Interactive Learning Online at Public Universities: Evidence from a Six‐Campus Randomized Trial

Online instruction is quickly gaining in importance in U.S. higher education, but little rigorous evidence exists as to its effect on student learning. We measure the effect on learning outcomes of a prototypical interactive learning online statistics course by randomly assigning students on six public university campuses to take the course in a hybrid format (with machine‐guided instruction accompanied by one hour of face‐to‐face instruction each week) or a traditional format (as it is usually offered by their campus, typically with about three hours of face‐to‐face instruction each week). We find that learning outcomes are essentially the same—that students in the hybrid format are not harmed by this mode of instruction in terms of pass rates, final exam scores, and performance on a standardized assessment of statistical literacy. We also conduct speculative cost simulations and find that adopting hybrid models of instruction in large introductory courses has the potential to significantly reduce instructor compensation costs in the long run.     

基于事故树分析法的幼儿园、小学校车安全研究

校车安全事关国家公共安全,影响着社会的和谐.校车作为方便学生上下学及为繁忙的家长节约接送时间的重要工具应需而生.但由于各种原因,校车安全事故频频发生,尤其多发于幼儿园、小学的年幼孩子中.本文基于事故案例的统计分析,针对校车事故发生的各类原因,运用事故树分析法分析导致校车事故的各层次原因、基本原因集合及重要度.在此基础上,本文探讨校车安全的薄弱环节需要完善的地方,并参考国务院出台的《校车安全管理条例》[1],从安全教育、规范行为和标准、监管力度、经济投入几个方面为我国校车现有安全问题提出科学的、有针对性的防范措施.     

基于中国-东盟自由贸易区的广西信息产业发展研究

广西信息产业在国家优惠政策支持下取得了跨越发展,现已初具规模和效益;随着中国-东盟自由贸易区的建立,给广西信息产业的发展提供了更为宽广的平台,但机遇与挑战并存;通过基于中国-东盟自由贸易区的广西信息产业SWOT分析,提出发展对策,以期对广西信息产业的发展提供借鉴。     

Alternate Routes to Autonomy in Federal and Quasi-Federal Systems

In late twentieth-century federal systems, provinces and stateshave sought greater autonomy because of economic neglect, distinctivenessof society and political culture, administrative inefficiency,and local efficacy. This article examines both structural andpolitical avenues to autonomy in six stable democratic federalsystems. In general, structural attempts to increase provincialor state autonomy in federal systems are found wanting. Becauseamendments to federal constitutions require extraordinary majoritysupport, they tend to centralize power. Referenda may be usedto retard centralization only under exceptional circumstances.Secession has been a successful strategy in only a small numberof cases. Political strategies, such as judicial interpretationof the constitution and conferencing, have been somewhat moreeffective; but political system characteristics impose restrictionson their use. Two types of decentralization that apply universally—devolutionand deconcentration—appear to enhance powers of subnationalunits. However, they require significant facilitating conditionson the national plane. The article calls into question the practicalvalue of structural arrangements, suggesting that alternatepolitical strategies sometimes produce more decentralized effects.     

Issues management,systems, and rhetoric: exploring the distinction between ethical and legal guidelines at Enron

• Many corporations use legal rather than ethical standards for decision making in issues management. The Enron collapse provides a case example of why legal standards should never be used as a substitute for ethical principles. As we illustrate in this discussion of Enron, seeking loopholes in the law can lead to ethical violations that are ultimately more severe than legal infractions. We use systems theory and rhetorical rationales to discuss the issues management function as the proper location in an organization for ethical decision making and corporate responsibility. Both systems theory and rhetoric support the argument that an organization must be good internally and make decisions from an outside‐in perspective; management at Enron heeded neither idea. This research recommends a deontological approach, based on Kantian norms of moral autonomy and good intention as a basis for ethical issues management, and uses the Enron case for illustration of these principles. We conclude this discussion by offering a matrix simplifying the principles of both ethical and legal decision making based on systems theory and rhetorical approaches to public policy.

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.