‘Alive’ on the internet: A user‐centred evaluation of BIS‐online

Recent UK government initiatives have encouraged academic staff to consider using IT to enhance students' experience of higher education in terms of its quality, flexibility and effectiveness. In 1999 second year undergraduate students studying Information Management at Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh were invited to use a set of tailored web resources in support of the module Business Information Sources. This article presents the results of an evaluation conducted to discover the student view of the web site materials and the alternative learning methods employed for the module. Student opinions were sought on the accessibility, retrievability and usefulness of the information presented, and the ‘enjoyment’ of the learning experience. A comparison of the 1998/9 student examination performance was made with that of previous cohorts to determine whether adding another dimension to the experience of taking the module might impact the quality of the students' learning. The findings presented in the article will inform the further development of such initiatives, which in tum should improve the electronic delivery of learning materials in UK higher education.     

Further Validation of the Coach Identity Prominence Scale

This study was designed to examine select psychometric properties of the Coach Identity Prominence Scale (CIPS), including the reliability, factorial validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and predictive validity. Coaches (N = 338) who averaged 37 (SD = 12.27) years of age, had a mean of 13 (SD = 9.90) years of coaching experience, and were currently coaching 46 different sports, served as the participants in this study. Participants completed a questionnaire that included four sections: Demographics, identity prominence (CIPS; Pope & Hall, 2014), motivation (Coach Motivation Questionnaire [CMQ]; McLean, Mallet, & Newcombe, 2012), and passion (The Passion Scale; Vallerand et al., 2003). The findings provided support for the various types of reliability and validity tested in the present study, with only partial support for discriminant validity. The CIPS may therefore serve as a viable option for researchers interested in further understanding the identity or psychological processes of coach.     

Multilingual primary classrooms: an investigation of first year teachers’ learning and responsive teaching

This article draws on the analysis of 26 interviews with newly qualified primary teachers (NQTs) in one multilingual city in England, towards the end of their induction year. Interview analysis focused on three themes: developments in pedagogic practice, collaboration with colleagues, resolutions for change or development. Detailed thematic analysis confirmed that NQTs were engaged in reflection about how to respond to diversity, in some cases building on awareness raised in teacher education. Learning on the job was a frequent theme but five respondents still expressed lack of confidence about their approaches. Twenty-one NQTs believed that they had begun to develop responsive forms of teaching, aided by support from and collaboration with other colleagues, including teaching assistants, many bilingual. Implications of the study are that both teacher education and educational research programmes need to give further time to the study and development of linguistically responsive forms of teaching.     

Examining perceived control level and instability as predictors of first-year college students’ academic achievement

The aim of the present study was to examine the intraindividual level and instability of perceived academic control (PC) among first-year college students, and their predictive effects on academic achievement. Two studies were conducted measuring situational (state) PC on different schedules: Study 1 (N = 242) five times over a 6-month period and Study 2 (N = 80) daily over a 2-week period. Consistent across both studies were confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation models demonstrating significant PC instability, as well as negative correlations between intraindividual PC levels (average across measurements) and instability (standard deviation across measurements). Also, in both studies PC level positively predicted subsequent academic achievement, although no significant PC instability first-order effects were found. Both studies revealed a PC level by instability interaction, as students with high-unstable PC typically received poorer grades than high-stable PC students. Study findings highlight the importance of considering both PC level and instability, and identify a previously unknown group of first-year college students at-risk of under-achieving academically – students with high-unstable perceived control.     

The Impact of Grey Literature in Advancing Global Karst Research: An Information Needs Assessment for a Globally Distributed Interdisciplinary Community

A survey of the global karst community was conducted in 2006. The survey was distributed via the World Wide Web to known karst researchers. The instrument was designed to generate an initial inventory of core grey information types, to assess levels of usage of grey information by the respondents, and to gauge the karst community’s willingness to participate in building and expanding both this collection and the associated controlled vocabularies.