The paper intends to contribute to the debate on ranking and league tables by adopting a critical approach to ranking methodologies from the point of view of a university benchmarking exercise. The absence of a strict benchmarking exercise in the ranking process has been, in the opinion of the author, one of the major problems encountered in the…

It has been suggested that iconic graphical signs evolve into symbolic graphical signs through repeated usage. This article reports a series of interactive graphical communication experiments using a "pictionary" task to establish the conditions under which the evolution might occur. Experiment 1 rules out a simple repetition based account in…

It is commonly argued that a key challenge for e-learning is to encourage learner participation. Even though this challenge has received increased attention by researchers, little effort has been put into developing a sound theoretical understanding of what online participation actually is and how it may be studied empirically. This paper examines…

The analysis presented in this article tries to obtain a global view of the field of interactive learning environments (ILE) dedicated to arithmetic and algebra. As preliminaries, a brief overview of evaluation methods focusing on educational software is given and a short description of ten ILEs concerned by the study is provided as a kind of a…

As course management systems (CMS) gain popularity in facilitating teaching. A forum is a key component to facilitate the interactions among students and teachers. Content analysis is the most popular way to study a discussion forum. But content analysis is a human labor intensity process; for example, the coding process relies heavily on manual…

Examines, evaluates, and organizes a wide variety of knowledge management software tools by examining the literature related to the selection and evaluation of knowledge management tools. (Author/SLD)

Analyzes the complexities surrounding the concept of dialogue in evaluation through a critical examination of current theory and practices. Uses a descriptive typology based on genre, process, goal, evaluator identity, orientation, and epistemology to analyze two vignettes of dialogue in evaluation. (Author/SLD)

This monograph identifies, analyzes, and judges 22 evaluation approaches used in program evaluation. Two approaches, labeled psuedoevaluations, are politically oriented and often used to misrepresent a program's value. The remaining 20, judged legitimate, are categorized by their orientations, and rated for their value. (SLD)

Describes key aspects of an integrative framework that may help evaluators move beyond paradigm wars and the segmentation of evaluation practices. Proposes a scheme for categorizing evaluation methods with four inquiry modes, or clusters of methods: description, classification, causal analysis, and values inquiry. (Author/SLD)

A taxometric analysis of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is conducted on a group of 409 male maximum-, medium-, and minimum-security federal prison inmates using the four PCL-R facet scores (interpersonal, affective, impulsive lifestyle, and antisocial behavior) as indicators. Results obtained from three quasi-independent taxometric…

Over the past two decades, higher education in advanced capitalist societies has undergone a process of radical "reform". A key element of this reform has been the introduction of a number of accounting-based techniques in the pursuit of improved accountability and transparency. While the "old" accounting was to do with stewardship, the "new"…

This article reviews a range of literature of computer games and learning theories and attempts to establish a link between them by proposing a typology of games which we use as a new usability measure for the development of guidelines for game-based learning. First, we examine game literature in order to understand the key elements that…

An analysis of student verbatim responses in the Student Outcomes Survey provides suggestions for how the vocational education and training (VET) system could be improved. Eight major domains are discussed: course relevance and design; staff attributes and behaviours; teaching and learning practices; access to courses; facilities and services;…

A look at the overall design of macro evaluation, or the strategies to measure results of individual or singular classroom activities and experiences. (Author/HB)

Assumptions that learning is basically concept development and that it is also a process of successive approximations of a terminal behavior lead the author to a definition of concept and a hierarchy of concept development. The nine-stage model of cognitive development is presented in a chart with sample items and instrumentation for each state.…