Chenicheri Sid Nair, Lorraine Bennett and Patricie Mertova
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of collecting and acting on student feedback as a key component of quality improvement in higher education. The paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of collecting and acting on student feedback as a key component of quality improvement in higher education. The paper seeks to outline a systematic improvement strategy adopted at a faculty level within a large university in Australia but will be of interest to leaders and practitioners of quality assurance programmes across the sector.
Design/methodology/approach
A strategy to achieve quality improvement was designed and carried out jointly by the University Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ) and the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) with staff in one of the smaller faculties at the University. The faculty mean for student satisfaction lagged significantly below the means of other faculties, and five units (subjects) which were deemed to be “poorly performing” against the University's agreed target were selected for some intensive improvement. The guiding principles which underpinned the adopted strategy included: utilising student feedback data; targeting poorly performing units as a priority; linking staff and student development support; and documenting and demonstrating improvement as a consequence of the actions taken.
Findings
A post‐test evaluation of the five target units showed improvement in the form of increased student satisfaction. The strategy adopted at the University underlined the significance of collecting student feedback in quality enhancement, acting on the feedback and supporting academic staff in implementing improvements. Overall, the strategy signalled the interconnection between student evaluations and the quality of education programmes.
Practical implications
The successful implementation of a unit improvement strategy at a faculty level within the University demonstrated the value of the approach and recommended its application as an improvement strategy across the whole institution, provided that the internal context of individual faculties is taken into consideration. This case study may also offer some guidance to other tertiary institutions looking into utilising evidence‐based planning and decision making as a way of driving quality improvement.
Originality/value
Many tertiary institutions around the world are currently collecting student feedback. However, the interconnection between the student feedback and actual institutional change is not always evident or addressed. Therefore, this University case study offers some direction towards a more effective utilisation of student evaluation data.
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Mahsood Shah, Chenicheri Sid Nair and Lorraine Bennett
This paper aims to make a contribution to the current lack of literature in the Australian context by reviewing qualitative feedback collected from students in five private higher…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to make a contribution to the current lack of literature in the Australian context by reviewing qualitative feedback collected from students in five private higher education institutions. In particular, the paper seeks to examine factors influencing student choice to study at private higher education institutions and student perceptions of such institutions. Previous studies on this topic are mostly focussed on universities with lack of research with the booming private higher education sector.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws data from five different private for-profit higher education institutions in Australia. It involved feedback from 120 students undertaking higher education courses in different discipline areas at different stages of study. The study involved 15 focus group interviews with eight students in a group. The selection of students was based on the representation of different characteristics of student such as: male/female, domestic/international, and discipline areas.
Findings
An analysis of the data collected from the students across these five institutions indicated that the main factors influencing student choice can be grouped in six domains. These are: student perception; access and opportunity; learning environments; quality of teachers; course design; and graduate success. This study reinforces that student perception of the private for-profit higher education institutions is an important factor in influencing student choice to study at the institution.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of the study was the ability to interview more students from larger colleges, across all discipline areas. However, the time and length of the focus group interviews was largely managed by the five institutions.
Originality/value
The private higher education sector has experienced consistent growth in the last few years in Australia. Currently, there is no qualitative research done in Australian private higher education on factors influencing student choice to study with private institutions. The rise of such providers require research on insights about student choice, student expectation and their experience.
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Lorraine A. Friend, Carolyn L. Costley and Charis Brown
The purpose of this paper is to examine “nasty” retail shopping experiences. The paper aims to consider implications of distrust related to theft control measures in retail…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine “nasty” retail shopping experiences. The paper aims to consider implications of distrust related to theft control measures in retail customer service.
Design/methodology/approach
Storytelling as a “memory‐work” method draws on phenomenology, hermeneutics, and the narrative. Researchers and participants worked together as co‐researchers to analyze and interpret “lived” experiences contained in their written personal stories. The authors extend this understanding in the context of existing literature.
Findings
Distrust pervaded the stories, which focused on shoplifting accusations (real and imagined). As a violation of implicit trust, distrust provoked intense moral emotions, damaged identities, and fuelled retaliation. Findings illustrate a pervasive downward “spiral of distrust” in the retail context.
Practical implications
Results suggest that retailers use store personnel rather than technological surveillance to control theft. Interacting with customers and displaying cooperation builds respect, trust, and relationships and may deter theft. Retailers should add signs of trust and remove signs of distrust from retail environments. They cannot rely on service recovery to appease customers disgruntled by distrust.
Social implications
When retailers act as if they care, customers reciprocate, creating upward trust spirals and stronger communities.
Originality/value
A dark side to retail loss‐prevention tactics is demonstrated in the paper. Surveillance signals distrust, which repels customers and resists service recovery. Concepts of spirals of distrust and trust to the services marketing literature are introduced. The spirals illustrate how distrust destroys and trust builds relationships and communities. Furthermore, ideas are offered about ways to start upward trust spirals.
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This chapter focuses on spy action as a way to answer the question: where can we find queer female action heroes? The chapter will identify three films – D.E.B.S. (Advocate, 2005…
Abstract
This chapter focuses on spy action as a way to answer the question: where can we find queer female action heroes? The chapter will identify three films – D.E.B.S. (Advocate, 2005), Atomic Blonde (David Leitch, 2017) and The Spy Who Dumped Me (Susanna Fogel, 2018) – worth attention to highlight the potential and problems of the queer female hero in spy action. This chapter examines how each of these spy action films contributes to the ongoing yet uneven development of the female hero as a queer figure in post-millennial action cinema. The chapter will consider to what extent these queer female-led action films may pose a challenge to some of the dominant standards and conventions associated with the action hero, gender roles and the representation of sexuality, but also reinforce others. Some comparisons will be made to James Bond in recognition that the Bond franchise has played an important role in the spy action genre.
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Ich habe genug (I have enough) BWV 82 is one of the best known, most regularly performed and consistently recorded of J.S. Bach's approximately 200 extant sacred cantatas.1 In the…
Abstract
Ich habe genug (I have enough) BWV 82 is one of the best known, most regularly performed and consistently recorded of J.S. Bach's approximately 200 extant sacred cantatas.1 In the text, by an anonymous author, the narrator repeatedly expresses their readiness to die, in faith that they will be received by their saviour in eternal life. The whole cantata expresses a fearless ‘longing for death’ (Schweitzer, 1911/1966, p. 114), coupled with a serene contentment. Bach's setting of this text for religious purposes not only supports the sentiments expressed by the narrator but colours, illuminates, vitalises and elevates it in ways that startle the ear, quicken the spirit and stir the imagination. In the third and final aria of the cantata, Bach employs an almost-jaunty dance rhythm to accompany the narrator's anticipatory delight in their own death, liberated from worldly and bodily suffering. After identifying some of the ingenious ways Bach animates the text, I offer some speculations and elaborations as to how and why this work has had such an enduring presence in the Western musical canon, for believers and non-believers alike.
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Michael Spanu, Nicolas Sommet and Jean-Marie Seca
The consumption of music performed in different languages represents a significant aspect of the contemporary cultural experience. This phenomenon questions how different…
Abstract
Purpose
The consumption of music performed in different languages represents a significant aspect of the contemporary cultural experience. This phenomenon questions how different languages mediate music consumption in specific national contexts. In this paper, the authors investigate the case of live music consumption in France.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed 428 persons who saw 159 artists either performing in French or in English in 46 locations around Paris, France. The authors tested the effect of the language of the concert on three dimensions of music consumption: singing in unison, appraisal of the lyrics and dancing.
Findings
Multilevel analysis revealed that English was positively associated with dancing, whereas French was positively associated with the appraisal of the lyrics. The authors found no evidence that the language of the concert was associated with differences in singing in unison.
Originality/value
Results are discussed with respect to language diversity in the context of globalised popular music consumption.
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This article discusses information sources and critical interpretations of Mary Shelley's life and her most important work, Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus. In addition to…
Abstract
This article discusses information sources and critical interpretations of Mary Shelley's life and her most important work, Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus. In addition to publishing history and information about revisions, translations, inclusion in collections, and references to possible sources of the story, it will evaluate some biographical material about Mary Shelley and her family, and their influence on her. Finally, various critical approaches, the growth of interest in both the writer and her work, and possible reasons for it will be noted.
Jean-Luc Herrmann, Olivier Corneille, Christian Derbaix, Mathieu Kacha and Björn Walliser
This research seeks to examine the influence of sponsorship on spectators' consideration sets by investigating, in a naturalistic setting, whether sport sponsorship adds a…
Abstract
Purpose
This research seeks to examine the influence of sponsorship on spectators' consideration sets by investigating, in a naturalistic setting, whether sport sponsorship adds a prominent brand to spectators' consideration sets, with and without the explicit memory that the brand is a sponsor.
Design/methodology/approach
A field study involved 1,084 visitors to a tennis tournament. For the control group (n=276), the interviews took place before the spectators entered the stadium; interviews with the exposed group (n=808) were conducted after they had attended at least one match. Three hypotheses related to consumer status and consideration set conditions were tested.
Findings
Sponsorship can influence the likelihood that a prominent brand becomes part of the consideration set in a naturalistic setting, even without an explicit memory that the brand is a sponsor. This implicit sponsorship effect was limited to the memory-based consideration set of non-consumers of the brand.
Originality/value
This study establishes an implicit sponsorship effect for prominent brands in naturalistic environments and contributes to a better understanding of moderating (boundary) conditions.