Party identification and party closeness in comparative perspective

The present analysis uses data from 1974 and 1981 U. S. cross sections, which incorporate a panel, to compare the standard NES measure of party identification (ID) with a measure of partisanship derived from a party closeness question widely employed in cross-national research. Important features of the two scales are examined by transforming the closeness measure into a scale of very close, fairly close, not very close, and no preference corresponding to the seven-point ID scale. The scales are highly correlated and are similar in their reliability. More than 75% of the “independents” in the ID scale choose a party in the closeness version, and over half of these select the “fairly close” category. Respondents do not volunteer that they are independents when that alternative is not stated in the question.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45482/1/11109_2004_Article_BF00990552.pd

Reframing the university as an emergent organization: implications for strategic management and leadership in higher education

For the most part, the organisational forms that are currently being adopted by higher education institutions are grounded in the traditional corporate models of organisation that take a rational approach to organisational design and change management. Underlying this account is an assumption of organisational autonomy and the capacity of designated leaders to direct change processes to better align their institutions with societal demands or goals. However, a case is now being made for the consideration of alternative organisational theories or models that offer a different perception on the sources and patterns of organisational change in higher education. These theories perceive organisations more as emergent entities in which change is continuous, often unpredictable and arising mainly from local interactions. The paper surveys the implications that acceptance of the alternative paradigm might have for strategising and change leadership in higher education institutions. It suggests that the accommodation of these alterative paradigms of institutional development in higher education may itself be an emergent process and considers how future research and policy formulation relating to strategic management and leadership might facilitate positive outcomes in that process

Does trust play a role when it comes to donations? A comparison of Italian and US higher education institutions

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced severe cutbacks in funding over the past few years, with universities examining options for alternative funding streams, such as alumni funding. Identifying the factors influencing their alumni's intentions to invest in their alma mater can be of significant importance when establishing a sustainable revenue stream. Within this context, empirical research on the potential role of trust is scarce. This paper aims to deepen the analysis of the relationship between alumni trust and engagement as well as three outcomes, namely support, commitment, and attitude toward donation. A structural equation model was tested on two samples of US (  = 318) and Italian (  = 314) alumni. Although both countries are affluent and developed countries, the USA has an established tradition of alumni donations, which is not such a developed practice in Italy. For both countries, results confirm that engagement is an antecedent of trust, which in turn leads to the three investigated outcomes (support, commitment, and attitude toward donations). In contrast, the effect of commitment on attitude toward donations is significant only for the USA universities. The paper has interesting theoretical and managerial implications. From a theoretical point of view, the study aims to address a gap concerning the role of trust in the HE context. Managerially, the study has significant implications for universities that want to change alumni attitude toward donations. [Abstract copyright: © Springer Nature B.V. 2020.

Virtual Reality” is here to stay: Effective ways educators across the globe are incorporating VR into their lessons

Dewey’s (1916) early acknowledgment of the importance of active real experience is fundamental to all virtual reality (VR) encounters. These real or close-to-reality experiences will impact the learner by providing positive learning experiences (Ornstein & Hunkins, 1998).The work of Dewey’s theoretical framework and others set the foundation for VR experiences. This foundation has set the stage for massive investments in VR. It is estimated that by 2020, revenue from VR systems could reach one hundred and twenty-two billion dollars (Digi-Capital, 2017). The leading investors in VR systems include some of the largest technology companies: Facebook; Google, and Microsoft. Asian markets have also indicated a surge in spending on personal VR equipment. This increased revenue spending has influenced improvements in VR systems and these improvements have led to the proliferation of emerging theories on the effective use of VR systems. As these new theories develop, it is imperative that policy makers, educators, and instructional designers consider the fusion of pedagogy and technology when using VR systems. In addition, it will be important that stakeholders begin to document global practices and guidelines for the implementation of VR. The dissemination of good practices for VR will be a key factor that will ensure that the education sector is not left behind. This presentation will focus on leveraging the affordances of VR systems. In this session, the presenters will: (1) Outline examples how educators from China, Japan, United Arab Emirates, England, and USA are implementing VR in their lessons. (2) Use the examples outline to connect VR advances to best practices within the USA; (3) Provide an outline for teachers to use when planning and implementing VR within a lesson. References Dewey, J. (1916) Democracy and education. The Free Press, New York (1916) Ornstein, A. and Hunkins, F. (1998).Curriculum: Foundations, principles, and issues (3rd ed.), Allyn and Bacon, Needham Heights (1998

Changing Education Landscape: Teaching and learning with virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality in higher education

Our higher education landscape continues to be shaped by the emergence of new technological advances. However as these technological advances take place, one question that needs to be asked is how will the technology be aligned with the key principles of teaching and learning. According to Jowallah, Bennett & Bastedo (2018 p12), the implementation of technology within education must consider a “fusion of pedagogy and technology within a balanced framework.” The authors go on to suggest that “The proliferation of technological advances has changed the education landscape. In many instances, many seminal theorists for teaching and learning seem to have been forgotten (p.11).” Therefore, virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality engagements must be designed to maximize teaching and learning in higher education. This presentation will focus on the following four major objectives: (1) to articulate innovative trends in the use of virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality in higher education; (2) connect virtual reality advances to innovative and scalable encounters in higher education; (3) share information on finding open source content for virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality; and (4) share resources for the design and implementation of virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality in higher education. References Jowallah, R., Bennett, L., and Bastedo, K. (2018) Leveraging the Affordances of Virtual Reality Systems within K-12 Education: Responding to Future Innovations. Florida Distance Learning Association (3), 1-1

Behavioral consequences of bone marrow transplantation in the treatment of murine mucopolysaccharidosis type VII.

The gusmps/gusmps mouse is a model of the human lysosomal storage disease mucopolysaccharidosis type VII caused by deficient beta-glucuronidase activity. Bone marrow transplantation has been shown to correct some of their biochemical and pathological abnormalities but its efficacy in correcting their neurological functional deficits is unknown. We transplanted the neonatal gusmps/gusmps mice and their normal controls and evaluated their central nervous system function with two behavioral tests: the grooming test, a developmentally regulated and genetically based activity, and a Morris water maze test which assessed spatial learning abilities. The two transplanted groups groomed less than the normals, were unable to remember the location of an invisible platform from day to day, and were severely impaired at developing strategies to locate the platform in unfamiliar locations. The performance of both normal and mutant transplanted groups was clearly inferior to the untreated normals and, in some instances, close to or worse than the untreated mutants, even though the enzyme abnormalities of the mutants have been partially corrected. Hence, the behavioral deficits in the mutant mice were not restored to normal while similarly treated normal mice showed significant functional deterioration, indicating the detrimental consequence of this therapy in the neonatal period