The analysis of students’ academic achievement: the evaluation of peer effects through relational links

In literature, the analysis of the influence of the environmental context on individual choices and behaviors, with particular reference to areas related to school and academic education, is usually performed through the methodology of peer effects. In this study, after presenting a brief overview on this approach, we propose a procedure for the analysis of the dependence of students’ academic performances on the contextual effects, determined by the sociometric ties observed between them, and by the subsequent division of the network into groups, using the linear-in-mean model for social interactions. This procedure is then applied to real data, collected in a second level degree course of the university of Rome Tor Vergata, for the construction of some models on student academic achievement. Empirical evidence suggests that peer effects are a significant determinant of performance, and that they identify explanatory aspects of individual achievement, that usual regressors are not able to catch.     

高职院校在物流双语教学和课程设置方面的问题及其对策

针对高职院校在物流双语教学和课程设置中存在的问题,提出渐进式双语教学模式和设立双语实践课程的建议。渐进式双语教学结合双语教学和专业英语教学的不同特点,以章节为单位,用专业英语扫除语言障碍,再进行双语教学,从而保证了双语教学质量;开设凸显学校特色的双语实践课程,以校企联合的方式,培养实践技能过硬的专业技术型人才。在一系列建议措施的基础上给出了多方面具体量化的评价指标和评价方式,以便对物流双语教学改善的实施效果予以客观评价。     

Entrepreneurs’ achieved success: developing a multi-faceted measure

Firm performance is typically measured via objective financial indicators. However, researchers increasingly acknowledge that entrepreneurs do not measure their success solely in financial terms but that a range of often subjective indicators matter to them. This article contributes to the debate on entrepreneurial performance by studying how entrepreneurs assess their achieved success. ‘Entrepreneurs’ achieved success’ was conceptualized as a multi-faceted construct that includes entrepreneurs’ self-reported achievement of firm performance, workplace relationships, personal fulfilment, community impact, and personal financial rewards. It was measured via the Subjective Entrepreneurial Success–Achievement Scale (SES-AS). Over the course of three studies (N?=?390) the factorial structure of ‘entrepreneurs’ achieved success’ was established and largely replicated in two cultures. Based on a nomological network, we documented relationships among ‘entrepreneurs’ achieved success’, quasi-objective indicators of firm performance, and entrepreneurs’ financial satisfaction, creativity, and health. Based on our research, we propose a new conceptual framework to study performance in the context of entrepreneurship. This framework acknowledges both the success criteria that entrepreneurs wish to achieve and those that they actually achieve, and extends our understanding of firm performance.

     

审计人员特征对分析性程序有效性的影响研究

当审计人员用分析性程序来评估会计报表错弊风险时,审计人员的职业判断发挥重要作用。审计人员本身的特征(专业背景、职位、职称、年龄、性别和从事审计工作年限等)对分析性程序评估会计报表错弊风险的有效性是否会有影响这个问题值得研究。对实验数据进行统计分析的结果表明:应用分析性程序来评估会计报表舞弊风险是有效的;专业背景、职位、职称、从事审计工作年限对审计人员判断有效性产生显著影响;年龄和性别对审计人员判断有效性无显著影响。因此,在组建更为有效的审计小组时,需要考虑上述因素的搭配。     

Accumulation points of the iterative proportional fitting procedure

The asymptotic behavior of the iterative proportional fitting procedure (IPF procedure) is analyzed comprehensively. Given a nonnegative matrix as well as row and column marginals the IPF procedure generates a sequence of matrices, called the IPF sequence, by alternately fitting rows and columns to match their respective marginals. We prove that the IPF sequence has at most two accumulation points. They originate as the limits of the even-step subsequence, and of the odd-step subsequence. The well-known IPF convergence criteria are then retrieved easily. Our proof is based on Csiszár’s and Tusnády’s (Stat Decis Suppl Issue 1:205–237, 1984) results on the interplay of the I-divergence geometry and alternating minimization procedures.     

The role of empathy between functional competence diversity and competence acquisition: a case study of interdisciplinary teams

This study was intended to verify the relationships among team functional competence diversity, empathy, and competence acquisition and placed more focus on team learning rather than on individual lecturing. Although functional competence diversity involved heterogeneous experts to brainstorm the development of innovative curricula, the teamwork process incurred conflicts. With the purpose of overcoming these difficulties, cultivating greater empathy in the participants helped them become more thoughtful and reduced conflicts during teamwork. We adopt purposive sampling in this study. Three hundred questionnaires were sent out, and 108 valid responses were obtained. Initially, we proved that the more participants with heterogeneous competencies there are in functional competence diversity teams, the easier it will be for them to acquire heterogeneous competencies. Second, we also found that the more teachers engage in functional competence diversity teams, the greater empathy they must have in order to reach an agreement efficiently. Third, the greater the empathy participants have, the easier it will be for them to acquire heterogeneous competencies. Finally, we verified that empathy has a mediating effect between functional competence diversity and competence acquisition in interdisciplinary teams. This study suggests that when team members have greater empathy competence, it reduces arguments, helps polish interpersonal skills, and facilitates tight cooperation that leads to the acquisition of heterogeneous knowledge and the development of systematic curricula.     

高校创业学课程体系研究

文章从分析创业教育和创业教育课程的概念体系入手,提出了现今创业学课程存在的问题,并且从创业教育课程体系建设、树立正确的大学生创业观念、注重创业课程的师资队伍建设、将第一课堂和第二课堂相结合、组建职能化的保障体系提出相应的对策。     

MBA课程案例教学适用性和有效性研究

案例教学适用性是指课程适合使用案例教学的程度。本文首先从知识层面分析影响课程案例教学适用性的因素;接着使用问卷调查的方法,筛选出MBA核心课程,并采用SPSS软件对MBA核心课程的案例教学适用性进行聚类分析,将课程按照案例教学适用性分成三类,并选取三所院校的MBA案例库对聚类分析的结果进行证明;最后以市场营销为例说明MBA课程采用案例教学存在的问题及改进措施。研究结论对MBA课程教学具有重要的参考价值和指导意义。     

Extracting Nonlinear Signals from Several Economic Indicators

We develop a twofold analysis of how the information provided by several economic indicators can be used in Markov switching dynamic factor models to identify the business cycle turning points. First, we compare the performance of a fully nonlinear multivariate specification (one‐step approach) with the ‘shortcut’ of using a linear factor model to obtain a coincident indicator, which is then used to compute the Markov switching probabilities (two‐step approach). Second, we examine the role of increasing the number of indicators. Our results suggest that one step is generally preferred to two steps, especially in the vicinity of turning points, although its gains diminish as the quality of the indicators increases. Additionally, we also obtain decreasing returns of adding more indicators with similar signal‐to‐noise ratios. Using the four constituent series of the Stock–Watson coincident index, we illustrate these results for US data. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Childhood and capability deprivation in Italy: a multidimensional and fuzzy set approach

In the last decades, starting with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children in 1989, children’s quality of life have received a growing attention in scientific research, as well as in politics. This work aims to gain insights into Italian children’s living conditions and deprivation of capabilities using the Capability Approach, an alternative normative framework for the evaluation of human development, well-being and freedom by thinking in terms of human functionings and capabilities. From a methodological point of view we present an approach based on a fuzzy methodology applied to data from the EU-SILC 2009 ad-hoc module on children. The use of this methodology makes it possible to preserve the richness of the data available from the EU-SILC survey, that include both monetary and non monetary aspects of children deprivation. To get more insides into Italian children living conditions we also combine the fuzzy methodology with the capability approach at a disaggregated level of analysis by three social economic factors (single parent household, household educational level, macro-region of residence). Besides the well-known Italian North/South disparity of financial indicators—confirmed also for households with children—our findings suggest a new duality for Italian children quality of life, given by the multidimensional domains of deprivation internal or external to children’s households.     

对学习要求与学习价值关系的探讨——从价值工程的视角

学习的价值工程理论认为,学习价值是学生获得的课程功能与学习成本的比值。对学习的不同要求,需要投入不同的成本,所以不同学习要求的学习价值是不同的,学习要求合理,学习具有较大价值;学习要求不合理,学习的价值较小或没有价值;如果学习要求严重偏离学生实际,会对学生身心造成极大的伤害,学习产生负价值。为了提高学生的学习价值,应当认真研究学生的智能结构,让学生学那些智能结构适宜、能够学好、爱好学的课程。     

基于对理论力学教学模式方法的探讨

目前众多高等院校的理论力学课程均少学时,与本课程知识点多、内容较为深奥差生了一定的矛盾。文章结合自身的教学实践,从安排课程内容、运用合理教学手段、工程实例活跃课堂气氛等方面阐述对少学时理论力学课堂教学模式的探索。     

Weekly economic activity: Measurement and informational content

We construct a composite index to measure the real activity of the Swiss economy on a weekly frequency. The index is based on a novel high-frequency data set capturing economic activity across distinct dimensions over a long time horizon. We propose a six-step procedure for extracting precise business cycle signals from the raw data. By means of a real-time evaluation, we highlight the importance of our proposed adjustment procedure: (i) our weekly index significantly outperforms a comparable index without adjusted input variables; and (ii) the weekly index outperforms established monthly indicators in nowcasting GDP growth. These insights should help improve other recently developed high-frequency indicators.     

《航空发动机修理技术》一体化课程开发与研究

《航空发动机修理技术》是西安航空职业技术学院航空机电设备维修专业的一门专业核心课程,该课程的教学目的是让学生在熟悉了航空发动机原理与构造之后,掌握航空发动机大修必备的理论知识和基础技能。文章通过该一体化课程的开发与研究,将课程开发中的经验与成果与大家分享,以期提高整个航空类高职教学水平。     

Understanding Group Life:

A bstract From the wide-ranging body of material included in the introductory course in Sociology a list of 10 major understanding is nominated which contributed to the comprehension of group-individual relationships Drawn from over 40 years of teaching Sociology courses at all levels in several university settings, the suggested list is advanced as a challenge to others for additions and deletions in an attempt to filter out the significant from the peripheral, the sinews from the adornments statistical manipulation of data and attempts at esoteric theorizing , valid as they may be may obscure the " liberal arts " contributions (philosophy, history and the arts) which for the vast majority of Basic Sociology students, are the important residue     

DEFINING ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK

Environmental performance indicators are becoming increasingly important at the company level. This is due, in part, to stakeholders demanding environmental improvements and proof that these have been made. The need for an integrated framework for environmental performance indicators is considered; the indicators fall into four categories: the state of the environment; corporate environmental policy; environmental management systems; and the products and processes of the company as evaluated by an ecobalance improvement. The state of the environment evaluates the company's relative contribution to the national and European environmental impact and hence the companies' own impact compared with the reference document Europe's Environment: Statistical Compendium for the Dobris Assessment. Corporate environmental policy is the basis of the framework and 21 key aims are suggested to ensure that comprehensive statements are produced and that all significant environmental initiatives undertaken by the company receive recognition. The environmental management system indicators are divided into qualitative and quantitative economic indicators and quantitative non-economic indicators to evaluate environmental performance. The ecobalance tool is used to evaluate the environmental performance of the company's products and processes.     

中职影视制作课程教学实践与思考

文章结合中职影视制作课程教学实践,提出采用Video Studio＋Premiere模式,并利用Photoshop、cool3D等软件进行辅助教学,同时对教学中应注意的问题进行探讨,最后就如何顺应国家形势强化相关课程提出几点建议,以期为其他中职院校开展相关课程教学提供有益的参考。     

Interkulturelle Kompetenz als globaler Erfolgsfaktor

The purpose of this study is to identify intercultural dimensions with significant practical relevance and to present valid self-assessment questionnaires to measure them. We test the validity of five questionnaires assessing different aspects of intercultural competence by regressions of subjects' results (N?=?272) with their performance rated in intercultural role-plays. Open-mindedness, flexibility and nonverbal communication competence significantly enhance successful behavior in international tasks. Based on our results we recommend the Intercultural Sensitivity Inventory ICSI and the Nonverbal Communication Competence Scale NVCCS to assess those vital dimensions in international selection procedures.     

Tertiary student satisfaction with socialization: A statistical assessment

A careful evaluation of student satisfaction is central for tertiary education institutions because help them to pinpoint their strengths and identify areas for improvement. University student satisfaction is not directly measurable because it depends upon many different aspects. It may be studied through a composite indicator based on other variables (partial indicators) that are directly observed. In this paper we consider student socialization which is an important aspect of students’ educational experience even if it is not as widely considered as assessments of skills development and ratings of various aspects of courses and programs. More precisely we consider student relations with the other people that act within the university context: teachers, teacher assistants, non teaching staff, other students, citizens of the town that hosts the university. To grasp the complexity of university experience, it is not enough to know the degree to which students are satisfied, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to student satisfaction. To this end we propose a simple algorithm to find the most important partial aspects underlying the student satisfaction socialization issue. An application to students of the University of Padova is discussed. The method is compared to PCA, and it is shown that is much simpler to be used, requires milder assumptions and is always readily comprehended.