Measuring what matters: the positioning of students in feedback processes within national student satisfaction surveys

The increasing prominence of neoliberal agendas in international higher education has led to greater weight being ascribed to student satisfaction, and the national surveys through which students evaluate courses of study. In this article, we focus on the evaluation of feedback processes. Rather than the transmission of information from teacher to student, greater recognition of the fundamental role of the learner in seeking, generating, and using feedback information is evident in recent international literature. Through an analysis of the framing of survey items from 10 national student satisfaction surveys, we seek to question what conceptions or models of feedback are conveyed through survey items, and how such framing might shape perceptions and practice. Primarily, the surveys promote an outdated view of feedback as information transmitted from teacher to student in a timely and specific manner, largely ignoring the role of the student in learning through feedback processes. Widespread and meaningful change in the ways in which feedback is represented in research, policy, and practice requires a critical review of the positioning of students in artefacts such as evaluation surveys. We conclude with recommendations for practice by proposing amended survey items that are more consistent with contemporary theoretical conceptions of feedback

Nota Ruimte: ruimte voor natuur?

Beoordeling van de Nota door het Milieu- en Natuurplanbureau. Het vindt dat de Nota onvoldoende waarborgen biedt voor de bescherming van natuur. Deze bescherming wordt sterk afhankelijk van de sturing op regionaal nivea

Kijkrichtingen als hulpmiddel voor discussie over de toekomst van het natuurbeleid; casus Grevelingen.

De Natuurverkenning 2010 - 2040 verkent de toekomst van de Nederlandse natuur aan de hand van vier kijkrichtingen. Die aanpak blijkt aan te slaan. In verschillende beleidstrajacten is de aanpak met kijkrichtingen overgenomen. Maar welke meerwaarde bieden kijkrichtingen bij het nadenken over de toekomst van natuur? Die vraag proberen we te beantwoorden aan de hand van een concrete casus: De Grevelingen. De kijkrichtingen zijn: vitale natuur; beleefbare natuur; functionele natuur; inpasbare natuu

Nieuwe kennis voor een nieuw natuurbeleid

Het Nederlandse natuurbeleid ondergaat ingrijpende veranderingen. Het maatschappelijk draagvlak voor natuurbescherming is in beweging en nieuwe visies op natuur vragen aandacht. De positie van de wetenschap staat ter discussie, haar gezag lijkt minder vanzelfsprekend. ook het landschapsonderzoek moet zich aanpassen. Hoe? Die vraag stond centraal tijdens de studiedag op 22 maart, georganiseerd door Wageningen UR, het Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving en de Werkgemeenschap voor Landschapsonderzoek

Regeneration versus scarring in vertebrate appendages and heart

Injuries to complex human organs, such as the limbs and the heart, result in pathological conditions, for which we often lack adequate treatments. While modern regenerative approaches are based on the transplantation of stem cell-derived cells, natural regeneration in lower vertebrates, such as zebrafish and newts, relies predominantly on the intrinsic plasticity of mature tissues. This property involves local activation of the remaining material at the site of injury to promote cell division, cell migration and complete reproduction of the missing structure. It remains an unresolved question why adult mammals are not equally competent to reactivate morphogenetic programmes. Although organ regeneration depends strongly on the proliferative properties of cells in the injured tissue, it is apparent that various organismic factors, such as innervation, vascularization, hormones, metabolism and the immune system, can affect this process. Here, we focus on a correlation between the regenerative capacity and cellular specialization in the context of functional demands, as illustrated by appendages and heart in diverse vertebrates. Elucidation of the differences between homologous regenerative and non-regenerative tissues from various animal models is essential for understanding the applicability of lessons learned from the study of regenerative biology to clinical strategies for the treatment of injured human organs

Impaired access of lymphocytes to neoplastic prostate tissue is associated with neoangiogenesis in the tumour site

Recent reports demonstrated that neovasculature of certain murine tumours inhibits migration of lymphocytes to malignant tissues. We examined the possible existence of this phenomenon in human prostate adenocarcinoma by relating extent, patterns and composition of leucocyte infiltrates in adenocarinoma specimens (N=28) to microvessel density and percentages of these vessels expressing adhesion molecules CD54, CD106 and CD62E. Specimens of nodular hyperplasia (N=30) were used as a control for nonmalignant prostate. Increased microvessel density was detected in foci of adenocarcinoma, as compared with adjacent benign areas (P=0.004) or hyperplastic specimens (P=0.001). Only CD54 was detected on prostate vasculature; percentages of CD54-expressing vessels in adenocarcinoma lesions and adjacent areas were higher than in hyperplasia (P=0.041 and P=0.014, respectively). Infiltrating leucocytes were either scattered diffusely in tissue or organised into clusters mainly composed of CD4-positive lymphocytes; smaller percentage of tissue was occupied by clustered infiltrates in adenocarcinoma foci (mean=0.7; median=0; range=0–5) than in adjacent tissue (mean=2.5; median=1; range=0–15; P=.021) and hyperplasia (mean=1.9; median=2; range=0–5; P=.006). In adenocarcinoma foci, microvessel density tended to negatively correlate with percentage of tissue occupied by an overall leucocyte infiltrate (mean=8.6; median=7.5; range=30) and negatively correlated with percentage of tissue occupied by clustered infiltrate (P=0.045). Percentage of CD54-expressing vessels positively correlated with percentage of tissue occupied by an overall (mean=12; median=10; range=30; P=0.01) and clustered (P=0.023) infiltrate in hyperplasia, whereas in carcinoma-adjacent benign areas, correlation was detected only for clustered infiltrates (P=0.02). The results indicate that impaired access of lymphocytes to malignant lesions is associated with increased numbers of newly formed blood vessels, whereas vascular CD54 likely contributes to extravasation of lymphocytes only in benign prostate tissue

Facilitating Student Learning Through Contextualization

This Brief, based on a longer review that considers the hypothesis that low-skilled students can learn more effectively and advance to college-level programs more readily through contextualization of basic skills instruction, presents two forms of contextualization that have been studied: “contextualized“ and “integrated“ instruction. There is more descriptive work on the contextualization of basic skills than studies with student outcome data. In addition, many studies with quantitative evidence on the effectiveness of contextualization have methodological flaws that limit conclusions. Further, only a small number of studies are with college students. However, despite these problems, contextualization seems to be a promising direction for accelerating the progress of academically underprepared college students. The method of contextualization is grounded in a conceptual framework relating to the transfer of skill and student motivation; practitioners who use it observe positive results, and the available quantitative evidence indicates that it has the potential to increase achievement

Community response in disasters: an ecological learning framework

Natural disasters are frequently exacerbated by anthropogenic mechanisms and have social and political consequences for communities. The role of community learning in disasters is seen to be increasingly important. However, the ways in which such learning unfolds in a disaster can differ substantially from case to case. This article uses a comparative case study methodology to examine catastrophes and major disasters from five countries (Japan, New Zealand, the UK, the USA and Germany) to consider how community learning and adaptation occurs. An ecological model of learning is considered, where community learning is of small loop (adaptive, incremental, experimental) type or large loop (paradigm changing) type. Using this model, we consider that there are three types of community learning that occur in disasters (navigation, organization, reframing). The type of community learning that actually develops in a disaster depends upon a range of social factors such as stress and trauma, civic innovation and coercion