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A range of studies has identified barriers to evidence-informed practice in schools, many of which recommend school-university links as a means for removing these barriers. In England, public policy also promotes school-university partnerships, which expects these to have benefits for both schools and universities. Secondary analysis of data from five qualitative research projects reveals that school-university links are formed around activities, including postgraduate degrees, research projects and evaluations, Teacher Research projects, research dissemination conferences and seminars, Initial Teacher Education, research-informed Continuous Professional Development (CPD), and bidding for funding. Although, superficially, these activities might seem to enable more and better, evidence-informed practice in schools, school-university links are founded on activities that are declining, those that are short-term, and those that heavily rely on the enthusiasm of a few people. This paper concludes by offering suggestions for improving school-university links, so as to enable research to better inform practice.

This article explores the writing and reading requirements of the literacy practices, events, and texts characteristic of work mediated by the online labor platforms of the gig economy, such as Airtasker and Freelancer, which bring together people needing a job done with those willing to do it. These emerging platform-based discourse communities and their associated literacies are a new domain of social activity. Based on an examination of seven gig economy platforms, the present article examines the core literacy event in the gig economy, the posting and bidding for tasks, together with the texts that enhance and support this process. While some tasks require written texts as the outcome or product, all tasks involve the creation of some form of written text as part of doing the work. These texts are both interactional and interpersonal. As well as being a part of negotiating and then getting a task done, they relate to the complexities of building the identities, knowledge, and relationships required of those working in a virtual workspace rather than a traditional workplace. While most of these texts reflect familiar text types, the core text cycle is argued to be an "emergent" genre. Implications for education are presented.

An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling each good or service to the highest bidder. Participants bid openly against one another; each bid must be higher than the previous bid. In the activity described rather than goods or services, English teachers sell sentences! The activity can be an effective and enjoyable way to finish a lesson, to check students' understanding, and provide a review at the beginning of the next class. The main goals are to review a targeted grammar structure (or vocabulary or, at lower levels, numbers) and to give students a chance to work together and have fun.

The return on research investment resulting from new breakthrough scientific discoveries may be decreasing over time due to the law of diminishing returns, the relative decrease of research funding in terms of purchasing power parity, and various activities gaming the system. By altering the grant-review process, the scientific community may directly address the third problem. There is evidence that peer reviews of research proposals may lack reliability and may produce invalid or inconsistent ratings. In addition, extreme focus on "grantsmanship" threatens to uproot a cornerstone principle that scientific-value should be the key driver in funding decision-making. This opinion provides (1) a justification of the need to consider alternative strategies to boost the impact of public investment in innovative scientific discovery, (2) proposes a framework for flipping the traditional front-loaded peer-review approach to allocation of research funding, into a new back-loaded assessment of scholarly return on investment, and (3) provokes the scientific community to accelerate the debate on alternative funding mechanisms, as the stakes of inaction may be very high.

In a Dutch auction, an item is offered for sale at a set maximum price. The price is then gradually lowered over a fixed interval of time until a bid is made, securing the item for the bidder at the current price. Bidders must trade-off between certainty and price: bid early to secure the item and you pay a premium; bid later at a lower price but risk losing to another bidder. These properties of Dutch auctions provide new opportunities to study competitive decision-making in a group setting. We developed a novel computerised Dutch auction platform and conducted a set of experiments manipulating volatility (fixed vs varied number of items for sale) and price reduction interval rate (step-rate). Triplets of participants (N = 66) competed with hypothetical funds against each other. We report null effects of step-rate and volatility on bidding behaviour. We developed a novel adaptation of prospect theory to account for group bidding behaviour by balancing certainty and subjective expected utility. We show the model is sensitive to variation in auction starting price and can predict the associated changes in group bid prices that were observed in our data.

Purpose: Based on the sample of the European information and communications technology (ICT) companies, this paper aims to identify which strategy of knowledge generation is most beneficial for companies--internal knowledge development or absorption of knowledge external to the company through corporate acquisition or merger. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, a longitudinal analysis of European ICT companies was conducted, contrasting internal knowledge creation, in the form of patent accumulation and research and development (R&D) efforts, with external learning through merger-and-acquisition (M&A) activities to uncover the best strategies for performance maximization. Findings: Results suggest that the two knowledge generation strategies are not complementary and demonstrate only marginal impact on organizational performance. However, intriguing patterns in combining the two became apparent. It was found that patent accumulation improves learning achieved through M&A activities, while also acting as a protection against corporate takeover. At the same time, the internal knowledge generation strategy was found to have a negative impact on financial performance, with external knowledge generation demonstrating somewhat mixed results. Practical implications: This paper provides practical insights into the patterns of internal and external knowledge generation activities. The two strategies were found not to be complementary, implying that companies must carefully choose their preferences. Originality/value: This large-scale study tackles the interplay between internal and external knowledge generation strategies, which are mostly studied separately. It reveals new patterns in corporate acquisition and divestment strategies as sources of new knowledge. It also ties the knowledge paradigm to organizational performance.

Competitive bids and the bid-opening process are the cornerstones of public school purchasing. The bid-opening process does not begin on the day of the bid opening. It begins with good planning by the purchasing agent to ensure that the advertised bid complies with the public school contracts law. In New Jersey, that raises the following questions: (1) Did the purchasing agent properly advertise the bid?; (2) Was the bid advertised for a Monday or the day after a public holiday?; and (3) Were the bid specifications drafted to ensure "free, open, and competitive bidding"? Although state laws may vary, the author uses these points as a foundation for this discussion of best practices for the bid-opening process.

An auction, though an economic tool, is essentially a performance dependent on communication (Smith, 1989). The auctioneer dictates the pace, asks for bids, and acknowledges responses; the enterprise is controlled by a voice (Boyce, 2001). Bidders must listen and respond strategically to the communication of the people around them. An auction provides opportunities for elementary school students to practice several key, age-appropriate communication competencies, including Common Core State Standards in speaking and listening. Clinton (1992) argued that communication competence in elementary school means that "children must not only analyze the listener and the referential task, but also analyze the message itself" (p. 57). The rapid pace of an auction requires students to pay attention to the interplay of these things in order to know what is being sold, how much the bid is, and how they can join the communication exchange among auctioneer and competing bidders. The auction also provides students with opportunities to follow "rules for taking turns … and participating in ritualized openings and closings" (Mehan, 1979, p. 169). An auction is about openings and closings and turn taking, perhaps in a more concentrated way than almost any other kind of communication event. Students also have to develop communication strategies for bidding that enable them to achieve their goals for the auction without getting stuck with items they do not want. In response to the call for communication scholars "to be inventive in developing ways to promote the importance of communication skills" in a K-12 context (Hall, Morreale, & Gaudino, 1999, pp. 147-148), this article explains how a communication-focused economics activity can bolster students' understanding of both communication and economics, with a focus on students keeping up with listening and then responding with appropriate turn taking in order to participate strategically in the auction so they can take home items that reward their class performance. The classroom auction serves as a capstone experience for a semester or year-long mini-economy. As part of this mini-economy, students apply for classroom jobs (completing resumes, references, and interviews), execute those jobs throughout the year, and receive weekly pay in the form of fake money. Another key part of preparation is finding items to put on the auction block. The students complete this task by sending out letters asking for donations from local businesses, parents' employers, local restaurants, and just about any other organization a student is willing to solicit. The next preparation for the auction is to help students understand the necessity of listening, turn taking, and communicating strategically in response to other students' bids. Students gain skills in listening, turn taking, and using communication (listening and bidding) strategically to achieve their desired outcomes. Winning bidders take home tangible evidence that they have succeeded at communicating about economics.

This case set in Jacksonville, Florida, covers the years 1998 to 2001. A new nontraditional superintendent, Major General John C. Fryer, focuses on student achievement, but financial needs and Florida law require him to bid contracts for student transportation, upsetting a 50-year pattern of contracting without competitive bidding with more than 100 local contractors, many of whom have only one bus! Though Fryer moves cautiously and slowly, the local bus contractors strongly object. The board, after much delay, is at last forced to make a decision and approves a small number of contracts that include national transportation firms. But then, within just a few days, it rescinds its decision and cancels the contracts. Board President Susan Wilkinson is forced to decide whether to abide by the board's vote to rescind or follow the direction of legal counsel and sign the contracts. (Contains 16 notes.)

Over the years, the author has had the opportunity to make several presentations to school boards. The author offers some tips and tricks she has learned, having given board presentations about the specific topics she listed in this article, and receiving feedback after each presentation. She points out that the most important thing to keep in mind is honesty.

Electronic reverse auctions are increasingly being used by firms to improve firm financial and operational performance. The described teaching innovation serves as a model for introducing electronic reverse auctions as a central element in a comprehensive negotiation exercise involving sales management and purchasing management students. Results of this exercise indicate a high level of student engagement and interest in additional exposure to sales/sourcing technologies. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

Quartets of Chinese (n = 125) and Canadian (n = 133) 7-year-old children were observed as they played with a single attractive toy. Chinese children exhibited more assertive and general rule bids, engaged in more spontaneous giving, and reacted more positively to assertions of others whereas Canadian children more frequently referred to norms of sharing. Evidence of cultural scripts for dealing with potential conflict, that is, sharing for Canadian children and hierarchical organization for Chinese children, emerged. Passive and reticent behaviors in Chinese children and assertion and object control by Canadian children were associated with group acceptance, results suggesting the meaning of these patterns of social behavior may differ in these two countries.

The first sale doctrine says that after a copyright holder first sells a copy of his or her work, the new owner may do whatever he or she pleases with that copy (assuming that use is legal). This concept came up through common law and was eventually codified in the Copyright Act of 1976. In 2010, two cases were working their way through the U.S. court system. What these particular cases had in common was this: They involved the right of first sale--the legal structure that allows libraries to lend copyrighted works such as books. One of these cases was "Vernor v. Autodesk, Inc." (09-35969). (The ALA felt the "Vernor" case was important enough that it filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiff, Timothy Vernor.) At the same time "Vernor" was being argued, video vending giant Redbox was in the midst of a legal scuffle with major movie studios over first sale rights. Taken together, these seemingly unrelated legal battles have significant future implications for libraries--and some immediate implications as well. In this article, the author stresses the need to work to get legislation passed that protects libraries' right to lend. Because the future of the institution depends on it.

Students in sports economics courses might better learn the basic concepts by running their own franchise. A simple game, based on the card game War, is easy and inexpensive to implement. Students quickly grasp the importance of weighing marginal benefits, both in terms of team record and marginal revenue, against the costs of improving their team. In addition, students learn that even the best-laid plans can, under some circumstances, result in disappointment. Extensions of the basic game help teach students the dynamics of revenue sharing, television contracts, salary caps, and other concepts. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)

In this article, the author explores how some community colleges have survived, if not thrive, amid the pain of a deep recession. Rather than cut educational options, administrators at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona have opted to freeze discretionary spending, sweep unspent budget allocations back into its general budget, improve its debt collections, and institute a more competitive contract bidding process. Pima has also leveled a recent hiring freeze and developed a more flexible human resources plan that involves cross-training and transferring qualified personnel rather than hiring new instructors and administrators, thus enabling the college to trim 10 percent of its administrative positions. Other colleges, on the other hand, are reaching beyond their local communities, as well as find new and creative ways to solicit donations.

This article describes the benefits one gets when big schools roll out highly effective eProcurement systems--strategic improvements and savings. eProcurement systems are hot again in higher education, driven by unrelenting cost containment demands, along with industry shifts that have consolidated choices and brought top products to the forefront. What's more, there are now a good number of eProcurement success stories out there, especially involving the bigger schools, and that makes it easier than ever for others to evaluate the leap to electronic purchasing. eProcurement promises substantial savings in several areas, including: (a) hard dollar cuts on purchases because better negotiations are generally possible with electronic contracts; (b) savings on staff efficiencies across the board; and (c) the ability to better analyze buying patterns after the fact.

This article considers the impact of a major government initiative to reward and promote excellence in teaching and learning in higher education. The proposal to create Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in England's universities and colleges of higher education was first announced in 2003. A two-stage bidding process took place over most of 2004 and the chosen centres were established from April 2005. The article reports the findings from interviews with 24 staff involved in a total of 25 bids from 14 institutions (including one further education college taking part in a collaborative bid). It shows how members of staff from different types of institution came to understand the initiative, how they responded to its requirements, how the bidding process itself shaped the proposals, and the individual and institutional effects of both failure and success in the bidding rounds.

We show that standard winner-pay auctions are inept fund-raising mechanisms because of the positive externality bidders forgo if they top another's high bid. Revenues are suppressed as a result and remain finite even when bidders value a dollar donated the same as a dollar kept. This problem does not occur in lotteries and all-pay auctions, where bidders pay irrespective of whether they win. We introduce a general class of all-pay auctions, rank their revenues, and illustrate how they dominate lotteries and winner-pay formats. The optimal fund-raising mechanism is an all-pay auction augmented with an entry fee and reserve price. (Contains 13 notes.)

Recently, economists have developed methods for structural estimation of auction models. Many researchers object to these methods because they find the strict rationality assumptions to be implausible. Using bid data from first-price auction experiments, we estimate four alternative structural models: (1) risk-neutral Bayes-Nash, (2) risk-averse Bayes-Nash, (3) a model of learning, and (4) a quantal response model of bidding. For each model, we compare the estimated valuations and the valuations assigned to bidders in the experiments. We find that the risk aversion model is able to generate reasonable estimates of bidder valuations.

This paper presents a bidding strategy that may be incorporated into case-intensive courses. The purpose of the bidding process is to equitably distribute credit when students are assigned cases of differing degrees of difficulty. The paper also collects data to help answer a basic research question regarding this device: Is there evidence of bounded rationality among students in executing their bidding strategies? While there does appear to be evidence of some bounded rationality, the bidding mechanism appears to distribute workload and credit rationally. (Contains 1 exhibit and 1 footnote.)

This article presents an effective course supplement for Principles of Marketing classes. An experiential project involving online auctions is offered to instructors seeking to create a more participatory student environment and an interactive teaching style. A number of learning points are illustrated that allow instructors to use an auction project to illustrate specific Principles of Marketing concepts as a living case study. Emphasis in the present context is given to the illustration of the marketing mix, consumer behavior, ethics, e-marketing, and marketing research topics. An example for more advanced purposes is also provided. (Contains 5 tables.)

Explores how, tempered by the collapse of the dot-com boom, education institutions are taking a more guarded approach to moving their purchasing operations online; however, those who have moved to such systems have found less bureaucracy, more efficiency, and better prices. (EV)

Describes school purchasing process, examples of illegal or wasteful purchasing activities, a concise ethical guide to school purchasing excerpted from the Texas Agency's Financial Accountability System Resource Guide, and suggestions from experts on how schools can ensure legal and ethical purchasing practices. (PKP)