“Psychology soaring...” plus 3 more |
- Psychology soaring...
- Psychology with a Buddhist tinge
- Hauser found 'responsible' for eight instances of misconduct
- Textbook rental programs aimed at saving college students money
| Posted: 20 Aug 2010 08:48 AM PDT A greater proportion of students get As in some subjects traditionally thought academically demanding, than in subjects perceived as easier. Is that because only motivated, able students take courses like physics - or because film studies is harder than many people believe? Non-traditional subjects like psychology have generally grown, while staples such as physics and economics declined. Recently, sciences have made a comeback and maths (not shown as data not comparable) entries are surging, but most languages continue to dwindle. Girls have led the pass rates for well over a decade, and also get proportionately more A grades. The gender gap was at its widest in the wake of the switch to modular A-levels, but has narrowed slightly in the past few years. Boys score proportionately more A (A and A*) grades than girls in just computing and language subjects, while girls lead even in some male-dominated subjects, such as economics, physics and PE. It was suggested that boys might benefit from the A* reforms, which focus more on final exams, as girls are thought to peform better when assessed continually and through coursework. Girls still got proportionately more A*s overall - 8.3% to 7.9%. But at A*, boys extended their lead in further maths, chemistry, communication studies and English. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php | |||
| Psychology with a Buddhist tinge Posted: 19 Aug 2010 11:22 PM PDT |
 20 August, 2010 - A memorandum of understanding recently signed between the royal university of Bhutan (RUB) and US university, Naropa, is expected to improve and expand counselling services in the country."Naropa has a long history of integrating Buddhism and Western psychology, and I believe a partnership between our two institutions is desired by all parties," said Naropa U provost and vice president for academic affairs, Stuart Sigman (PhD). "Naropa is pleased to have signed a memo of understanding with RUB," he said. The collaboration between RUB and Naropa means that counselling offered in Bhutan will be Buddhist-oriented. The American university is one of very few that specialises in integrating eastern and western philosophies. RUB sr. curriculum officer, Rinchen Dorji, said Naropa's involvement was sought because of its long expertise as a Buddhist inspired university. Currently, "we're dependent on western counselling methods," he said. "Being a Buddhist country, we want to make use of our own Buddhist culture," he added. The agreement will see three Naropa professors teach beside four Bhutanese counsellors in a post graduate course that will be offered by RUB beginning this winter. "Naropa's collaboration will be based purely on goodwill," said Rinchen Dorji. RUB will only pay for the airfare, accommodation and food expenses of the visiting professors. On what Naropa will gain out of the collaboration, Rinchen Dorji said that, although Naropa provided a Buddhist-based education, it was limited to interactions with lamas and texts. "Here they'll actually be able to see real Buddhist principles being practised in day to day life." Rinchen Dorji said that the counselling course, which will be available only for in-service teachers initially, would eventually be opened to other sectors like the police, rehabilitation centres, health, and organisations like RENEW and NCWC. "I'm personally excited by the prospect of visiting Bhutan at some point, and arranging formal programming, so that Naropa faculty can assist RUB professors in offering counselling education," said Naropa's Stuart Sigman. By Gyalsten K Dorji This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php | ||
| Hauser found 'responsible' for eight instances of misconduct Posted: 20 Aug 2010 12:49 PM PDT "No dean wants to see a member of the faculty found responsible for scientific misconduct, for such misconduct strikes at the core of our academic values," Smith wrote. "Thus, it is with great sadness that I confirm that Professor Marc Hauser was found solely responsible ... for eight instances of scientific misconduct under FAS standards." The Globe first reported last week that Hauser, a well-known scientist and author of the book "Moral Minds," is on a year-long leave after a lengthy internal investigation found evidence of misconduct in his laboratory. The findings have resulted in the retraction of an influential study that he led on whether monkeys learn rules, published in 2002 in the journal Cognition, because the data produced in the published experiments did not support the published findings, Smith confirmed today. Hauser, whose research focuses on the evolutionary roots of the human mind, has declined interview requests. The investigation, which took three years, has also resulted in a correction last month to a 2007 study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. And the authors are continuing to work with editors of Science to correct a 2007 paper on the perception of rational, goal-directed action in nonhuman primates, Smith said. In addition, the investigation uncovered problems with five other studies that either did not result in publications or where the problems were corrected prior to publication, Smith said. Smith said he would form a faculty committee this fall to reconsider policies covering all professional misconduct cases, including reaffirming or changing communication and confidentiality practices associated with the conclusion of such cases. Since some of Hauser's research was supported by federal funds, a report of Harvard's internal investigation was submitted to federal offices for review, Smith said. He said the university continues to cooperate with all federal inquiries into Hauser's misconduct, including those by the Public Health Service Office of Research Integrity, the National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General, and the US Attorney's Office for Massachusetts. Outside of correcting the scientific record and reporting to the funding agencies, Harvard considers other actions, including sanctions, to be confidential. Options for sanctions include involuntary leave, the imposition of additional oversight on a professor's research lab, and severe restrictions on a professor's ability to apply for research grants, admit graduate students, and supervise undergraduate research, Smith said. Hauser, a popular professor who began teaching at Harvard in 1992, is writing a book titled "Evilicious: Explaining Our Evolved Taste for Being Bad." Here is the text of Smith's letter: Dear faculty colleagues, No dean wants to see a member of the faculty found responsible for scientific misconduct, for such misconduct strikes at the core of our academic values. Thus, it is with great sadness that I confirm that Professor Marc Hauser was found solely responsible, after a thorough investigation by a faculty investigating committee, for eight instances of scientific misconduct under FAS standards. The investigation was governed by our long-standing policies on professional conduct and shaped by the regulations of federal funding agencies. After careful review of the investigating committee's confidential report and opportunities for Professor Hauser to respond, I accepted the committee's findings and immediately moved to fulfill our obligations to the funding agencies and scientific community and to impose appropriate sanctions. Harvard, like every major research institution, takes a finding of scientific misconduct extremely seriously and imposes consequential sanctions on individuals found to have committed scientific misconduct. Rigid adherence to the scientific method and scrupulous attention to the integrity of research results are values we expect in every one of our faculty, students, and staff. In brief, when allegations of scientific misconduct arise, the FAS Standing Committee on Professional Conduct (CPC) is charged with beginning a process of inquiry into the allegations. The inquiry phase is followed by an investigation phase that is conducted by an impartial committee of qualified, tenured faculty (the investigating committee), provided that the dean, advised by the CPC, believes the allegations warrant further investigation. The work of the investigating committee as well as its final report are considered confidential to protect both the individuals who made the allegations and those who assisted in the investigation. Our investigative process will not succeed if individuals do not have complete confidence that their identities can be protected throughout the process and after the findings are reported to the appropriate agencies. Furthermore, when the allegations concern research involving federal funding, funding agency regulations govern our processes during the investigation and our obligations after our investigation is complete. (For example, federal regulations impose an ongoing obligation to protect the identities of those who provided assistance to the investigation.) When the investigation phase is complete, the investigating committee produces a confidential report describing their activity and their findings. The response of the accused to this report and the report itself are considered by the dean, who then decides whether to accept the findings, and in the case of a finding of misconduct, determine the sanctions that are appropriate. This entire and extensive process was followed in the current case. Since some of the research in the current case was supported by federal funds, the investigating committee's report and other supplemental material were submitted to the federal offices responsible for their own review, in accordance with federal regulations and FAS procedures. Our usual practice is not to publicly comment on such cases, one reason being to ensure the integrity of the government's review processes. A key obligation in a scientific misconduct case is to correct any affected publications, and our confidentiality policies do not conflict with this obligation. In this case, after accepting the findings of the committee, I immediately moved to have the record corrected for those papers that were called into question by the investigation. The committee's report indicated that three publications needed to be corrected or retracted, and this is now a matter of public record. To date, the paper, "Rule learning by cotton-top tamarins," Cognition 86, B15-B22 (2002) has been retracted because the data produced in the published experiments did not support the published findings; and a correction was published to the paper, "Rhesus monkeys correctly read the goal-relevant gestures of a human agent," Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274, 1913-1918 (2007). The authors continue to work with the editors of the third publication, "The perception of rational, goal-directed action in nonhuman primates," Science 317, 1402-1405 (2007). As we reported to one of these editors, the investigating committee found problems with respect to the three publications mentioned previously, and five other studies that either did not result in publications or where the problems were corrected prior to publication. While different issues were detected for the studies reviewed, overall, the experiments reported were designed and conducted, but there were problems involving data acquisition, data analysis, data retention, and the reporting of research methodologies and results. Beyond these responsibilities to the funding agencies and the scientific community, Harvard considers confidential the specific sanctions applied to anyone found responsible for scientific misconduct. However, to enlighten those unfamiliar with the available sanctions, options in findings of scientific misconduct include involuntary leave, the imposition of additional oversight on a faculty member's research lab, and appropriately severe restrictions on a faculty member's ability to apply for research grants, to admit graduate students, and to supervise undergraduate research. To ensure compliance with the imposed sanctions, those within Harvard with oversight of the affected activities are informed of the sanctions that fall within their administrative responsibilities. As should be clear from this letter, I have a deeply rooted faith in our process and the shared values upon which it is founded. Nonetheless, it is healthy to review periodically our long-standing practices. Consequently, I will form a faculty committee this fall to reaffirm or recommend changes to the communication and confidentiality practices associated with the conclusion of cases involving allegations of professional misconduct. To be clear, I will ask the committee to consider our policies covering all professional misconduct cases and not comment solely on the current scientific misconduct case. In summary, Harvard has completed its investigation of the several allegations in the current case and does not anticipate making any additional findings, statements, or corrections to the scientific record with respect to those allegations. This does not mean, however, that others outside Harvard have completed their reviews. In particular, Harvard continues to cooperate with all federal inquiries into this matter by the PHS Office of Research Integrity, the NSF Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. Respectfully yours, Michael D. Smith Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php | |||
| Textbook rental programs aimed at saving college students money Posted: 20 Aug 2010 02:42 PM PDT WILLIAMSBURG — — A new textbook for an "Introduction to Psychology" course can cost a College of William and Mary student more than $140, but a new rental program offered at the university's bookstore will allow that student to save more than 50 percent on the text to use for the semester. This brings the price down to a little more than $60. William and Mary, like Old Dominion University and Thomas Nelson Community College, are offering parents and students cost-saving alternatives to book buying through textbook rental services. Book rentals allow students to pay a flat fee — usually less than 50 percent of the retail price— to borrow select course books for a semester. At William and Mary's bookstore, which is run by book retailer Barnes and Noble, the program allows students to rent books in-store or through the university's website. Students can highlight or mark the rented textbook, but it must be returned 10 days after the last day of finals. In addition, renters can opt to buy the book during the first two weeks of class, said Cathy Pacheco, manager of William and Mary's book store. "It offers the students the best cost savings up front," Pacheco said. She said the bookstore will continue to sell new and used textbooks and to offer the buy-back program at the end of the semester. Barnes and Noble began piloting the rental program last year at 25 campus bookstores across the country. William and Mary officials said the majority of the books included in the rental program will be for freshmen- and sophomore-level courses. Illinois-based Follett Higher Education Group — which runs TNCC's and ODU's bookstore— also started rental programs that saved students at seven universities nearly $2 million in just one semester. The program is expected to reach more than 500 campuses nationwide this year, an ODU spokesmen said. The rental program was welcome surprise to Debbie Nunnally, who purchased books on Friday for her daughter at William and Mary. "I never see the money when my daughter sells back her books because she always keeps it," she said. "Now I can see the savings right away." Textbook rentals By-the-Numbers PSY 201 New: $142.45 Used: $106.85 Rent: $62.40 Source: College of William and Mary Bookstore This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Yahoo! News Search Results for Psychology To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment