1,720,971 research outputs found
Honest grading, grade inflation and reputation
No full textWhen students receive better grades without any corresponding increase in ability, this is called grade inflation. Conventional wisdom says that such grade inflation is unavoidable since it is essentially costless to award good grades. In this article, we point out an effect driving into the opposite direction: Grade inflation is not actually costless, since it has an impact on future cohorts of graduates, or, put differently, by grading honestly, a school can build up reputation. Introducing a concern for reputation into an established signalling model of grading, we show that this mechanism reduces or even avoids grade inflation. (JEL codes: I21, I23, and D82)
Modeling Approaches in Educational Research
No full textThis dissertation focuses on three different questions in the field of education, using the method of theoretical modeling. The subject discussed first refers to the existence of tuition fees. If the personal question of going to a university or not to enroll is a rational decision based on financial advantage, tuition fees are hard to convey when they do not provide a surplus in the form of better study conditions. In contrast, tuition fees may become attractive if a university degree in addition yields a non-monetary value in terms of status or reputation. The basic assumption is that prestige rises when the number of people studying decreases. Then, one might want to minimize the enrollment rate by all possible means to maximize the reputational effect. This dissertation presents a model based on this effect where in a static equilibrium wealthier and more able students vote for higher tuition fees just to detain others from studying. In the next field focused, a concern for reputation is introduced into an established signaling model of grading. It is called Grade inflation, when grades lose their informative value because the percentage of students receiving the best grade rises without any corresponding increase in ability. Conventional wisdom says that such grade inflation is unavoidable since it is essentially costless to award good grades. Here an effect driving into the opposite direction is shown: Grade inflation is not actually costless, since it has an impact on future cohorts of graduates, or, put differently, by grading honestly, a school can build up reputation. The enhanced model shows that this mechanism reduces or even avoids grade inflation. In the final chapter, a theory is presented explaining the impact of ability tracking on academic performance based on grading policies. The model distinguishes between initial ability, which is mainly determined by parental background, and eagerness to learn. It is shown that achievements of low ability students may be higher in a comprehensive school system, even if there are no synergy effects from teaching different students together. This arises because the comprehensive school sets a compromise standard which exceeds the standard from the low ability track. Moreover, if students with lower initial ability have higher eagerness to learn, merging classes will increase average performance
Modeling Approaches in Educational Research
No full textThis dissertation focuses on three different questions in the field of education, using the method of theoretical modeling. The subject discussed first refers to the existence of tuition fees. If the personal question of going to a university or not to enroll is a rational decision based on financial advantage, tuition fees are hard to convey when they do not provide a surplus in the form of better study conditions. In contrast, tuition fees may become attractive if a university degree in addition yields a non-monetary value in terms of status or reputation. The basic assumption is that prestige rises when the number of people studying decreases. Then, one might want to minimize the enrollment rate by all possible means to maximize the reputational effect. This dissertation presents a model based on this effect where in a static equilibrium wealthier and more able students vote for higher tuition fees just to detain others from studying. In the next field focused, a concern for reputation is introduced into an established signaling model of grading. It is called Grade inflation, when grades lose their informative value because the percentage of students receiving the best grade rises without any corresponding increase in ability. Conventional wisdom says that such grade inflation is unavoidable since it is essentially costless to award good grades. Here an effect driving into the opposite direction is shown: Grade inflation is not actually costless, since it has an impact on future cohorts of graduates, or, put differently, by grading honestly, a school can build up reputation. The enhanced model shows that this mechanism reduces or even avoids grade inflation. In the final chapter, a theory is presented explaining the impact of ability tracking on academic performance based on grading policies. The model distinguishes between initial ability, which is mainly determined by parental background, and eagerness to learn. It is shown that achievements of low ability students may be higher in a comprehensive school system, even if there are no synergy effects from teaching different students together. This arises because the comprehensive school sets a compromise standard which exceeds the standard from the low ability track. Moreover, if students with lower initial ability have higher eagerness to learn, merging classes will increase average performance
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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