State Evaluation of Foreign Sales Efforts.

The past fifteen years since 1972 have seen a dramatic increase in state attention to foreign countries as a source of economic stimulation. This study surveyed other states to see what Minnesota could learn from them. It features an analysis of evaluation methods used to assess foreign sales promotions and suggests ways that Minnesota can improve on these methods. Minnesota's activities and the Minnesota Trade Office are also reviewed.A project of the Interactive Research Grants Program, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs and the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Minnesota

Scandinavia faces EU : debates and decisions on membership 1961-1994

This study begins with the observation that three similar states - Denmark, Norway and Sweden - have had different EC/EU policies, and that one of the foreign policy literature's most interesting approaches, domestic structures analysis, does not shed light on this variation. The goal of the study is to develop an understanding of the different policies by analyzing the question of EC/EU membership using an approach in which issue area, defined in terms of both substance and impact, is linked to policy process and policy choice. Substantive issue area is studied by analyzing parliamentary debates in the three countries. An issue area typology with four substantive categories - economic, political/ policy, international/security, and other — is used to classify arguments made in the debates. The analysis shows that the question was an economic and political issue in Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the 1990s. It was a security issue in Sweden in the 1960s and 1970s. It is argued that this variation helps explain variation in EC/EU policy. In particular, the findings support the argument that the importance of the substantive definition of the EC/EU question is related to the coalitional possibilities it creates. The size of the coalition has, in turn, an impact on policy process and outcome. When the coalitions are large, the process moves more quickly, and parliaments and political parties tend to be consulted or informed rather than active participants. The question of EC/EU membership is also analyzed using an impact typology in which questions are classified as generating one of three types of conflict: none, managed and unmanaged. The EC/EU membership question is classified on the basis of public opinion data and conflict or agreement within political parties. The analysis shows that there were three cases in which the EC/EU question created managed conflict: Denmark and Sweden in the 1960s and Sweden in the 1970s. In other cases, conflict was unmanaged. In an analysis of the importance of variation with regard to type of conflict, it is argued that the data support the hypothesis that the existence of unmanaged conflict is related to decisions to call referenda to decide the membership question. In the face of unmanaged conflict political elites were encouraged to give authority for decision making over to voters. This was, in turn, linked to the emergence of ad hoc organizations dedicated to influencing public opinion for or against membership. This study suggests that the issue areas approach can offer important contributions to the analysis of foreign policy. A challenge for future research is to analyze how issue areas and domestic structure interact to generate policy process and outcome. Central questions should include the relative importance of the two and analyses of the conditions under which one or the other is likely to dominate.digitalisering@um

Scandinavia faces EU : debates and decisions on membership 1961-1994

This study begins with the observation that three similar states - Denmark, Norway and Sweden - have had different EC/EU policies, and that one of the foreign policy literature's most interesting approaches, domestic structures analysis, does not shed light on this variation. The goal of the study is to develop an understanding of the different policies by analyzing the question of EC/EU membership using an approach in which issue area, defined in terms of both substance and impact, is linked to policy process and policy choice. Substantive issue area is studied by analyzing parliamentary debates in the three countries. An issue area typology with four substantive categories - economic, political/ policy, international/security, and other — is used to classify arguments made in the debates. The analysis shows that the question was an economic and political issue in Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the 1990s. It was a security issue in Sweden in the 1960s and 1970s. It is argued that this variation helps explain variation in EC/EU policy. In particular, the findings support the argument that the importance of the substantive definition of the EC/EU question is related to the coalitional possibilities it creates. The size of the coalition has, in turn, an impact on policy process and outcome. When the coalitions are large, the process moves more quickly, and parliaments and political parties tend to be consulted or informed rather than active participants. The question of EC/EU membership is also analyzed using an impact typology in which questions are classified as generating one of three types of conflict: none, managed and unmanaged. The EC/EU membership question is classified on the basis of public opinion data and conflict or agreement within political parties. The analysis shows that there were three cases in which the EC/EU question created managed conflict: Denmark and Sweden in the 1960s and Sweden in the 1970s. In other cases, conflict was unmanaged. In an analysis of the importance of variation with regard to type of conflict, it is argued that the data support the hypothesis that the existence of unmanaged conflict is related to decisions to call referenda to decide the membership question. In the face of unmanaged conflict political elites were encouraged to give authority for decision making over to voters. This was, in turn, linked to the emergence of ad hoc organizations dedicated to influencing public opinion for or against membership. This study suggests that the issue areas approach can offer important contributions to the analysis of foreign policy. A challenge for future research is to analyze how issue areas and domestic structure interact to generate policy process and outcome. Central questions should include the relative importance of the two and analyses of the conditions under which one or the other is likely to dominate.digitalisering@um

Percepciones de los maestros sobre la evaluación de la calidad docente en la Educación Superior

"Epub May 29, 2017"Na Educação Superior, a avaliação da qualidade do ensino docente pelos estudantes é amplamente utilizada, apesar das críticas frequentes à sua validade, procedimentos e utilização da informação recolhida. Dez professores de três universidades públicas portuguesas foram entrevistados, tendo-se procedido a uma análise temática exaustiva das mesmas. Os docentes consideram importante que os estudantes avaliem o ensino. Como aspectos positivos, assinalam a oportunidade de escuta aos estudantes e as contribuições daí decorrentes para aprimoramento das práticas pedagógicas. Contudo, as críticas e os aspectos negativos prevalecem, destacando a pouca validade dos inquéritos, a fraca representatividade dos estudantes que respondem ou a falta de uma política institucional de rentabilização da informação recolhida. Algumas implicações são retiradas perspectivando a avaliação e melhoria das práticas pedagógicas.In Higher Education the evaluation of the quality of teaching by students is widely used, despite frequent criticism of its validity, procedures and use of the information collected. Ten teachers from three Portuguese public universities were interviewed, and an exhaustive thematic analysis was performed. Teachers consider important students to evaluate teaching. On the positive side, they point out the opportunity to listen to students and the resulting contributions to improve teaching practices. However, the criticism and the negative aspects prevailed, highlighting the little validity of the surveys, the weak representation of the students who respond, or the lack of institutional policy about the utilization of the information collected. Some implications are presented with a perspective on evaluation and improvement of pedagogical practices.En la Educación Superior la evaluación de la calidad de la enseñanza de los maestros es ampliamente utilizada, pese a las críticas de su validez, a sus procedimientos y al uso de la información recogida. Diez profesores de tres universidades públicas portuguesas fueron entrevistados, y fue realizada una análisis temática exhaustiva. Los maestros consideran importante que los estudiantes evalúen la enseñanza. De manera positiva, apuntan el espacio de escucha de los estudiantes y las contribuciones que este aporta para mejorar las prácticas de enseñanza. Sin embargo, las críticas y los aspectos negativos prevalecieron, destacando la poca validez de los cuestionarios, la débil representación de los estudiantes que responden, o la falta de políticas institucionales sobre la utilización de la información recogida. Se presentan algunas implicaciones con una perspectiva de evaluación y mejora de las prácticas docentes.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio