The complex route to success: complex problem-solving skills in the prediction of university success

Successful completion of a university degree is a complex matter. Based on considerations regarding the demands of acquiring a university degree, the aim of this paper was to investigate the utility of complex problem-solving (CPS) skills in the prediction of objective and subjective university success (SUS). The key finding of this study was that CPS was not only strongly correlated to objective university success but also explained university grade point averages (GPA) of N?=?78 German business students even after intelligence and high-school GPA were controlled for. In addition, priority setting while working on a complex problem explained self-rated SUS. Given this incremental validity over the most established predictors of objective university success and its versatility, we argue that CPS may be a valuable addition to existing predictors in university applicant selection.     

Personality traits moderate the Big-Fish–Little-Pond Effect of academic self-concept

Equally able students have lower academic self-concepts in high-achieving classrooms than in low-achieving classrooms. This highly general and robust frame of reference effect is widely known as the Big-Fish–Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE; Marsh, 1987). This study contributes to research aiming to identify moderators of the BFLPE by investigating the effects of students' personality (i.e. Big Five traits and narcissism). Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to test the moderator hypotheses, drawing on data from a large sample of N = 4973 upper secondary track students (M age = 19.57). Consistent with a priori predictions, the negative effect of school-average achievement (the BFLPE) interacted significantly with narcissism. Students high in narcissism experienced smaller BFLPEs than did students with low or average levels of narcissism. The statistically significant effect for neuroticism acted in the opposite direction. The study illustrates how personality moderates frame of reference effects that are central to self-concept formation.     

国际教育信息化2013地平线报告（高等教育版）

国际新媒体联盟（New Media Consortium,简称NMC）所发布的年度地平线报告已经成为全球范围内教育信息化发展的显示器与风向标。2012年10月,北京开放大学与美国新媒体联盟签署协议,授权北京开放大学作为其在中国发行其年度报告中文版的唯一官方机构。本期学报正式刊出的2013年度地平线报告显示,未来五年内影响高等教育的六大技术为：大规模开放网络课程、平板电脑、游戏和游戏化、学习分析技术、3D打印技术、可穿戴技术。这些新技术对于我们生活中的沟通交流、获取信息、社会交往、日常学习等方面正在产生重大而深远的影响。希望本报告能够有助于国内同行及时了解国际范围内教育信息化的发展趋势、新技术应用,为促进信息技术更有效地提高教学质量服务提供有益借鉴。新媒体联盟总裁莱瑞博士（Larry Johnson）专门写信祝贺2013年度地平线报告（中文版）刊出：“北京开放大学与新媒体联盟的合作已使成千上万的中国教育界同行有机会围绕教育技术及其在大学和中小学课堂应用问题参与全球对话。北京开放大学以其在教育技术、在线学习的实践探索及开展的国际合作等方面取得的业绩成为国际地平线项目有价值的合作者。你们为地平线专题研究做出了贡献,还承担了地平线报告（中文版）的翻译出版。借助你们的帮助,许多国外同行开始了解信息技术如何在中国这一人口大国的大学和中小学得到应用;同时,也使中国教育界了解世界各国同行正在开展的信息化实践探索。”     

Advances in Technology and Library Space

Curriculum guides are an important and heavily used resource in education libraries and instructional materials centers. Gaining access to these materials, however, has been difficult and time-consuming, as most curriculum guides have not traditionally been indexed in a central source. Fearon-Pitman Publishers Inc. has attempted to remedy this situation by publishing the Curriculum Development Library, the first set of which contained 905 curriculum guides on microfiche with hard copy indexees. The publisher expects to publish this set on an annual basis. The University of Missouri-St. Louis owns the Curriculum Development Library, and the author describes its use in the Education Library.     

Strategic Communication during Marital Relationship Dissolution: Disengagement Resistance Strategies

This study investigated the communication strategies used by divorced individuals who did not wish their marriages to end (non-initiators). Participants were 270 divorced persons drawn from divorce recovery and support groups as well as network sampling. An adaptation of Buss's (1988 Buss , D. M. ( 1988 ). From vigilance to violence: Tactics of mate retention in American undergraduates . Ethology and Sociobiology , 9 , 291 – 317 . [CROSSREF] [CSA] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) taxonomy of partner retention tactics served to capture the communication strategies of non-initiators during marital dissolution. A factor analysis revealed that four disengagement resistance strategies—commitment, alignment, negativity, and harm—are used by non-initiators during the process of marital dissolution.     

Decreasing inappropriate vocalizations using classwide group contingencies and color wheel procedures: A component analysis

Teacher referrals for consultation resulted in two independent teams collecting evidence that allowed for a treatment component evaluation of color wheel (CW) procedures and/or interdependent group‐oriented reward (IGOR) procedures on inappropriate vocalizations in one third‐ and one first‐grade classroom. Both studies involved the application of B‐C‐D‐C designs, with the initial B phase involving the application of independent group‐oriented punishment (IGOP) procedures that were applied in all classrooms at the respective schools and maintained across all phases of the studies. In Study I, the C phase involved that application of IGOP, IGOR, and CW; CW was withdrawn in the D phase and reinstated in the subsequent C phase. In Study II, IGOP procedures were supplemented with CW procedures (first C phase), then IGOR procedures were added (D phase) and withdrawn (second C phase). Results from the two studies converge and provide evidence that CW procedures are effective when applied with IGOP procedures and that supplementing them with IGOR procedures may have little classwide impact on inappropriate vocalizations. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.