Developing the New Qualitative Measurement Indicator and its Application in Scientific Papers

This article introduces a new qualitative measurement indicator, the Relatively Rank-normalized Impact Factor (R 2 nIF) that can overcome drawbacks of the existing qualitative indicators (Journal IF, normalized IF). The qualities of SCI papers in G7 and BRICs are investigated using this indicator. The result of the R 2 nIF analysis of those countries shows that the US produces not only the largest quantity but also the best quality of SCI papers. The US is the research leader in both “basic science” and “bio-science”. The UK also shows high quality in almost all areas, even superior to the US in some research areas such as pharmacology and toxicology, molecular biology and genetics, etc.. Overall the qualitative status of scientific papers in all BRIC countries are not yet up to par, although they have achieved a quantitative expansion of publications. However in “engineering” China is the second only to the US in journal quality.

Introduction
Certainly, the actual number of citations would provide a better performance indicator. However, this is not ordinarily possible for recently published scientific papers because the time lag of citations makes citation scores almost useless in the evaluation process. In the past, the Journal Impact Factor (IF) has been most commonly used measure of research performance. When using for evaluation purposes, many scholars generally ignore the differences between Journal IF values in different subject categories. For instance, the small number of academic journals in the field of "mathematics" can lead to a low overall Journal IF, while the large number of journals in "bio-science" can lead to a high one. Uninformed scholars still use the Journal IF to compare "bio-science" with "mathematics". Such inappropriate comparisons of Journal IF between disciplines are irresponsible.
The objective measurement of research performance is an important topic in the evaluation and establishment of S&T policies. The quality of scientific papers is in general the most fundamental means of measuring research performance. However, measuring research performance is not as easy as it appears, and its improper use can be quite misleading.
In order to overcome the difficulties of comparing Journal IF across different specialties, Sen (1992) and Marshakova-Shaikevich (1996) suggested using a normalized IF. However, these normalizations are not completely satisfactory, as they use either the maximal Journal IF or a few of the highest Journal IFs in each academic field. In 2004, Pudovkin and Garfield suggested a rank-normalized Impact Factor (rnIF), which is similar to the percentile ranking of Journal IF. However, as a research performance measure the rnIF indicator still fails to take into account the variations between both different academic fields and different countries. This highly complicates comparative analyses and the definition of widely applicable standards of acceptable performance.
This article attempts to develop a new qualitative measurement indicator, the Relatively Rank-normalized Impact Factor (R 2 nIF) that can overcome the drawbacks of the existing qualitative measurement indicators such as Journal IF and normalized IF. Furthermore, the qualities of SCI papers in G7 and BRIC countries are investigated with the help of this R 2 nIF indicator.

Literature Review
Recently a hot issue has been the use of the Journal Impact Factor (IF) for the evaluation of individual scientists, laboratories, institutions, and R&D programs. It is not uncommon in some countries to find that grant application reviews generally use the SCI Impact Factor (IF) to evaluate their applicants' scientific papers. Numerous criticisms have been made of the use of SCI IF, including not only its improper use but also the fundamental validity of the SCI IF itself.
It was Sen (1992) who first attempted to correct for the deviation of Journal IF between research areas. Sen suggested the following normalization: SnIF j = IF j / maxIF × 10, where IF j is the SCI IF for a journal j and maxIF is the maximal IF value for the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) category to which a journal j belongs. Sen's normalized IF was used for the analysis of Indian and Chinese laser physics journals by Garg and Padhi (1999). Also Marshakova-Shaikevich (1996) suggested the following indicator: MnIF j = IF j / av5maxIF × 100, where av5maxIF is the weighted average of the top five SCI IF values in the JCR category to which a journal j belongs. The weighting uses the number of papers in each of the top five journals over a two year period. Marshakova-Shaikevich et al. conducted a bibliometric evaluation of Russian science journals with the help of the MnIF indicator in 2003. However, these measurement indicators (SnIF and MnIF) are not practically applicable due to their large biases between research fields, as criticized by Pudovkin and Garfield (2004). Pudovkin and Garfield (2004) suggested the rank-normalized Impact Factor (rnIF). The rnIF values are the percentile rankings for the whole set of journals in JCR categories as shown in equation (1): The rnIF j is the "rank-normalized Impact Factor" of an academic journal j, N is the number of journals in its category, and R j is the SCI IF ranking within the category of a particular journal j.
In order to calculate the rnIF j journals were always displayed in descending order. For instance, the journal "Acta Mathematica" was the 10th from the top in the JCR category for mathematics. This category contained 186 journals, thus the rnIF value of "Acta Mathematics" is (186 -10 + 1) / 186 = 0.952. When rnIF has the value of x (= 0.952), it means that (1 − x) × 100% (= 4.8%) of academic journals in the area of mathematics have a higher SCI IF than this journal.
However, a weakness of the the rnIF is that its lowest value is dependent on the number of academic journals in the JCR Category. For example, while the lowest rnIF value in JCR category "A" with 10 academic journals is 0.1, the lowest rnIF value in JCR category "B" with 100 journals is 0.01, and the lowest rnIF value in "C" with 1,000 journals is 0.001. Heo et al. (2008) suggested a modified rank-normalized Impact Factor (mrnIF) to overcome this weakness by modifying the rnIF to have a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 100 using equation (2): The mrnIF j is the "modified rank-normalized Impact Factor" of an academic journal j, N is total number of journals within the JCR category to which a journal j belongs, and rnIF j is the rank-normalized Impact Factor of an academic journal j.
However, because the mrnIF does not take into account the different distributions of papers across their journals in different JCR categories, it cannot truly reflect the qualitative status of journals. Table 1 shows well this limitation of comparative analysis using mrnIF indicator (including rnIF). Assume that there are 1,000 journals each in the fields of "microbiology" and "mathematics" in which two journals, "B" and "b", are ranked second place according to Journal IF. Both journals have the same mrnIF, 100 × (5 × 0.8 − 1) / (5 − 1) = 75, indicating that the two journals ("B" and "b") have identical journal quality. However this is not truly so since the mrnIF has not taken into account the fields' differing distributions of papers across their journals. While the top-ranked journal in "microbiology", "A", has 500 papers, that in "mathematics", "a", has only 100 papers. Thus, although journal "b" should clearly have a higher qualitative status than journal "B", this is not reflected in either the mrnIF or rnIF at all.
N i is the number of papers in the ith journal in "mathematics" in 2009, and mrnIF i is mrnIF of the ith journal in "mathematics". Table 2 shows a global average mrnIF value for each NSI standard field. Finally, we calculated the Relatively Rank-normalized Impact Factor (R 2 nIF j ) of each paper by dividing the mrnIF j of the journal j by mrnIF global average of the NSI field to which the journal j belongs as shown in equation (4).
R 2 nIF j is the Relatively Rank-normalized Impact Factor of journal j, mrnIF j is modified rank-normalized Impact Factor of journal j, and mrnIF global average of the same field is the global average value of mrnIF of the research field to which journal j belongs.
For example, if the mrnIF value of a paper published in the journal, "Human Genetics", is 79.658, and the mrnIF global average of the research area, "molecular biology & genetics", where "Human Genetics" belongs is 63.529, and then the R 2 nIF value of a paper published in "Human Genetics" is 79.658 / 63.529 = 1.254. Table 3 presents further examples of R 2 nIF j calculations from the fields of "mathematics" and "molecular biology & genetics".

Measuring the Quality of Scientific Papers in G7 and BRICs
The qualitative status of SCI papers in the major research countries (G7, BRICs) was investigated using the Relatively Rank-normalized Impact Factor (R 2 nIF) from 2007 to 2009. As shown in Table 4, the US produced the SCI papers of highest quality (R 2 nIF = 1.088). In 2009 the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada had the R 2 nIF values of 1.038, 1.074, 1.049, 1.028, and 1.039 respectively, higher than the global average of 1.0. In particular, R 2 nIF of SCI papers in Germany increases noticeably during the same period. Although Japan is the only G7 country whose R 2 nIF is less than the global average the quality of its SCI papers was on the rise while those of France, Italy, and Canada did not change significantly during the period. BRIC countries except Russia experienced a fast growth in the number of SCI papers as shown in Table 4. The growth rate of SCI papers in Brazil, China, and India is 28.3%, 19.0%, and 16.4%, respectively. However, R 2 nIF values of those papers were below the global average of 1.0. Furthermore, their R 2 nIF values show a slight decline: the R 2 nIF growth rate is -0.20% in India, -0.10% in Brazil, and -0.04% in China. These results indicate that the qualitative status of scientific papers in BRIC countries is not up to par yet, although they have certainly accomplished a quantitative expansion of papers. Table 5 shows the R 2 nIF in each NSI standard field of SCI papers produced by G7 and BRIC countries. The US produced the top quality papers in almost all science areas with the highest R 2 nIF values as shown in Figure 1. The US particularly turned out to be the research leader in both "basic science" and "bio-science". For instance, the R 2 nIF of scientific papers produced by the US is 1.123 in "chemistry", 1.111 in "physics", 1.079 in "space science", 1.141 in "immunology", 1.100 in "biology & biochemistry", 1.086 in "clinical medicine", and 1.089 in "multidisciplinary". The UK also had higher R 2 nIF values than the global average in almost all areas. In particular, the UK boasts the best qualities in the areas of "pharmacology & toxicology" (1.133), "molecular biology & genetics" (1.120), "agricultural science" (1.095), "plant & animal science" (1.091), "neuroscience & behavior" (1.082), and "environment/ecology" (1.063), with R 2 nIF values superior even to the US. For Japan and China, the R 2 nIF values were not up to par in many areas. As shown in Figure 1, Japan produced scientific papers of quality above the world average of 1.0 in only the basic science categories such as "chemistry", "geoscience", "physics", "space science", and "multidisciplinary". China had reached the world average in eight areas, particularly "agricultural science", "engineering", "environment/ecology", "geoscience", and "materials science". Notably, in "engineering" China was the second country in journal quality after the US.


Professional characteristics of an educator: A survey of literature

Literature has shown that various studies have dealt with different professional features of teaching and they have focused on one or few professional characteristics of educators. In spite of the immense amount of literature on educator characteristics, a comprehensive study that would encompass the vital professional characteristics of an educator in total is lacking. This has instigated the researcher to take up the study to identify the professional characteristics of an educator. An attempt was made in identifying the educators' characteristics using student outcome as a boundary criterion to select the characteristics from among several that are available in the literature. Therefore, a new model of professional characteristics of educators was proposed. This paper discusses in detail, the characteristics of a profession in general and the wide range of educator’s characteristics as studied in previous researches. The paper presents a wide scope for the models developed to be studied in depth to appreciate and investigate more about the professional characteristics identified through this review of literature. The models may also be tested empirically for further accumulation of knowledge in the field. exemplifying the ideals of literacy, scholarship, and social justice in a diverse and ever-changing world. Studies show that a number of characteristics have been ascribed to a profession. This paper discusses in detail the characteristics of a profession in general and the wide range of educator’s characteristics as studied in previous researches. The studies contributing to identifying these factors are represented in ten different models.

Introduction
A profession has certain recognizable attributes; like they have an acknowledged knowledge base, the nature of which is area of performance, repertoire and matching. Professions have a rigorous training and certification of members; a workplace culture of high consulting and collaboration; systematic enculturation of new members; required and continuous learning regularly built into the work cycle; high public accountability; internal maintenance of high standards of practice; have members who are responsible for client results; have members who make autonomous decisions guided by a canon of ethics (Saphier, 1995). Modern studies identify further sensitive attributes and subtle qualities. A study on professionalism by Furusten (2013) identifies four systematic processes namely; building and maintaining relationships with clients, being available, representing relevant competence, and differentiation.
Teaching is considered a special and a noble profession that impacts students to emerge successfully in any other profession. Therefore, professional educators should develop as lifelong learners, reflective thinkers, and ethical leaders exemplifying the ideals of literacy, scholarship, and social justice in a diverse and ever-changing world. Studies show that a number of characteristics have been ascribed to a profession. This paper discusses in detail the characteristics of a profession in general and the wide range of educator's characteristics as studied in previous researches. The studies contributing to identifying these factors are represented in ten different models. Lyons (2004) speaks about nine ways of projecting professionalism for health care personnel. They are responding to an appointment; getting places on time; and living up to contractual agreements; knowing the importance of appearance; supporting the leadership of the organization; using professional methods of communication; confidentiality; speaking well of others; understanding the inherent possibilities in interacting with other professionals. This increase in profile has been promoted by the Professional Associations Research Network (PARN) which is a body with members from the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Kenya representing a wide range of professions and has a mission to "increase the profile of issues relating to professionals, professionalism and professional bodies through research and networking with the aim of determining and promoting professional good practice" (PARN, 2011).

Educator characteristics
Professional educators should develop as lifelong learners, reflective thinkers, and ethical leaders exemplifying the ideals of literacy, scholarship, and social justice in a diverse and everchanging world (Albee & Piveral, 2003). National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE, 2001) has defined dispositions of a teacher as the values, commitments and professional ethics that influence behavior towards students, families, colleagues, and communities, and affect student learning, motivation, and development as well as the educator's own professional growth. The dispositions or the characteristics of the educator thus have a direct impact on all with whom he connects.
A number of studies have been done in demarcating the characteristics of an educator. Historically, research studies have yielded copious lists of attributes and attitudes exhibited by effective teachers. The Purdue studies from the 1920s to the 1960s (McCombs & Whisler, 1997), the Michigan studies of the 1950s (Pintrich et al., 1994), studies by McKeachie (1990McKeachie ( , 1992McKeachie ( , 1995 and Murray and Renaud (1995) all identified specific characteristics that were associated with effective teachers. These characteristics were gathered from a variety of perspectives including student opinions, observation and teacher self-reporting. These studies spanned over seven decades, yet they consistently identified common and specific dispositions, such as: interest and enthusiasm in their subject and students, respect for all students, concern about student learning, fairness and sympathy toward students, and others that are associated with learner-centered teachers (Albee and Piveral, 2003).
Teacher professionalism starts from the assumption that teachers have authority and responsibility to make decisions in the best interests of their students (Sykes, 1991). A massive stretch of literature addresses the professional characteristics of educators, however, a comprehensive study that would encompass those vital characteristics was not found. An attempt was made in identifying the educator characteristics using student outcome as a boundary criterion.
Research indicates that students achieve better when teachers have a wide array of skills and adapt these skills to different contexts (Brophy, 1986). As per Evertson (1979), high achievement-high attitude classes were characterized by good organization, a high proportion of time in instructional activity, and task-orientation. Low achievement-low attitude classes were chaotic, unstructured classrooms with less task-orientation. It was also found that there is a distinct relationship between good classroom management (planning and organization of activities) and student learning and behavior that shows the relationship between the affective behavior of the educator and the students' academic achievement and attitudes in the same study. An experiment with college teachers of English and freshman students shows that students who are dependent and need structure get significantly better grades if they have a teacher who is authoritarian and needs to structure the learning situation (Moore, 1973). Studies also have proven that reading achievement was significantly related to teachers' beliefs regarding the student (Love, 2003), and teaching experience has statistically significant positive effects on reading test scores of students (Rockoff, 2003).
The following literature illustrates the various studies and models developed by different authors for identifying the components of the Teaching Profession. As per Munoz et al. (2000), the characteristics of the ideal teacher are organized around some clearly differentiated dimension, given in four factors.
The first factor 'Teaching Competency' is composed of adjectives that evaluate to what extent students perceive the teacher expresses as clear, fluent in speech, expert, competent, intelligent, efficient, active, sharp, well documented, informed, fair and understanding. It also evaluates teacher's ability to synthesize, motivate the students, stimulate students' interest in the subject, and know how to listen. 'Teaching Qualities' factor includes adjectives that such as: practical, quiet, self-controlled, calm, objective, organized, balanced and promoting participation, which are involved in teaching activity. They could be considered as features related to a teacher's personality that define 'psychologically balanced' teacher (quiet, calm, self-controlled and balanced).
Moreover, 'Teacher's Appearance' factor is composed of three adjectives related to the physical appearance of the teacher; specifically with his/her elegance, attractiveness and kindness. It is composed of other clearly evaluative adjectives referring to the teacher's empathy (ability to identify other people's feelings), sensitivity and trust in his/her students.
Finally, 'directive-ness' (potency) factor is composed of four adjectives, clearly related to the control and directive ness that the teacher shows with his/her students. They are: authoritarian, directive, overbearing and demanding. In addition, other characteristics such as prestigious and high self-esteem are also included.
Another way of looking at teacher characteristics is as how Analoui (1995) has developed a model of teaching styles from the Managerial Grid of Blake and Mouton (1985). The dimensions which were chosen to describe their model were based on two separate concepts: 'concern for production' and 'concern for people'. This resulted in the identification of five styles of management, namely: task; team; middle of the road; country club; and impoverished. They are also applicable to the model of "teacher as a manager" having the dimensions as the 'concern on students' that focus on the students' difficulties and students' growth and the 'concern on task' that refers to the successful completion of the academic work that is intended. Thus, Analoui identified five teaching styles having the concern on students in the x-axis and concern on task in the y-axis: hard teacher (1,9) where the concern on students is least and the concern on the task is high; soft teacher (9,1) where the teacher is highly concerned with the student and not on the task or the student's academic output; rundown teacher (1,1) is one who have least interest in both the student and the tasks of the student; effective teacher (9,9) is one who is most sought after as she/he is concerned on both the student's development and completion of tasks in terms of students' academic output; and so-so teacher (5,5) is one who have moderate interest in both the student aspect and the task aspect. The output demanded from teachers, in most cases are highly intangible, qualitative and difficult to measure except in terms of its positive transfer to the learners or the task to which the learners are likely to apply it. Effective learning is not likely to occur unless attention is paid to both the subject-matter (task) and the individual learner (people). As per Phelps (2006), when teachers use excellence as a critical criterion for judging their actions and attitudes, their professionalism is enhanced. This author contends that three primary indicators constitute the meaning of professionalism: responsibility, respect, and risk taking; and that when teachers are committed to these three values, their behaviors will reveal greater professionalism. To increase professionalism among teachers, practitioners must embrace 'responsibility', demonstrate 'respect', and practice 'risk taking'. Higher education is an important means or instrument in bringing about this sustainable change. According to Anne Sibbel (2009), the focus of education for global sustainability has been on encouraging consumers to modify patterns of resource consumption and waste management. This indicates the responsibility that educators are liable of for the future generation.
The Ontario College of Teachers (1999) has developed standards of practice for the teaching profession organized around the following five themes: commitment to students and student learning; professional knowledge; teaching practice; leadership and community; and ongoing professional learning (Auger et al., 2000). The teaching profession is also exemplified based on its different functions by another author. According to Squires (2004), professional work is not an end in itself, like scientific enquiry or artistic creation. It exists in order to have some effects or helps in bringing about some change beyond itself, which in the case of teaching is learning. The functions of teaching can be grouped under three broad headings: cognitive, affective and executive. The first refers to the process of learning and the second to the preference for learning. The third refers to the learner's general conception of, approach to and strategies for learning, which are bound up with his or her self-concept and personal agenda.
In the word of Packard (1993), the key learning characteristics essential for high quality professionalism to make students' learning and development most effective are that the teachers should act as master communicators, astute researchers and as a scholar. Master communicators are understandable and use positive communication for inter-personal relationships. All students learn to a greater degree when positive communication is used rather than through application of negative or authoritarian procedures. Researchers know how to assess readiness levels for everyone of their students, and through the use of multiple observation procedures. Each student learns to a greater degree when teacher observes the level of knowledge or skills the students have obtained, and find what they are ready to learn. The professional teacher as a scholar knows how to converge a variety of educational and social areas, including the general social milieu knowledge and skills in curriculum content and methodology along with the principles of human development and learning. Ingersoll (1997) speaks on the following characteristics as traditional professional characteristics of professions and professionals with respect to the teaching field: a) credentials -use of professional criteria for hiring teaching job candidates; b) induction -provision of mentoring programs for beginning teachers and their effectiveness of assistance provided to new teachers; c) professional development -extent of participation in activities sponsored by professional teaching organizations and financial support; d) authority -faculty influence over school policy making and the degree of teachers' individual autonomy within their classrooms, and e) compensation -the highest salary levels offered by schools. Literature has shown that various studies have been conducted to deal with the different professional features of teaching and they have focused on single or multiple professional characteristics of educators. In spite of the immense amount of literature on educator characteristics, a comprehensive study that would encompass the vital professional characteristics of an educator in total is lacking. This has instigated the researcher to take up the study to identify the professional characteristics of an educator. An attempt has been made in identifying the educator's characteristics using students' outcome as a boundary criterion to select the characteristics from among several options that are available in the literature. As a result, a new model of professional characteristics of educators is proposed.

Professional characteristics of an educator
The research was commenced based on the assertion that the educators' characteristics play significant roles in framing students' achievement. Various individual characteristics of teachers were found to have influenced student outcome either directly or indirectly. The effect of subject knowledge of the educator has an impact on enhancing student participation (Mc Namara, 1991); engage in additional training on subject content that exhibits and transmits confidence to learners (Goldhaber & Brewer, 1997;Goldhaber & Anthony, 2003) and specialized form of teacher expertise that reflects in areas of designing a rich curriculum (Molander, 1992). All these aspects finally converge in improvement of student basic core skill and student achievement (Molander, 1992). Experiences of teaching shapes pedagogic content knowledge and subject knowledge (Mc Namara, 1991). This knowledge when combined with classroom management skills results in the credibility of the teacher (Kouzes & Posner, 1993) and in more effective teaching (Stanford et al., 1983). Updating of knowledge results in improving the quality of teaching and learning within the classroom, so that all students can achieve required learning expectations (Delong & Wideman, 1996). When increase in teacherreports of student-teacher relationship quality was occurred, it brought increases in positive social, behavioural and engagement outcomes for students too. Similarly, increase in studentreports of student-teacher relationship quality generated positive behavioural, engagement and academic outcomes. Additional analyses of dyadic relationship patterns showed that as the relationship pattern improved, moving from negative concordance to discordance to positive concordance, there were increases in positive social, behavioral, and engagement outcomes for students (Decker et al., 2007). Talbot (1997) recommended that as the teacher is a powerful source of either satisfaction or frustration in students, the teacher's enthusiasm, competence and interpersonal and communication skills should be a role model that both cognitive and affective motives can co-habit side by side. Studies also disclose that educator remuneration has striking effects on improved students' outcomes (Lavy, 2002) and educator empowerment has effectively resulted in teacher efficacy (Bredeson, 1989), student learning (Glickman, 1990) and student motivation (White, 1992).

Professional characteristics
Various literature studies that have extracted the professional characteristics are presented as illustrations in this section.
Subject knowledge: Subject knowledge was identified as the foremost characteristic of an educator through the literature survey. As referred by Wall (1998), professions are characterized by the need for and possession of particular kinds of knowledge, which are abstract and practical, massive in extent, difficult to master and lengthy to acquire. Also study by Winch (2004) states that subject knowledge is a characteristic of any occupation that is a profession. Figure 1 represents the source for subject knowledge; the effects created by the characteristic and the consequence of this quality that includes student achievement. Thus the effects of acquiring this quality finally converge in improvement of student basic core skill and student achievement (Molander, 1992). The other studies shown in the figure discusses on the effect of subject knowledge on method of teaching, enhancing student participation and evaluation of learning material (Mc Namara, 1991); diagnosing cause of students' underperformance and applying appropriate interventions (Snell & Swanson, 2000); engage in additional training on subject content that exhibits and transmits confidence to learners (Fang et al., 2011;Goldhaber & Anthony 2003;Goldhaber & Brewer 1997); specialized form of teacher expertise that reflects in areas of designing a rich curriculum (Molander, 1992); Teacher Leadership (Snell & Swanson, 2000) and Teacher Quality (Goldhaber & Anthony, 2003). Management education needs to be supplemented with knowledge of both theory and practice. Hence it has to take into account both academic and practitioner perspectives, by balancing inclass training, rooted in academic knowledge, with the experiential knowledge of business leaders and greater attention and investment needs to be made to better understand this dynamic (Kelliher et al., 2010). Hence subject knowledge is obviously one of the most significant characteristics of an educator.
Teaching prowess: Teaching Prowess was the next characteristic which is basically, the transferring the subject knowledge effectively to the learners. Teaching Prowess or the ability to teach includes pedagogy, communication skills and expertise and the emphasis being on pedagogy. Studies show that enhancing pedagogical skill results in other effective outcomes. Experience in teaching shapes pedagogic content knowledge and subject knowledge (Mc Namara, 1991). This when combined with classroom management skills results in the credibility of the teacher (Kouzes & Posner, 1993) and in more effective teaching (Stanford et al., 1983) which reflects teaching prowess. Pedagogical knowledge and subject knowledge when combined with understanding students' cognitive and developmental capacities will result in expertise that is marked by commitment and change for student achievement through teaching prowess (Snell & Swanson 2000). The emergence of practice-based learning creates potential for a reframing of conventional approaches to training and human resource development in schools (Harrington & Kearney, 2011). Such knowledge transferring network, improves the competitive advantage in diffusing knowledge and it surely presents new challenges that institutions need to confront. The developments in terms of online teaching and virtual methods have further increased these challenges and it is highly essential for an educator to equip and adapt to the changing environment. It is noteworthy that studies of Virtanen, Myllarniemi, and Wallander (2013) have proved that different types of learners (auditory, visual and kinesthetic) benefit from being exposed to different methods and pedagogical tools. This implies the significance of pedagogy adopted and hence the methods of knowledge transfer. The strengths and weaknesses of these alternative teaching methods and tools were assessed and were found to improve the teaching learning experience by both the students and faculty.  Updating knowledge: This is the third characteristic identified that emphasizes on life-long learning. It is very essential for the teaching profession. The aptitude and the dexterity of the educator is positive and rich as his knowledge is updated, keeping abreast of current professional training through new books, in-service work, conferences, professional reading and by being member of professional organization, resulting in a justified articulation of his proficiency (Black & Armstrong, 1995, Camarero, et al., 2012, Ellis & Castle, 2010. Management Research is a major source for updating knowledge which is identified as a participatory form of knowledge production (Harrington & Kearney, 2011). Enhancing teaching efficacy and process of learning presents an intense need to update educator knowledge. In this regard, educational research can be the only appropriate tool to cater the necessity of updating knowledge. The action research strategy helps the teacher to find where is and what necessary update is required as Rose (2002) has referred the necessity to investigate the ways in which schools work, the efficacy of teaching and the processes of learning are getting greater than at any time in the past. Bassey (1995) and the National Education Research Forum (2000) express the importance of research in education and the need for educational research to be the center of social research. These studies depict the need for "Updating Knowledge" for an educator in both subject content and action research. This may be achieved through classroom environment (Stenhouse, 1981) and through conferences, workshops, professional training, professional organization and research (Black & Armstrong, 1995). This results in overall development of a more inclusive society (Rose, 2002) and in improving the quality of teaching and learning within the classroom, so that all students can achieve required learning expectations (Delong & Wideman, 1996). Apart from the traditional means of updating knowledge and developing professionalism, studies (Bailey, 2011) also show that informal learning mechanisms are important in professional development. Marsick and Watkins (1997) define informal learning as "a process of learning that takes place in everyday experience, often at subconscious levels". This calls for more innovative methods of learning and teaching in the educational arena.
Collegiality: Collegiality, that frames a significant relationship of an educator in his profession was the next characteristic identified owing to its importance in resulting in effective outcomes. Collegial and professional skills play an important role in the success of the beginning teacher (Hertzog, Pensavelle & Lemlech, 2000). Ingram (1997) explains higher order needs, such as achievement and collaborative decision making, which reflects collegiality, leads teachers to take on greater responsibility to achieve shared goals and visions. Teachers' efforts to attain shared goals become self rewarding. Internal rewards spur teachers on to higher levels of achievement. Collegiality calls for sharing responsibilities, ideas, suggestion and resources with other teachers (Ingram 1997). One becomes supportive and positive of colleagues and his institution and maintains an effective working relationship with all the institution personnel. Apart from the internal collegial networks, studies also identified the importance of developing external collegial networks. Stoten (2012) have found that in addition to the development of internal quality management systems, a number of colleges have agreed to create inter-collegial links that seek to validate their self-assessment process, disseminate good practice and provide professional development for staff. As per Snell and Swanson (2000), collaboration is characterized by a high degree of collegiality and co-operation, collaborative teachers' value consensus and compromise rather than competition.

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A critical review of the literature on collegiality and collaboration depicts that healthy collegial relationship is developed through various initiatives in the institution environment, including internal rewards, teacher leadership, success of a beginning teacher, achievement through collaborative decision making, effective working relationship with all school personnel, enhance critical thought about teaching, sharing of ideas, reflection and respect for other's view points. Collaboration, consensus, compromise, collective expertise, communication skills and access to students/ peers results in higher levels of achievement of both colleagues and students.
Educators with enhanced collegiality recognize that collective expertise offers the possibility of generating optimal solutions to the complex problems of teaching and learning. They demonstrate strong communication skills and position themselves to be purposefully accessible to their students and peers which results in high levels of achievement among colleagues and with student community. Greater teacher collaboration in a culture of trust and accountability is required to face the challenges in professionalism in terms of educational reform, societal and economic development (Tan and Ng, 2012).
Commitment: This is another important factor where an educator is committed to his work not only in terms of his profession but also with the individuals with whom he interacts. If a system needs to be effective, result oriented and sustainable in educational institutions, it requires tremendous commitment from the educator (Ramalho & Wilcox, 2012). Commitment is a preference for remaining in the job and a sense of identification with the organization (Hackman & Oldham 1980;Louis, 1998). Commitment includes acceptance of and loyalty to the school as an organization (Reyes, 1990). It measures sense of pride and ownership in the school, teacher engagement or persistence on the job (Ashburn, 1989). Teachers tend to feel committed to their jobs when they are working in an environment that encourages support among co-workers, recognition for a job well done, and a stress on performance and accomplishment (Anderman 1991).
As per Naik (1988), Teacher's accountability involves moral, professional and contractual aspects that deal with their responsibility towards the persons they connect, the profession and the employing institution respectively. It could be observed that commitment to a profession comprises various dimensions. One has to be committed not only towards occupation, but has to be accountable for his moral and contractual aspects too. Though moral, professional and contractual aspects are not directly congruent with affective, continuance and normative commitment, it could be observed that these types do overlap with a few qualities described above.
As we know, affective commitment describes individual's emotional attachment, identification with and involvement in a particular organization; continuance commitment reflects employee awareness of the costs of leaving an organization; and finally, normative commitment reflects individual sense of obligation to remain in an organization. Commitment is a critical factor for the operation of an effective school (Anderman, 1991), better studentfamily-teacher relationships (Ford & Trotman 2001) and in enhancing the functions of direction (Louis, 1998).
Teacher student relationship: Four major studies have contributed in consolidating the factor 'Teacher Student Relationship' as a characteristic of an educator. As the Figure 2 shows, student expectations, which mainly constitute humanistic approach, effective communication skills, class control and better understanding towards them dictates major criteria for better teacher student relationship (Koutsoulis 2003). Knight (1994) describes the components of teacher credibility namely, competence, trustworthiness and dynamism of the teacher as the factors that influence the relationship with the students. Mentor-Protégé approach involving emphasis on one to one care and commitment obviously enriches student relationship as discussed by Super (1953). As the teacher is a powerful source of either satisfaction or frustration in students, the teacher's enthusiasm, competence and interpersonal and communication skills should be a role model that both cognitive and affective motives can co-habit side by side, thereby enhancing relationship with students (Talbot, 1997).

Figure 2: Studies representing Teacher student relationship as an educator characteristic
However, with the rush of choices through online and virtual learning mechanisms, the teacher student relationship is even more sensitive than described by the above studies. The personal lifelong learning journey that educational and academic staff undertakes in order to become skilled knowledge facilitators online is perceived and represented as a full learning cycle of multiple dimensions. Also, by identifying specific roles of knowledge facilitators according to context, the existing institutional social systems and city networks of learning were made evident in the practitioners' learning scope within their own institutions and beyond (Garcia, 2009). This calls for an intense interest in the growth of the students that will improve their liaison with their staff. In spite of virtual experiences, it could be realised that the relationship the learner has with the educator plays a major role in the teaching learning experience. Such online experiences do clearly reveal the increased intensity of the teacher's interest in the student learning. Studies (Bullock, 2011) report on the relative success the educators experienced, using blogging tools to further develop relationships with undergraduate and graduate students and engage them in meaningful discussions outside of class time.

TEACHER STUDENT RELATIONSHIP
Empowerment: This is a process where teachers develop their competence to take charge of their own work and resolve their own problems. Numerous studies have portrayed empowerment as an important characteristic of a teacher or of any professional. Maeroff (1988) discusses on three main constituents of teacher empowerment. They are: improved status; increased knowledge and access to decision making. Studies have successfully derived a number of positive outcomes that result from teacher empowerment, including, improved teacher efficacy, job enrichment and professional autonomy (Bredeson 1989;Klecker & Loadman, 1996); student learning (Glickman, 1990); effective schools (Dondero, 1997); personal worth (Lashley 1999); professional judgment of content of curriculum and means of instruction (Zeichner, 1991); characterized as optimistic, determined, self actualized and skilled to empower others (Snell & Swanson 2000); raise in teacher attendance (Wunder, 1997); increase motivation and hence enhance teacher student relationship (Pickle, 1991); job satisfaction (Fritsch ,1995;Klecker & Loadman, 1996;Lanney, 1998); teacher morale (Wunder, 1997& White, 1992, student motivation and improved communication with peers (White, 1992). Empowerment not only enjoys discretion, autonomy, power and control but also information sharing (Lashley 1999). As rightly observed by Maeroff (1988), it is evident that status, knowledge and decision making capacities of the educators, when improved, can have a direct impact on both teacher behaviour and student behaviour as depicted by the above studies. Therefore, teacher empowerment not only results in student achievement but also in improved teacher behaviour and improved teacher student relationship.

Self development:
This characteristic is a self attributing characteristic that develops in one's professional life. Apart from all the effects produced by the educator in his work life, he should also develop improvements and growth in his own self. This includes self assessment and evaluation that will lead to his career development, professional growth and acquire leadership qualities.
According to Cheung and Cheng (1996), the type of self-management that can encourage continuous self-learning and development to ensure quality of work in a changing environment should be a cyclical process consisting of five sequential stages: environmental analysis, planning and affiliating, developing and directing, implementing, evaluating and monitoring. Adhering to these phases, his work results in an enhanced quality output that fosters his associates and customers. As students are the basic acquaintance of a teacher, they enjoy the quality output of the educator which in turn is reflected in students' better performance. A self managed teacher will be able to enhance his career by assuming leadership skills that enriches his personal mindset and professional life (Crowther, 1997). Berry and Ginsberg (1990) identified three components of the role of a new cadre of professional educators, whom they called 'lead teachers': coaching other teachers; development and review of school practice; and decision making. Lieberman et al. (1988) identified the following skills that were manifested by teacher leaders: building trust and rapport; organizational diagnosis;

Professional characteristics of an educator: A survey of literature
Journal of Management and Development Studies 24(1) 13 dealing with the process; using resources; managing the work; building skill and confidence in others. Interest in one's self development was found to be an important characteristic of an educator because unless one is interested in one's development individually, it is very difficult for him/ her to focus on his/ her professional development. As observed by the studies, self managed teachers develop into lead teachers who serve as an example for both students and the other teachers.
Remuneration: This attribute is an undisputable characteristic that an educator has to give significance because the studies have shown a number of desirable effects of this factor. Remuneration is not exactly a characteristic possessed by the educator, but it is the perception or the importance that the educator gives to the attribute. Professionals are typically well compensated and are provided with relatively high salary and benefit levels throughout the career span (Hodson & Sullivan, 1995). The assumption is that, given the complexity of the knowledge and skills required, relatively high levels of compensation are necessary to recruit and retain capable and motivated individuals (Etzioni, 1969;Hodson & Sullivan, 1995). Studies disclose that remuneration has striking effects on retaining capable individuals (Ingersoll, 1997); increasing teacher quality (Rivkin, 1999); reducing teacher drop outs (Loeb & Page 2000) and improved students' outcomes (Lavy, 2002).
Typically remuneration is the acknowledgment of the complexity of skills & knowledge possessed by the educator. Once the educator understands his worth is appreciated well, his contribution towards the various desirable factors improves and that includes enhanced student outcomes, increase teacher quality and reduced teacher dropouts.
Ethical conduct: Ethical conduct is the most fundamental tenet of professionalism and is also the most challenging aspect. 'Ethical standards should not be treated as articles of containment but embraced as welcome moral principles guiding a growing, vibrant profession' (Shestack, 1998). It is a fundamental principle for any profession and represents an authoritative symbol of social responsibility (Raelin, 1991). When lapses in ethical behaviors occur, the credibility of the entire profession is endangered (Kerr & Smith 1995).
Like any other profession, consideration of a more highly developed professional ethics for teachers can only assist in the overall growth and enhancement of the profession (Lovat, 1998). Given their complex knowledge and highly technical skills, professionals play a vital role in society, and their morality is imperative. Also a research by Cuellar and Giles (2012) in their research on studying the feelings, beliefs and thoughts of ethical schools leaders resulted in six main themes that reflect the experience of being ethical as a school leader. They were holding personal and professional ethics as inseparable; "consistently" inspiring practice; valuing others; sustaining a humane view of education; being sensitive to the complex local context; and leading as serving. Ethical conduct is also the most challenging aspect of any profession as it cannot be just followed as rules but have to be applied appropriately for a situation. This has to be taught to the students to enrich their ethical decision making skill (Wyatt, 2004).
A code of conduct is designed to provide a mechanism for public accountability and internal disciplinary action, which enhances public accountability. While the process of conceiving such a code would be undoubtedly an immense challenge, it could result in a concrete resource for teachers who currently cope with conflicting responsibilities, tensions among their various relationships and overall ethical uncertainty with little professional direction (Campbell, 2000). Unlike medicine, architecture, or accounting, the teaching profession has not codified the knowledge, skills and dispositions that account for accomplished practice. Consequently, both misconceptions and lack of consensus about what constitutes good teaching continue to exist (Snowden, 1993). Moreover codes of ethics are living documents that change over time, and revisions will be needed as our knowledge base grows and as our consensus emerges around controversial ethical issues (Herlihy & Theodore, 1995). Teacher behavior which is the outcome of an educator's ethical conduct does have correlation with student achievement scores (Harris, 1998).
The studies contributing to the extraction of the ten professional characteristics from the literature review with the base criterion focusing on positive student outcome in any form, is presented as above with discussion. These characteristics have been defined in summation of the literature reviewed and through relevant appreciation of the concepts for the teaching profession as follows and the figurative model is depicted in Figure 3.

Subject Knowledge (SK):
It is the educator's expertise in respective discipline that is acquired earnestly, thorough in content, extensive enough to assess and that is exhibited with confidence to supplement students in their core skills of the subjects.

Teaching Prowess (TP):
It is defined as the ability of the educator to employ appropriate pedagogy, effective communication skills, and demonstrate classroom management skills competent enough to sustain his/ her credibility.

Updating Knowledge (UK):
It describes the educator's aspiration for updating one's knowledge and improving the process of teaching through professional training, research and action research.

Collegiality (COL):
It is the sense of oneness with peers that enhance consensus rather than competition that results in developing and gaining professional skills and institution effectiveness through shared ideas, goals and practice.

Commitment (COM):
It is the educator's personal and professional investment of time and space with dedication to his profession that entails his/ her work, institution, colleagues, students and the community.

Teacher Student Relationship (TSR):
Here the educator enrich his/ her bond with the students through his/ her interpersonal skills and developing a sense of responsibility, confidence and self discipline that enables them to interact freely and effectively in groups and also feel a sense of fair treatment and being attended with care and respect.

Empowerment (EMP):
This is the capacity of the educator to engross information and execute autonomy with discretion and control in the process of decision making.

Self-Development (SD):
This characteristic indicates the responsibility that the educator possesses toward him/ herself in achieving job satisfaction, managing time structure, meeting his career aspirations and enriching his leadership qualities for professional growth.

Remuneration (REM):
This is an indisputable characteristic which rewards the complexity of the knowledge, skills and capabilities expressed by the educator to motivate and retain the talented individuals.

Ethical code of Conduct (EC):
Ethical code of conduct is defined as standards of action, flexible enough to practice appropriately for a situation, in guiding a vibrant profession.

Figure 3: Professional Characteristics model
The model in Figure 3 was derived to represent the professional characteristics of an educator inter-relating them based on literature (Cervero, 2001;Hart & Marshall, 1992, Hausman & Goldring, 2001Ingersoll, 1997).

Concluding remarks
Based on literature review, the important and repeated professional characteristics of educators were identified as subject knowledge, teaching prowess, updating knowledge, collegiality, commitment, teacher student relationship, empowerment, self development and remuneration. In depth analysis of each of the individual characteristic was made and presented.
As per Blewitt (2010), the higher education sector has to respond to the new economic and environmental imperatives in the business scenario. It is certainly encouraging a need for flexibility and adaptability, new multidisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research approaches and new pedagogies that address the new learning ecologies. Apart from such improvements in the approaches and curricula of the management education sector, it is highly desirable for efficient and efficacious teachers with desired professional characteristics to sustain any fruitful realisation. A graduate attribute is needed that suggests in a changing world individuals, and groups should learn not only to accommodate changes but enjoy them, go with them and in so doing shape them according to values and principles. And educators play a major role in achieving the same. Of the many ways, enhancing the professional characteristics of the educators will provide effective solutions for desirable student development.


Staff-student partnership in practice in higher education: the impact on learning and teaching

This staff-student collaborative project involved six small project teams each composed of staff and undergraduate students studying within the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Each project team engaged in a mini-project designed to research an aspect of learning and teaching to develop learning and teaching and to enhance students’ employability skills. The ‘student researchers’ from the small project teams were also members of a larger coaching group that met with the project lead and other experienced colleagues and undertook joint enquiry. Students used reflective logs as one means of recording data on their developing employability skills and their learning from the project. Evaluation activities included documentation of all coaching group workshops and collecting quantitative and qualitative data for each learning and teaching research project. The usefulness of this data was evaluated by staff members in relation to its impact on their module planning. The main implication of this approach is that staff-student partnership in learning and teaching has a significant impact on learning and teaching development and enhancement, learning to learn, raising the profile of research into learning and teaching, and employability skills and attributes. The student researchers came to a much deeper understanding of learning and teaching, and became much more aware of their responsibility for their own learning and committed to enhancing the learning of others. Members of staff noted that working with students had been ‘extremely inspirational’seeing students work with other students and what they could achieve that could not be achieved by members of staff. © 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Faculty of Education, UniversitI Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

Introduction
This paper presents a student-staff collaborative project carried out at the University of Hertfordshire, UK in 2011-2012 designed to pilot a process for enhancing undergraduate students' employability skills through student-staff collaboration in learning and teaching. The project involved six project teams each composed of one _________ member of staff and one or two undergraduate students studying within the University Schools of Education, Humanities or Law. Each project team engaged in a separate small research project designed to investigate an aspect of learning and teaching to both develop learning and teaching and to enhance students' employability skills. The eleven 'student researchers' from the small research project teams were also all members of a larger coaching group that met fortnightly throughout the academic year with the project lead and other experienced colleagues from the three Schools. In these fortnightly group workshops staff and students worked together to design the small research projects, discuss ethical and other issues relevant to the research, and to carry out joint enquiry. Students used reflective logs as one means of recording data on their developing employability skills and their learning from the project. Members of the coaching group designed an employability skills portfolio in which students could document their developing skills and attributes and map these against University expectations.
Research literature of particular relevance to the student researcher and student as enquirer roles reported in this paper includes work relating to pupils as researchers in schools (Thomson and Gunter, 2006) and students as researchers in higher education (Dunne and Zandstra, 2011). This project sits within the context of initiatives to link research and teaching more closely in university settings, including through enquiry-based teaching and learning in higher education (for example, Brew, 2003). This paper briefly outlines the history and setting for this project. It then describes the project and the method of evaluation. Some findings from the evaluation are presented as key learning points and discussed in the context of the impact of staff-student partnership in learning and teaching and the implications for using this approach in higher education. It also presents the method and findings from one of the small-scale research projects.

The setting for this project
This project took place within the Faculty of Humanities, Law and Education at the University of Hertfordshire that has a student community of more than 27,200. The project built on a highly successful Faculty 'student researcher' project at the University, which had previously been evaluated. Resources from this earlier project had been disseminated to support students, practitioners and institutions through a free access report and journal article (Graham and Jarvis, 2010) and video available on YouTube (University of Hertfordshire, 2011). Although members of staff at the University were already proactive in developing students' employability skills, University-based research had identified a need for focused strategies to embed this work into academic life. Research conducted elsewhere identified potential for skills development in learning and teaching projects (Cook-Sather, 2011). This current project was designed to develop and disseminate a process for linking employability skills development, learning and teaching enhancement and student-staff collaboration.

The aim of the project
The main aim of the project was to pilot a process for enhancing undergraduate students' employability skills through student-staff collaboration in learning and teaching. Additional aims developed during the project included: to enhance students' understanding of the learning process; to engage members of academic staff in reflecting on learning and teaching; to encourage staff to work with students as partners in relation to learning and teaching; to encourage staff to use findings from educational research to inform their own teaching practice; and to raise the profile of research into learning and teaching within the Faculty.

The project team
Project team members included: undergraduate students from the Schools of Education, Humanities and Law; Associate Dean of Learning, Teaching and Employability; Head of University Centre for Coaching and Mentoring; Senior Lecturer with relevant expertise of student-staff projects in schools (Roberts and Nash, 2010); researcher; and Faculty academic staff. Additional stakeholder views were provided through a Reference Group.

The project design
This staff-student collaborative project involved six project teams each composed of one member of staff and one or two undergraduate students studying within the University Schools of Education, Humanities or Law. Each project team engaged in a separate small research project designed to investigate an aspect of learning and teaching to both develop learning and teaching and to enhance students' employability skills. The eleven 'student researchers' from the small research project teams were also all members of a larger coaching group that met fortnightly throughout the academic year with the project lead and other experienced colleagues from the three Schools. In these fortnightly group workshops staff and students worked together to design the small research projects, discuss ethical and other issues relevant to the research and carried out joint enquiry within the larger group. Students used reflective logs as one means of recording data on their developing employability skills and their learning from the project. Members of the group designed an employability skills portfolio in which students could document their developing skills and attributes and map these against University expectations.

The research projects
The purpose and setting of the six small-scale research projects were as follows: 1. An evaluation of the process of assignment support for the students' first piece of assessed work The method and findings from one of the projects carried out in the School of Humanities is provided below in more detail as an example.

The coaching group workshops
These fortnightly two-hour workshops for students and staff were held from October 2011 -June 2012. The topics explored during the workshops included: an introduction to the project and project planning; management of administrative and ethical issues, for example, confidentiality; using reflective logs; engaging in practical research activities such as developing evaluation questions; an introduction to coaching; and identifying learning and employability skills. During the sessions participants engaged in discussions and activities relating to a range of employability skills and using whole group, small group and one-to-one approaches involving students and staff. Activities included collaborative 'mini-projects' such as the preparation of the research methods resource, presentation on findings related to 'What is a good learner/student in higher education'; development of an employability portfolio based on the Challenge, Action, Result model, and a flyer for new students ('Making the most of your first year').
Although it had been expected that the work carried out in the coaching group workshops would relate specifically to the small-scale School projects, as a result of the later than expected start date for some of these projects and a developing understanding of student needs, the mini-projects were conducted with the group of student researchers in order to model and develop understanding of research into learning and teaching.

Evaluation activities
Evaluation activities included documentation of all coaching group workshops. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected for each learning and teaching project as appropriate. For example, using questionnaires, collage representations of learning journeys, groups of students assuming the role of 'module planners'. The usefulness of this data was evaluated by staff members in relation to its impact on their module planning.

Main evaluation findings
Some of the evaluation findings are presented here as key learning points from the project:

Process
-The process of undertaking these projects must include the development of mutual trust and agency, which is essential for sustainability. -An appropriately supportive environment is needed if students and staff are to be engaged in learning and teaching enhancement. -Students and staff working together (at the same level) is very important rather than students or staff leading. -The importance of developing a range of outputs to meet different stakeholder needs in order to build understanding of the topic. -Paying attention to the change process is important when managing a project.
-The importance of flexibility in design of the learning and teaching projects to ensure agency for staff and students and applicability of work to different disciplines and settings. -The importance of mutual trust and seeing each other as co-learners.
-It can be challenging to engage staff in enquiry into learning and teaching particularly for disciplines outside Education. -The value of having mixed discipline work and of having involvement of external staff and students reinvigorates the process and helps to ensure that the approach is applicable in a greater variety of settings. -As part of the change process it is important to engage in a wide range of activities that are linked to the project e.g. book study group, lunch time discussions around aspects of learning and teaching, which both connect people to ideas from the project and also enrich the project itself.

Outcomes
-Student-staff partnership working can have a wide range of benefits for both students and staff. These include: increased employability skills; greater understanding of the value of reflection and research on learning and teaching; and the enhancement of learning and teaching practices. -Student and staff employability skills were enhanced (as evidenced by successful interviews for new roles) -Interest in enquiry learning in disciplines has been developed through this project -Students feel part of the University, they feel valued, what they say is noted and taken seriously.
-Students see themselves as learners, taking responsibility for their own learning.
-This project has demonstrated that small-scale learning and teaching projects can have institutional impact. This has been recognised by the University of Hertfordshire Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience)

Method, findings and outcome from the small-scale research study in the School of Humanities
Sixteen students on a level 5 compulsory grammar module were interviewed by the student researcher. The semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded. Analysis of the interviews identified a range of opinions on the use of online pre-teaching materials -some students found these helpful while others said that they would have found it easier being taught the material directly by the tutor. The students engaged with the materials at very different levels, some spending up to three hours on using the pre-session materials while others spent less than an hour. Some students skim-read the material while others undertook all the activities. Some met with other students to talk through the materials in advance of the session. Perhaps not surprisingly there was a correlation between the amount of time the students engaged with the pre-session activities and completing the homework tasks and the students' achievement in the final assessment.
The learning and teaching approach of this module, which also included group work in sessions and campus based lectures, significantly increased the number of students who achieved high marks. There were a small number of students who did not succeed. The blended learning approach, which involves a significant investment in time and expertise on the part of the lecturer, has proved successful for many students. It is suggested that for those who do not succeed, more time spent sharing approaches to learning, practising in groups, perhaps with student mentors, could enable them to learn with the materials. It is essential that time is spent on 'learning-howto-learn' if students are to be enabled to be as successful as possible.

Implications for future practice
The immediate priority was to draw on the findings from each of the six research projects to continue to develop learning and teaching practice within each School. One of the student researchers who graduated in July 2012 has now been employed as a Student Engagement Coordinator to support academic colleagues within the Schools to develop similar projects in the next academic year. An additional key feature of his role is to work with students, assisting with training them to undertake roles in relation to learning and teaching such as student representative roles. Working with students around understanding learning is important if they are to make a subsequent contribution to learning and teaching (e.g. on Module Boards and other quality enhancement and development processes). The Student Engagement Coordinator is also responsible for coordinating and supporting students as they undertake mentoring roles in relation to learning and teaching; and coordinating and connecting students undertaking student-staff enquiries into learning and teaching.
The main implication of this approach to working together is that staff-student partnership in learning and teaching has a significant impact on a number of different areas of learning for both students and staff. These include learning and teaching development and enhancement, learning to learn, raising the profile of research into learning and teaching, and employability skills and attributes. The student researchers came to a much deeper understanding of learning and teaching than they had had prior to the project, and became much more aware of their responsibility for their own learning and committed to enhancing the learning of others. Members of staff involved in the project noted that working with students had been 'extremely inspirational'-seeing students work with other students and seeing that they could achieve what could not be achieved by members of staff.
Drawing on the examples of discipline-based enquiry reported by Healey and Jenkins (2009), this project could be extended to relate to the curriculum of each discipline. Additional projects could be used to develop undergraduate students' employability skills and attributes through enquiry learning in their discipline-based modules, and to embed enquiry-based employability skills development into School programmes of study. Small scale student-staff partnerships could be used to enquire into institutional learning and teaching quality enhancement processes. These projects could take place within several Schools across the University and be evaluated by student researchers, drawn from each module cohort, who would work in partnership with members of staff. These roles would provide significant learning opportunities for employability skills development and for learning and teaching practice enhancement.


Use of test based on specific learning objectives during didactic lecture as an effective large group teaching learning method in undergraduate medical teaching

Use of test based on specific learning objectives during didactic lecture as an effective large group teaching learning method in undergraduate medical teaching Jorwekar GJ*, Dandekar KN, Baviskar PK, Apturkar DK, Jogdand SS 1Professor, Department of Surgery, Rural Medical College, PIMS[DU], Loni BK, Rahata, Ahmednagar, MS, India, 413736. 2Head and Professor, Department of Surgery, Rural Medical College, PIMS[DU], Loni BK, Rahata, Ahmednagar, MS, India, 413736. 3Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Rural Medical College, PIMS[DU], Loni BK, Rahata, Ahmednagar, MS,

Introduction
The lecture is the most commonly used large group teaching learning method for transferring information in medical education. Lecturing is frequently a one-way process resulting into disinterest amongst the students. Various methods have been described like questioning, media, small group activities, to improve effectiveness of the lecture so as to cause increased attention and acquisition of information by the students. In the present study, written test based on specific learning objective was used during undergraduate medical lecture making it interactive and effective in increased attention and acquisition of information.

Aims and objectives
To increase the effectiveness of lectures as a large group teaching learning method with the written test

Materials and methods
Present study was an observational study carried over a period of four months in the Department of Surgery, Rural Medical College, Loni. Didactic lectures of general surgery discipline taken for third year undergraduate students of first and second term were subjected to a written test during the lecture. Test contained questions in the form of objective or short answer questions based on specific learning objectives set for the lecture. Test was given 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after the lecture. Students were supposed to answer single response objective questions or write written answer for short answer questions. Prior sensitization of third year undergraduate students studying was done about the methodology. This modification was done for lecture series on oesophagus under upper gastrointestinal lecture series. Valuable opinions were taken from head of department and co-faculties preparing test. Tests were carried out during 8 lectures. After implementation, written answer papers were collected during each lecture in the form of before and after test. Assessment plan was made to take student's perception. Instrument used was feedback with both the qualitative and quantitative format. Feedback included constructed response with open ended question and selected response with Lickert's scale and Global Rating Scale for overall grading of the method. Feedback form was validated from expert senior faculty members of the department. Pretesting was done by taking feedback from 5 participants 10 days prior to the date of final administration. Finally, feedback forms were administered amongst the participant students and feedbacks were collected. Data were submitted to the data handling committee. Help of statistician was taken for data analysis.

Observations
Participant batch [Third year MBBS first and second term] of the present study were subjected to written test using specific learning objective for the topics on oesophagus. At the end of project, written feedback was taken from participants. 61 students participated and gave the feedback. Out of 61 participants, 37 were female whereas 24 were male students. Second part of questionnaire was selected response. Eighty seven percent participants reported that they enjoyed the method of introduction of written test based on specific learning objective. Eighty three percent participants reported that they were benefitted by topics taught by this method. Eighty two percent of participant opined that the new method increased their interest in the topic taught during the lecture. More than eighty percent participants felt method of introducing written test based on specific learning objectives caused increased their participation in the lecture. Eighty one percent participants opined that the method increased their involvement in the lecture. Level of attention during the lecture was reported by eighty six percent of participants. Huge agreement i.e. 91% was reported by participants for acquiring more information during the lecture taken by new method. Seventy four percent of participants reported that they could write answers to the most of the questions at the end of lecture. Eighty three percent of participants opined that department of surgery should continue using the method for future lectures [ Table No. 1]. Statistical analysis was done to find out any difference in the opinions between male and female participants and t-value was calculated for each response item [ Table No. 2 and 3]. No significant statistical difference was found between the responses of male and female participants. Response of the participants on Global Rating Scale showed maximum score from 7-9 indicated higher grading of the method [ Fig. 1].
IJBAR (2013) 04 (04) www.ssjournals.com Open ended feedback about the disadvantage of the new method was reported as no disadvantage by most of the participants but few participants suggested change of question set for the test taken after the lecture, allotment of marks for such tests, increase duration of lecture, use of more methods to boost recall ability, helping them develop habit of self directed learning, with few of the participants opined that use of question discussion rather than written test.  Maximum response was given by participants to an open ended question of suggestions to increase effectiveness of lecture. Comments received included use of chalk and blackboard, use of hand made diagrams, flowcharts, videos of cases and operative procedures, five minute break during the lecture, reference of the book for further reading and test with 25 MCQs at the end of module.

Discussion
The lecture is the most commonly used method for transferring information in medical education. Lecture is one of the established methods of large group teaching learning. Lectures in medical education often have a poor reputation. Lecture is frequently a one-way process unaccompanied by discussion, questioning or immediate practice, which makes it a poor teaching method 1 . Lectures are generally described from the instructor's point of view, and the student's need for interaction with the instructor is not addressed. In fact, lack of interaction is considered one of the major limitations of the traditional lecture. Furthermore, when students have copies of the lecture notes or a text, a significant percentage would prefer reading them rather than attending classes that offer little or no interaction 2 . Although, the lecture method is used extensively in medical education, academic physicians often are not trained in giving effective lectures 3 . The lecture was established formally centuries ago as a teaching process that began with a literal reading of important passages from the text by the master, followed by the master's interpretation of the text. Students were expected to sit, listen and take notes 4 . Lectures are appropriate for motivating students, presenting overviews of broad areas of a subject and material not easily available otherwise 5 . The lecture is simply an oral pre-sensation of instructional material 6 .
Clinical teaching and learning must be an intellectually challenging experience whereby students, through extensive interactive teaching, are able to gain thorough conceptual understanding. Interactive learning is enhanced through the effective use of key teaching skills including questioning, demonstrating, providing positive reinforcement and reviewing 7 . In the effective, active lecture the instructor involves students through a highly interactive and participatory approach using a variety of teaching techniques. Because of the questioning, interaction and involvement, students are actively engaged and connected to the educator. By contrast, in an ineffective, passive lecture, the instructor stands at a lectern and speaks with minimal student interaction. Not surprisingly, after a few minutes students find it difficult to IJBAR (2013) 04 (04) www.ssjournals.com concentrate, as there is little or no stimulation. One of the most effective techniques an educator can use during a lecture to help ensure interaction is to ask and encourage questions. Questions can be used to introduce lectures, stimulate interaction throughout the lecture and summarize content. Involving students through questioning helps to maintain their attention, which is critical when topics are complex and lectures are longe 8 . There is need to move away from the traditional lecture to interactive computer learning systems that allow students access to information when and where they need it 9 . Use of variety of teaching styles is also recommended with an emphasis on participatory and experiential learning 10 .
Review of literature showed that use of written test during didactic lecture is rarely used in undergraduate medical teaching. With this background, present study was planned using written test during lecture and observing whether that results into increased interaction, attention, acquiring more information and ability to recall the gathered information.
The pre-test and post-test are designed using the learning objectives established for the module or topic Both tests consist of the same test items. The pretest is given to students before beginning of lecture to measure how much they know about the topic. Pretests help measure true learning. By comparing pre and posttests, teachers can see what students actually learned from the lessons that were developed. Pretests can give students a preview of what will be expected of them. This helps students begin to focus on the key topics that will be covered.
In the present study, written test was given to the students using specific learning objectives before and after the lecture. Analysis of answer sheets showed marked improvement in ability of students recall the information and write proper answer.
Maximum number of participants reported satisfaction about the method of introducing test based on specific learning objectives during the surgery lecture. Maximum number of students opined that lecture taken with use of written test has increased their participation and involvement in the lecture which is one of the most important aspects of lecture as a large group teaching learning. Ability of new method resulting into more attention and acquisition of information during the lecture highlights key aspects of its effectiveness. Students also appreciated that they could write answers to the most of questions at the end of lecture taken by this method. Concrete evidence of success of this method was proved by participants wish to use this method for future lectures. This is substantiating evidence to our belief of this method making lecture more effective, interactive, two way communicative and active learning large group teaching method. This is beyond doubt proved as majority of participants reported no disadvantage of the present method.
Most important feedback was received to open ended questions. To the open ended questions of suggestions to improve effectiveness of lecture, participants responded by various thoughts. Majority of them suggested use of black board, hand made diagrams, video, procedures, case demonstrations can be added as one of the methods to make lecture more interesting and effective. This should overall, result into incorporating this habit into day today practice and improved learning amongst students and resulting into improved performance in the course end examinations. Few of the participants opined to allot marks to the tests. This can be the part of Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs), which are generally simple, non-graded, anonymous and in-class activities designed to give useful feedback on the teaching-learning process as it is happening.

Conclusion
Lecture remains one of the established methods of large group teaching and learning. Use of test based on specific learning objective during lecture makes it effective and interactive.


Approach to Effective Practice Strategies in Music David Benders

The practice of practicing music should be a meaningful experience that produces musicians with a lifelong love of music. The use an organized practice system that includes goal setting, specific practice strategies, self and teacher assessment, and the development of intrinsic motivation, lays a foundation for musical success. In the classroom, teachers model efficient practice techniques and establish classroom routines that encourage cooperation, and reward individual progress instead of competition. Evidence provided by research demonstrates the need of teachers to abandon the practice of “time served” and recorded, to training young musicians to systematically practice.

Introduction
The necessary evil known as practice is familiar and accepted by all musicians.Repetition is the standard part of developing and refining music skills (Duke, 2011). Beginners to professionals need to rehearse to learn and improve musical performance.The most common teaching practice in public schools is to require practice records, which are essentially time logs.Grades assigned from these logs range from a minor percentage to significantly impacting student's grades. Grades used as a reward to students does not motivating students to practice (Smeltz, 2012).Research in this area is providing new direction and needed change in defining and teaching students to practice. Townsend (2012) suggests the following acrostic as a starting point in redefining practice.Preparing Relevant Activities Causes Technical Improvement and Correct Execution.(PRACTICE)The focus of this acrostic is to think systematically about the why and how of practice.While musical practice is equivalent to homework, if classroom teachers who simply assigned thirty minutes of math practice without any specific assignment, would experience the same results as music teachers. While recording simple time sheets is a simple way of assigning a grade, ultimately it makes no difference musically and is a complete waste of time and effort.
"A key goal for music teachers is to develop literate musicians who no longer need us.For this to occur, they must become independent learners." (Oare, 2011)The goal of producing self-directed musical practice involves: •Set clear, measurable, timely goals; •Plan and create effective strategies; •Self-monitor and adjust; •Structure optimal learning environments; •Seek out advice and information; and •Display consistent effort and persistence. (Oare, 2011) Teachers who provide this structure and equip students with a toolbox of guided practice sheets and specific practice tools continue to see improvement and create a higher percentage of students who experience lifelong love of music and are intrinsically motivated.

Discussion of Key Terms
Practice is the process of learning through systematic experience or exercise targeting specific goals (Austin & Berg, 2006 as cited in Schatt, 2011). It involves character qualities such as dedication, commitment, and perseverance, which are non-musical traits but essential elements of successful people.Practice is also an important predictor of music achievement(e.g., Ericsson, Krampe, &TeschRomer, 1993; Miksza, 2007: Sloboda, Davidson, Howe, & Moore, 1996 as cited in Schatt, 2011). To achieve musical excellence it is generally accepted and understood that a musician will need to spend time practicing.To practice well a musician must be dedicated to practice but time alone is not the key to real success.Research suggested successful musicians' are maximizing their practice time to be more productive compared to watching the clock and practicing long hours(Pitts, Davidson, & McPherson, 2000, as cited in Christensen, 2010).
As it pertains to music, the ability to self-regulate requires knowledge that time spent in practice of playing or singing alone will not provide.Knowledge that produces regulation needs aural image of the music being prepared, strategies to improve, and authentic assessment.When a musician is aware of the goal (aural image), is able to identify what needs to improve, and has tools to fix or build the performance (strategies to improve), and can provide formative assessment intended to demonstrate progress as well as identify areas needing improvement.Essential to this process is the concept of memory-persistence.Music students should have a similar student lead instructional approach as they do in their core learning classes. The opportunity to identify and correct their mistakes is a good learning tool (Duke, 2012).Time is essential to improvement, but the time invested needs structure, effective strategies for improvement, and assessment that informs. Goals, motivation, leadership, supervision address the intrinsic and extrinsic component musicians utilize to stay focused and continue to progress.Musicians exert effort and energy, spend their time, apply strategies, and utilize feedback.They must possess intrinsic motivation produced through self-efficacy;and extrinsic motivation shaped through assessment from supervision in the form of verbal feedback and written forms such as guided practice records."Practice sheets, check-off sheets, and performance rubrics are especially useful for teaching these skills."(Oare, 2011)By applying a systematic approach to practice, they are able to achieve their personal goals as well as challenges presented by teachers.The capacity to respond to leadership via assessment and to provide their own leadership through goal setting is essential for pushing through difficulty and continuing to pursue musical excellence."…it appears that teachers can improve student motivation by providing students goals for improvement rather than simply recording practice time." (Oare, 2012)

Review of Literature
Green and Hale (2011) emphasize the use of challenging, meaningful tasks, evaluation and recognition practices emphasizing effort and enjoyment, and encouraging students by involving decision input and choice.Oare (2012) arrives at similar conclusions when he states, "it may be more effective to place a focus on personal improvement by assessing student progress toward periodic goals or by asking student to self-assess their progress toward their own daily or weekly goals (Oare, 2012)." In the same study,Oare encourages teachers to set proximal and moderately challenging goals and utilize appropriate strategies in order to achieve these goals.Miksza (2012) conceptualize students' self-sufficiency in terms of the social-cognitive theory of self-regulation. Three dimensions of self-regulated learning are method, behavior, and time use.By comparison to Green and Hale (2011) and Oare (2012), a method is the combination of challenging, meaningful tasks, focused on personal improvement.Behavior connects to evaluation and self-assessment which guides the use of strategies designed to change behavior.
Christensen (2010) concluded that students efficacy or self-regulation were important factors that effected students personal enjoyment.Students who experienced enjoyment when practicing possessed strategies for improving. Smeltz(2012) states, "…through direct instruction in practice strategies, eliminating practicing grades and time requirements, and leading by example, we can help students achieve a high level of performance and lay the foundation for a lifetime of musical participation and enjoyment."Duke (2012) makes a case for creating memory-persistence by allowing students to work hard enough to actually create lasting change in the learner's memory.Proposing a similar approach to muscle memory for athletes, the learner's memory provided a greater learning curve for the student. Mistakes are an essential part of learning, but what renders the mistakes useful is the corrections by the learner.Working through muddles, then, produces intellectual, physical, and emotional positives are simply not attainable in any other way.Practice that provide scaffolding for the learner without doing it for them, builds confidence and allows the learner/musician to take risks without fear of failure.Schatt (2011) emphasizes the importance of making practice scheme the "play-full" element of music.Applying goal orientation theory organizes the goal, the drive, and the reasons for engaging in various achievement tasks during practiceSchatt (2011).When students are competing for a grade or a chair, the play becomes work, and the satisfaction becomes recognition for earning a grade or chair.Once achieved, rather than continuing to practice for the joy of improving or personal accomplishment, practice is set aside until the next goal is set.
The use of guided practice records, rubrics, targeted practice guides, etc. is a tool that helps young musicians use strategies without fully understanding why the technique or strategy should or does work.Johnson (2009) created several such paper assistants to develop effective practices.Anticipating the potential musical difficulties, he designed these practice records with strategies to meet the needs of the student.Items targeted by such practice records were: •Goals •Strategies •Reflection or Self-evaluation •Problem solving •Instructor feedback Townsends (2012) acrostic, PRACTICE, is similarly designed to help more advanced students think systematically and apply previous knowledge vs. establish new knowledge.Oares (2011) Self-Regulated Practice Model involves a process of supervised motivation/goals with an aural image of the music being rehearsed, along with assessment and strategies for improvement.

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Approach to Effective Practice Strategies in Music David Benders

Conclusion/Summary
Student needs and development levels are paramount in creating an effective and efficient practice approach to learning music. Considering students' needs and developmental levels when creating practice assignment that methodically lead our students toward becoming self-regulated learners.By being intentional about practice education as we are with other aspects of music education, we can teach student to practice effectively.Music educators must give serious and thoughtful consideration to the practice of practice.There is much that students can and should learn when practicing however, students must ultimately experience the "thrill of victory" without feeling "pardoned" for "time served."A systematic approach that sets developmentally appropriate goals, provides specific strategies to address anticipated needs, includes assessment feedback for improvement. Consequently, the learner will provide a solid foundation to a life-long love of musical study.