Who is learning what from student evaluations of teaching?

Student evaluations of teaching (or SET) through anonymous survey forms are a consistent practice in higher education across the world yet research results vary considerably as to the reliability, validity and efficacy of SET. Nonetheless, the widespread use of SET for promotion and tenure decisions ensures that these results are high stakes for tertiary staff. The tension between the purposes of SET (to supposedly improve teaching) and the ramifications of SET results are explored. Staff and students tend to hold very different views of SET and the issue of maintaining high academic standards can be at risk. However, SET can be used as an opportunity for staff and students to work together on issues in teaching and learning that enhance quality for all concerned

Vodcast Impact on Students\u27 Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions

Purpose: This paper uses structural equation modeling to assess the effectiveness of Vodcasts (video podcasts) as part of a university’s communication strategy with prospective students. Design/methodology/approach: Three theoretical models were tested using a structural equation model. Findings: We find that perceived informativeness, credibility, and irritation of the advertising are directly related to the value of the Vodcast advertising. However of those three factors, only the informativeness is directly related to the intent to take further action toward enrollment. In addition, while prior work has suggested that perceived entertainment of advertising positively influences its perceived value, we find that for these university Vodcasts, perceived entertainment is not a statistically significant factor. Research limitations/implications: The results suggest that for Vodcasts used for these purposes, less attention should be given to entertainment value, and more attention should be focused on providing useful information in a manner that is credible and not irritating to students. Originality/value: Vodcasts have become part of the Internet multimedia experience and have been integrated into universities’ web-based promotion strategies. While prior work has examined general advertising on the web, few studies have considered the impact of the interactive medium of Vodcasts on attitudes and behavioral intentions

Hitchcock, Tati and Leone: style, narrative and directorial approaches in mainstream cinema and their relationship to contemporary screen-dance practice.

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science by Research.This research recommends the style, narrative and directorial approaches of Alfred Hitchcock, Jaques Tati and Sergio Leone as a relevant point of reference for current screen-dance practice. Their specific cinematic authored models were tested in order to determine whether the framework could provide a flexible enough methodology for the making and producing of effective screen-dance, and in the hopes of providing new pathways for the researcher’s screen-dance practice. The cinematic authors selected for scrutiny were Alfred Hitchcock, Jaques Tati, and Sergio Leone. The criterion for this selection was determined by the directors’ stylistic and narrative preferences, and democratic approaches to sound and image making. Five screen-dances were produced for this research between 2004 and 2011 and a further two in 2014 and 2016: Vanishing point (Tiso, 2004), Tippi: Crying Fowl (Tiso, 2007) and Nil desperandum) (Tiso, 2012) were based on the Hitchcock oeuvre, Souvenir (Tiso, 2005) was based on the Tati opus and Crimes (Tiso, 2005) on Sergio Leone’s legacy. Flow (Tiso, 2014) and The big sofa (Tiso, 2016) were developed out of the findings of a completed directorial, stylistic, narrative listing. This thesis is largely a piece of self-enquiry. The researcher has been methodical in how she has approached her own work, so that the work is presented as a heuristic analysis interwoven woven into body of the practical components

Risk Factors Associated With Coronary Artery Disease In Individuals After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

Since the early 1960s coronary artery disease (CAD) has been the nation\u27s leading killer of middle-aged men. Even with development of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, the recurrence rate remains high. The research question addressed in this descriptive study was what risk factors associated with CAD can be identified in individuals after CABG surgery? Using Becker\u27s Health Belief Model as a theoretical framework, a convenience sample of 69 postoperative CABG clients from a rural Mississippi cardiac rehabilitation program completed researcher-developed surveys. Descriptive analysis identified the following risk factors in the sample : Forty-three (63%) of subjects reported eating fried foods, 26 (39%) reported whole milk consumption, and 49 (65%) eat regular cheese. Twenty (29%) reported smoking. Thirty-five (51%) reported hypertension, yet 45 (61%) reported use of regular salt on their food. Additionally, 35 (51%) reported various levels of stress, while only 19 (26%) reported using relaxation techniques to help the stress. I l l Family history was identified as a risk factor with 55 (79%) reporting a parent with heart disease, and 40 (57%) reported a sibling with heart disease. Findings from this study indicate that perceived health status and demographic variables may influence compliance to recommended treatment programs. Implications for nursing include assessment of perceived health status and demographic variables and individualizing educational plans for clients based on these data. The researcher recommends replicating this study with a pilot test of the instruments and using a larger, more randomized sample and a longitudinal study

Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Context of a Black Feminist Ideology

Black women have long recognized the special circumstances of our lives in the United States: the commonalities that we share with all women, as well as the bonds that connect us to the men of our race. We have also realized that the interactive oppressions that circumscribe our lives provide a distinctive context for black womanhood. For us, the notion of double jeopardy is not a new one. Near the end of the nineteenth century, Anna Julia Cooper, who was born a slave and later became an educator and earned a Ph.D., often spoke and wrote of the double enslavement of black women and of our being confronted by both a woman question and a race problem. \u27 In 1904, Mary Church Terrell, the first president of the National Association of Colored Women, wrote, Not only are colored women... handicapped on account of their sex, but they are almost everywhere baffled and mocked because of their race. Not only because they are women, but because they are colored women

Journey to the Doctorate: Motivating Factors for Persistence and Completion of Doctoral Programs Among McNair Scholars

Using a qualitative approach, this study investigated the perceptions of motivating factors for persistence and completion of the doctorate among low income, first generation and students of color that participated in the federally funded Ronald E. McNair Postbaccaluareate Achievement Program. Purposive sampling was used to obtain a pool of nine research participants that were enrolled in a McNair program during undergraduate study and successfully completed a doctoral program. Research questions were designed to retrieve information regarding how the McNair program impacted the successful completion of the doctorate. The findings were developed through analysis of data collected from interviews, an online focus group, and document review. Utilizing various theories of socialization, the doctoral experiences of the nine participants were explored and the perceptions of the impact of the McNair program on successful completion were examined. The findings resulted in a model of intervention that demonstrates how the McNair program can accelerate the progression of McNair Scholars through the graduate school socialization process for increased opportunity for successful completion of the doctorate

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis qualitative study describes and analyzes the experience of Mexican immigrant women who live in the United States without government authorization and who have participated as volunteer outreach workers through a local community-based organization. Specifically, I have sought to understand their views regarding the impact that engaging civically has had on their lives. Research decisions throughout the project were informed by empowerment theory and the principles of participatory action research. Grounded theory methodology served as the framework for conducting the data analysis process. Triangulation of data sources were used to strengthen the reliability and authenticity of the data and its analysis. Participant observations, in-depth interviews of research participants, focus groups, and participant analysis offered four sources of data corroborated in the analysis process. In addition, the strategies of peer review and participant feedback were built into the research design. This grounded theory analysis of a community-based participatory action research project addressed many of the concepts discussed in the literature on empowerment theory and civic engagement, and has contributed to an area of research that was previously lacking: the impact of volunteering on lay health advisors themselves. The substantive grounded theory developed through this project furthers our consideration of notions of power, including: what is power, what does it look like, and how does it function in day-to-day lives

Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Context of a Black Feminist Ideology

Black women have long recognized the special circumstances of our lives in the United States: the commonalities that we share with all women, as well as the bonds that connect us to the men of our race. We have also realized that the interactive oppressions that circumscribe our lives provide a distinctive context for black womanhood. For us, the notion of double jeopardy is not a new one. Near the end of the nineteenth century, Anna Julia Cooper, who was born a slave and later became an educator and earned a Ph.D., often spoke and wrote of the double enslavement of black women and of our being confronted by both a woman question and a race problem. \u27 In 1904, Mary Church Terrell, the first president of the National Association of Colored Women, wrote, Not only are colored women... handicapped on account of their sex, but they are almost everywhere baffled and mocked because of their race. Not only because they are women, but because they are colored women