The relationship between career competencies, career identity, motivation and quality of choice

In this article we focus on the effects of career education and guidance among students (ages 12–19) enrolled in prevocational and secondary vocational education in The Netherlands. Our study included 3,499 students and 166 teachers in 226 classes in 34 schools. The results showed that career competencies positively contributed to learning motivation, experienced quality of study choice, experienced fit of choice with learning tasks, and experienced fit of internship. Career identity positively contributed to career outcomes, and career dialogue contributed more than traditional interventions have with respect to career outcomes.     

College Adjustment Difficulties and the Overt and Covert Forms of Narcissism

Overt narcissism correlated negatively with emotional distress and interpersonal difficulties among female, but not male, students. After controlling for self‐esteem, overt narcissism correlated positively with depression among female students and with emotional distress and interpersonal difficulties among male students. Covert narcissism correlated positively with emotional distress and interpersonal and academic difficulties among both male and female students. Associations between covert narcissism and emotional distress and interpersonal difficulties remained after controlling for self‐esteem.     

A Strategy for Evaluating District Developed Assessments for State Accountability

As part of Nebraska's assessment and accountability system, districts' local assessment systems are evaluated for their psychometric quality. This article provides an overview of a two-stage evaluation strategy, discusses how it was applied in Nebraska, and presents results from the first three years of the evaluation process. Benefits of the method include an emphasis on formative evaluation and promotion of improved assessment quality at the local level. A limitation of the model is the inability to make refined comparisons of student performance across districts on the assessments. Results from the first three years suggest that greater specificity in the review criteria and additional reviewer calibration activities are needed.     

The role of parameter variability on retention, parameter transfer, and effector transfer

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of parameter variability on the learning of generalized motor programs (GMP) and movement parameterization. Participants attempted to exert a force pattern that resembled in force and time a waveform displayed on a computer monitor.The analysis suggested that relative timing (a measure of the GMP) performance remained remarkably stable across retention and transfer tests, whereby the structure of the movement remained intact, although the parameter or muscle group (effector) changed during transfer The results also indicated that variable parameter (time) practice did not enhance GMP learning but did degrade the learning parameter that was not varied (force). In addition, parameter specification was substantially less stable than the GMP, with time and force parameter performance deteriorating from the retention to transfer tests. These findings suggest that parameter specification, and not the GMP, is the primary cause of poorer performance in parameter and effector transfer.     

Craft and Librarianship: A Reconsideration of the Sources of Librarian Job Satisfaction

ABSTRACT

This article surveyed the sources of job satisfaction among 1,833 library and information science (LIS) master's program graduates in North Carolina from 1964–2009. The study examined the effects of traditional work-related variables such as income, flexibility, co-workers, fringe benefits, and setting on job satisfaction. In addition, the analysis introduces variables related to the notion of craft, professional achievement, and family dynamics to determine what impact they have. Craft combines the wish to perform one's work well independent of extrinsic factors or influences and the desire of the worker to create a quality final outcome or product. The major finding of the study is that craft and professional achievement are the largest determinants of job satisfaction among LIS graduates. Meanwhile, variables such as marital status, whether or not one has children, and breadwinner status had no discernible effect. Supportive co-workers, being a woman, and membership in professional organizations likewise correlate with job satisfaction, while being a full-time worker, anxiety over job security, and working in an academic library setting contributed to dissatisfaction. Although LIS graduates generally report being very content in their jobs, this study suggests that they are anxious about changes such as the increasing number of temporary and freelance jobs and the perception that full-time staff are doing more work with fewer resources.     

Shyness and Trajectories of Functional Network Connectivity Over Early Adolescence

High shyness during early adolescence is associated with impaired peer relationships and risk for psychiatric disorders. Little is known, however, about the relation between shyness and trajectories of brain development over early adolescence. The current study longitudinally examined trajectories of resting‐state functional connectivity (rs‐fc) within four brain networks in 147 adolescents. Subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging at three different time points, at average ages 10.5 (range = 7.8–13.0), 11.7 (range = 9.3–14.1), and 12.9 years (range = 10.1–15.2). Multilevel linear modeling indicated that high shyness was associated with a less steep negative slope of default mode network (DMN) rs‐fc over early adolescence relative to low shyness. Less steep decreases in DMN rs‐fc may relate to increased self‐focus in adolescents with high shyness.