Mladen Koljatic

A longitudinal assessment of college student engagement in good practices in undergraduate education

The purpose of this study was to determinewhether student engagement in three goodeducational practices (cooperation with peers,active learning, faculty-student interaction)increased between 1983 and 1997 in response tothe calls to improve the quality ofundergraduate education in the United States.The data source was 73,050 students whocompleted the College Student ExperiencesQuestionnaire. The results from multipleregression and effect size analyses showed thatthe frequency of involvement in these goodpractices did not change over time. Variationin the scores of the three indicators acrossyears and types of institution(doctoral-granting universities, comprehensiveuniversities, liberal arts colleges) wasminimal indicating a stable pattern with onlyrandom fluctuations during this 15 yearperiod.

The international publication productivity of Latin American countries in the economics and business administration fields

The present study compares the international publication productivityof Latin American countries in the fields of business administration and economicsfrom 1995 to 1999. Only four countries – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, andMexico – have a substantial research production in these areas. Amongthese countries, Chile showed the most favorable results according to variousindicators of publication productivity.

Comparison of Students' and Faculty's Perceptions of Occurrence of Dishonest Academic Behaviors

Examination of estimates of prevalence of 28 dishonest academic behaviors provided by 217 students and 38 faculty members from the same Latin American institution shows facultys perceptions differed from those held by students. Students perceived dishonest behaviors to be more widespread while facultys estimates were on average more conservative and closer to actual self-reported rates. These results are not consistent with findings from a study conducted in the United States. The reasons for this discrepancy may reflect institutional or cultural factors, which should be explored in future research.

Opening a side-gate: engaging the excluded in Chilean higher education through test-blind admission

The article describes a test-blind admission initiative in a Chilean research university aimed at expanding the inclusion of talented, albeit educationally and socially disadvantaged, students. The outcomes of the test-blind admission cohort were compared with those of students admitted via the regular admission procedure to the same academic program. The outcomes of interest were first-term college grade point average, dropout rates, graduation rates and the quality of the first-year university experience. Given the extremely adverse entry conditions of the test-blind cohort, the results of their academic performance are encouraging. In terms of graduation rates within a time lag of one calendar year, no significant difference was observed between the regular admission and the test-blind admission.

Equity issues associated with the change of college admission tests in Chile

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to document the process of change of the admission tests in a developing country, Chile focusing on equity issues, particularly on the outcomes for test takers from marginalized groups.Design/methodology/approach – The paper deals with equity issues associated to the change in admission tests to higher education in Chile. It addresses the omission of a validity framework, the ensuing implementation problems, and the unfulfilled expectations that the new tests would increase access to higher education for marginalized groups. The paper is built as a case study, using media accounts and archival data to document the process of change.Findings – Three years after the debut of the new tests, the expected outcomes of increased access to higher education were not met. The performance gap in the admission tests between the underprivileged group of applicants from public municipal high‐schools and the applicants from private schools widened.Research limitations/implications ...

Differences in the impact assessment of social initiatives carried out by private firms and civil society organizations: evidence from Ibero‐America

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to compare assessment practices for highly visible social initiatives implemented by civil society organizations (CSOs) and businesses in Latin America and Spain. Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents a secondary analysis of field-based case studies that focused on four dimensions of assessments carried out by companies and CSOs to determine the impact of their social initiatives. The four aspects studied were: definition of the initiatives mission and goals; creation of value for stakeholders; quality of managerial practices deployed in the social initiative; and degree of alignment of mission and strategy. Ad hoc scales were developed and two raters evaluated the cases based on these dimensions. Findings - CSOs made a greater effort than businesses to assess their initiatives, as reflected in the four performance assessment scores. Research limitations/implications - The main limitations were the limited scope of information available for the analysis – a drawback when using secondary data – and the particular characteristics of the initiatives in this convenience sample. Practical implications - Businesses implementing initiatives with expected social impacts as part of their CSR efforts should not rule out the possibility of outsourcing management and assessment of those initiatives to CSOs. Originality/value - The paper sheds light on the relative strengths of CSOs compared with companies with regard to managing and assessing social initiatives. The finding is somewhat unexpected, given the culture of management effectiveness that permeates the business sector. The authors conclude that further study is required to identify the reasons for higher CSO performance and suggest some venues for such studies.

The Research Design Concept in Marketing Research: A New Altemative Framework

The concept of research design is inconsistently defined by marketing research scholars. A selective review of marketing research textbooks illustrates the nature of the problem. This paper presents the Research Design Matrix (RDM) as an alternative framework for categorizing the different types of research projects.

Perceptions of Ethical Problems among Advertising Executives in Chile: a Replication of a U.S. Study

Advertising executives have to deal with potential ethical dilemmas. In the U.S. two studies have addressed this issue. The first, done by Rotzoll and Christians ( 1980) and the second done by Hunt and Chonko (1987). Both studies found that executives faced several ethical problems in their daily work.