An Examination of Coursera as an Information Environment: Does Coursera Fulfill its Mission to Provide Open Education to All?

In terms of international education, the concept of online education seems to be a growing trend. Edxonline.org, Minervaproject.com, and Udacity.com are all new massive online open courses (MOOCs)—education websites similar to Coursera offering students the ability to receive the best education from elite universities entirely online. The most tantalizing promise of a company like Coursera is the role it might play in improving education for the world's have-nots: high school dropouts, the global poor, and those less able to self-teach.     

Choosing and Reading Online News: How Available Choice Affects Cognitive Processing

A within-subjects experiment explored how the number of online, hyperlinked stories available for individuals to choose from affects cognitive processing of a selected story. Participants chose and read unpleasant online news stories from a Web page containing either 5 or 15 headline/photo hyperlinks. Heart rate data indicated more cognitive resources were allocated to reading stories selected from the larger array of hyperlinks. This increased allocation of cognitive resources also led to more accurate story recognition. Results of this study provide insight into information processing of interactive, online news as well as limited suggestions for the design of news Web sites.     

Communicating the Impact of Free Access to Computers and the Internet in Public Libraries: A Mixed Methods Approach to Developing Outcome Indicators

The U.S. IMPACT studies have two research projects underway that employ a mixed method research design to develop and validate performance indicators related specifically to the outcomes of public access computing (PAC) use in public libraries. Through the use of a nationwide telephone survey (n = 1130), four case studies, and a nationwide Internet survey of PAC users administered through 636 public libraries, this approach will generate generalizable quantitative data on the extent and distribution of the use of public access computing resources, as well as provide rich contextual data that will help understand how people use the computers and Internet connections in public libraries and the impact it has on their lives.     

On Being a Virtual World Librarian: Experiences in Offering Live Reference Services in a Virtual World

The reference collection holds an important place within the library. The proper maintenance of this collection through weeding is a critical yet often overlooked aspect of collection management. This article offers a case study describing a reference collection weeding project, including the development of a reference collection policy, a review of standing orders, the goals and outcomes of the review, and a discussion of the benefits of the project.     

Integrating Video Documentary Into the Classroom: A Community Assessment Assignment

Community assessment is a strategy commonly taught to social work students to identify a community’s strengths and challenges. This article describes the value of using video documentary as part of a community assessment assignment. We identify the advantages of using video documentary in the assessment process and the reporting of findings. We discuss the preproduction, production, and postproduction steps necessary to produce a video documentary and illustrate how such assignments can be incorporated into a social work course. We conclude by identifying the educational benefits accrued to students.     

The contributions of parental management language to executive function in preschool children

This study investigated relations between preschoolers’ emergent executive function skills and their interactions with parents, with particular focus on the verbal utterances parents use to guide children's behavior (i.e., management language). Parent–child dyads (n = 127) were videotaped during a structured play task and the frequency of two types of management language, Direction (high control) and Suggestion (low control), was observed. Children's executive function was assessed using the Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders (HTKS) task. Latent growth modeling was used to investigate relations between management language and the development of children's executive function. Direction language (i.e., commands) was negatively associated with children's age three executive function but not significantly related to the rate of executive function development over time. Conversely, Suggestion language (i.e., questions and statements that offer children some degree of choice) was positively related to executive function at age three but negatively related to growth. The potential importance of management language as a parenting behavior that contributes to various aspects of children's self-regulation during preschool and kindergarten is discussed.     

The Monster Within: How Male Serial Killers Discursively Manage Their Stigmatized Identities

Investigations of identity management regarding serial killers are sparse and rarely account for the communal discourse surrounding serial homicide. Such studies are essential to understanding the intersections of stigma and identity, particularly for the exploration of reframing that is severely limited for deviant populations. This interpretive study examined 13 interviews with serial killers to explore stigmatized identity management. The analysis revealed that male serial killers rejected their stigmatized identity by indicating a lack of control over their non-normal behavior or by justifying their actions. They also indicated that societal influences, such as previous traumatic experiences and communal discourse surrounding serial killing, influenced their identity management.     

Educational attainment in the short and long term: was there an advantage to attending faith,private, and selective schools for pupils in the 1980s?

ABSTRACT

This paper asks whether private, selective, and faith schools in England and Wales in the 1980s provided an academic advantage to their pupils, both in the short and longer term. Using longitudinal data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, we examine academic outcomes in compulsory schooling and further education, and the highest qualification gained by age 42. School sector differences are substantially attenuated by controlling for prior pupil characteristics. Nevertheless, a residual effect of private, grammar, and secondary modern schooling remains, both in the short and long term, controlling for both pupil and school characteristics. In the case of faith schools, however, the apparent advantage is restricted to the short term once pupil characteristics are controlled. A unique feature of our analysis is that we control for the individual’s faith of upbringing, which is important in reducing what could otherwise be seen as a distinctive Catholic school advantage.