The Effect of Student Time Allocation on Academic Achievement

There is a large literature on the influence of institutional characteristics on student academic achievement. In contrast, relatively little research focuses on student time allocation and its effects on student performance. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the effect of student time allocation on the average grade of undergraduate students, by gender, ability and field of study. The results suggest that time spent on attending courses is positively associated with grades for females, high ability students and students of Social Sciences and Sciences/Engineering. Spending time on self-study, on other study-related activities or on working as a student assistant or tutor is positively correlated with grades for almost all students. Devoting time for attending tutorials or student work groups is negatively correlated with grades if the ability of the students is below average or if they study Sciences/ Engineering. Using a translog production function, the results indicate that spending time on courses, on self-study, and on other study-related activities are substitutes. However, time spent on courses and time spent on working as a student assistant or tutor are complements.Student time allocation; student performance; educational production function

Performance-related Funding of Universities: Does More Competition Lead to Grade Inflation?

German universities are regarded as being under-financed, inefficient, and performing below average if compared to universities in other European countries and the US. Starting in the 1990s, several German federal states implemented reforms to improve this situation. An important part of these reforms has been the introduction of indicator-based funding systems. These financing systems aimed at increasing the competition between universities by making their pubic funds dependent on their relative performance concerning different output measures, such as the share of students obtaining a degree or the amount of third party funds. This paper evaluates whether the indicator-based funding created unintended incentives, i.e. whether the reform caused grade inflation. Estimating mean as well as quantile treatment effects, we cannot support the hypothesis that increased competition between universities causes grade inflation.grade inflation, higher education funding, university competition

Performance-related Funding of Universities – Does more Competition Lead to Grade Inflation?

German universities are regarded as being under-financed, inefficient, and performing below average if compared to universities in other European countries and the US. Starting in the 1990s, several German federal states implemented reforms to improve this situation. An important part of these reforms has been the introduction of indicator-based funding systems. These financing systems aimed at increasing the competition between universities by making their public funds dependent on their relative performance concerning different output measures, such as the share of students obtaining a degree or the amount of third party funds. This paper evaluates whether the indicator-based funding created unintended incentives, i.e. whether the reform caused a grade inflation. Estimating mean as well as quantile treatment effects, we cannot support the hypothesis that increased competition between universities causes grade inflation.Grade inflation; higher education funding; university competition

Caridean shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda) from Hansa Bay, Papua New Guinea: Bresiliidae, Hippolytidae, Pandalidae, Pasiphaeidae, Processidae, Rhynchocinetidae, Stylodactylidae and Thalassocarididae

The present contribution deals with the caridean shrimp fauna of Hansa Bay of the families Bresiliidae, Hippolytidae, Pandalidae, Pasiphaeidae, Processidae, Rhynchocinetidae, Stylodactylidae and Thalassocarididae. Sixteen species are dealt with, of which 14 are new records for Papua New Guinea

Pontoniinae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidea) associated with bivalve molluscs from Hansa Bay, Papua New Guinea

Eleven species of Pontoniinae (Decapoda: Caridea) are recorded as associates from large bivalves in Hansa Bay, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. Nine species are recorded as new to the fauna of Papua New Guinea. Morphological details, colour notes and host records of all species are provided. The taxonomic status of Paranchistus pycnodontae Bruce, 1978 in relation to P. serenei Bruce and P. spondylis Suzuki is discussed

Caridean shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda) from Hansa Bay, Papua New Guinea: Palaemonidae and Gnathophyllidae

59 species of palaemonoid shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda) are recorded from Hansa Bay, along the northern coastline of Papua New Guinea. The present study raises the total number of marine palaemonoid shrimp species from Hansa Bay to 76, of which 71 species belong to the subfamily Pontoniinae The total number for Papua New Guinea is now raised from 13 at the beginning of the century and 20 prior to the start of studies in Hansa Bay to a total of 82 species

The ionizing sources of luminous compact HII regions in the RCW106 and RCW122 clouds

Given the rarity of young O star candidates, compact HII regions embedded in dense molecular cores continue to serve as potential sites to peer into the details of high-mass star formation. To uncover the ionizing sources of the most luminous and compact HII regions embedded in the RCW106 and RCW122 giant molecular clouds, known to be relatively nearby (2-4 kpc) and isolated, thus providing an opportunity to examine spatial scales of a few hundred to a thousand AU in size. High spatial resolution (0.3"), mid-infrared spectra (R=350), including the fine structure lines [ArIII] and [NeII], were obtained for four luminous compact HII regions, embedded inside the dense cores within the RCW106 and RCW122 molecular cloud complexes. At this resolution, these targets reveal point-like sources surrounded by nebulosity of different morphologies, uncovering details at spatial dimensions of <1000AU. The point-like sources display [ArIII] and [NeII] lines - the ratios of which are used to estimate the temperature of the embedded sources. The derived temperatures are indicative of mid-late O type objects for all the sources with [ArIII] emission. Previously known characteristics of these targets from the literature, including evidence of disk or accretion suggest that the identified sources may grow more to become early-type O stars by the end of the star formation process