Taking Action on Usability Testing Findings: Simmons College Library Case Study

Simmons College Library conducted in-person and remote usability testing to observe how students retrieve full text when using Library Search, its discovery service system powered by EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS). Testing was conducted as a collaborative study with a consultant associated with EBSCO Information Services User Research Group. This testing found that students expect direct access to full text, have an unfavorable impression of Interlibrary Loan (ILL), and are unsure, based on terminology, which links provide direct access to full text. Steps taken by the library in response to the findings include local customization of EDS, improvements to ILL messaging, updates to user education regarding full text formats and terminology, and requests to EBSCO to update terminology to support users’ direct access to full text. Study findings also validated decisions the library made during the initial set up of its discovery service system.     

Evaluation of the peacemakers program: School‐based violence prevention for students in grades four through eight

This study evaluated the violence prevention effects of The Peacemakers Program, a school‐based intervention for students in grades four through eight. The program includes a primary prevention component delivered by teachers and a remedial component implemented by school psychologists and counselors with referred students. The teacher‐delivered component consists of a psychoeducational curriculum and procedures for infusing program content into the school environment. The study included almost 2,000 students in an urban public school system, with pre‐ and post‐program assessment and comparison to a control group. There were significant, positive program effects on six of the seven variables assessed, including knowledge of psychosocial skills, self‐reported aggression, and teacher‐reported aggression, with a 41% decrease in aggression‐related disciplinary incidents and a 67% reduction in suspensions for violent behavior. On some outcome variables, intervention effects were stronger for boys than girls and for middle school compared to upper elementary school students. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Anatomy of a Dead Heat: Visual Evidence at the 2012 US Olympic Trials

The adoption and use of visual technologies as decision aids in professional sport is increasing at a rapid rate, yet the study of such practice is virtually non-existent. Beyond the specific play or call in question, images used as decision aids in sport have immediate and far-reaching material and cultural impacts including athlete sponsorship packages, the professional reputation and expertise of athletes and officials, and lucrative contracts for imaging and technology companies. This paper borrows Lorraine Daston and Peter Galison's work on objectivity to examine one such case: the dead heat between Jeneba Tarmoh and Allyson Felix at the 2012 US Olympic Trials. The Tarmoh/Felix dead heat involved a complex assemblage of human and machine vision, and contains within it many of the issues involved in the use of sports decision aids. The paper argues that analyses of images used as decision aids in sport have much to offer academic and non-academic audiences interested in sport and visual culture.     

History of mathematics and history of science reunited?

For some years now, the history of modern mathematics and the history of modern science have developed independently. A step toward a reunification that would benefit both disciplines could come about through a revived appreciation of mathematical practice. Detailed studies of what mathematicians actually do, whether local or broadly based, have often led in recent work to examinations of the social, cultural, and national contexts, and more can be done. Another recent approach toward a historical understanding of the abstractness of modern mathematics has been to see it as a species of modernism, and this thesis will be tested by the raft of works on the history of modern applied mathematics currently under way.     

The impact of COVID‐19 on the UK publishing industry: Findings and opportunity

• Challenges of the current environment are balanced by opportunities – more digital delivery, more efficient systems, greater collaboration.
• Consumption has not reduced, but delivery mechanisms need adaptation to ensure the right products in the right media are offered and delivered.
• Changes to the cost base by redeploying staff and rethinking premises are underway and support improved resource allocation.
• Leadership is required to accommodate adaptive and flexible remote working.
• Ensuring access and implementing licences that permit non‐commercial use is both a moral and a practical response.

     

Factor structure of child behavior scale scores in peruvian preschoolers

Behavior rating scales aid in the identification of problem behaviors, as well as the development of interventions to reduce such behavior. Although scores on many behavior rating scales have been validated in the United States, there have been few such studies in other cultural contexts. In this study, the structural validity of scores on a Spanish translation of the six‐factor Child Behavior Scale (CBS) was assessed in a sample of 265 Peruvian preschool children who ranged from 2 to 6 years in age. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a four‐factor structure, and reliability estimates for scores on the four factors were adequate. The authors suggest replicating the study and examining the utility of CBS scores in predicting future problem behaviors in this population. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Sustaining collaboration: English-as-a-second-language, and content-area teachers

This research is an investigation into English as a Second Language (ESL) and content area teachers’ perceptions of collaboration after they completed a joint professional development program called the Collaborative Teaching Institute (CTI). The overall objective of the study was to identify how CTI and other joint professional development programs for ESL and content area teachers could better support sustained teacher collaboration. The study yielded information on the key actors, opportunities, tensions and conflicts in the collaboration between the two sets of teachers. The researchers also sought to identify specific types of activities that emerged when the teachers were successful in working together.