Browsing by Person "Rimmer, Russell"

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A review of the positive impact of a Self Administered Motivational Instrument (SAMI) on Deep and Strategic approaches to study and on academic attainment
(Institute of Education, University of London, 2009) Duffy, Tim; Rimmer, Russell
This research concerns the wider context of behaviour change and approaches to study among students in higher education. Drawing on the counselling approach known as motivational interviewing, a Self Administered Motivational Instrument (SAMI) has been designed in which students take decisions about changing their approaches to study. Motivational interviewing has been demonstrated to positively influence a range of behaviours, including alcohol- and drug misuse and weight loss. The SAMI is paper-based and as the name suggests is self-administered. Within the SAMI, students are asked to rate their academic performances if they continue to study as they are and if they change their study approaches. These questions were designed to stimulate ambivalence, if warranted, over current study approach. This is also engendered by asking students to complete the reliable, valid and relatively brief deep and strategic components of a shortened version of the RASI learning-style instrument (Duff, 1997). This shortened RASI is known as the DRASI. The SAMI has been tested in a controlled study with 328 first, second and third year university students in Scotland, UK. In this paper the design of the SAMI and the controlled study are reported. The main conclusions are: - When the SAMI is applied, approaches to study change. In particular, there was an on-average increase in strategic approaches to learning. Further, greater strategic scores among those who completed the SAMI, were associated with a greater likelihood of attaining the top two grades of A or B1. Thus, in line with applications of brief motivational interventions in other areas, there is evidence of effectiveness. - A small to moderate effect size of 0.32 was noted for strategic scores within the intervention group. Teachers, students and policy makers might regard this as a reasonable return for a low cost, easily administered intervention. Further research is required to assess if similar outcomes occur when the SAMI is applied in different academic environments, with or without support from academic staff, over longer periods and using different media, such as electronic delivery.
Assessing the quality of police services using SERVQUAL
(Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, 2006-01) Donnelly, Mike; Kerr, Neil J.; Rimmer, Russell; Shiu, Edward M.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of the SERVQUAL approach to assess the quality of service of Strathclyde Police in Scotland. Measuring service quality in public services is fraught with difficulty - especially in public services where customers are vulnerable citizens whose contact with the service may be limited. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reports on a SERVQUAL survey of elected representatives serving the area covered by Strathclyde Police Force. The survey captures respondents' expectations of an excellent police service and compares these with their perceptions of the service delivered by Strathclyde Police. The paper also reports on a parallel SERVQUAL survey of police officers in Strathclyde to examine how well the force understands its customers' expectations and how well its internal processes support the delivery of top quality policing services. Findings - While there is a significant shortfall in meeting customer expectations, the police force appears to have a good understanding of what these expectations actually are. There also appear to be gaps in the formalisation of service quality standards, in the force's ability to meet established standards, and in its ability to deliver the level of service it promises to customers. Research limitations/implications - A key technical result is that the primary SERVQUAL instrument appears to be internally consistent but lacks discriminatory validity between the five SERVQUAL dimensions in this service arena. Practical implications - The paper will be of interest to strategic and operational police service managers and to academics investigating the reliability and value of service quality assessment tools. Originality/value - The paper reports an original application of the SERVQUAL approach to police services.
Explaining performance in an Executive MBA
(LTSN for Business Management and Accountancy, 2008) Reeves, A.; Rimmer, Russell
The search for characteristics that predict student success is vital as MBA and executive MBA (EMBA) staff seek to attract new entrants. Using data from the University of Paisley's EMBA over 1999-2005, the model developed and tested here synthesises rational choice theory and the student integration model (SIM), in conjunction with critiques of student learning. Information gleaned from student application forms indicated intentions of: integrating academically; integrating socially via networking; career progression; and, obtaining a qualification. Students seeking academic integration performed better (judged by higher graduate GPAs) than students giving other reasons. Students giving networking as a reason for applying had slightly lower graduate GPAs. In the synthesised model, work experience should affect learning in graduate school. An alternative to the usual measure of experience used extensively in the literature was used. Breadth of experience along with sector of employment at the time of entry yielded significant effects for the experience measure in its own right and in its interaction with sector of employment. It is to be hoped the findings in the current paper will stimulate further research into the linkages between graduate GPA, positions held and competencies, roles and tasks exercised in them.
Improving Students' Motivation to Study A Photocopiable Resource for College and University Lecturers
(Reflect Press Ltd, 2008-09-24) Duffy, Tim; Rimmer, Russell
Consisting of an in-depth introduction providing the theory and practice of improving students' motivation, together with a photocopiable resource, this book provides a low cost and easily administered intervention for improving students' motivation. The photocopiable resource can be used by students on their own to improve their approaches to study in colleges and universities. It may also be used by lecturers, tutors and teachers to help their students to understand and improve their own study performance. The resource has already been evaluated in the higher education setting and found to have positive effects on study habits and on academic performance. The photocopiable resource is known as the SAMI (Self Administered Motivational Instrument). The SAMI is one of the first brief instruments that draw on the principles of motivational interviewing to provide a means for college and university students to reflect on changing their approaches to study. Further, it is the first such intervention that is provided as a self-completing, self-help guide. The framework of the SAMI draws on the theory of motivational interviewing and incorporates a problem-solving and decision-making approach. The underpinnings are that: students can be assisted to contemplate the advantages and disadvantages of change; students can be encouraged to set realistic, achievable goals in relation to the behaviour they seek to improve; successful modifications can be accomplished with a well-structured, relatively brief intervention. This resource is a valuable tool for any college or university lecturer dealing with the challenges of student motivation. The resource also provides a useful guide to student motivation and motivational interviewing for trainee teachers and lecturers.
Load and academic attainment in two business schools
(Routledge, 2007-12) Donnelly, Mike; McCormack, Darcy; Rimmer, Russell
In this paper the relationship between academic load (the number of modules attempted) and academic performance is investigated in a Scottish and an Australian university. An engagement approach to academic integration is employed, in which there is feedback between load and performance, and in which there is scope for diminishing returns to the study of additional modules once loads become high. The results indicate that full-time students reduced module load in response to information on academic performance. At the Scottish business school many non-traditional students had taken up opportunities to enter university under the UK government's drive to widen participation. In that school load reduction was undertaken at twice the rate of the Australian business school. For women, reductions from full-time loads by one or two modules appear rational in that better average marks result. There are indications that status as a widening participation entrant, the learning and assessment environment, the funding regime and rest-of-life demands have influences on load reduction and on academic performance.
Opportunity and risk: Do entrepreneurs work these out simultaneously?
(work in progress, 2009) Chu, Lin; Paul, Stuart; Rimmer, Russell
Entrepreneurship as a field of study has gained prominence for a number of reasons but notably, it is often seen as a means of overcoming unemployment and poverty and in recent years it is seen as a way to encourage competitiveness in the age of globalisation (Ripsas 1998; Westhead & Wright 2000). In the UK, entrepreneurship is recognised as an important factor in economic development, in particular, small and medium sized firms are of interest because they are associated with the five drivers of productivity identified by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI 2004), namely investment, innovation, skills, competition and enterprise. It is estimated that, of the 4.3 million private businesses in the UK, over 99 percent of firms are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). They employ 22 million people, which is more than half of the private sector workforce (DTI 2005).
Private schooling and admission to medicine: a case study using matched samples and causal mediation analysis
(2015-08) Houston, Muir; Osborne, Michael; Rimmer, Russell
Background: Are applicants from private schools advantaged in gaining entry to degrees in medicine? This is of international significance and there is continuing research in a range of nations including the USA, the UK, other English-speaking nations and EU countries. Our purpose is to seek causal explanations using a quantitative approach. Methods: We took as a case study admission to medicine in the UK and drew samples of those who attended private schools and those who did not, with sample members matched on background characteristics. Unlike other studies in the area, causal mediation analysis was applied to resolve private-school influence into direct and indirect effects. In so doing, we sought a benchmark, using data for 2004, against which the effectiveness of policies adopted over the past decade can be assessed. Results: Private schooling improved admission likelihood. This did not occur indirectly via the effect of school type on academic performance; but arose directly from attending private schools. A sensitivity analysis suggests this finding is unlikely to be eliminated by the influence of an unobserved variable. Conclusions: Academic excellence is not a certain pathway into medicine at university; yet applying with good grades after attending private school is more certain. The results of our paper differ from those in an earlier observational study and find support in a later study. Consideration of sources of difference from the earlier observational study suggest the causal approach offers substantial benefits and the consequences in the causal study for gender, ethnicity, socio-economic classification and region of residence provide a benchmark for assessing policy in future research. © 2015 Houston et al.
Review of the integrity of a Self Administered Motivational Instrument
(Elsevier, 2013-06) Duffy, Tim; McCaig, M.; McGrandles, A.; Rimmer, Russell; Martin, C. R.
Background: Motivational interviewing (MI) was developed by Miller and Rollnick as an evidence-based counselling approach for use in supporting people with alcohol problems. Over the years the principles and spirit of MI have been reviewed and fine-tuned and the approach has been embraced by practitioners worldwide and across fields. Since 2001 a number of instruments have been designed to evaluate the fidelity of MI practice. For the purposes of this study, one such instrument is used to assess a self-administered motivational instrument, known as the SAMI, which takes the interviewer role. Objectives: The SAMI is evaluated against the MITI 3.1.1, which is designed to assess the extent to which MI interventions perform on five global dimensions. These are evocation, collaboration, autonomy/support, direction and empathy. Design: The SAMI was assembled based on the principles and spirit of MI, problem solving and goal-setting. The targeted behaviour changes were student learning styles and approaches to study. Setting: The SAMI was distributed, completed and submitted electronically via the university virtual learning environment. Participants: Thirty three mature students of a university which delivered online nursing programme were invited to complete the SAMI. Of these, 25 submitted completed transcripts. Methods: Transcripts of a sample of six completed SAMIs were assessed by a group of teachers and researchers with experience in the use and evaluation of MI, using five-point Likert scales to assess the SAMI on the five dimensions. Results: Overall, an average score exceeding 4.5 was attained across the five dimensions. Conventionally, such a score is recognised as competency in MI. However, on one dimension (empathy), the rating was three. Conclusions: This current research confirms that global principles have been observed in the online delivery of MI using the SAMI to probe approaches to study. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
School mathematics and university outcomes
(Work in progress, 2007) Houston, Muir; Rimmer, Russell
There is concern that, as participation of non-traditional entrants widens, many university students do not have the mathematical preparation required to learn skills vital for professional work. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between mathematical attainment at secondary school and the outcomes of university study in quantitative disciplines. An 'engagement' theory of higher-education study is used to investigate academic performance and progression among students who gained entry on the basis of Scottish Higher examinations to a university that has embraced widening participation. Within this environment there is considerable diversity. For example, although most students were 18 on entry, students were aged from 16 to 38. While pre-entry preparation in mathematics was not extensive, this varied. At the university, assistance with mathematical skills is embedded in programmes and is discipline specific. Students with better pre-entry attainments in mathematics had better average marks, maintained greater study loads and were more likely to progress. However, non-traditional university students with poorer mathematical backgrounds were able to attain comparable outcomes.
School mathematics and university outcomes
(2010) Rimmer, Russell; Houston, Muir
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between mathematical attainment at school and university outcomes. The paper is motivated by an interest in whether school mathematics provides elements of good preparation for university, regardless of the type of degree studied. This in turn was motivated by the long-standing and wide-spread concern about school mathematics, university outcomes and the implications for individuals' university experiences and societal needs. An 'engagement' theory was applied to model both school and university outcomes in the first year of enrolment at a Scottish university. While mathematics preparation for university study was not extensive, a proportion of students had passes in Higher mathematics, the highest level of school study in Scotland at the time data was gathered. The engagement theory was effective in modelling school- and university outcomes. Students with better school attainments in mathematics had better average marks, maintained greater study loads and were more likely to progress at university, regardless of the extent of the mathematical underpinnings of their disciplines.
Spiritual attitudes and visitor motivations at the Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh
(2014-03-12) Matheson, Catherine M.; Rimmer, Russell; Tinsley, Ross
Outside the peak season for tourism to Edinburgh, Scotland, during the evening of April 30th, visitors attend a festival with ancient Celtic overtones. Frequently, the evening is cold and windy. Our objectives are to: identify motivations for attending the festival; trial questionnaire items on spiritual attitude; and assess whether spirituality might be relevant in assessing visitor intentions. The method of investigation involved exploration and confirmation phases to test structures in distinct subsamples. Further, a strict approach was applied to identify factors that had theoretical value. Spirituality attitude is found to be a factor, as well as the motivations of cultural adventure and escape. Given the nature of the event, the time of year and composition of the audience, encouraging repeat visitation and using this to develop and manage Edinburgh's tourism strategy has potential. Recommendations are made to management. 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Transition from first to second semester: trading off study, work and life
(2007) Houston, Muir; Rimmer, Russell
This research is directed towards the conference aim of investigating transitions where participation in higher education has been widened. Recent empirical work has established that both traditional- and non-traditional entrants to full-time higher education may make trade offs between academic study and demands or interests in other parts of their lives. This is particularly so over the course of the first year of study and in making the transition to the second year. The intention is to build on these findings and explore a dynamic theory of how students reduce academic load while pursuing academic success and maintaining involvements in other activities.