Perceptions of the software skills of graduates by employers in the financial services industry

Software, particularly spreadsheet software, is ubiquitous in the financial services workplace. Yet little is known about the extent to which universities should, and do, prepare graduates for this aspect of the modern workplace. We have investigated this issue through a survey of financial services employers of graduates, the results of which are reported in this paper, as well as surveys of university graduates and academics, reported previously. Financial services employers rate software skills as important, would like their employees to be more highly skilled in the use of such software, and tend to prefer ‘on-the-job’ training rather than university training for statistical, database and specialized actuarial/financial software. There is a perception among graduates that employers do not provide adequate formal workplace training in the use of technical software.     

Academics’ perceptions of the use and relevance of software in quantitative and financial disciplines

Software may be used in university teaching both to enhance student learning of discipline-content knowledge and skills, and to equip students with capabilities that will be useful in their future careers. Although research has indicated that software may be used as an effective way of engaging students and enhancing learning in certain scenarios, relatively little is known about academic practices with regard to the use of software more generally or about the extent to which this software is subsequently used by graduates in the workplace. This article reports on the results of a survey of academics in quantitative and financial disciplines, which is part of a broader study also encompassing recent graduates and employers. Results indicate that a variety of software packages are in widespread use in university programmes in quantitative and financial disciplines. Most surveyed academics believe that the use of software enhances learning and enables students to solve otherwise intractable problems. A majority also rate spreadsheet skills in particular as very important for the employability of graduates. A better understanding of the use of software in university teaching points the way to how curricula can be revised to enhance learning and prepare graduates for professional work.     

Graduate attributes: teaching as learning

Recent graduates of degrees in the mathematical sciences were interviewed in depth about their work and the skills required to perform those tasks. One common undertaking could be described as teaching: demonstrating to colleagues, training their assistants or explaining mathematics to their managers. The paper describes how this understanding of teaching in the workplace can inform curriculum design at university level to better prepare graduates for work. Examples of assessment activities that lecturers can adapt for use in their classes in the mathematical sciences are presented.     

Applying an alternative mathematics pedagogy for students with weak mathematics: meta-analysis of alternative pedagogies

Student mathematics performance and the need for work-ready graduates to be mathematics-competent is a core issue for many universities. While both student and teacher are responsible for learning outcomes, there is a need to explicitly acknowledge the weak mathematics foundation of many university students. A systematic literature review was undertaken of identified innovations and/or interventions that may lead to improvement in student outcomes for university mathematics-based units of study. The review revealed the importance of understanding the foundations of student performance in higher education mathematics learning, especially in first year. Pre-university mathematics skills were identified as significant in student retention and mathematics success at university, and a specific focus on student pre-university mathematics skill level was found to be more effective in providing help, rather than simply focusing on a particular at-risk group. Diagnostics tools were found to be important in identifying (1) student background and (2) appropriate intervention. The studies highlighted the importance of appropriate and validated interventions in mathematics teaching and learning, and the need to improve the learning model for mathematics-based subjects, communication and technology innovations.     

Integrating technology into mathematics teaching at the university level

The emergence of new computing technologies in the second half of the twentieth century brought about new potentials and promised the rapid transformation of the teaching and learning of mathematics. However, despite the vast investments in technology resources for schools and universities, the realities of schooling and the complexities of technology-equipped environments resulted in a much slower integration process than was predicted in the 1980s. Hence researchers, together with teachers and mathematicians, began examining and reflecting on various aspects of technology-assisted teaching and learning and on the causes of slow technology integration. Studies highlighted that as technology becomes increasingly available in schools, teachers’ beliefs and conceptions about technology use in teaching are key factors for understanding the slowness of technology integration. In this paper, I outline the shift of research focus from learning and technology environment-related issues to teachers’ beliefs and conceptions. In addition, I highlight that over the past two decades a considerable imbalance has developed in favour of school-level research against university-level research. However, several changes in universities, such as students declining mathematical preparedness and demands from other sciences and employers, necessitate closer attention to university-level research. Thus, I outline some results of my study that aimed to reflect on the paucity of research and examined the current extend of technology use, particularly Computer Algebra Systems (CAS) at universities, mathematicians’ views about the role of CAS in tertiary mathematics teaching, and the factors influencing technology integration. I argue that due to mathematicians’ extensive use of CAS in their research and teaching, documenting their teaching practices and carrying out research at this level would not only be beneficial at the university level but also contribute to our understanding of technology integration at all levels.     

动态投入产出模型及其在高等教育成本分析中的应用

高等院校教育成本核算一直是人们关心的重要问题.把高等院校大学生培养过程,看作人才的生产与加工过程,投入高中毕业生(原材料)以及教学、办公楼等固定资本与教职员工等劳动工时,生产或毕业高校大学毕业生,从而建立高等教育的动态投入产出模型,并由此推导高等院校大学生教育成本的计算公式,指出在计算教育成本时,固定资本租金率与高校规模扩张速度之间的关系,指出进一步深入研究的方向.     

高校排名的因子分析法研究

采用因子分析法对高校排名进行了研究.文中选取了刻画高校信息的22个指标,利用SAS8软件进行因子分析,选取了三个主因子,计算出各高校在这三个因子上的得分,并以各自的方差作为权重构造综合评价模型,对全国具有研究生招生资格的大学进行了排名,并给出了前15名高校的排名信息。     

大学生就业扶持政策的有效性分析及改进:基于DEA方法的实证分析

鉴于数据包络分析(DEA)方法在评价多输入、多输出系统相对有效性方面所具有的优越性,基于DEA方法构建了C2R模型及相应投影分析模型和评价指标体系,对1999-2008年中国所实行的大学生就业扶持政策的有效性进行了评价分析,实证分析结果表明1999-2002年的大学生就业扶持政策在促进和解决大学生就业方面的效果显著,而2003年以后的大学生就业扶持政策在解决大学生就业问题上存在明显的效率损失,且政策效果逐年下降.为了提高大学生就业扶持政策的实施效果,就业扶持政策在未来的改进重点应着力从财政补贴、高等教育经费投入和贷款补助等政策内容入手,并提高政策的执行力度.     

Incest in Academe: The Case for Selective Inbreeding

Abstract

Charles Eliot observed that it seemed “natural, but not wise” for a university to hire its own graduates. Can today's institutions afford to turn away their own graduates? Is there a place for selective inbreeding within the university system?     

Supporting Statistics in the Workplace: Experiences with two Hospitals

This paper provides some rejections on the promotion of lifelong learning in statistics in the workplace. The initiative from which the rejections are drawn is a collaboration between a university and two public hospitals, of which one of the stated aims is to develop statistical skills among the hospitals' researchers. This is realized in the provision of 'biostatistical clinics' in which workplace teaching and learning of statistics takes place in one-on-one or small group situations. The central issue that is identified is the need to accommodate diversity: in backgrounds, motivations and learning needs of workplace learners (in this case medical researchers), in the workplace environments themselves and in the projects encountered. Operational issues for the statistician in providing such training are addressed. These considerations may reject the experiences of the wider community of statisticians involved in service provision within a larger organization.     

The student experience of mathematical proof at university level

While proofs are central to university level mathematics courses, research indicates that some students may complete their degrees with an incomplete picture of what constitutes a proof and how proofs are developed. The paper sets out to review what is known of the student experience of mathematical proof at university level. In particular, some evidence is presented of the conceptions of mathematical proof that recent mathematics graduates bring to their postgraduate course to teach high school mathematics. Such evidence suggests that while the least well-qualified graduates may have the poorest grasp of mathematical proof, the most highly qualified may not necessarily have the richest form of subject matter knowledge needed for the most effective teaching. Some indication of the likely causes of this incomplete student perspective on proof are presented.     

Sensitivity Analysis of Promotion Opportunities in Graded Organizations

This paper extends earlier work on manpower mobility in hierarchical organizations and is concerned especially with the effects of changes in hiring and separation on opportunities for internal advancement. We make use of a fractional flow model of personnel to highlight the links between personnel flows and vacancy flows, and then derive formulae that can be used to simulate the impact of changes in grade-size targets, hiring policy and attrition rates on promotion opportunities for staff. The model is then illustrated by application to data on faculty staffing in a large university.     

基于灰色系统理论的平行数据模型及其在人才供求中的应用

以某普通高等学校毕业生和就业学生为分析对象.以灰色系统理论为基础,通过DGM(1,1)模型获取了2006—2007年该高校毕业人数和就业人数的预测值.并结合2001年到2005年统计数据,利用平行数据模型建立起了普通高等学校毕业人数与就业人数之间的关系模型,揭示了高校人才供求间的结构关系和政策影响力度.最后提出了几点相关建议.     

Some observations on practising successful operational research

Much has been written about the decline of Operational Research. In the 1960s it had already been proclaimed dead and the decreasing number of OR departments in industrial enterprises seems to support this thesis. The question seems to be: ‘Why is OR apparently disappearing at a time when the major obstacles to OR applications in the past, namely lack of computer-readable data, lack of software and hardware have been overcome?’ I report on 30 years of successful external OR activities and offer some observations which I have made while being active at a university and in OR companies in Germany.     

Computers in abstract algebra

The current emphasis on flexible modes of mathematics delivery involving new information and communication technology (ICT) at the university level is perhaps a reaction to the recent change in the objectives of education. Abstract algebra seems to be one area of mathematics virtually crying out for computer instructional support because of the availability of multi-representational tools and appropriate software that can be used to bridge the existing gap between the concrete and the abstract. This paper focuses on the use of the computer program, Excel, in teaching an introductory group theory course at the university level. Here the author describes the use of the Excel ‘fill-handle’ and ability to colour blocks of cells as cosets quickly in constructing and completing Cayley tables for abstract groups. The relation of the approach to constructivist philosophies and cooperative learning is discussed.     

Subject mix and productivity in Portuguese universities

Recent changes in higher education, especially associated with its massification, have led to calls for more accountability and to an increasing need to evaluate universities’ performance. However, comparing universities with different subject mixes poses some significant problems. In this article, a linear mixed-effect model methodology allowing for random effects at university level is used to measure the productivity of Portuguese public universities, taking into account their subject composition, for a period of five years (1997–2001). The results show that subject mix is an important factor in explaining the variability in productivity between universities. However, even taking account of subject mix, a lot of inefficiency is found in the system, and a significant variability in productivity among universities exists.     

高校科研团队领导内隐追随的维度与量表开发——基于KAQ理论的维度构建方法

内隐追随是西方管理学中的一个新兴研究议题。相对于西方已有的内隐追随维度研究,以及我国学者对内隐追随结构维度的本土化研究,目前以高等学校为研究背景,以高校科研团队领导为研究对象的内隐追随结构维度的研究还较为匮乏。基于KAQ理论,在归纳高校科研团队领导者内隐追随特征的基础上,提出其结构维度的理论框架,并利用SPSS 20.0和Mplus7.4分别对高校科研团队内隐追随结构维度进行探索性和验证性因素分析,最后,对所开发的量表进行预测效度和增量效度的检验。结果表明,高校科研团队领导内隐追随包括原型和反原型两大维度,每个维度还包括知识、能力、素质原型与反原型六个子维度。同时,也验证了该量表具有较好的预测效度和增量效度。最后,阐述结论、研究贡献以及研究的局限性和未来研究的展望,以供高校领导发展计划领域研究学者参考。     

品牌建设与创新产出的关系研究——基于信号理论的视角

高校的品牌建设是高校发展过程中必须面对的问题,本研究基于信号理论的核心构念建构了高校品牌营建的体系,并分析了高校品牌建设与创新产出的关系,研究结果显示高校可以从加强高校领导人的政治关联、营建高校与地方政府的良好关系、选择优质客户进行交易以及积极争取第三方评价机构的正向评价四个维度来构建高校品牌,优质的高校品牌资源将正向影响高校的产出绩效,而且高校品牌营建的四个维度之间存在着一定的逻辑关系,需要协同推进才能实现高的产出绩效.     

商科型高校理工类研究生创新能力的培养

目前,研究生教育处于我国高等教育的最高层次,肩负着为国家发展培养高技术专业型人才的重要任务.尤其是在各国竞争愈发激烈的今天,理工类研究生更是在未来国家现代化建设、科技创新中发挥着重要作用.但是,由于近几年研究生招生规模的逐渐扩大,研究生的培养模式、培养质量等方面出现了许多亟待解决的问题.从商科型高校理工类研究生的培养现状出发,通过运用文献法和归纳法,本文对当前研究生培养过程中存在的问题进行分析,并针对学生创新能力的培养,从学校、导师和学生自身三方面给出了相应的解决措施,着重强调了数学建模在理工类研究生创新能力培养过程中所发挥的重要作用.最后,以湖南工商大学近几年在理工类研究生创新能力培养实践中所采取的主要举措以及取得的成效来进一步论证本文所提出措施的有效性.