Honours Degree Research Articles

Revoking honorary degrees can raise practical issues, legal challenges

After Bill Cosby was convicted for sexual assault, many of the 60 or more institutions that had conferred honorary degrees on Cosby revoked them. Some had already done so back when the allegations arose. From a public‐and‐community‐relations standpoint, revocation in this type of circumstance is an obvious and necessary act — institutions show that their commitment to eliminating sexual misconduct overrides an honorific provided to someone who never took a class, let alone graduated. And revocation of a degree to someone like Cosby comes with low risk: the likelihood that Cosby will bring a claim, especially after a conviction (not just allegations), is probably close to nothing.

Revoking honorary degrees can raise practical issues, legal challenges

After Bill Cosby was convicted for sexual assault, many of the 60 or more institutions that had conferred honorary degrees on Cosby revoked them. Some had already done so back when the allegations arose. From a public‐and‐community‐relations standpoint, revocation in this type of circumstance is an obvious and necessary act — institutions show that their commitment to eliminating sexual misconduct overrides an honorific provided to someone who never took a class, let alone graduated. And revocation of a degree to someone like Cosby comes with low risk: the likelihood that Cosby will bring a claim, especially after a conviction (not just allegations), is probably close to nothing.

Reach Without Grasping: A Retrospective Appreciation of Anne Carson's Eros the Bittersweet

Reach Without Grasping: A Retrospective Appreciation of Anne Carson’s Eros the Bittersweet LOUIS A. RUPRECHT JR. Everything I know about love and its necessities I learned in that one moment when I found myself thrusting my little burning red backside like a baboon at a man who no longer cherished me. There was no area of my mind not appalled by this action, no part of my body that could have done otherwise. But to talk of mind and body begs the question. Soul is the place, stretched like a surface of millstone grit between body and mind, where such necessity grinds itself out. Soul is what I kept watch on all that night. —Anne Carson, “The Glass Essay” (1995) It is always tricky, the question of whether to read an author’s work in light of his life or not. —Anne Carson, The Albertine Workout, no. 56 (2014) anne carson (b. June 21, 1950, in Toronto, Canada) is one of the most versatile of contemporary writers in the English language who have drawn deeply from the Classical well. She has achieved a unique place in the realm of North American letters, and much deserved recognition in the past twenty years: she was awarded the Lannan Literary Award in 1996; the Pushcart Prize in 1997; a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1998; the MacArthur Foundation arion 27.2 fall 2019 “genius grant” in 2000; the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2001 (the first woman to be so recognized); the T. S. Eliot Prize also in 2001; the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation in 2010; and a second Griffin Poetry Prize in 2014 (the only person ever to receive this award twice). in 2018, she was an Inga Maren Otto Fellow at the Watermill Center in Watermill, New York, on leave from a Creative Writing position at New York University. Trained as a classicist—she received her Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Toronto in 1981, and an Honorary Degree in 2012—but better known as an accomplished poet and translator, Carson burst on the scene in 1986 with the publication of her first and most philosophical work, Eros the Bittersweet: An Essay.1 What this book announced most clearly, in addition to Carson’s complex identity as a poet-and-classicist-and-philosopher-in-one, was her unique ability to work against the expectations and across the loose boundaries which define a genre, and thus to create new genres along the way. In this essay, I would like to offer a retrospective appreciation of Carson’s first book, published (it is scarcely believable to note) more than thirty years ago. There are historical precedents to her achievement in this text, as I hope to show, but her authorial voice is altogether unique, and the reach of her influence has been long. ❖ on rare occasion, a first book may give us a telling glimpse into everything that will follow. Anne Carson’s Eros the Bittersweet is such a first book. What the book does best is to announce itself, and its author, as the bearer of unconventional news, reported in an unconventional manner, all of it expressed in uncommonly luminous prose. It is a book that refuses to be categorized, a book that refuses genre— strangely enough, virtually by creating one. And along the way of creating—that is, of poeticizing—in its singular way, this book generates new desires all its own. There is a history to such literary and generic non-conformity. 138 reach without grasping When Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was invited to take up a professorship at the astonishing age of 24, without even having produced his dissertation yet, the expectations surrounding his first book were elevated, to say the least. Well aware of this, aware too of having been described by his mentor as “the future of Classics in Germany,” Nietzsche published The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music in 1872.2 He was still just 26 years old, and very few classicists knew what to make of it; even his mentor regretted the rashness of the thing. Meaner spirits mockingly called it a work of “future-philology!” suggesting that...

Nobel Laureate Joachim Frank receives an Honorary PhD Degree of the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, in Mendoza, Argentina: A Journey from Freiburg to Argentina

Nobel Laureate Joachim Frank receives an Honorary PhD Degree of the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, in Mendoza, Argentina: A Journey from Freiburg to Argentina

“I'm sorry now we were so very severe”: 1930s Colonizing Care Relations between White Anglican Women Staff and Inuvialuit, Inuinnait, and Iñupiat People in an “Eskimo Residential School”

Feminist Studies 45, no. 2/3. © 2019 by Feminist Studies, Inc. 335 Val Marie Johnson “I’m sorry now we were so very severe”: 1930s Colonizing Care Relations betweenWhite Anglican WomenStaff and Inuvialuit, Inuinnait, and Iñupiat Peopleinan“EskimoResidentialSchool” Colonial actors and Indigenous peoples have a conflicted “shared history” of residential schools in Canada.1 The conflict is reflected in seemingly unbridgeable accounts of what residential schools represent . Critics, including survivors, analyze residential schools (boarding schools in the United States) as brutal institutions with a living history involving the “theft of indigenous peoples’ lives, land and resources,” as laid out by Roland Chrisjohn et al. This history lives through survivors speaking back to these institutions’ ongoing multigenerational impacts and linked forms of colonizing damage.2 Official and staff accounts frame 1. Val Marie Johnson and Isabelle Knockwood, “Our Shared History” (Presentation , Knockwood Honorary Degree Citation for Doctor of Civil Law, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, October 19, 2013). 2. Ronald D. Chrisjohn, Tanya Wasacase, Lisa Nussey, Andrea Smith, Marc Legault, Pierre Loiselle, and Mathieu Bourgeois, “Genocide and Indian Residential Schooling: The Past Is Present,” in Canada and International Humanitarian Law: Peacekeeping and War Crimes in the Modern Era, ed. Richard D. Wiggers and Anne L. Griffiths (Halifax, NS: Dalhousie University Press: 2002), 263. See also Alice French, My Name Is Masak (Winnipeg , MB: Peguis Publishers Ltd., 1992); Abraham Okpik, We Call It Survival (Iqaluit, NU: Nunavut Artic College, 2005); Pauktuutit Inuit Women’s Association, Sivumuapallianiq: Journey Forward: National Inuit Residential Schools Healing Strategy (Ottawa: Pauktuutit Inuit Women’s Association of Canada, 2007); We Were So Far Away: The Inuit Experience of Residential Schools (Ottawa: Legacy of Hope Foundation, 2010); and Arie Molena, 336 Val Marie Johnson the schools as positive or at least well-meaning institutions, with abuse restricted to isolated individuals in a distant past. Some staff and their supporters emphasize the schools’ provision of care.3 Canadian Senator Lynn Beyak recently reiterated this “kindly and well-intentioned” residential school narrative, claiming to speak for “a silent majority.” Despite a 2008 national apology presenting these schools as “a sad chapter in our history,”4 their reverberations in Indigenous communities, including through state control of Indigenous resources, mean that colonization still operates through the state removal of children from their families and communities, now defined as “child welfare.” Beyak thus defended residential school staff and “foster families.” The federal government has pledged “to build a new relationship” with Indigenous peoples, but strongly resisted a 2016 Canadian Human Rights Commission ruling that upheld a decade-old First Nations complaint—that their children’s overrepresentation “in state care” (including with foster families) replicates residential school dynamics.5 “‘National Memory’ and Its Remainders: Labrador Inuit Counterhistories of Residential Schooling” in Power through Testimony: Reframing Residential Schools in the Age of Reconciliation, eds. Brieg Capitaine and Karine Vanthuyne (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2017), 135– 54. On US schools, see Brenda J. Child, Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900–1940 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998). On impacts, see Amy Bombay, Kimberly Matheson, Hymie Anisman, “The Intergenerational Effects of Indian Residential Schools: Implications for the Concept of Historical Trauma,” Transcultural Psychiatry 51, no. 3 (June 2014): 320–38. 3. Bernice Logan, “School Workers Find Their Voice,” interview with Solange De Santis, Anglican Journal (April 2003); Mary Harrington Bryant, 4 Years— And Then Some (Ottawa: Pro Printers, 2007); Thomas A. Lascelles, “Indian Residential Schools,” Canadian Catholic Review 10 (1992): 6–13. Some Indigenous people, including those connected with Shingle Point School, report positive experiences. See also Cheryl Gaver, “Residential Schools in Canada: Why the Message Is Not Getting Across” in Power through Testimony. 4. Lynn Beyak, Senate Debates, Senate of Canada, March 7, 2017; Kristy Kirkup, “Senator Beyak Says ‘Silent Majority’ Supports Her on Residential Schools,” Globe and Mail, April 6, 2017; Stephen Harper, “Statement of Apology to Former Students of Indian Residential Schools,” Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (June 11, 2008). 5. Mia Rabson, “Tribunal Again Tells Feds to Fund Indigenous Child Welfare, Minister Agrees,” CTV News, February 1, 2018, https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics /tribunal-again-tells-feds-to-fund-indigenous-child-welfare-minister-agrees1 .3785170; Cindy Blackstock, “Residential Schools...

Math Matters! The Importance of Mathematical and Verbal Skills for Degree Performance

We find that mathematics skills have a stronger relationship to university performance than verbal skills. While both are predictive of degree completion and class of degree obtained, mathematics skills have a larger effect, and are particularly predictive of achieving a first-class honours degree and of high achievement in STEM courses.

Charles Walter Suckling. 24 July 1920—30 October 2013

Charles Walter Suckling (1920–2013) is most remembered for being the discoverer of the inhalant anaesthetic halothane, which revolutionized anaesthesia and surgical practice. He was born in Teddington, Middlesex, but grew up largely in Wallasey, Merseyside, where his father was a cargo superintendent for imports from Australia produced by one of Charles’s maternal uncle's cooperatives. Charles was educated at Oldershaw Grammar School, Wallasey, and the University of Liverpool, where he obtained a first class honours degree in chemistry (1942). With this qualification he was directed to carry out national service in the chemical industry at ICI in Widnes and was subsequently able to obtain a scholarship to work towards a PhD at the University of Liverpool (1949), which he was awarded for the structural elucidation of the natural product santal, by classical organic chemical methods. The project leading to the discovery of halothane was begun in 1951 at ICI's Widnes Laboratory and was one of the first examples of rational drug design; halothane reached clinical practice in 1956. This and other industrial research innovations were recognized by his election to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1978. Charles’s career at ICI took him into both scientific and commercial management roles, including chairman of Paints Division and general manager of Research and Technology, a company-wide brief at head office, Millbank. After retiring from ICI (1982) he undertook many public service and charitable tasks, including membership of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, for which he was awarded the CBE, and positions on the councils of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and Royal College of Art and Design. Charles retired from professional life fully in 2001. In 1946 he married Eleanor Margaret Watterson; their family comprised twin sons, both of whom became professional scientists, and a daughter, who became a medical doctor. Charles died at Knebworth, Hertfordshire, in 2013.

A curriculum perspective for Bachelor of Science in Public Health 4-years honors degree program at public and private universities in Bangladesh

A comprehensive Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BScPH) curriculum containing multidisciplinary modules was seemed to be appropriate for 4-years undergraduate (honors) for public and private universities of Bangladesh exploring to start the program and to flourish public health education. It was explored and developed one reviewing well-established learning objectives of public health education and curriculum development by different universities around the world. Focusing on multidisciplinary courses, several study topics were derived for this BScPH curriculum such as basic biological subjects, mathematics and other core courses integrating the contribution of arts and sciences disciplines into public health, developing critical thinking and quantitative literacy skills, acquiring personal and social responsibility through incorporation of experiential learning, and providing integrative learning for global health challenges. English is the preferable language medium of instruction. The curriculum contains 156 credit points, which are to be completed by the students for graduation. The curriculum might contribute to establish public health undergraduate (honors) program at public and private universities, which would make more students to come forward to be graduates in the field and serve to build a healthy nation. An evaluation at any point while conducting the BScPH degree program will help to modify or update the curriculum taking into consideration the current situation and information to enhance achieved learning outcome.
 Mediscope Vol. 6, No. 1: Jan 2019, Page 31-39

The Revolution in Health Research.

After PhD studies at the University of Toronto, and postdoctoral work in London, Alan worked at the Ontario Cancer Institute and then the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute (eventually as Director of Research). As inaugural president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; 2000-2007), he led the transformation of health research in Canada and an almost tripling of the budget for health research. He then was named executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise (2008-2012). Since 2012, Alan has been president of CIFAR, Canada's global research institute, where he has led major initiatives to increase CIFAR's programs of research and global impact, and launched new programs to nurture the world's next generation of researchers. Author of 250 scientific and 50 op-ed and lay publications, Alan has received numerous awards and honors, including induction into the Orders of Canada and Ontario, honorary degrees, the Gairdner Wightman Award, induction into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and the Henry Friesen International Prize.

Revoking honorary degrees can raise practical issues, legal challenges

After Bill Cosby was convicted for sexual assault, many of the 60 or more institutions that had conferred honorary degrees on Cosby revoked them. Some had already done so back when the allegations arose. From a public‐and‐community‐relations standpoint, revocation in this type of circumstance is an obvious and necessary act — institutions show that their commitment to eliminating sexual misconduct overrides an honorific provided to someone who never took a class, let alone graduated. And revocation of a degree to someone like Cosby comes with low risk: the likelihood that Cosby will bring a claim, especially after a conviction (not just allegations), is probably close to nothing.

Dr Henry Shimizu: The Journey of a Canadian Plastic Surgeon, Advocate, and Artist.

Dr Henry Shimizu was a dedicated Canadian plastic surgeon with Japanese roots who spent his career practicing in Edmonton at the University of Alberta Hospital. He relished the opportunity to share his expertise by training residents and medical students. Dr Shimizu completed his plastic surgery training in the United States and was central to establishing the plastic surgery training program in Edmonton. Beyond clinical practice, Dr Shimizu was a prominent advocate in his community, serving as the Chairman of the Redress committee for Japanese internment. As a talented painter, he had produced magnificent oil paintings based on childhood recollections as an internee in the Slocan Valley. Dr Shimizu has made significant contributions to Canadian plastic surgery serving as president of the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons in 1978. His clinic work and dedication to the community at large were recognized with the Order of Canada in 2004 and more recently an honorary degree from the University of Victoria. Dr Shimizu continues to golf, paint, and travel in his retirement. He is happily married to his wife Joan and is the proud father of 4 children and 6 grandchildren.

Enhancing Chinese Students’ Learning in an Australian 2+2 Undergraduate Engineering Program

Undergraduate engineering units (subjects) are delivered by Australian academics at two universities in China over a three-week period. Students may choose to transfer to the Australian university to complete the final two years of the Bachelor of Engineering with Honours degree (2+2 program). The aim of this study is to determine what strategies are most effective for the Australian university academics to adopt for effective delivery of engineering units at Chinese universities. A mixed methods approach was applied to in-class feedback and student surveys. Three major themes: Language, Learning and Social were identified. These themes were further explored in a quantitative survey of Chinese students newly-arrived in Australia in 2016. Successful strategies for delivering engineering units included referring questions to discussion groups; students explaining difficult concepts to other students; writing key words on the board and flash cards. The principal concern for students before they transferred to Australia was the teaching and learning style of the Australian university academics. However, English language proficiency was the major concern for students transferred to Australia. The strategy for improving Chinese students’ engagement and learning outcomes should focus on additional support both in China and Australia.

Saxophone Colossus: An Interview with Sonny Rollins

Saxophone ColossusAn Interview with Sonny Rollins John A. McCluskey Jr. (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Sonny Rollins playing at Voll-Damm Barcelona Jazz Festival in Palau de la Musica Catalana on November 20, 2012 in Barcelona, Spain. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock. [End Page 14] Sonny Rollins was one of the most relentless and fearless improvisers, tireless performers, and imaginative composers of his generation. Though no longer performing, he was the leader of his own jazz groups for some sixty years. He commands the deep respect of his peers and sidemen as well as the enduring admiration of audiences around the world. His awards have been many, among them ten honorary degrees from American colleges and universities, a Guggenheim Fellowship for composition (1972), a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement (2004), and a National Medal of Arts (2010) conferred by President Barack Obama. Journey to his music to dance ("St. Thomas," "Valse Hot," "Brownskin Girl"), to applaud ("Autumn Nocturne," any version of "Without a Song"), to smile "Alfie's Theme," "I'm an Old Cowhand"), to brood ("Why was I Born?"). It's all there, as the music has always been there to pull you through challenging times. Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins was born September 7, 1930 in New York City. He makes his home in Woodstock, New York. The phone interview that follows took place in early November, 2018. Drawing upon the film "Sonny Rollins: Beyond the Notes," my initial question was to Mr. Rollins' formal experience as a teacher and mentor. An early technical glitch in the sound quality was addressed, then resolved. JMc: Okay, I'm back now and again want to say thank you for letting me have a little bit of your time this afternoon, and I'm going back to the question of teaching and mentoring. Specifically: have you been in that situation before where you're actually working with young people, teaching them, mentoring them, encouraging them? SR: Well I never taught, per se … as it goes. But I've had some—I did another film about some young students playing. But I'm not very good at teaching. I had a student one time—a guy that was studying with me. He wasn't a youngster, he was a little older. But I realized I got more involved in the teaching than he was in the learning. And it was very disconcerting to me, because I was really trying to get myself together to show him something … but it was disconcerting. So I realized that was not my forté. So I'm not involved in really teaching. If some listener over the years learned something from the myriad records I have made, then that's the way I have taught. But I've never really had too much engagement with students. [End Page 15] JMc: Okay, along that line, I saw something about the Oberlin College fellowships that you established. I think they were called The Sonny Fellows program.1 What went into that? How did that idea evolve? SR: Well, the way it evolved was that I wanted to leave my archives to a school. And there were many schools here that I had gotten degrees from: Julliard; I had gotten a degree from New England Conservatory, and from the Berklee School of Music. So before I did anything, somebody brought up to me that Oberlin might be a good place because Oberlin had such a long history, a long social history in the United States. JMc: Oh, yes. SR: As you know, going back to the Underground Railroad. John Brown. Everything that had to do with it. It was the first school to have a black matriculate, and the first school to have a woman matriculate. It happened at Oberlin. It's a great school. There is no school that has better credentials. So there's some great music people like Will Marion Cook who was a teacher of Duke Ellington. And so, Oberlin, I realized: that was where I wanted to … not place my archives, but establish a teaching … something that people might be able to learn from. I would have a place to have myself associated...

Outing RTP: Writing to be read

Abstract Research: Theory and Practice (RTP) is a new unit, offered as an alternative to the dissertation in the final year of the Fashion Media & Promotion honours degree at the University for the Creative Arts at Rochester. It is a 30-credit unit, introduced in the latter part of year 2, taught through workshops and tutorials in the autumn term of year 3 and submitted in January. The final submission consists of an article (as if for a specific publication) or an essay with a specified readership, plus a research book that documents all areas of primary and secondary research, the journey and reflections on the whole experience, in the context of final-year studies. This article is a reflective report on the first outing of this unit, giving details of its intention by focusing particularly on readership; development of appropriate, and therefore different, writing voices; and the processes of construction of an article, as well as referring to the strands of research that were undertaken. The emphasis is on the students’ journeys made through research and reflection and some of the unforeseen outcomes that were created.

Australian Honours degrees: The last bastion of quality?

Abstract The first tourism Honours degree in Australia was offered almost three decades ago, and since then Honours has become a well-recognised and important offering, particularly in terms of its role as a research pathway. The research-intensive nature of Honours degrees produces graduates who are able to plan and execute project work, undertake research, and demonstrate scholarship with some independence. These skills are highly sought after by some employers. However, Honours programs tend to be ‘boutique’ offerings and are particularly vulnerable to curriculum rationalisation efforts. The purpose of this research was to explore the value and future of Australian business Honours degrees by examining the perceptions of tourism and business educators. A survey of 100 academics from 21 Australian institutions revealed that Honours is highly valued and considered to be superior as a research training degree in comparison to Masters Coursework Degrees and Masters by Research. However, in an era of increasing austerity the Australian Honours degree has become an oddity and its reputation as the last bastion of quality in undergraduate tourism education is under threat.

GREETINGS VARIETY TO SHOW POLITENESS IN GORONTALO LANGUAGE

Abstract
 This research aims to present the forms of greetings in Gorontalo Language and the examples used in society. The study focused on the use of Gorontalo language and took place in Ayula Tilango Kecamatan Bulango Selatan. The data were obtained through observation and elicitation. The results indicated various greetings based on Based on the findings, in Bahasa Gorontalo, there are, namely: Name in the form of kinship relationship (family connection – Vertically), name in the form of horizontal relationship (intimacy, friendship and body shape), name has a collective identifying character of the clan / fam (surname), name with religious title, name contains a custom title or an honors degree (given for personal achievements, a hero or died important person, important status in local government), and name contains a noble title.
 Keywords: Greetings, naming, titles, Gorontalo Language.

Hatten S. Yoder, Jr. (1921—2003)

Hatten S. Yoder, Jr., internationally known experimental petrologist and geochemist, Emeritus Director of the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and an Honorary Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, died on the 2nd of August, 2003. Hat was born on 20th March, 1921 and was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He obtained his B.S. degree at the University of Chicago in 1940, and his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1948. He was the recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Paris VI (France) and from the Colorado School of Mines and was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, The American Philosophical Society, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He held honorary memberships or was a fellow of ten professional national and international associations, including the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. He was the recipient of numerous …

ALAN J. CRIDDLE DSc 1944–2002

Self-portrait digital image created December 2001. The death of Alan Criddle on May 2nd 2002, aged just 57, was a tremendous loss both to his friends and family and to the international mineralogical community. At that time Alan was Chairman of the Commission on Ore Mineralogy and UK national representative on the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names of the International Mineralogical Association. His loss will be most keenly felt in the field of reflected light microscopy as he had taken up the challenge of quantifying the reflectance of ore minerals and creating databases such as the Quantitative Data File (QDF) for Ore Minerals (2nd and 3rd editions), that could be used for mineral identification. In addition to planning a 4th edition of the QDF available free over the internet, prior to his death he was also working on the idea of producing internet or CD digital images of ore mineral textures in reflected light. Alan’s first interest in rocks and minerals was probably stimulated as a child by collecting fossils and stones from the coastline of his native South Wales. Attending his local university in Cardiff, he was awarded an honours degree in petrology by the University of Wales in 1966. Subsequently, Alan undertook a masters degree on mineral deposits in part of the South Wales coalfield, successfully completed in 1967. After a period as a research assistant, again at Cardiff, when he started work on a PhD on the Llanharry iron mines that was never completed, in 1969 he was appointed Scientific Officer at the British Museum (Natural History) with the responsibility for initiating research in ore mineralogy and microscope-spectrophotometry. Within a few years he was promoted to Senior Scientific Officer and his laboratory was under development. Working with Peter Embrey, and together …

Critical thinking dispositions in undergraduate nursing students: A case study approach

BackgroundThe transition of nurse education to the higher education sector in Ireland in autumn 2002 led to the development of a new curriculum for undergraduate nursing with critical thinking as an expected outcome. ObjectivesTo investigate critical thinking dispositions and the difference between first and third year nursing students. DesignA single embedded case study approach incorporating a cross-sectional design. SettingTwo similar university sites providing a new four year undergraduate honours degree programme in nursing. ParticipantsA cohort of first (n = 237) and a cohort of third year (n = 215) undergraduate nursing students. MethodsCritical thinking provided the main case for this case study. The Delphi conceptualisation of critical thinking underpinned the study and critical thinking dispositions were measured using the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and an independent samples t-test was used to determine differences between the first and third year nursing students. ResultsFirst year nursing students scored strong while third year students scored weak in overall critical thinking disposition. Both first and third year nursing students revealed a strong score for inquisitiveness, open-minded, analyticity and maturity dispositions. They revealed weak scores for self-confidence, systematicity and truth-seeking dispositions. Inquisitiveness was the strongest while truth-seeking was the weakest disposition for both cohorts. Neither cohort reached the higher positive scores indicative of consistent endorsement of higher level thinking. ConclusionsNurse educators need to develop their knowledge of critical thinking dispositions and foster these attributes throughout the pre-registration nursing degree programme. Clinically based scenarios which challenge nursing students and invoke questioning contribute to critical thinking development. Statutory bodies responsible for nurse education and nurse educators must continue to encourage critical thinking.

Vocationalizing Event Management Degrees

This article evaluates an approach to teaching and assessment that deviates from the norm in higher education. It assesses graduating students' experiences with the BA (Hons) Event Management degree at a post-1992 university in the UK. Instead of writing a thesis, students stage a complex but sophisticated live event as partial fulfilment for their honors degree. The methodology was underpinned by an interpretivist philosophy with three graduating cohorts of 2012/13/14 participating in the research. The findings highlighted positive outcomes related to skills development and wider operational issues that affected student learning. The majority of students were satisfied with the overall degree outcomes but anxiety and fear about the assessment objectives, client idiosyncrasies, and demands; and, the fact that event management is hard work was perceived negatively by some students and as flaws with the university and client organizations. The findings precipitated changes to how students are supported on live event projects and to the collaborative relationships between clients and the university.