Liliane Fucaloro
English and Foreign Languages
Karen Russikoff
English and Foreign Languages
The growing trend toward reliance on the computer for language teaching demands serious assessment to determine the efficacy of this electronically mediated instructional tool. During a piloted on-line course offering, an assessment model comprised of multiple measures was developed and tested. Focusing on an upper-division university French Civilization course, the model was applied to examine the effects of this instructional mode on teaching and learning, noting opportunities for faculty-student contact, speed and type of feedback, time on task, and concerns with learning styles. Characteristics of student participants were also analyzed to recognize degrees of required technological skills, structured environment preference, and active learning initiative. In addition, the model was applied to assess the demands on faculty in terms of workload, technological ability, and pedagogical reflectivity practices. The findings of the multiple measures are discussed, and implications for pedagogy, curriculum, and future research are presented.
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Gilbert J. McKee
Finance, Real Estate, and Law
In the last 25 years, not-for-profit organizations as a whole appear to have become larger and less government subsidized. Although eleemosynary institutions represent a significant and growing sector of the U.S. economy, few would doubt that charities' special status of not being oriented towards returning profits on owners' investments (but instead being oriented towards spending the funds given to them in accordance with donors' intent) has resulted in financial management systems far less developed than those typically used by for-profit companies. For example, not-for-profit organizations are subject to fewer legal requirements for disclosing financial information to outsiders, nor has a tradition of continuous, consistent disclosure developed. An excellent example of the trends can be found in the state supported teaching university. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the budget process at one such university in order to evoke thought on how the process works, and how it differs from the process normally found in the private sector, with an eye on triggering ideas on how to enhance non-profit financial management systems.
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Lea D. Wikoff
Hotel and Restaurant Management
Eunice Velempini
Bulawayo Polytechnic, Zimbabwe
Tourism is becoming a growing economic contributor to many underdeveloped countries. For example, much of Zimbabwe is untapped with regard to tourism in the rural areas. Eco-tourism initiatives combine the needs of tourists with the preservation of the rural culture and environment. This paper provides a model for eco-tourism enhancement through international higher education partnerships.
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Philip Pregill
Landscape Architecture
The opportunity for students to study in a foreign environment underscores the need to effectively link information to learning. This paper discusses three frameworks - physical, cultural, and perceptual - used as components for studio conduct at an Landscape Architecture Italy program. Each framework enables students to comprehend specific aspects of the Italian landscape setting. Collectively the frameworks constitute a model for studio conduct in a foreign country. The discussion includes comments concerning the relative utility of each framework.
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Thomas H. Athey
Computer Information Systems
Campus-based universities traditionally have been the mainstay for educating university students. But non-traditional organizations are threatening that dominance in the form of for-profit universities, cyberschools, and corporate universities. Universities must make significant changes in what they offer and how they deliver education if they are to survive in the 21st century. The present course of tuition costs and student demand rising faster than funding is not sustainable. Further, non-traditional universities are taking the lead in offering new ways to learn, performance-based assessment, defining and measuring faculty productivity, and resource sharing with corporations and colleges. As working adults have started to outnumber the traditional 18 to 24-year-old students, they especially are increasingly voting with their feet to get degrees from non-traditional institutions.
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Renford Reese
Political Science
Each quarter, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona broadcasts by microwave three freshman-level courses to participating high schools. Transmitted before and after school (7 a.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m.), the classes are taught from a special "wired classroom". Students view the courses in their high school library, and can speak with the instructor by using a microphone. Although the teacher cannot see the students at the various schools, the interactive audio system provides a lively classroom environment. Testing is done at the respective high schools and homework.
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Hasan A. Çelik
Mathematics
The purpose of this article is to present an approach to using a programmable calculator to compute concepts in one branch of abstract mathematics, Group Theory. A number of algorithms and related codes are designed to get access to such concepts like cyclic subgroups, inverse of elements, orders of subgroups, and elements in a family of groups, including the group of integers modulo n Zn, the Euler groups of integers U(n) and Uk(n), the general linear group GL(n, Zp), and the special linear group SL(n, Zp).
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Richard D. Hulme
Accounting
During the 1980s, Kolb's Experiential Learning Model (ELM) was featured in a number of studies in the accounting education literature. One of these studies examined the diversity of introductory accounting students' learning styles and the impact of such diversity on learning, one of which is to use a broader range of learning strategies. The instrument used to measure learning style in that study was the Kolb's Learning Style Inventory. Unfortunately the construct validity of the Kolb instrument was later questioned, which challenged the results of that study. A recent article published in the Harvard Business Review discusses two whole-brain models that appear to not have these validity problems and could therefore be used to revisit the diversity of learning styles question. This paper reviews the earlier research, examines these new models, and provides data to answer the question of whether the students in a typical introductory accounting class have a diversity of learning styles.
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Norman Gregory Young
Finance, Real Estate, and Law
The doctrine of forum non conveniens is an equitable doctrine that allows a trial court to decline jurisdiction over transitory causes of action that can more fairly be tried in another state or country. However, it raises issues concerning the federal court's obligations to American and foreign parties that may significantly frustrate the overall trial process, and exacerbate political tensions between countries. This article gives historical context to the federal judiciary and considers the impact of the doctrine on international civil litigation, and analyzes constitutional foundations.
"Law is not theoretical. Beware of fixed rules that look appealing... that can be a trap rather than an aid for judges."
Justice Stephen G. Breyer
(July, 1994)
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Kristine Brown
Kinesiology and Health Promotion
Jim Grizzell
Student Health Services
It is well documented that people will not modify health behaviors if they are not motivated to do so. Unlike most studies that investigate actual practices of health behaviors, this study examines the behaviors which students would like to change. In 1997, a survey was conducted among 592 students of Cal Poly Pomona. Students ranked how serious they were about improving 34 health related behaviors in the next six months. Results indicate that the top five behaviors students would like to improve are: to plan and use time better (78%), set goals and priorities (75%), do something fun and relax more often (67%), improve appearance (65%), and eat more fruits and vegetables (65%). These results will be used to provide direction for future health promotion efforts. Behaviors which most students are serious about improving will be targeted, with tailored messages using social marketing techniques.
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Gus M. Geursen
Monash University, Australia
Keith B. Ehrenreich
University Community
An objective of scholarly activity is to develop subject knowledge which provides a basis for extending understanding and ultimately enhances decision making. The task of research in this setting is to develop new or question existing knowledge. Yet, despite the volume of scholarly papers appearing in academic journals each year and the intense effort expended on the tools, which facilitate these activities, new knowledge discovery is slow. This paper considers the processes used in business academia to discover new knowledge.
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Wm. Bruce Schneider
Maastricht School of Management
Abhinay Diwale
Maastricht School of Management
Nasrollah Ahadiat
Accounting
For 500 years the model introduced by Pacioli has been the foundation for the work of accountants. This model dominates the universal language of organizations. Picioli's double entry system has provided the fundamental structure for recording economic events of interest to an entity that can be expressed in monetary terms. In this article, the authors investigate whether this model is suboptimal in a world of electronic commerce.
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Reed Markham
Communications
The complexity of rapidly changing technology and global events makes it critical for managing international public affairs today to analyze several areas of performance simultaneously. Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton of the Harvard Business School found that strategic planners recognize that a single measure of performance fails to provide a clear focus on the critical mission of an organization. After reviewing the performance assessment of 12 companies, Kaplan and Norton developed a set of innovative measures known as the "balanced scorecard" that provides strategic planners with a comprehensive view of the corporate mission. The balanced scorecard includes traditional financial measures coupled with operational measures on customer satisfaction, internal processes, and the organization's innovation and improvement activities. This article extends this concept to the university context, in particular to international public relations/communications programs.
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George Eisen
Kinesiology & Health Promotion
During the 1990s, global studies programs in the U.S. changed in response to dramatic geopolitical and economic changes. This, along with unprecedented growth in international and area studies programs throughout the world, has made it worthwhile to reflect upon the role of international education in higher education. The following essay draws on experiences in developing such programs in Universities both in Eastern Europe and the United States.
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D. Robert DeChaine
Communications
This article serves as a preliminary investigation of decorum as a rhetorical resource, and the ethical ramifications of decorum for contemporary society. Recently, academic writing has become the subject of renewed scrutiny regarding the ethical treatment of language and ideas, partly as a result of the controversial publication of Alan Sokal's "hoax" article "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity." In this paper, two questions are addressed specifically: can a particular vocabulary or "jargon" induce adherence to an argument separate from, or even at the expense of, the argument itself? If so, what responsibilities does the use of such a vocabulary entail? It is argued that the events surrounding Sokal's hoax, while demonstrating the ethical pitfalls inherent in the use of decorum, simultaneously privileges it as a powerful epistemic resource in the framing of a "world of possibility."
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Dana Harper
University Community
As a result of the many problems perceived with the United States income tax system, four major tax reform proposals are being debated in Congress: the Value-Added Tax, the Flat Tax, the Unlimited Savings Allowance Tax, and the National Retail Sales Tax. Of these, the National Retail Sales Tax is the most different from the existing system. This article summarizes the first three proposals to provide background, and then analyzes the National Retail Sales Tax in detail. To illustrate the impact of the National Retail Sales Tax on individual taxpayers, three model scenarios were developed corresponding to major classes of the people who pay the U. S. personal income tax. Each situation compares the tax liability under the existing U.S. income tax system to the expected tax liability under the National Retail Sales Tax.
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Frank Glaser
Mathematics
Andy J. Robles
Mathematics
Non-random complicated motions can exhibit a very rapid growth of errors and, despite perfect determinism, they inhibit the pragmatic ability to render accurate long term predictions. Technically, such non-random motions are termed "chaotic." The geometry of chaotic behavior is known as "fractal geometry." The term "fractal" was coined by Benoit Mandelbrot to mean "fractional dimension." Fractals are structures which are elaborated upon at smaller and smaller scales differently at each point of an object. In 1979 a computer experiment made it possible to create the diagram of a certain object called the Mandelbrot set. It is a "limit fractal" that contains many other fractals. As such it is of great importance in fractal geometry. In this article we aim to map the Mandelbrot set from the normal complex plane into the hyperpolar complex plane and present a computer generated hyperpolar image of this "limit fractal."
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Ronald Wilhelm
University Community
Every organization is faced with the possibility of a financial loss due to perils such as fire, tort liability, or employee injury. Despite a degree of preparedness, there will be impact because funds will be diverted that could have been invested in ongoing operations or new capital. This article first analyzes risk financing programs available to risk managers to fund recovery from accidental losses. It then addresses how tax deductibility treatment may influence the selection of the optimal program. Finally, it draws conclusions about how a risk financing program can help to maximize after tax cash flow.
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Thomas H. Patten, Jr.
Management and Human Resources
Two of the most durable conflicts extant in today's world are those taking place in Northern Ireland and North Korea. Both appear intractable, with one having roots going back centuries and the other lasting fifty years or more (on the Korean peninsula) with no end in sight. Peace processes have been intermittent in Northern Ireland for quite a while and, from some standpoints, thought to be promisingly pursued since 1994. North Korea may also have moved a bit and has delayed its nuclear military activities in return for two light-water reactors from the USA and South Korea. By the end of 1997, North Korea had also held high-level discussions with American Department of State and agreed to open negotiations on a peace treaty for the Korean peninsula (which had been previously proposed by the USA and South Korea). Many observers wonder if these two conflicts (Northern Ireland and North Korea) may now be inching slowly toward meaningful management, some sort of eventual and ultimate resolution perhaps, and the avoidance, in the short run, of further large-scale armed aggression. Is it possible that peace might "break out" for these possible exemplars, or that significant change is imminent?
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William Shafer
California State University, Los Angeles
Amy Putnam
University Community
Until recently, educators were able to cope with disciplinary knowledge growth by adding technical content to the undergraduate curriculum. However, curricula have now been diluted to the point that higher education is being criticized for providing inadequate technical training in major disciplines as well as inadequate general education. Providing further technical specialization at the undergraduate level is not the best solution to this problem; such a move will only exacerbate existing perceptions that current university graduates are not well-rounded individuals. A better approach would be to de-emphasize technical content at the undergraduate level, and provide necessary technical specialization in the form of graduate or professional education. This article examines this issue from the perspective of one discipline, accounting, as a possible model for other disciplines.
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Edward O'Mara
University of Western Sydney
Ross Chapman
University of Western Sydney
Paul Hyland
University of Western Sydney
John Karayan
Accounting
The quality movement, - in particular Total Quality Management (TQM) - has focused attention on performance measures. Traditional performance measures are deficient in that they tend to be aggregative, backward looking, and internally directed. A new wave of performance measures is emerging to cope with a customer oriented focus and the process of continuous improvement. Even where organizations are driven by a TQM philosophy, they often experience difficulties in implementing a system for continuous improvement. Many fail to link performance measures with the organization's strategic plan. A pilot research study has been conducted to examine the relationship between organizational goals and performance measures. This paper reports on the outcomes of this pilot study and discusses the application of these new performance measures in manufacturing firms in southwest Sydney, Australia.
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