Chinese and non‐Chinese scholars’ contributions to communication research on greater China, 1978–98

This content‐analytical study investigates, over a two‐decade period, the contribution of ethnic and non‐ethnic scholars to communication research on Greater China. Although its findings show a significant increase in research publications on China over the years by both Chinese and non‐Chinese scholars, Chinese scholars are much more productive than non‐Chinese scholars. In addition, mixed ethnicity scholars have published more comparative studies than single ethnicity scholars. Telecommunications and advertising are the two fastest growing areas in communication research on China.     

Our Experience with User Experience: Exploring Staffing Configurations to Conduct UX in an Academic Library

ABSTRACT

A research project was undertaken by a university library system to develop a sustainable user experience strategy. A task force was convened to conduct a pilot project with members from both libraries in the system to assess staffing responsibilities, guidelines, processes, and data-gathering procedures. The team tested an electronic resources list common to both libraries. In describing the methods employed by the task force in their research, this article outlines the benefits and drawbacks of staffing configurations to initiate user experience practices in an academic library setting.     

Experimental Procedures in Test Evaluation

Specific learning behaviors used during peer tutoring and the relationship of those behaviors to the degree of learning achieved were examined. Audiotape recordings of 20 tutoring pairs were analyzed for behaviors exhibited by tutors and tutees. Three stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed to determine which behaviors were significantly related to the test scores of the tutor, the tutee, and the total score of the pair, respectively. There was only partial overlap between the most frequently used behaviors and the behaviors found to be predictive of achievement. The possible relationships between the predictive behaviors and learning processes during tutoring are discussed.     

Teachers' approaches to finding and using research evidence: an information literacy perspective

Background The use of research evidence produced by others is seen as central to the reflective practice of school teachers. There have been many recent UK initiatives aimed at improving access to research evidence, but there are still concerns about the lack of engagement by teachers. Previous research has looked at this issue from different perspectives, including the content and relevance of educational research, the relationships between researchers and teachers, accessibility and presentation of research and the culture of the school. The research presented here seeks to make a contribution to understanding the diffusion of research in the teaching profession by examining the issues from an information literacy perspective.

Purpose This paper examines the use of research information by UK school teachers, placing an emphasis on their information literacy—i.e. teachers' strategies and confidence in their abilities to find, evaluate and use research information, which is defined as the published output of a planned piece of research.

Sample Survey data were collected from 312 teachers and 78 head teachers from nursery, primary and secondary schools in Scotland, England and Wales. The sample included a wide range of teaching experience, ages, subject responsibilities, school locations and sizes, although there was a bias towards teachers who were motivated to use research evidence. Interviews were conducted with 28 teachers from primary, secondary, nursery and special education schools, and a further 15 teachers took part in group exercises. Interview and group exercise samples were more varied in their levels of research involvement.

Design and methods A mixed methodology was used. The questionnaire survey sought background data on more general attitudes towards research, as well as data on information access and confidence in finding and using general and research information. This was supplemented by qualitative evidence on information strategies and experiences from scenario or vignette interviews. Group exercises in which teachers discussed their responses to specific examples of research information were useful in focusing on strategies for evaluating information.

Results While survey respondents were, on balance, positively motivated towards the use of research evidence, their actual use of information from research was limited. They considered the most prominent barriers to their use of research information were associated with lack of time and lack of ready access to sources. This is likely to be a limiting factor in terms of the development of teacher confidence in finding, evaluating and using the kinds of information sources which are increasingly available to support their professional development. In fact survey evidence from the more research-motivated sample indicated that teachers were considerably less confident in finding and using research information than general information. Their confidence was slightly higher in finding research information (e.g. 67.1% and 60.9% were either confident or very confident in defining information needs and locating information respectively) compared to using research information (for example, 56.5% were either confident or very confident in organizing and synthesizing information). However, evidence from the more mixed interview and group exercise samples also revealed a range of concerns about lack of skills and knowledge needed to search and evaluate information effectively.

Conclusions The findings suggest that information literacy may be a factor in limiting the use of research information, exacerbating the perceived challenges of lack of time and lack of ready access to information sources. From an information perspective, teachers' use of research evidence is likely to be enhanced by greater development of information literacy; more attention to local information dissemination strategies; and the development of an information culture and ethos within schools.     

Higher-Order Factor Analytic Perspectives on Users' Perceptions of Library Service Quality

The SERVQUAL measure was developed by Parasuraman, Berry, and Zeithaml (SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring customer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64, 12–40) to measure perceptions of service quality, originally in the retailing sector. Libraries and other educational institutions, however are also service providers. Librarians, in particular, have recently become increasingly interested in measuring quality of service as the ultimate assessment of library performance, as against more traditional measures of performance such as mere counts of various holdings. The present study explored SERVQUAL score validity in the library service context using data from 596 users representing three user groups and measurement at three times over six years. Second-order factor analysis provided mixed results as regards the psychometric integrity of SERVQUAL scores applied within the library service context.     

Supervisor Cultural Humility Predicts Intentional Nondisclosure by Post-Master's Counselors

The authors examined supervisor cultural humility as a predictor of supervisee intentional nondisclosure. Using multiple regression in a sample of 101 post-master's counselors, the authors found that 20% of supervisees' intentional nondisclosure was explained by their perceptions of their supervisors' level of cultural humility.     

Creating cultures of disability to control young people in Australian schools

State and territory education departments across Australia have been attempting to respond to reported increases in the levels of disruption in schools. The problem is considered particularly severe in urban secondary schools. This paper examines the way in which integration or “mainstreaming” policies have been subverted in order to control disruptive young people by labeling them as defective.     

LEARNING STYLE AWARENESS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

This study examined the relationship between learning style awareness and academic achievement of community college students. The study was undertaken to determine if learning style awareness alone, without a change in the manner of teaching or in the matching of student and instructor styles, would benefit community college students as evidenced by an increase in academic achievement. The sample consisted of 78 second term anatomy students at Florida Community College in Jacksonville who were taught by two instructors who used comparable content and methods. By random assignment, half the group served as a control; the treatment half was given a learning style inventory, the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) by Dunn, Dunn, and Price (1979). The PEPS profiles were returned at mid‐term and were interpreted for each student. Individualized study tips for using learning style preferences advantageously were provided. All students were exposed to the same classroom experiences. Summed unadjusted scores of 105 objective items of common first and second classroom tests served as pretest scores. Scores of the 105‐item comprehensive final examination were used as posttest scores. An ANCOVA was performed using the pretest scores as covariates. There was a significant difference in academic achievement in favor of the learning style awareness group (p<.05).