The Effect of Workload on Student Evaluations of Teaching

There are several intermingled factors that have been proposed to influence the results seen on student evaluations of teaching (SETs). Two suggested factors are workload and expected grade. Research has suggested both a positive and negative correlation with scores seen on SETs and workload levels. However, the direction of the relationship may depend upon whether the workload was perceived as good or bad. For the purposes of this study, good workload can be defined as work that the student felt increased his or her knowledge of the subject at hand. Bad workload can be defined as work that the student considered to be busy work, and did not help to advance his or her knowledge of the given subject. This study set out to determine if students that perceive higher levels of good workload and lower levels of bad workload report higher SET scores. It also explores the relationship between expected grade and SET ratings. Students from eight undergraduate courses were surveyed and asked questions similar to those seen on SETs. These included questions about good and bad workload levels, expected grade, teacher and course satisfaction as well as other questions that may influence a student\u27s perception of the course. The results indicated that the amount of perceived good workload was positively correlated with SET scores and the amount of perceived bad workload was negatively correlated with SET scores. Expected grade was also positively correlated with SET ratings. Good and bad workload values significantly predicted course value. Although the relationships were in the predicted direction for the instructor satisfaction portion of SET ratings, they were not significant. The direction of the relationship may be due to chance as non significant results are not considered reliable. Research results suggest that expected grade plays a role in determining a student\u27s satisfaction with a given course. Perceived good and bad workload may play a role in determining overall course satisfaction and possibly a smaller r

Notes on Some Eastern Pacific Species of Phialidium (Leptomedusae)

A collection of Phialidium was sent to me by Dr. E. C. Roosen-Runge, University of Washington, Seattle, who wanted my opinion on their specific affinity. They were collected at Friday Harbor in Puget Sound, some few in August 1959, a great number in June 1960. They all belong to one species and agree perfectly with the species which was described by Murbach and Shearer (1903) under the name Phialidium gregarium (A. Agassiz). It is questionable, however, whether the medusa observed and carefully described by Murbach and Shearer really belonged to the same species, which was briefly described by Agassiz as Oceania gregaria

The Effect of Workload on Student Evaluations of Teaching

There are several intermingled factors that have been proposed to influence the results seen on student evaluations of teaching (SETs). Two suggested factors are workload and expected grade. Research has suggested both a positive and negative correlation with scores seen on SETs and workload levels. However, the direction of the relationship may depend upon whether the workload was perceived as good or bad. For the purposes of this study, good workload can be defined as work that the student felt increased his or her knowledge of the subject at hand. Bad workload can be defined as work that the student considered to be busy work, and did not help to advance his or her knowledge of the given subject. This study set out to determine if students that perceive higher levels of good workload and lower levels of bad workload report higher SET scores. It also explores the relationship between expected grade and SET ratings. Students from eight undergraduate courses were surveyed and asked questions similar to those seen on SETs. These included questions about good and bad workload levels, expected grade, teacher and course satisfaction as well as other questions that may influence a student\u27s perception of the course. The results indicated that the amount of perceived good workload was positively correlated with SET scores and the amount of perceived bad workload was negatively correlated with SET scores. Expected grade was also positively correlated with SET ratings. Good and bad workload values significantly predicted course value. Although the relationships were in the predicted direction for the instructor satisfaction portion of SET ratings, they were not significant. The direction of the relationship may be due to chance as non significant results are not considered reliable. Research results suggest that expected grade plays a role in determining a student\u27s satisfaction with a given course. Perceived good and bad workload may play a role in determining overall course satisfaction and possibly a smaller r

Education in laparoscopic surgery:All eyes towards in vivo training

Tegenwoordig worden steeds meer buikoperaties d.m.v. laparoscopische (knoopsgat) chirurgie uitgevoerd. Omdat deze manier van chirurgie zo anders is dan conventionele chirurgie staat tegenwoordig de manier van selectie, training en beoordeling van artsen in opleiding tot chirurg ter discussie in de wetenschap. Uit dit proefschrift blijkt dat neuropsychologische testen voor ruimtelijk inzicht en psychomotorische vaardigheden een voorspellende waarde hebben in de laparoscopische chirurgie. Beoordeling van applicaties voor de opleiding chirurgie zouden daarom gebaat zijn bij een neuropsychologische test van deze vaardigheden. De training van chirurgen kan mogelijk worden verbeterd door het gebruik van het Pareto-principe, een principe dat veel gebruikt wordt in de bedrijfseconomie en verondersteld dat 20% van de verschillende oorzaken verantwoordelijk is voor 80% van de gevolgen. Ook op de operatiekamer blijkt namelijk 20% van de laparoscopische vaardigheden verantwoordelijk te zijn voor 80% van de verbale correcties gegeven door supervisoren. Ten behoeve van trainingsefficiëntie lijkt het dus verstandig om traininginstrumenten (VR simulator taken, boeken, cursussen, etc.) te ontwikkelen die juist deze 20% aanpakken. In het huidige trainingsysteem wordt een algemeen beoordelingsformulier gebruikt voor het geven van feedback, de OSATS. Alhoewel dit een duidelijke vooruitgang is t.o.v. de meer subjectieve beoordelingen van vroeger kan het formulier niet gebruikt worden voor procedure specifieke feedback. Uit dit proefschrift blijkt dat het beoordelen van de mate van fysieke en verbale ondersteuning die een arts in opleiding tot chirurg nodig heeft van zijn supervisor een goed beeld geeft van zijn/haar niveau tijdens een laparoscopische operatie en tevens kan worden gebruikt voor het geven van procedure specifieke feedback

Dropping a Line Into a Creek and Pulling Out a Whale: A Phenomenological Study of Six Teachers\u27 Experiences of Their Students\u27 Stories of Learning

This is a study of six college teachers\u27 narratives of their experiences of their students\u27 stories of learning. These six teachers took part in a two year project supported by Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE), in which participants created opportunities in their courses for their students to tell their stories of learning, thereby allowing their students to self-assess their learning and senses of self as learners. Their students\u27 stories became a context for these teachers to reflect upon their teaching and senses of self as teachers. Results of the FIPSE project showed they made significant changes in their practice. What was yet to be learned was the teachers\u27 experiences of their students\u27 stories of learning. This study offers a phenomenological description and storied interpretation of the narratives of their experiences. The phenomenological interview was selected as the appropriate context for these teachers to tell their experience. Their telling took the form of narrative. The texts of the interviews were studied to describe the essential themes of their experience of their students\u27 stories of learning and to interpret them in ways that respected the particular narrative qualities of the stories each told. In the analysis of the texts of their interviews each teacher is first introduced through a description of a basic metaphor that emerges in his/her telling, followed by the themes in his/her stories. Six general themes emerged from this analysis: Telling- Listening/Hearing, Not Knowing- Knowing, Complication, Connection, Responsible Response, Change. Each theme is described as it is nuanced by each teacher. This leads to a matrix that relates the general themes and each teacher\u27s experience -- one can trace a theme across the experience of the six teachers and also trace the six themes through the experience of each teacher. The general themes are then configured as events, actions or happenings into a plot of a meta-narrative of the six teachers\u27 stories of their experience of their students\u27 stories of learning. In a storied analysis, the experience of each is re-storied in light of this plot, returning the narrative to each individual teacher

A new Scopula from mid-Atlantic Ascension Island (Lepidoptera, Geometridae)

Die Autoren berichten über das Wiederauffinden einer Scopula-Art auf der Insel Ascension. Nach umfangreichen Vergleichen stellte sich diese Scopula als neu heraus und wird als Scopula ascensionis spec. nov. beschrieben. Informationen zum Habitat sowie zu Raupe und Puppe der Art werden gegeben.   Nomenklatorische Handlungen Scopula ascensionis spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6CA2D311-B23A-4000-9A0A-B0D04EAC27C8The authors report the rediscovery of a Scopula species on Ascension Island. After comprehensive comparison work, it was found to be a species new for science. It is described here as Scopula ascensionis spec. nov. Information on the habitat, larva and pupa are given.   Taxonomic acts Scopula ascensionis spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6CA2D311-B23A-4000-9A0A-B0D04EAC27C