Global rankings are a popular way for governments, HEI’s, faculty, staff, and students to compare institutions worldwide, therefore it is important to rank well. However, in order to have top-quality research and education programs, HEI’s need to have significant financial resources. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between an institution’s financial resources and its global ranking. The results of this study provide additional insight and a better understanding of global rankings and the nature of the relationship between various financial resources and global rankings. This was a quantitative study that used ranking data from the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, as well as financial data from IPEDS. Descriptive statistics were presented to develop an awareness of the data set characteristics. Linear regression and the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) were reported to gauge the strength of the relationship between the financial resource independent variables and the global ranking dependent variables. This study indicated there was a strong relationship between an institution’s financial resources and its global ranking as there was a strong positive correlation between total revenue and an institution’s global ranking. In addition, the study showed that institutions should continue to self-generate financial resources, such as tuition revenue and research funding. This is especially true for research funding as it had the strongest relationship with ranking, which means institutions would be wise to continue focusing on investing in their research programs. This study also showed that some financial variables such as endowment size and state appropriation only had weak to moderate relationships with the global rankings. Based on this study, one could conclude then that global rankings are influenced by money, which supports the claims of critics that university rankings are biased. Thus, institutions will continue to be challenged to find some balance between investing in what global rankings measure while also maintaining other initiatives that address their core missions but are not counted in the rankings.

A survey of the Upper White River Valley located 76 new sites additional information on 6 previously recorded sites. After a preliminary literature review, artifacts from the Ball State University Archaeology Laboratory were reanalyzed and local artifact collectors were contacted to obtain additional knowledge survey area. The fieldwork focused on the floodplain and the location of Woodland sites in regards to Ross soil. Surface manifestations of Woodland-affiliated sites indicated that 33% of the sites in the project area were located in the floodplain and all Woodland components were represented on or adjacent to Ross soil. Results from the fieldwork indicate a positive correlation between Woodland sites and Ross soil in the Upper White River Valley of east-central Indiana. / Department of Anthropology

The heart of this dissertation is the SCAPULA Information Retrieval System, used to create, maintain, and retrieve coded archaeological data for the Upper Wabash Drainage at the Archaeology Laboratory of Ball State University.Several existing archaeological data banks were surveyed and classified at first, and different file organizations, computer software and hardware were reviewed next using as a major criterion the needs of archaeologists at Ball State in order to determine the characteristics of the SCAPULA System.The encoding instructions and retrieval keywords are illustrated and listed, while the functions of the SCAPULA are introduced. With its straightforward query instructions and examples, the SCAPULA Information Retrieval System, a relational data bank, is very easy to use.The present study sought to examine the impact of victim-observer similarity, victim physical attractiveness, outcome severity and sex of respondent on responsibility attributions made toward a rape victim. Perceived attitudinal similarity, victim physical attractiveness, and outcome severity were experimentally varied. In addition this study sought to further examine sex differences, which prior research has indicated may influence how a rape victim is perceived.A modified version of Alexander's (1980) scale was used to measure the degree of responsibility attributed to the victim, to the assailant, to society and to chance in each condition. A research design was developed using two levels of each of the four factors.The experiment was conducted during regular class periods. The population consisted of 198 male and female undergraduate students. Prior to the actual experiment, Ss were randomly assigned to review an attitude questionnaire (supposedly completed by the victim), which was either similar or dissimilar to one completed previously by themselves. The attitude survey used in this study was the Important Issues Questionnaire (Novak & Lerner, 1968). The study was conducted such that Ss perceived the victim to be either like or unlike themselves in basic attitudes. Ss were then asked to view a videotape in which a sexual assault victim was interviewed. The victim was actually an actress who read a prepared script. Outcome severity was varied by the use of written vignettes and by the victim's (actress's) narration of either having suffered an attempted rape or a rape with physical injuries. Physical attractiveness was varied by the use of cosmetics and dress. Ss were tested in groups. Each group saw only one of the four videotapes. Ss were debriefed following the experiment.The study was designed to answer the following research questions:1. Would Ss make significantly different responsibility attributions toward a victim they perceived as similar to themselves than toward a victim they perceived as dissimilar to themselves?2. Would Ss make significantly different responsibility attributions toward a victim who suffered a non-severe outcome than toward a victim who suffered a severe outcome?3. Would male Ss make significantly different attributions of responsibility toward a physically attractive victim than toward a physically unattractive victim?4. Would the respondent's sex significantly affect the degree of responsibility attributed to the victim?A 2x2x2x2 multivariate analysis of variance was used to test the four research hypothesis. Significance was considered at an alpha level of .05.FindingsThe results of this study indicated that no significant difference existed for similarity, outcome severity, sex of respondent or physical attractiveness. There was however, a tendency for Ss to attribute more responsibility to the victim who had suffered a severe outcome, and also for the assailant in that condition to be assigned a harsher penalty.ConclusionPrior research in the area of rape victim culpability has offered conflicting results. The present study sought to provide clarity to the findings of previous research. Further research is needed in this area to gain a clearer understanding of factors which influence how victims of sexual assault are perceived.

Zum ersten Mal an der TU Bergakademie Freiberg wurde im Wintersemester 2012/13 eine klassische Präsenzvorlesung in ein umfassendes handlungsorientiertes Blended-Learning-Szenario (Methode: Flipped Classroom; Tools: OPAL-Kurs mit Wiki, Forum etc.) transformiert und evaluiert. Im folgenden Beitrag werden die Ergebnisse des Pilotversuchs vorgestellt und aus Sicht der beteiligten Akteure kritisch diskutiert.

Zum ersten Mal an der TU Bergakademie Freiberg wurde im Wintersemester 2012/13 eine klassische Präsenzvorlesung in ein umfassendes handlungsorientiertes Blended-Learning-Szenario (Methode: Flipped Classroom; Tools: OPAL-Kurs mit Wiki, Forum etc.) transformiert und evaluiert. Im folgenden Beitrag werden die Ergebnisse des Pilotversuchs vorgestellt und aus Sicht der beteiligten Akteure kritisch diskutiert.

Der vorliegende Artikel diskutiert die aktuellen Erscheinungs- und Wirkformen Neuer Medien in der Hochschullehre und setzt sich kritisch, am Beispiel der TU Bergakademie Freiberg, damit auseinander, was E-Learning im akademischen Bereich ist/sein kann und vor allem, wo ein Einsatz nachhaltig und sinnvoll möglich ist.

Der vorliegende Artikel diskutiert die aktuellen Erscheinungs- und Wirkformen Neuer Medien in der Hochschullehre und setzt sich kritisch, am Beispiel der TU Bergakademie Freiberg, damit auseinander, was E-Learning im akademischen Bereich ist/sein kann und vor allem, wo ein Einsatz nachhaltig und sinnvoll möglich ist.