Remarkable Report Cards

This chapter argues that abiders have an academic advantage in secondary school. This advantage stems from a synergy between schooling and religion: both institutions strive to maintain social order. Because religion and schooling promote the same ideals, the types of children who thrive in one institution are also likely to thrive in the other. To make this case, the chapter examines how Protestantism has shaped the current form of schooling and explains the importance of the “hidden curriculum”—the rules, routines, and regulations. Children raised with religious restraint are stellar at navigating the hidden curriculum. Abiders’ God-centered self-concept leads them to be deeply cooperative and conscientious. They do what is asked of them, they are kind to their peers, and they are self-disciplined. In return, they reap tangible academic rewards: they earn better grades. This is referred to as the “abider advantage.”

Neural correlates of the improvement of cognitive performance resulting from enhanced sense of competence: A magnetoencephalography study

The alterations in neural activity related to the improvement of cognitive performance, which would be leading to better academic performance, remain poorly understood. In the present study, we assessed neural activity related to the improvement of task performance resulting from academic rewards. Twenty healthy male volunteers participated in this study. All participants performed four sessions of a 1-back-Stroop task under both target and control conditions. An image indicating that the task performance of each participant was above average and categorized as being at almost the highest level was presented immediately after each session under the target condition, whereas a control image did not indicate task performance. Neural activity during the 1-back-Stroop task was recorded by magnetoencephalography. The correction rate of the 1-back-Stroop task in the final session relative to that in the first under the target condition was increased compared with the control condition. Correlation analysis revealed that the decreases in alpha band power in right Brodmann’s area (BA) 47 and left BA 7 were positively associated with the increased correction rate caused by the target condition. These findings are expected to contribute to a better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the improvement of cognitive performance.

Authorship: From Credit to Accountability

The Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) provides a dynamic forum for editorial discussions and endorses the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) to improve the scientific quality of biomedical journals. Authorship confers credit and important academic rewards. Recently, however, the ICMJE emphasized that authorship also requires responsibility and accountability. These issues are now covered by the new (fourth) criterion for authorship. Authors should agree to be accountable and ensure that questions regarding the accuracy and integrity of the entire work will be appropriately addressed. This review discusses the implications of this paradigm shift on authorship requirements with the aim of increasing awareness on good scientific and editorial practices.

The Effect of Age and Size on Reputation of Business Ethics Journals

Business ethics journals have appeared on a few ranked lists that are specific to this niche discipline. As with more traditional academic disciplines, these rankings are used for academic rewards such as faculty tenure and promotion, along with department and school ratings. Journal ranking has been subject to considerable criticism even as its administrative use persists. Among the criticisms are that journal quality is a poor proxy for article quality, citation rate is an imperfect reflection of article influence, and bias may be introduced into rankings by visibility characteristics such as journal age, size, circulation, and experience of the rater with a journal. This research note studies the effect of journal age and size on the rankings of business ethics journals compiled by Beets, Lewis, and Brower, by Albrecht, Thompson, Hoopes, and Rodrigo, and by Serenko and Bontis. Significant correlation was found for journal age with the administratively derived Beets et al. ranking. No significant correlation was found for size in any ranking study. Results were not significant for the Albrecht et al. and the Serenko and Bontis rankings representing the perspectives from surveys of active researchers or citation analysis. Perhaps sometimes a journal’s reputation precedes it, as perception of journal quality may be biased by journal visibility, either because it has been published and available for a number of years, or because it is well known and likely to be cited.

The Social Science History Association at 40: A Savory Chop Suey

Multidisciplinary conversations are tough. Language, habits of thinking, and styles of presentation and criticism differ profoundly across disciplines. Academic rewards to multidisciplinary research are unpredictable. Yet year after year, for 40 years running now, the Social Science History Association (SSHA) has hosted increasingly large, multidisciplinary conferences that attract scholars from a diverse set of academic fields and geographic regions. By fostering debate in an atmosphere of civility, respect, and inclusiveness, the SSHA has become a premiere venue for introducing the latest in social scientific topics, methods, and data. Here I salute the founders and guardians of the culture responsible for this impressive achievement with a multidisciplinary foray into the history of America's chop suey craze of the early twentieth century. Like the remarkable history of the SSHA, the history of chop suey illustrates the importance of civility, respect, and democratic inclusiveness in fostering innovation. It is a story that celebrates the rewards to institutions that promote such virtues.

Faculty Development in Instructional Technology in the Context of Learning Styles and Institutional Barriers

This chapter describes the within-case analysis of ten faculty members who agreed to share their learning experience and struggles in learning instructional technology. The case focuses on the in-depth description of each participant stressing their unique personal approach and learning styles, describing the main steps experienced and resources utilized by the participants during the learning process. It also highlights one dominant learning characteristic of each participant, which is compared with the participant’s result in the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire of North Carolina State University, with potential implications for academic administrators in promoting the use of instructional technology by faculty members of diverse profiles. The case also discusses the institutional barriers faced by faculty members while learning how to use instructional technology at a public university in the United States. Three institutional barriers were a major concern for the participants: time, rewards, and cost. One hundred percent of the participants agreed that providing more time—along with financial and academic rewards—is critical to supporting the learning and implementation of instructional technology.

Faculty Development in Instructional Technology in the Context of Learning Styles and Institutional Barriers

This chapter describes the within-case analysis of ten faculty members who agreed to share their learning experience and struggles in learning instructional technology. The case focuses on the in-depth description of each participant stressing their unique personal approach and learning styles, describing the main steps experienced and resources utilized by the participants during the learning process. It also highlights one dominant learning characteristic of each participant, which is compared with the participant’s result in the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire of North Carolina State University, with potential implications for academic administrators in promoting the use of instructional technology by faculty members of diverse profiles. The case also discusses the institutional barriers faced by faculty members while learning how to use instructional technology at a public university in the United States. Three institutional barriers were a major concern for the participants: Time, rewards, and cost. One hundred percent of the participants agreed that providing more time—along with financial and academic rewards—is critical to supporting the learning and implementation of instructional technology.