Changes in reports and incidence of child abuse following natural disasters

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research was to investigate if there is a higher incidence of child abuse following major natural disasters. METHODOLOGY: Child abuse reports and substantiations were analyzed, by county, for 1 year before and after Hurricane Hugo, the Loma Prieta Earthquake. and Hurricane Andrew. Counties were included if damage was widespread, the county was part of a presidential disaster declaration, and if there was a stable data collection system in place. RESULTS: Based on analyses of numbers, rates, and proportions, child abuse reports were disproportionately higher in the quarter and half year following two of the three disaster events (Hurricane Hugo and Loma Prieta Earthquake). CONCLUSIONS: Most, but not all, of the evidence presented indicates that child abuse escalates after major disasters. Conceptual and methodological issues need to be resolved to more conclusively answer the question about whether or not child abuse increases in the wake of natural disasters. Replications of this research are needed based on more recent disaster events.     

Predicting Employee Turnover from Friendship Networks

Employees (n=40) at a fast-food restaurant were surveyed about characteristics of their position and their level of satisfaction. Employees were then asked to report with whom they regularly communicated inside and outside the workplace and to indicate how close they were to employees with whom they were linked. Employee turnover was measured after three months had elapsed. A goal of the research was to replicate a model of employee turnover that predicts employees more central in their social network to be less likely to leave, and to test a social support explanation of the centrality model. The results indicated that employees who reported a greater number of out-degree links with friends were less likely to leave. The number of in-degree links with friends did not significantly predict turnover, and neither did network links with peers. Friendship prestige, measured by the number of in-degree links, was strongly correlated with relational closeness and amount of time spent with employees outside the workplace.     

Efficient online index maintenance for contiguous inverted lists

Search engines and other text retrieval systems use high-performance inverted indexes to provide efficient text query evaluation. Algorithms for fast query evaluation and index construction are well-known, but relatively little has been published concerning update. In this paper, we experimentally evaluate the two main alternative strategies for index maintenance in the presence of insertions, with the constraint that inverted lists remain contiguous on disk for fast query evaluation. The in-place and re-merge strategies are benchmarked against the baseline of a complete re-build. Our experiments with large volumes of web data show that re-merge is the fastest approach if large buffers are available, but that even a simple implementation of in-place update is suitable when the rate of insertion is low or memory buffer size is limited. We also show that with careful design of aspects of implementation such as free-space management, in-place update can be improved by around an order of magnitude over a naïve implementation.     

Innovation in PhD completion: the hardy shall succeed (and be happy!)

What is it that makes a PhD such a difficult process, and prevents candidates from completing on time? In this paper, we propose that self‐sabotaging behaviours, including overcommitting, procrastination and perfectionism, have a role to play. At Flinders University, we have developed a program in which we work with PhD students to help to reduce these behaviours and give them the strategies and attitudes they need to successfully (and happily!) complete their thesis. The program utilises cognitive–behavioural coaching, an evidence‐based strategy that we claim leads to significant and long‐term behavioural change. An evaluation of the program indicates that it is very successful, improving students’ ability to manage their time, set specific times for writing, and show work to their supervisor regularly, and that these behaviours were associated with lower levels of stress and improved ability to complete.     

Orthopedic resident anatomy review course: a collaboration between anatomists and orthopedic surgeons

A challenge for new residents and senior residents preparing for board examinations is refreshing their knowledge of basic science disciplines, such as human gross anatomy. The Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Utah School of Medicine has for many years held an annual Orthopedic Resident Anatomy Review Course during the summer months for all of its residents. The primary purpose of the course is to renew competencies in basic science disciplines so that incoming residents more quickly reach a level of functional proficiency and to afford senior residents a platform to teach their junior colleagues. Before 2005, this course was conducted with minimal participation from anyone outside of the Department of Orthopaedics. Many of the residents voiced concerns that the educational benefits were not proportionate to the time invested. To improve the teaching of orthopedic-related anatomy, an educational collaboration between the Departments of Neurobiology and Anatomy and Orthopaedics was established in 2004 and continues to the present time. The major objectives of refining the course pedagogy, developing a Course Manual and Dissection Guide, and evaluating the results by administering a course survey questionnaire are described in this article. Implementation of all facets of the revised course has resulted in better participation by orthopedic faculty and more favorable reviews by the participating residents. Based on current levels of interest and positive comments from course participants, the Anatomy and Orthopedic faculty course directors plan to continue to develop course materials and pedagogy.     

An online adaptive learning environment for critical‐thinking‐infused English literacy instruction

Critical thinking (CT) and English literacy are two essential 21st century competencies that are a priority for teaching and learning in an increasingly digital learning environment. Taking advantage of innovations in educational technology, this study empirically investigates the effectiveness of CT‐infused adaptive English literacy instruction using a Moodle system. A one‐group pretest–posttest design was employed to evaluate the effect of the treatment on students' acquisition of CT skills (CTS) and English literacy. A total of 83 students enrolled in two sections of a general studies course at a large university in Taiwan participated in the semester‐long experiment. Adaptive learning was achieved through the use of an online Moodle system for (1) online grouping (based on pretest English literacy scores), (2) delivery of specifically designed adaptive learning materials for each group and (3) provision of individualised feedback. CT‐infused language activities based on social constructivist principles were designed for each level of adaptive instruction, whereas direct instruction for fostering CTS was provided in class and practiced or reflected upon in groups. Empirical results demonstrate that CT‐enhanced adaptive English literacy instruction simultaneously improved students' CTS and English literacy and that students' online discussions developed towards higher levels of interaction. This paper illustrates an effective blended learning model for adaptive instruction and offers recommendations for designing CT‐infused language learning activities that can successfully foster both CT and English literacy outcomes.     

WHAT IS INTERIORITY AND WHY MIGHT IT BE IMPORTANT FOR HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY?

Considerations of the inner world of workers and organizations might not fall within the provenance of human performance technology (HPT) practitioners. However, when it comes to being creative, workers need fertile imaginations driven from within. When it comes to productivity, mostly inner energies drive collaboration. When it comes to results, leaders must nurture workers toward wholeness for effective decisions and wisdom‐driven action. For these reasons, HPT practitioners need to know how to engage with the interiority factor.     

The present and future state of blended learning in workplace learning settings in the United States

This article reports a survey about blended learning in workplace learning settings. The survey found that blended learning gained popularity in many organizations but also that several barriers exist in implementing it. This survey also includes predictions on instructional strategies, emerging technologies, and evaluation techniques for blended learning.     

Information,Instruction, and Learning: A Hypermedia Perspective

Hypermedia as defined by Osgood (1987) is a tool for linking nonlinear information presented in the form of graphics, animation, video, and sound. One important question for instructional designers regarding hypermedia is how it can be used as an instructional or learning tool that enhances rather than inhibits learning. Creating hypermedia applications is a quick and easy alternative to creating courseware with older authoring systems and languages which took many hours to learn. This ease of application creation, combined with a tremendous increase in information available to our society, has resulted in a proliferation of hypermedia databases in school, university, and industry settings that is gradually moving into homes. Many of these databases are simply information media. This paper identifies important issues related to classifying a hypermedia–based information system appropriately. Based on a discussion of these issues, a call for systematic research which clarifies the role that hypermedia–based information systems can and should play in an instructional or learning environment is set forth.