How We Came to Dread Fridays: Developing an Academic Library Assessment Plan Two Hours at a Time

During the summer of 2012, St. John Fisher College's Lavery Library developed a coordinated assessment plan. Committing to weekly meetings, librarians reviewed ACRL Standards, identifying key outcomes that would link to the college strategic plan. Utilizing the unique synergy of the library staff, librarians committed to persistence, collaboration, and flexible teamwork. Based on their summer-long perseverance, the librarians originated an assessment strategy that has not only aligned them with the college but has also positioned them to demonstrate the value they provide to their community.     

Results of use of Machines for Testing and for Drill,upon Learning in Educational Psychology

The Work Components Study (WCS) questionnaire is a measure of work motivation with predictive powers as a selection device on a probabilistic basis for industrial managers. This study established the factorial validity and reliability of a modified WCS-the Educational Work Components Study (EWCS) questionnaire. The sample of 745 included 153 senior and forty-two graduate students and 118 administrators and 432 teachers randomly selected from three school districts. The data analyses consisted of varimax orthogonal and maxplane oblique R-factor analysis procedures and Cronbach’s estimate of internal consistency. Instead of sixty-six items and seven prevalent factors in the WCS, fifty-six items and six unidimensional factors paralleling the original instrument were found in the EWCS. The reliabilities of the six factors ranged from .73 to .83. These findings coupled with the strong theoretical foundation of the EWCS indicate a high potential for probing many provocative relationships based on work motivation.     

The effect of low-volume high-intensity interval training on cardiometabolic health and psychological responses in overweight/obese middle-aged men

ABSTRACT

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been proposed as a time-efficient exercise protocol to improve metabolic health, but direct comparisons with higher-volume moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) under unsupervised settings are limited. This study compared low-volume HIIT and higher-volume MICT interventions on cardiometabolic and psychological responses in overweight/obese middle-aged men. Twenty-four participants (age: 48.1±5.2yr; BMI: 25.8±2.3kg·m^?2) were randomly assigned to undertake either HIIT (10 X 1-min bouts of running at 80–90% HR_max separated by 1-min active recovery) or MICT (50-min continuous jogging/brisk walking at 65–70% HR_max) for 3 sessions/week for 8 weeks (2-week supervised + 6-week unsupervised training). Both groups showed similar cardiovascular fitness (VO_2max) improvement (HIIT: 32.5±5.6 to 36.0±6.2; MICT: 34.3±6.0 to 38.2±5.1mL kg^?1 min^?1, p < 0.05) and %fat loss (HIIT: 24.5±3.4 to 23.2±3.5%; MICT: 23.0±4.3 to 21.5±4.1%, p< 0.05) over the 8-week intervention. Compared to baseline, MICT significantly decreased weight and waist circumference. No significant group differences were observed for blood pressure and cardiometabolic blood markers such as lipid profiles, fasting glucose and glycated haemoglobin. Both groups showed similar enjoyment levels and high unsupervised adherence rates (>90%). Our findings suggest that low-volume HIIT can elicit a similar improvement of cardiovascular fitness as traditional higher-volume MICT in overweight/obese middle-aged men.     

Full- Versus Part-Day Kindergarten for Children With Disabilities: Effects on Executive Function Skills

Responding to a robust body of literature suggesting that children’s early educational experiences are critical, policymakers have implemented and expanded the provision of full-day kindergarten (FDK) in recent decades. Most studies have focused on the effectiveness of FDK on child academic assessments or test scores, but none have examined FDK and the link to executive function skills. Moreover, little work exists on the effectiveness of FDK for children with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to build on these incipient lines of research by estimating the effect of FDK on the executive function skills of children with disabilities. Drawing on data from a nationally representative sample of children with disabilities (n = 2,120) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011, we find significant positive effects of FDK on working memory (SD = 0.14) and cognitive flexibility (SD = 0.14) for children with disabilities in kindergarten. Despite significant immediate effects, the benefits of FDK rapidly fade by the end of 2nd grade. Practice or Policy: Policy implications and directions for future research are addressed.     

Self-employed workers: Returns to education and training

An empirical investigation of human capital returns to owners of unincorporated nonfarm businesses is described, and the results are compared with those for a similar cohort of employees. Data are from the older male cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey. A single-equation semi-log regression model is employed throughout. Results show that human capital returns to self-employed workers are basically consistent with results for employees, but some differences emerge. As hypothesized, returns to general training are somewhat larger and returns to specific training somewhat smaller for self-employed workers. The time path of returns associated with job tenure also differs.     

Effects of modeled auditory information on a sequential timing task

The purposes of the present experiment were to determine (a) whether an auditory model enhanced relative or absolute timing, (b) the extent to which the reduced frequency presentation of the auditory model resulted in enhanced retention, and (c) the degree to which executing the timing sequence was independent of the role of the effectors in carrying out the movement sequence. Participants (N = 45) were asked to alternately press two keys on a computer keyboard in an attempt to match the goal intervals presented on the computer monitor. Groups differed in terms of the frequency with which an auditory model (100, 50, or 0%) was presented. The results indicated that the auditory model (100% or 50% groups) enhanced relative timing performance and learning but not the learning of absolute timing. In addition, the 50% group did not appear to become dependent on the auditory model. However, significant decrements in performance were seen for the 100% group when the model was withdrawn. Last, participants were able to execute the timing sequences equally well when they reversed the hand used to execute the timing sequence. This was interpreted as strong evidence for the effector independence (Schmidt, 1975, 1988) and modularity of the timing sequence (Keele, Davidson, & Hayes, 1998).