUAGES IN ADVERTISEMENTS

Advertisements are persuasive communication (Maggie-Jo, 1994). The language used in advertisement is very carefully chosen to have special effects. The words will create images as well as information, and often there will be more than one meaning of some expressions. Duran (1987) says that rhetorical pattern also can be found in the illustration of advertisement. Corbett and Connors (1999) point out that advertisement is a form of deliberative rhetoric. Deliberative discourse is an attempt to change the attitude and actions of the audience or the readers in regard to a matter of public concern. In using deliberative rhetoric, the author is trying to persuade a person to take some future action and that the recommended action is either good in itself or something that will benefit the person. The research is aimed to reach several purposes: 1) observing the text of advertisement, in terms of its type of language, creative strategy, type of sign and its assessment 2) ensuring English teachers that rhetorical pattern also can be found in advertisement, so it can be used as literature source

A Case for Developing Spiritual Intelligence in Leaders through Equine Facilitated Learning

Unpredictable circumstances, growing stresses in an ever-increasing global market, and ubiquitous ennui have left organizations and today’s leaders in government, industry, and academia without the necessary tools to transition to change in a principled manner. The authors explain that the development and maintenance of genuine leadership skills — adaptive to the dictates of the modern world — must be borne from one’s inner self, a retreat to spirituality. One available method of achieving this is through Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning (EFEL), a technique whereby leaders develop critical management skills by working with horses

Library and information education at Islamic universities in Indonesia: Obstacles and opportunities

The Library and Information Studies programs at Islamic universities in Indonesia were born from the idealism thought that the advent of globalization era is a reality fact that we have no choice but to face and anticipate it. This is, not only as a challenge toward social culture and social religious for each society group or country, but also as an opportunity for all people to enrich their vision and empower their identity. The establishment of these library studies programs at state Islamic universities in Indonesia also has a pragmatic background, the real needs of professional librarian provision to fulfill the expectation of people in improving the quality of Islamic educational institutions is very high. It means that the absence of this library and information education, including that is characterized by Islamic literatures, in Indonesia will cause stagnation of our efforts to improve the quality of Islamic educational institutions as a whole. In Indonesia among Islamic universities, which are offering library and information science program, are Arraniry State Islamic University, Imam Bonjol State Islamic University, Sunan Kali Jaga State Islamic University and Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University. In general, at least, there are three similar elements in the mission of the library and information program offered in Islamic Universities. Firstly, to be involved actively in developing librarianship sciences in Indonesia, specifically related to Islamic sciences. Secondly, to fulfill the needs for professional librarians for all kinds of library, documentation and information centers, especially in Islamic educational institutions like madrasah libraries (Islamic school libraries) and Islamic university libraries. And finally, to apply and anticipate the global development of information technology for improving library services. Our mission in establishing the program of library and information sciences is not only to prepare professional librarians but also to keep in touch with all our stakeholders in the government and private sectors