Organizational Dissent as a Function of Organizational Justice

This study examined the relationships between perceptions of organizational justice and enacting organizational dissent. Participants were 107 full-time employees working in various organizations. Results indicated that employee perceptions of distributive and interpersonal justice negatively predicted latent dissent, while perceptions of informational justice positively predicted latent dissent. Perceptions of interpersonal justice were the strongest predictor of latent dissent. Perceptions of justice were not related to articulated or displaced dissent. Future research should continue to explore triggering agents of dissent in organizations.     

A Comparison of Exposure Control Procedures in CAT Systems Based on Different Measurement Models for Testlets

The purposes of the study were twofold: (a) to test for evidence of construct validity related to social and academic (general, English, mathematics) competencies, as measured by self, teachers, parents, and peers, for children in Grades 3 (n = 175), 7 (n = 193), and 11 (n = 159), and (b) to examine the extent to which ratings by significant others were concordant with self-ratings for these four constructs. Based on a comparison of nested multitrait-multimethod covariance structure models, results demonstrated that despite evidence of global convergent and discriminant validities, method effects were instrumental in attenuating trait variances. In particular, self-ratings for early preadolescents and peer ratings for all ages were the most vulnerable to this anomaly. Overall, results suggest that researchers consider making greater use of parent ratings in the measurement of social and academic competencies for elementary children.     

Unpacking Our Academic Suitcases: The Inner Workings of Our Feminist Research Group

In this paper we focus on the lived experiences of multidisciplinary scholars as we navigated and coalesced into a productive, interdisciplinary collaboration. We pull from our foundations in feminist methodology and provide excerpts from personal journals and reflexive group interviews to provide a behind-the-scenes account of the inner workings of a feminist research group. While sharing a common research goal, each member negotiated her personal, conceptual, and epistemological stances as we produced an effective, interdisciplinary pastiche. Throughout this process, we worked to create a non-hierarchical atmosphere, continuously and ethically questioned our methods, and incorporated reflexivity in the research processes. In addition to sharing our past experiences, we note challenges we encountered and offer practical suggestions based on the lessons we learned through this collaboration.     

The effect of tuition fees on student mobility: the UK and Ireland as a natural experiment

We exploit changes in student funding policies across the four UK nations and the Republic of Ireland to conduct a natural experiment investigating the marginal effect of differing tuition fee levels on students' enrolment behaviour. Whilst previous international research suggests increases in fees suppress demand and disincentivise cross‐border educational migration, some studies in North America and Germany find an element of inelasticity of demand. In the UK, various commentators have predicted marked shifts in student mobility in response to variation in tuition fee prices by country, trends expected to sharpen following substantial planned rises in tuition fees from 2012. After outlining tuition fee policies in the UK and Ireland, we analyse data on student enrolment destinations across the five countries for the period 2000–2010. We find little evidence to support the notion that student mobility is driven by economic ‘rationality’. Enrolment rates have risen despite increases in tuition fees and there is a long‐term trend for students to stay at home. Students seem not to be ‘pushed’ out‐of‐country by higher fees, but may be discouraged from moving if fees are lower in‐country. Student mobility within the UK and Ireland follows well‐worn paths from and to specific countries and institutions. Finally, we consider the implications of our findings for student mobility in general and forthcoming changes to UK student funding policies in particular.     

Kiva Microloans in a Learning Community: An Assignment for Interdisciplinary Synthesis

Learning communities can strengthen early undergraduates’ learning, but planning them can be daunting for instructors. Learning communities usually rely on integrative assignments that encourage interdisciplinary analysis. This article reports on our experiences using microloans as an interdisciplinary assignment in a learning community that united algebra with world literature. Students used the microfinance website www.kiva.org to make small loans of real money to entrepreneurs in low-income countries. Four themes emerged from student reaction to the assignment: awareness of Africa, community impact, mathematical consciousness, and productive collaboration among students. Our reflections suggest that microfinance assignments may support integrative learning across many other disciplines.     

It takes a village: Managing conflict in the K-12 classroom

This project examines the classroom conflict management challenges K–12 teachers experience. The U.S. Department of Education released a January 2014 bulletin outlining their classroom conflict management position, providing teachers recommendations without providing tools and conflict management knowledge to effectively implement the recommended programs. Understanding the nature and components of conflict better enables conflict managers (i.e., teachers) to effectively manage and resolve conflict. Understanding the challenges teachers face when managing conflict enables practitioners to create practical recommendations for conflict resolution education. This project analyzed data from four focus groups of K–12 teachers (n = 21) from the northern Midwest. Teachers identified structural challenges (i.e., lack of parental or administrative support) to managing conflict. Findings indicate that comprehensive conflict management training and productive communication between all levels of the system are necessary to effectively manage conflict in the classroom.     

Anonymity and Interaction in an Online Breast Cancer Social Support Group

Despite the benefits of using online social support groups, prior research does not provide a solid understanding of the online factors related to an individual’s supportive interaction. Accordingly, this study aims to explore how various aspects of anonymity predict different levels of social support engagement. The current study uncovers that visually identifiable group members are more likely to get supportive responses than are visually anonymous members. Also, when support group members are visually and discursively identifiable, they are more likely to get supportive messages than those who are visually and discursively anonymous. Additionally, the more identifiable support group members are, the more they receive positive messages. Practical implications for the role of social support group members’ anonymity/identifiability on the overall social support process are presented.