Engaging in science practices in classrooms predicts increases in undergraduates' STEM motivation,identity, and achievement: A short-term longitudinal study

Our short-term longitudinal study explored undergraduate students' experiences with performing authentic science practices in the classroom in relation to their science achievement and course grades. In addition, classroom experiences (felt recognition as a scientist and perceived classroom climate) and changes over a 10-week academic term in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) identity and motivation were tested as mediators. The sample comprised 1,079 undergraduate students from introductory biology classrooms (65.4% women, 37.6% Asian, 30.2% White, 25.1% Latinx). Using structural equation modeling (SEM), our hypothesized model was confirmed while controlling for class size and GPA. Performing science practices (e.g., hypothesizing or explaining results) positively predicted students' felt recognition as a scientist; and felt recognition positively predicted perceived classroom climate. In turn, felt recognition and classroom climate predicted increases over time in students' STEM motivation (expectancy-value beliefs), STEM identity, and STEM career aspirations. Finally, these factors predicted students' course grade. Both recognition as a scientist and positive classroom climate were more strongly related to outcomes among underrepresented minority (URM) students. Findings have implications for why large-format courses that emphasize opportunities for students to learn science practices are related to positive STEM outcomes, as well as why they may prove especially helpful for URM students. Practical implications include the importance of recognition as a scientist from professors, teaching assistants, and classmates in addition to curriculum that engages students in the authentic practices of science.     

Effects of Computerized Instruction on the Use of Punctuation Strategies by Students with LD

An interactive multimedia software program was developed for teaching punctuation strategies and then tested with middle‐school and high‐school students with learning disabilities. Students at each school level were randomly selected into an experimental or control group. Results showed that experimental students at both school levels performed similarly by earning significantly higher scores on a test of punctuation usage than the control students. Additionally, experimental students in both school cohorts inserted significantly fewer incorrect punctuation marks than the controls. Furthermore, the experimental students generalized their use of the strategies to a test where they wrote their own sentences. Thus, this study shows that students with LD can learn punctuation strategies at a high level of mastery and can generalize their skills to sentence editing and sentence construction tasks when taught through interactive multimedia.     

Creating an Emotional Intelligence Community of Practice: A Case Study for Academic Libraries

Abstract

Using Etienne Wenger’s concept of a community of practice, UH Libraries’ Liaison Services Department developed departmental members’ emotional intelligence. The social learning structure of the community of practice mirrors the emotional intelligence learning model theorized by Daniel Goleman. This case study demonstrates how this approach can benefit a unit within an academic library. Using a community of practice approach to build a space for social learning creates an environment in which library workers are able to learn and practice the skills of emotional intelligence among their colleagues and within the context of the norms and values of the work environment.     

Affordances of mHealth technology and the structuring of clinic communication

Careful examination of communicative outcomes of mHealth technology is critical for understanding its capacity to shape the clinical interview and structure clinic communication. Drawing on a communicative affordances framework and adopting a video-based inductive analytic approach, we extend the concept of actualizations. We do so by examining the in situ communicative actions afforded by a mHealth web interface utilized during medication titration interviews with parents of children beginning stimulant medication for ADHD. We find that the web interface served five broad communicative functions that provided opportunities for improving information accuracy and for rendering clinical reasoning transparent, while jeopardizing opportunities for parents to narrativize medication experiences. We discuss clinical, theoretical, and methodological implications.     

lol: new language and spelling in instant messaging

Written communication in instant messaging, text messaging, chat, and other forms of electronic communication appears to have generated a “new language” of abbreviations, acronyms, word combinations, and punctuation. In this naturalistic study, adolescents collected their instant messaging conversations for a 1-week period and then completed a spelling test delivered over instant messaging. We used the conversations to develop a taxonomy of new language use in instant messaging. Short-cuts, including abbreviations, acronyms, and unique spellings were most prevalent in the instant message conversation, followed by pragmatic signals, such use of emoticons, emotion words, and punctuation, and typographical and spelling errors were relatively uncommon. With rare exceptions, notably true spelling errors, spelling ability was not related to use of new language in instant messaging. The taxonomy provides an important tool for investigating new language use and the results provide partial evidence that new language does not have a harmful effect on conventional written language.     

Parent involvement and views of school success: The role of parents' Latino and White American cultural orientations

We examined ethnicity and cultural orientation as predictors of parents' views of and involvement in children's education, using data gathered from the Latino (n = 74) and non‐Latino (17 White and 13 ethnic minority) parents of children in an elementary school's dual‐language program. Parents completed a questionnaire that assessed Latino and White American cultural orientations, importance of children's academic and social success, and self‐ and significant other involvement in children's education. Results indicated that Latino (and other ethnic minority) parents valued academic and social success equally and more strongly than did Whites and that Whites valued social success more strongly than academic success. Latinos also reported greater involvement of significant others. These differences were largely accounted for by cultural orientations. Educational practices that take into account differences in cultural orientations and the involvement of significant others thus seem more likely to improve academic outcomes than do efforts intended to promote the valuing of education. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The managers guide to understanding,detecting, and thwarting computer crime: An international performance issue

Cyber crime poses an ever‐growing international threat to businesses. Organizations need to address this threat through a performance intervention by making managers aware of the reasons cyber crimes are committed so that they can detect and prevent them. This research details the primary types of cyber crime, describes and suggests managerial defenses to cyber crime, and reviews the importance of synchronized international legislation in the fight against cyber crime.     

运用“概念图”评价工科学生的跨学科知识集成——以“绿色工程”课程的跟踪研究为案例

概念图作为一项评测学生跨学科知识集成的工具开始受到工程教育学界的重视.概念图能够呈现学生对多学科概念和概念间的复杂联系的理解.本文通过对"绿色工程"设计课程的为期一年的跟踪研究证明了概念图方法尤其适合评测学生跨学科知识的学习性进步.本研究探讨了在跨学科评定环境中使用概念图出现的问题以及解决问题的建议.