ESTIMATES OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS IN RURAL AMERICA

Public Economics,

Overview and Operation of U.S. Financial Sanctions, Including the Example of Iran

Financial sanctions are increasingly being used in the mix of international economic sanctions being employed by the United Nations, regional entities, and individual countries, including the United States. These financial sanctions have become more focused and effective as the tools and techniques have improved significantly for tracing and identifying the financial transactions of terrorists, weapons proliferators, human rights violators, drug cartels, and others. These sanctions can not only freeze financial assets and prohibit or limit financial transactions, but they also impede trade by making it difficult to pay for the export or import of goods and services. In spite of this growing impact of financial sanctions, these sanctions are not well understood outside of a small group of experts. This article provides an introduction to the mechanics and operation of U.S. financial sanctions, and it illustrates their use against Iran

An intrinsic case study into the appropriateness of a bespoke training model as an approach to supporting the postgraduate demonstrator in developing pedagogical skills suitable for undergraduate scientific laboratories.

Postgraduate demonstrators (PGDs) are crucial to the smooth running of undergraduate teaching laboratories; however, they are oftentimes exiled to superficial duties such as enforcing health and safety and procedural instruction. The aim of this intrinsic case study was to characterise the support required by postgraduate demonstrators (PGDs) to develop the key pedagogical skills that would assist them in effectively demonstrating undergraduate science teaching labs. Through supporting PGD development, it is hoped to centralise the PGD in the undergraduate teaching lab and set in place the foundations for a move towards undergraduate teaching labs that encompass aspects of tailored research in the School at the centre of the intrinsic case study. Initial key pedagogical skills identification involved stakeholder surveys, discussion fora, prior knowledge based on literature review and personal experience. Once completed, it was clear that appropriate support to develop the key pedagogical skills was not available to the participants of this case study. Thematic analysis indicated an overall shortcoming in PGD support in developing appropriate pedagogical skills, characterised by a lack of PGD confidence in their ability to effectively demonstrate. The under-supported pedagogical skills areas were mapped onto sub-themes of engagement, communication, grading and providing feedback. This provided a rationale to develop a bespoke training course to assist and underpin the PGDs development as novice academics; to address pedagogical skills gaps and this was delivered following a socially constructed, ‘just-in-time’ pedagogy. Upon completion, the effectiveness of this model of PGD pedagogical training to suitably support PGDs in their pedagogical development was evaluated by stakeholder survey and discussion fora. Overall, it was noted that the training course had a very positive influence on the PGDs; they developed a noticeable increase in confidence in their ability to demonstrate, they took on additional responsibilities in the lab and developed their own community of practice. Based on the perceived improvement observed in this intrinsic case study, it is recommended that with continual training and appropriate support PGDs can take a more central role in the undergraduate teaching lab and this may allow undergraduate labs to evolve towards a more research centred model that the PGD could enhance and add value to. An in-depth set of recommendations devised from this study is included

An Oasis in the Laboratory Graduate Teaching Assistant (LGTA) Garden: Developing Pedagogical Skills for Undergraduate Scientific Laboratories

Library Graduate Teaching Assistants (LGTAs) are crucial to the smooth running of undergraduate teaching laboratories; however, they are oftentimes exiled to superficial duties such as enforcing health and safety and procedural instruction. The aim of this intrinsic case study, carried out in an Irish higher education institution, was to characterise the support required by LGTAs to develop the key pedagogical skills that would assist then in effectively demonstrating undergraduate science teaching labs. Thematic analysis of the skills gap analysis undertaken indicated an overall shortcoming in LGTA confidence in their ability to effectively demonstrate. The under-supported pedagogical sills areas were mapped onto sub themes of engagement, communication, grading and providing feedback. This provided a rationale to develop a bespoke training course to assist and underpin the LGTAs development as novice academics; to address pedagogical skills gaps and this was delivered following a socially constructed, “just-in-time” pedagogy. Upon completion, the effectiveness of this model of LGTA pedagogical training to suitable support LGTAs in their pedagogical development was evaluated by stakeholder survey and discussion for a. Overall, it was noted that the training course had a very positive influence on the LGTAs; as they developed a noticeable increase in confidence in their ability to demonstrate, they took on additional responsibilities in the lab and developed their own community of practice. Based on the perceived improvement observed in this intrinsic case study, it is recommended that with continual training and appropriate support LGTAs can take a more central role in the STEM undergraduate teaching lab. An in-depth set of recommendations devised from this study is included and would be of particular value to novice educators in higher education and those that supervise, mentor and manage LGTAs

Editorial Issue 1

Editorial Issue

The Development, Implementation and Initial Evaluation of Tailorable Resource Packs for Multimedia Based Assessments for Learning .

In this project a suite of tailorable teaching and learning resources were created, implemented and evaluated. These resources focused on the assessment for learning model, adopting the constructivist approach to learning. Here, the student builds their knowledge, and deepens their understanding, as they complete their assessment. The resources were designed to aid academic adoption, and student implementation, of this model of assessment. The assessment outputs created using these resources were digital videos and network concept maps. The tailorable resources provided a structured and scaffolded environment for both the academic and student to explore this learning space. Both students and academic staff, as part of an explorative case study, evaluated the resources. In terms of the resources created for video-based assessment, students were happiest at times that correlated with the use of the resource pack and commented that the resources assisted them in creating their assessment for learning product. Finally, recommendations for practice are offered and suggestions are made on how to holistically integrate this approach on an Institute-wide scale

The Development, Implementation and Initial Evaluation of Tailorable Resource Packs for Multimedia Based Assessments for Learning

In this project a suite of tailorable teaching and learning resources were created, implemented and evaluated. These resources focused on the assessment for learning model, adopting the constructivist approach to learning. Here, the student builds their knowledge, and deepens their understanding, as they complete their assessment. The resources were designed to aid academic adoption, and student implementation, of this model of assessment. The assessment outputs created using these resources were digital videos and network concept maps. The tailorable resources provided a structured and scaffolded environment for both the academic and student to explore this learning space. Both students and academic staff, as part of an explorative case study, evaluated the resources. In terms of the resources created for video-based assessment, students were happiest at times that correlated with the use of the resource pack and commented that the resources assisted them in creating their assessment for learning product. Finally, recommendations for practice are offered and uggestions are made on how to holistically integrate this approach on an Institute-wide scale

The Dark Tetrad at Work: Examining the Effects of Bottom-Line Mentality, Job Satisfaction, and Perceptions of Organizational Politics on Counterproductive Work Behavior

Contemporary organizations often use personality measures when selecting new employees. Recent developments in the literature have shown that measures of the dark tetrad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism) provide additional benefits (e.g., incremental validity) over measures of normal personality (e.g., Big Five) in predicting counterproductive work behavior (CWB). The purpose for this study was to identify factors that may affect the positive relationship between higher levels the dark tetrad and CWB. We proposed that perceptions of supervisor’s bottom-line mentality (their focus on prioritizing profits over other goals) serves as a moderator, whereas one’s job satisfaction and perceptions of organizational politics (POP) serve as mediators of the relationships between the dark tetrad and CWB. Our results showed that BLM serves as a moderator of the relationship between sadism and CWB; job satisfaction partially mediated the link between all dark tetrad traits and CWB; and we identified POP as a partial mediator of the relationship between sadism and CWB. Implications for practice and research are discussed