Evaluating and enhancing the feedback process: an international college case study

This paper identifies a style of feedback which is comprehensible and meaningful to international students on pathway to HE programmes. Moreover, it identifies the extent to which international students at pathway level can interact and engage with academic feedback on academic assignments in the fields of mathematics and statistics. Two distinct styles of feedback were offered to students studying academic modules on pathway programmes at Glasgow International College (a collaboration between Kaplan International Colleges and the University of Glasgow). Students were surveyed regarding their reaction to and use of assignment feedback, as well as their understanding of it and their perception of its role in their learning. This case study suggests that a simple and directed style of feedback which deals with each question or aspect of an assignment individually, highlighting weak areas and allowing students to pinpoint their weaknesses combined with short ‘feedback meetings’ is particularly appropriate for international students. This case study was financially supported using a professional development grant awarded by Glasgow International College

Investigating academic cultural differences in an international classroom

Given the large increase in international student numbers (UKCISA, 2012) it will prove beneficial to the international educator to identify any differences in cultural perceptions and expectations of newly registered international students and UK teaching and learning expectations. Knowledge of such differences could be used to inform teaching practice which promotes a smooth cultural transition. This project aimed to measure the ‘typical’ academic culture of a new cohort of international students compared to that of their UK teacher. Several cultural differences were identified according to Hofstede’s cultural typologies (Hofstede, 1986). Students identified themselves as collectivists in a position of low power, whereas their teacher expressed individualist traits and valued a more equal distribution of power in the classroom. These findings can be used to understand how different cultural expectations between students and staff may become apparent in an international classroom

Opening the black box : how strategy practitioners develop their practices : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

While strategic management has been the focus of much research since the 1960s, there have been comparatively few studies on strategy practitioners, the human actors responsible for the process. These actors are often reduced to a set of observable demographic variables such as education level, work tenure, or job description. Consequently there is limited knowledge regarding strategy practitioners and, in particular, little is known about how they develop their practices, the knowledge and skills they use when engaged in strategic management. To address this gap in knowledge, this study, conducted within the strategy-as-practice (SAP) perspective, interviewed strategy practitioners identified by their peers as effective strategy practitioners. The responsive interviewing technique employed opened the so called ‘black box’, the subjective views of individuals, and allowed participants to reflect and, importantly, provide their meaning of what significantly influenced their strategic management practice development. Eighteen interviews were conducted and the analysis of the rich, deep data collected allowed an understanding of practice development from a practitioner’s perspective to emerge. The study revealed that this group of strategy practitioners see strategic management in holistic terms with a focus on organisational outcomes and not in a traditional, normative view which privileges the creation of a strategy. This contribution was not, however, a primary research outcome but participants view of strategic management impacted significantly on how they view themselves as strategy practitioners, the purpose of strategic management and, vitally, the practices they believe are needed to be effective. Within this context, the study shows that participants develop their practices idiosyncratically and learning from practice, notable literature and being involved with a broad range of people, were valued significantly in their practice development. It was through this meaning that participants were able to relate important aspects of their own development. This study contributes an empirical study to the SAP perspective that goes well beyond simple demographics in understanding how strategy practitioners develop their practices. In regards to research, the selection of strategy practitioners without considering their historical development has been identified as an area that may be problematic, especially for studies seeking to understand how strategy is practised. Business school education was not identified as a direct, meaningful contributor to participants’ development. This observation raises the interesting, and unresolved, question of the actual relationship between business schools and practice. The participants’ idiosyncratic career paths contributes to the viewpoints of authors who question whether the strategic management field should, or could, attain the status of a profession such as law or medicine

Educating for sustainability: a case study in effectiveness

Educating Australians on sustainable living is becoming increasingly important and is the primary discussion topic in this article. Clothes will often automatically be washed without too much consideration because it involves little effort and because the environmental effects of that washing process remain unseen and consequently unconsidered. Reducing paper consumption in the College has been identified as a sustainability challenge because of the associated economic and environmental costs related to the depletion of natural resources. However it is in examining the various social dimensions embedded in the attitudes, systems and structures within the school that we find the barriers to, and opportunities for, a reduction in paper consumption as part of a range of sustainability gains. The College is a non-government high school in Canberra, with students from year 7 to 12. A study conducted by The Australia Institute in 2005 revealed that there is a correlation between a higher level of disposable income and levels of waste in Canberra, with its young people being the most wasteful in the country (Hamilton, Denniss & Baker 2005, p.viii). Drawing on this contextual study, we can assume that the students at the College are generally from a demographic that has a high level of consumption and waste. In addition, the school can be regarded as an institution that perpetuates what Illich described as “the Myth of Unending Consumption. This modern myth is grounded in the belief that process inevitably produces something of value and, therefore, production necessarily produces demand” (1970, p.38). This phenomenon is reflected in the amount of paper consumption and waste at the College

International organisation of ocean programs: Making a virtue of necessity

When faced with the needs of climate prediction, a sharp contrast is revealed between existing networks for the observation of the atmosphere and for the ocean. Even the largest and longest-serving ocean data networks were created for their value to a specific user (usually with a defence, fishing or other maritime purpose) and the major compilations of historical data have needed extensive scientific input to reconcile the differences and deficiencies of the various sources. Vast amounts of such data remain inaccessible or unusable. Observations for research purposes have been generally short lived and funded on the basis of single initiatives. Even major programs such as FGGE, TOGA and WOCE have been driven by the dedicated interest of a surprisingly small number of individuals, and have been funded from a wide variety of temporary allocations. Recognising the global scale of ocean observations needed for climate research, international cooperation and coordination is an unavoidable necessity, resulting in the creation of such bodies as the Committee for Climatic Changes and the Ocean (CCCO), with the tasks of: (1) defining the scientific elements of research and ocean observation which meet the needs of climate prediction and amelioration; (2) translating these elements into terms of programs, projects or requirements that can be understood and participated in by individual nations and marine agencies; and (3) the sponsorship of specialist groups to facilitate the definition of research programs, the implementation of cooperative international activity and the dissemination of results

Managing change in North Shore’s Residential 3 Built Heritage zone: An evaluation of resource consent outcomes

The goal of the study presented in this report has been to determine the extent to which resource consent outcomes in North Shore City’s Residential 3 Built Heritage zone comply with the District Plan. To this end, a sample of 250 properties was selected representing a sample size of 6.5%. The records for each of these properties was checked to identify those that have had a consent granted for additions and alterations to buildings, new and relocated buildings, and the demolition or removal of houses in the Residential 3 zone. This revealed that 100 properties in the sample (or 40%) have been granted a total of 126 resource consents for one or more of these activities. Each of the 100 properties was visited and the outcomes of the consents were compared against the District Plan assessment criteria

Phylogenetic differences in content and intensity of periodic proteins

Many proteins exhibit sequence periodicity, often correlated with a visible structural periodicity. The statistical significance of such periodicity can be assessed by means of a chi-square-based test, with significance thresholds being calculated from shuffled sequences. Comparison of the complete proteomes of 45 species reveals striking differences in the proportion of periodic proteins and the intensity of the most significant periodicities. Eukaryotes tend to have a higher proportion of periodic proteins than eubacteria, which in turn tend to have more than archaea. The intensity of periodicity in the most periodic proteins is also greatest in eukaryotes. By contrast, the relatively small group of periodic proteins in archaea also tend to be weakly periodic compared to those of eukaryotes and eubacteria. Exceptions to this general rule are found in those prokaryotes with multicellular life-cycle phases, e.g. Methanosarcina sps. or Anabaena sps., which have more periodicities than prokaryotes in general, and in unicellular eukaryotes, which have fewer than multicellular eukaryotes. The distribution of significantly periodic proteins in eukaryotes is over a wide range of period lengths, whereas prokaryotic proteins typically have a more limited set of period lengths. This is further investigated by repeating the analysis on the NRL-3D database of proteins of solved structure. Some short range periodicities are explicable in terms of basic secondary structure, e.g. alpha helices, while middle range periodicities are frequently found to consist of known short Pfam domains, e.g. leucine-rich repeats, tetratricopeptides or armadillo domains. However, not all can be explained in this way

Plan effectiveness monitoring: Built heritage, Wellington City District Plan

The goal of this project has been to assess the effectiveness of the built heritage provisions in the Wellington City District Plan. To this end, sixty nine buildings were chosen from the Plan’s Heritage List: Buildings (a sample size of around 14%), which include: 55 buildings that have had at least one resource consent granted under the District Plan. A total of 80 consents were assessed for these buildings as part of this project; 14 buildings that have had no resource consents granted. Each building was visited and an evaluation was undertaken regarding the effects of consented activities on heritage values. The effects of permitted activities (i.e. repair and maintenance) were assessed for the buildings that have no consent history. The evaluation relates only to the effects that could be viewed from the street