3,313 research outputs found
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What makes students satisfied? A discussion and analysis of the UK’s national student survey
This paper analyses data from the National Students Survey, determining which groups of students expressed the greatest levels of satisfaction. We find students registered on clinical degrees and those studying humanities to be the most satisfied, with those in general engineering and media studies the least. We also find contentment to be higher among part-time students, and significantly higher among Russell group and post-1992 universities. We further investigate the sub-areas that drive overall student satisfaction, finding teaching and course organisation to be the most important aspects, with resources and assessment and feedback far less relevant. We then develop a multi- attribute measure of satisfaction which we argue produces a more accurate and more stable reflection of overall student satisfaction than that based on a single question
Valuing Medieval Annuities: Were Corrodies Underpriced?
Medieval bishops condemned and restricted the sale of corrodies (a type of annuity), partly on the grounds of their perceived unprofitability. The available data on the profitability of corrodies is limited and little analysed, and the episcopal condemnation of corrodies has been adopted by modern researchers. After recognising the difficulties, this paper applies an annuity pricing model to study corrody pricing. Given various assumptions, contrary to the established view, it is argued that the sale of corrodies was financially profitable for institutions. Finally, some reasons are considered for the negative attitude of contemporary and historical opinion towards the sale of corrodies.Corrodies, pensions, annuities, monasteries, pricing models
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Medieval property investors, ca. 1300-1500
This paper utilises a dataset of freehold land and property transactions from medieval England to highlight the growing commercialisation of the economy. By drawing on the legal records we are able to demonstrate that the medieval real estate market provided the opportunity for investors to profit. Careful analysis of the data provides evidence of group purchases, multiple transactions and investors buying outside of their own locality. The identification of these ‘investors’ and their buying behaviours, set within the context of the English medieval economy, contributes to the early commercialisation debate
Advance Contracts for the Sale of Wool in Medieval England; An Undeveloped and Inefficient Market?
While it is commonly believed that derivative instruments are a recent invention, we document the existence of forward contracts for the sale of wool in medieval England around 700 years ago. The contracts were generally entered into by English monasteries, who frequently sold their wool for up to twenty years in advance to mostly foreign and particularly Italian merchants. Employing a unique source of data collected by hand from the historical records, we determine the interest rates implied in these transactions and we also examine the efficiency of the forward and spot markets. The calculated interest rates average around 20%, in accordance with available information concerning the interest rates used in other types of transactions at that time. Perhaps surprisingly, we also find little evidence of informational inefficiencies in these markets.Wood market, forward contracts, market efficinecy, Medieval England, Interest rates
Leger est aprendre mes fort est arendre;: Wool, Debt and the Dispersal of Pipewell Abbey (1280 - 1330)
has long been known that English Cistercian monasteries often sold their wool in advance to foreign merchants in the late thirteenth century. The abbey of Pipewell in Northamptonshire features in a number of such contracts with Cahorsin merchants. This paper looks again at these contracts in the context of over 200 other such agreements found in the governmental records. Why did Pipewell descend into penury over this fifty year period? This case study demonstrates that the promise of ready cash for their most valuable commodity led such abbots to make ambitious agreements – taking on yet more debt to service existing creditors - that would lead to their eventual bankruptcy.
Causal Quantum Theory and the Collapse Locality Loophole
Causal quantum theory is an umbrella term for ordinary quantum theory
modified by two hypotheses: state vector reduction is a well-defined process,
and strict local causality applies. The first of these holds in some versions
of Copenhagen quantum theory and need not necessarily imply practically
testable deviations from ordinary quantum theory. The second implies that
measurement events which are spacelike separated have no non-local
correlations. To test this prediction, which sharply differs from standard
quantum theory, requires a precise theory of state vector reduction.
Formally speaking, any precise version of causal quantum theory defines a
local hidden variable theory. However, causal quantum theory is most naturally
seen as a variant of standard quantum theory. For that reason it seems a more
serious rival to standard quantum theory than local hidden variable models
relying on the locality or detector efficiency loopholes.
Some plausible versions of causal quantum theory are not refuted by any Bell
experiments to date, nor is it obvious that they are inconsistent with other
experiments. They evade refutation via a neglected loophole in Bell experiments
-- the {\it collapse locality loophole} -- which exists because of the possible
time lag between a particle entering a measuring device and a collapse taking
place. Fairly definitive tests of causal versus standard quantum theory could
be made by observing entangled particles separated by light
seconds.Comment: Discussion expanded; typos corrected; references adde
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Is there a ‘magic link’ between research activity, professional teaching qualifications and student satisfaction?
The increasing prominence given to student satisfaction at UK Universities as a response to the introduction of fees and the growing stature of league tables has led to a desire to understand the factors that affect the quality of the student experience. Therefore, this paper examines whether students who study at universities in the UK where research is highly rated or where a high proportion of faculty are professionally qualified are more satisfied, measuring satisfaction through data from the National Student Survey. Our key results are first, that students are happiest at pre-1992 universities outside the Russell group and where the amount of top-rated research is lower. Second, we uncover no link between student contentment and the percentage of faculty holding formal teaching qualifications. Our findings have important implications for university policies regarding the link between research and teaching and for the current drive to ‘professionalise’ teaching in higher education
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Fighting merchants
Selected essays from a conference held in November 2013 to celebrate the contribution to scholarship of the medieval historian Professor James L. Bolton
Research-based assessment affordances and constraints: Perceptions of physics faculty
To help faculty use research-based materials in a more significant way, we
learn about their perceived needs and desires and use this information to
suggest ways for the Physics Education Research community to address these
needs. When research-based resources are well aligned with the perceived needs
of faculty, faculty members will more readily take them up. We used
phenomenographic interviews of ordinary physics faculty and department chairs
to identify four families of issues that faculty have around research-based
assessments (RBA). First, many faculty are interested in using RBAs but have
practical needs around how to do so: how to find them, which ones there are,
and how to administer them. They want help addressing these needs. Second, at
the same time, many faculty think that RBAs are limited and don't measure many
of the things they care about, or aren't applicable in their classes. They want
assessments to measure skills, perceptions, and specific concepts. Third, many
faculty want to turn to communities of other faculty and experts to help them
interpret their assessment results and suggest other ways to do assessment.
They want to norm their assessment results by comparing to others and
interacting with faculty from other schools to learn about how they do
assessment. Fourth, many faculty consider their courses in the broader contexts
of accountability and their departments. They want help with assessment in
these broader contexts. We also discuss how faculty members role in their
department and type of institution influence their perceived wants and needs
around assessment.Comment: submitted to Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education
Researc
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