The Reality of Electronic Leadership in Jordanian Schools from the Perspective of Its Teachers

E-leadership has become very essential to be practiced in an environment dominated by accelerating change and high competitiveness. Schools need e-leadership to achieve their e-activities and satisfy their students’ online requirements. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess the reality of e-leadership in Jordanian schools for purpose of enhancing their educational performance. The study population consisted of all Jordanian schools through all Jordanian governorates, and the study sample was composed of (386) teachers from different educational directorates. A self-reported questionnaire composed of (6) dimensions with (36) items, was used for collecting data from the study sample. Descriptive statistics means, and standard deviation were used for data analysis using SPSS tools. It was found that e-leadership is practiced in a medium level by the teachers of Jordanian schools, with e- management practice in the first rank, and E- Team Building practice in the final rank.

The Feasibility of Blinding Residency Programs to USMLE Step 1 Scores During GME Application, Interview, and Match Processes

ABSTRACT Background With the recent announcement that Step 1 score reporting will soon change to pass/fail, residency programs will need to reconsider their recruitment processes. Objective We (1) evaluated the feasibility of blinding residency programs to applicants' Step 1 scores and their number of attempts throughout the recruitment process; (2) described the selection process that resulted from the blinding; and (3) reviewed if a program's initial rank list, created before scores were known, would be changed before submission for the Match. Methods During the 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 recruitment seasons, all programs at a single sponsoring institution were invited to develop selection criteria in the absence of Step 1 data, and to remain blinded to this data throughout recruitment. Participating programs were surveyed to determine factors affecting feasibility and metrics used for residency selection. Once unblinded to Step 1 scores, programs had the option to change their initial rank lists. Results Of 24 residency programs, 4 participated (17%) in the first year: emergency medicine, neurology, pediatrics, and psychiatry. The second year had the same participants, with the addition of family and community medicine and radiation oncology (n = 6, 25%). Each program was able to determine mission-specific qualities in the absence of Step 1 data. In both years, one program made changes to the final rank list. Conclusions It was feasible for programs to establish metrics for residency recruitment in the absence of Step 1 data, and most programs made no changes to final rank lists after Step 1 scores were known.

An algorithm to elicitate ELECTRE II, III and IV parameters

PurposeThis paper presents an algorithm that can elicitate all or any combination of parameters for the ELECTRE II, III or IV, methods. The algorithm takes some steps of a machine learning ensemble technique, the random forest, and for that, the authors named the approach as Ranking Trees Algorithm.Design/methodology/approachFirst, for a given method, the authors generate a set of ELECTRE models, where each model solves a random sample of criteria and actions (alternatives). Second, for each generated model, all actions are projected in a 1D space; in general, the best actions have higher values in a 1D space than the worst ones; therefore, they can be used to guide the genetic algorithm in the final step, the optimization phase. Finally, in the optimization phase, each model has its parameters optimized.FindingsThe results can be used in two different ways; the authors can merge all models, to find the elicitated parameters in this way, or the authors can ensemble the models, and the median of all ranks represents the final rank. The numerical examples achieved a Kendall Tau correlation rank over 0.85, and these results could perform as well as the results obtained by a group of specialists.Originality/valueFor the first time, the elicitation of ELECTRE parameters is made by an ensemble technique composed of a set of uncorrelated multicriteria models that can generate robust solutions.

Breast Imaging Fellowship Match: Applicants’ Perspectives of Years Two and Three

Objective The purpose of this study is to summarize the results of a survey distributed by the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI) to assess applicants’ experience with the 2018 and 2019 Breast Imaging Fellowship Match process. Methods In this institutional review board–exempt study, the SBI issued an anonymous survey to all matched applicants in an attempt to gauge their experience with the 2018 and 2019 Match process. Results The survey was sent to all 2018 and 2019 matched applicants and 105/236 (45%) responses were received. The majority (75%, 79/105) of respondents reported a positive experience with the Match, with at least a 4/5 rating, and only 3% (5/105) reported a rating below 3/5. There was some improvement in 2019, with 86% (24/28) of respondents reporting at least a 4/5 rating compared to 71% (55/77) in 2018. No respondent reported a score below a 3/5 rating in 2019. The most commonly cited issues with the Match were the timing of the Match process, the need for a universal application, and the burden of travel. Location and program reputation were the two most important factors contributing to the final rank order of programs. Conclusion The great majority of applicants felt that the Match created a positive experience. Planned areas of improvement include the implementation of a universal application, the transition to virtual interviews, and a condensed timeline. These measures are likely to increase applicant satisfaction and provide a fair and efficient experience for future breast radiologists.

SYNTHESIS OF INFORMATION DECISION-SUPPORT TECHNOLOGIES UNDER COMPLEX FORMS OF IGNORANCE

The analysis of multi-criteria techniques showed that at present, methods based on the mechanism of pairwise comparison are widely used. This may be due to the fact that it is easier for experts to compare objects in pairs than, for example, to give them some ordering (ranking). In turn, such methods have a number of disad-vantages, for example, a limitation on the number of elements compared in pairs, the need to evaluate all available elements (objects, alternatives), a high level of con-sistency of expert assessments, etc. A modification of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method based on the mathematical apparatus of a mathematical theory of evidence and a theory of plausible and paradoxical reasoning has been considered as approach that allows obtaining more effective results of pairwise comparison, as well as taking into account various forms of interaction of expert judgments expressed on the same set of initial data and factors such as uncertainty, inaccuracy, fuzziness and incompleteness of expert information. As part of solving the problem of ranking group expert assessments, mathematical models of expert judgments (evidence, assessments) have been developed that allow processing the results of an expert survey in order to construct final rank-orderings of group expert assessments under multi-criteria, multi-alternative, uncertainty and conflicting (contradictory) expert judgments. Alternative approaches of evidence combination in the framework of the Dempster-Shafer model are investigated and a method for constructing a final ranking is proposed, which is based on the complex use of the conjunctive consensus evidence combination rules (Dempster’s, Yager’s, Zhang’s, Inagaki’s, Smets’ rules). The proposed technique takes into account the degree of difference and the structure of individual groups of evidence to choose the order of expert judgments combination. This allows to make full use of the original expert information and exclude situations in which part of the expert information may be lost (for example, when trying to combine contradictory evidence). An adaptive algorithm for choosing the optimal combination rule has been proposed. The adaptability of the algorithm lies in the fact that, depending on the formed set of criteria, one of the considered combination rules is selected for each pair of expert judgments that are combined. As criteria for choosing the rules, the following were considered: information about data sources (experts), their competence, the nature of the analyzed data (information about conflicts and consensus; information about the degree of interaction and structure of expert evidence, etc.). A methodology for synthesis of information technology and a generalized structure of information technology for decision-making are proposed for solving the problem of structuring expert assessments under multi-criteria and complex forms of ignorance based on the methods of the theory of evidence and the theory of plausible and paradoxical reasoning. The practical implementation of the proposed information technology synthesis technique for construction of the final rank-ordering of the analyzed objects is considered on the example of solving the problem of choosing a geographic information systems.

Synthesising performance in the construction industry

Purpose There is a long-standing interest in performance improvement within the construction industry. Approaches based upon cost, time and quality (often called the Iron Triangle), have been the focus of attention despite criticism of the validity of the Iron Triangle as a performance measure due to its simplistic approach. Furthermore, little emphasis has been placed on synthesising performance to understand whether this concept has evolved from the traditional view. An analysis of prominent literature was reviewed by classifying performance indicators which establish criteria for measuring performance in the construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature (1998–2018) on performance at a project level to determine a final rank of key performance indicators (KPIs) which will establish how projects are currently being measured. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a combined qualitative and quantitative approach – a comprehensive literature review on overall performance at a project level and the statistical Kendall’s W test to find concordance among the authors on performance in the construction industry to determine a final rank of KPIs. Findings The results demonstrate there is no congruent correlation on what performance is and the traditional iron triangle of “cost-time-quality” is still the preferred method of analysing performance, despite it being proven to be ineffective. Originality/value Performance in the construction industry is an ambiguous concept that can be interpreted differently by the construction industry’s stakeholders. Despite this lack of concordance, a starting point on the definition of performance can be obtained from the literature. The paper presents a final rank of KPIs.