Net Promoter System (NPS) is well known as an evaluation measure of the growth engine of big companies in the business area. The ultimate goal of my research is to build an action rules and meta-actions based recommender system for improving NPS scores of 34 companies (clients) dealing with similar businesses in the US and Canada. With the given…

In this paper, I argue for more and better learning metrics in higher education, eventually through an international, comparative assessment of students' learning outcomes. Better learning measures may help to improve transparency in the system by addressing the information asymmetry problem. If not addressed adequately, the lack of transparency…

Higher Education is in a time of immense change. Colleges and Universities are under greater pressure to demonstrate their value while experiencing increasing levels of economic constraints, changing accountability structures, and pressure to demonstrate excellence in teaching and learning/student outcomes. Technology, elearning and massification…

This study explored motivation and engagement among North American (the United States and Canada; n = 1,540), U.K. (n = 1,558), Australian (n = 2,283), and Chinese (n = 3,753) secondary school students. Motivation and engagement were assessed via students' responses to the Motivation and Engagement Scale-High School (MES-HS). Confirmatory factor…

This article discusses a project undertaken to assess the journals in a Big Deal package by applying a weighted value algorithm measuring quality, utility, and value of individual titles. Carried out by a national library consortium in Canada, the project confirmed the value of the Big Deal package while providing a quantitative approach for…

We present a data-based perspective concerning recent (e.g., 2008) "Maclean's" magazine rankings of Canadian universities, including cluster analysis of the 2008 data. Canadian universities empirically resemble and relate to each other in a manner different from their formal classification and final rank ordering in the…

As bibliometric indicators are objective, reliable, and cost-effective measures of peer-reviewed research outputs, they are expected to play an increasingly important role in research assessment/management. Recently, a bibliometric approach was developed and integrated within the evaluation framework of research funded by the National Cancer…

Social impact assessment (SIA) is increasingly an accepted component of environmental impact assessment and project evaluation throughout North America. Tools and methodologies utilized to conduct such assessments vary greatly and continue to evolve with time and experience. This paper follows the evolution of case study methods in social impact…

Universidade Aberta (UAb), being a distance teaching university, is particularly suited to tackle some of the recommendations concerning the assurance of accessibility to education expressed in the "Education and Training 2010" goals. Meanwhile, the University's strategic plan for 2006/2010 decided to implement a fully virtual innovative…

How much do returns to education differ across different natural experiment methods? To test this, we estimate the rate of return to schooling in Australia using two different instruments for schooling: month of birth and changes in compulsory schooling laws. With annual pre-tax income as our measure of income, we find that the naive ordinary…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to argue that taking the educational purposes of schools into account is central to understanding the place and importance of facilities to learning outcomes. The paper begins by observing that the research literature connecting facility conditions to student outcomes is mixed. A closer examination of this…

This study compared the usefulness of single- and multiple-indicator strategies in a model examining the role of child sexual abuse (CSA) to predict later marital satisfaction through attachment and psychological distress. The sample included 1,092 women and men from a nonclinical population in cohabiting or marital relationships. The single-item…

Alberta has developed an innovative new way of measuring performance to ensure we continue to provide the best possible education opportunities for all of our students. This accountability framework, called the Accountability Pillar, recognizes and respects the outstanding work seen in our school authorities every day. It ensures school…

Background: Coaches and physical educators must obtain valid data relating to the contribution of each of their players in order to assess their level of performance in team sport competition. This information must also be collected and used in real game situations to be more valid. Developed initially for a physical education class context, the…

Background: This study describes the development of the Brief Child and Family Phone Interview (BCFPI)--a computer-assisted telephone interview which adapts the revised Ontario Child Health Study's (OCHS-R) parent, teacher, and youth self-report scales for administration as intake screening and treatment outcome measures in children's mental…