John Smithson, Melanie Birks, Glenn Harrison, Chenicheri Sid Nair and Marnie Hitchins
The purpose of this paper is to examine current approaches to interpretation of student evaluation data and present an innovative approach to developing benchmark targets for the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine current approaches to interpretation of student evaluation data and present an innovative approach to developing benchmark targets for the effective and efficient use of these data.
Design/methodology/approach
This article discusses traditional approaches to gathering and using student feedback across the tertiary sector. The limitations of the customary use of the statistical mean as a quality measure of performance are presented and examined. An alternative method of interpreting student evaluation data is proposed and examples given.
Findings
The traditional use of the statistical mean to interpret student evaluation data has limitations. Focusing on data at the macro level provides subject teaching staff and managers with a clearer indication of student satisfaction. The use of a percentage satisfied and percentage dissatisfied metric to classify and rank subjects is presented as an efficient alternative to the traditional approach, while recognising the value of the statistical mean to interpret data at the micro level.
Originality/value
In light of the important role student feedback plays in determining university ranking, prioritising staff development and its potential function as an academic performance indicator, the effective interpretation of student evaluation data is critical. As economic factors become increasingly important to higher education providers, the role of evaluation data obtained from students will continue to gain traction. The identification of methods to fully capitalise on the value of these data, such as the one proposed in this article, is therefore crucial.
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It is evident that a history of libraries must take into account the social and domestic circumstances under which reading is done; and both the words in my title (“study” and…
Abstract
It is evident that a history of libraries must take into account the social and domestic circumstances under which reading is done; and both the words in my title (“study” and “sofa”) are significant from this point of view.
Kyle Green, Abigail Smithson, Maria Molteni, John Early and Noah Cohan
The recent wave of protests on courts and fields all over the world has brought increased attention to the potential of sport to address social justice. Basketball in particular…
Abstract
The recent wave of protests on courts and fields all over the world has brought increased attention to the potential of sport to address social justice. Basketball in particular has been the subject of both celebration and outrage. Building off the theorizing of sport as a contested space, we examine the work of three artists/artist collectives; Abigail Smithson, Maria Molteni and New Craft Artists in Action, and Noah Cohan and John Early of Whereas Hoops, who have all directly engaged with the basketball court as a site filled with cultural meaning and struggle. All three of the respective bodies of work were developed in the past 10 years and emerge from the heightened social and racial tension of the time, as well as the increasingly apparent link between sports, politics, and race within our larger society. Examining the work reveals the importance of the basketball court as a site simultaneously of celebration, play, surveillance, policing, community, history, cultural exchange, and racialization. We explore the potential for artists to engage with and transform sport spaces through an edited group interview, giving the artists the chance to reflect on their practices as well as the limitations of working as an activist and artist in the realm of sports in their own words. Through conversation, the chapter focuses not just on finished pieces of art but also on the process of making the work in the ever familiar and culturally rich environment of the basketball court.
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This paper aims to discuss the emergence of the contemporary Urban Street Gang (USG) on Merseyside. In terms of gang scholarship in the UK, Merseyside has been greatly neglected…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the emergence of the contemporary Urban Street Gang (USG) on Merseyside. In terms of gang scholarship in the UK, Merseyside has been greatly neglected despite regular reports in national mainstream media that suggest Merseyside USGs represent some of the most criminally active and violent members in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
A specific methodology has been omitted because the author while providing a viewpoint from Hesketh (2018), also wishes to encapsulate observations from the remaining two pieces of research conducted on Merseyside (Smithson et al., 2009; Robinson, 2018). For this reason, a summary of the methods used in each of the three studies is provided.
Findings
The paper will highlight observations drawn from all three research studies that were prevalent with USG members throughout the Merseyside county at the time of each study. They include aspects surrounding territoriality, belonging and identity through dress style as well as USG structures and motivation for joining. In particular, the paper will address also address the role of drugs which has transformed the structural make-up of many Merseyside USGs from relatively loosely knit-street corner groups involved in anti-social behaviour (ASB) to more structural-deviant entrepreneurial enterprises.
Research limitations/implications
The paper calls for more research to be carried out on Merseyside. Limitations would include the omission of young women in each of the three studies.
Practical implications
The practical implications are as follows: a need to focus on the impact of bridging within excluded communities; a need to focus on emphasising that drug dealing is a crime that carries serious consequences, and not a form of work (grafting); a need to focus on young women and criminal involvement; and a need to concentrate on developing strategies that counter the allure and attraction of risk-taking behaviour.
Social implications
The paper addresses the impact of social exclusion and the need for equality to counter young people becoming involved in criminality and gangs as well as adult organised crime groups.
Originality/value
The paper is based on what have been so far the only three in-depth studies carried out on Merseyside.
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This paper has five objectives. First, to draw attention to serious weaknesses in Kaminsky's analysis of the South Australian “Freedom and Authority” memorandum. Second, to sketch…
Abstract
This paper has five objectives. First, to draw attention to serious weaknesses in Kaminsky's analysis of the South Australian “Freedom and Authority” memorandum. Second, to sketch out how Kaminsky could have presented a more realistic picture of A.W. Jones's position both with regard to the memo, and school governance in general. Third, to show that had Kaminsky pursued this suggested line of analysis he would have found that Jones confused ends‐type policy‐making with technico‐professional decision‐making, which led Jones into error concerning the respective roles of lay people and professionals in educational policy‐making. Fourth, to illustrate how Jones's radical indictment of the lack of “democracy” in Australian schools in the mid 1970s was conjoined with conservative and technocratic decisional proposals. Finally, to suggest that the issues raised in my criticism of Kaminsky and Jones are of crucial importance to all those interested in school governance.
This paper shows that uncertainty is a multidimensional theoretical concept, which has empirical implications for the relationship with vertical integration. In a survey of…
Abstract
This paper shows that uncertainty is a multidimensional theoretical concept, which has empirical implications for the relationship with vertical integration. In a survey of empirical work that tests the relation between uncertainty and vertical integration, this paper demonstrates that performance ambiguity and general measures of uncertainty are positively related with vertical integration, technological uncertainty is negatively related, while market uncertainty and complexity are not systematically related to vertical integration.
J. A. Burke has been appointed manager, Advertising & Publications of BP Chemicals International Limited. John Burke joined BP Chemicals in 1965 and has been Advertising and…
Abstract
J. A. Burke has been appointed manager, Advertising & Publications of BP Chemicals International Limited. John Burke joined BP Chemicals in 1965 and has been Advertising and Exhibitions manager since 1969. His appointment follows the retirement of Mr L. R. Anthony, after 33 years service, the last 15 of which were spent as Publications Manager.
Hannah Smithson and Rob Ralphs
At a time when youth gangs and gang policy feature significantly in the discourse on UK youth, it is judicious to critique the framework and evidence upon which these policy…
Abstract
Purpose
At a time when youth gangs and gang policy feature significantly in the discourse on UK youth, it is judicious to critique the framework and evidence upon which these policy developments have originated. The political focus on gangs was heightened, in part, by the English riots in 2011. The reaction to the riots was a “concerted all-out war on gangs” and led to the development of the national Ending Gangs and Youth Violence (EGYV) strategy. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use Manchester as a case study to illustrate what the they argue to be the misplaced focus of the current EGYV strategy and provide a detailed critique of the strategy to date.
Findings
The paper suggests that government funded gang interventions are currently bereft of a “what works” approach and should only be implemented when the authors have significantly developed the knowledge and understanding of gangs in a local context.
Originality/value
The paper calls for a stronger evidence based policy approach to tackling gangs.