Keeping friends safe: a prospective study examining early adolescent's confidence and support networks

There is a continued need to consider ways to prevent early adolescent engagement in a variety of harmful risk-taking behaviours for example, violence, road-related risks and alcohol use. The current prospective study examined adolescents’ reports of intervening to try and stop friends’ engagement in such behaviours among 207 early adolescents (mean age?=?13.51?years, 50.1% females). Findings showed that intervening behaviour after three months was predicted by the confidence to intervene which in turn was predicted by student and teacher support although not parental support. The findings suggest that the benefits of positive relationship experiences might extend to the safety of early adolescent friendship groups particularly through the development of confidence to try and stop friends’ risky and dangerous behaviours. Findings from the study support the important role of the school in creating a culture of positive adolescent behaviour whereby young people take social responsibility.     

Rethinking customer service training: A curricular solution to a familiar problem

High-quality customer service is an important aim of the library experience. Its importance is evidenced by attention given to the topic in scholarly literature and academic conference proceedings. This article describes the challenging process of creating and delivering a blended customer service training curriculum to all library staff working at public service points in the University of Maryland Libraries. An online course, in-person workshops, and digital badges were devised. Assessment was conducted at the end of the first year, resulting in revisions to the course.     

Copyright and Intellectual Property: What You Need to Know

In this session of the NASIG and Society of Scholarly Publishing joint program, a panel of lawyers conversed on topics related to the creation of copyright policy that impact both librarians and publishers. The topics chosen were selected to highlight areas of possible controversy between librarians and publishers. Dialogue centered on the concepts of international first sale, fair use, licensing and mass digitization, library exceptions, possible revisions to sections of the U.S. Copyright Act, and the relationships between accessibility issues and copyright. Through conversational style discussions the panelists conveyed to the audience that achieving balance in copyright law is challenging and the process often creates constructive tension among the rights of stakeholders.     

The Design Brief as a Creativity Catalyst in Design Education: Priming through Problem Statement

The design brief informs particularly the first phases of the design process; however, there are very limited studies on its role and functions. The current study proposes a framework that relates problem statement types in a design brief to creative outcomes by promoting the priming effect, which is a cognitive phenomenon describing the ways individuals behave accordingly to the way they receive a stimulus. The claim is that the brief has the potential to stimulate creativity and influence the type of outcomes by priming the design students using the problem statement. An experiment was conducted in which two groups of design students generated sketches in response to two types of problem statements (in noun and verb formations) in similar design briefs. The problem statements in verb formation were found to lead to a higher number of sketches containing more novel and flexible, yet less realisable ideas. The results support the contention that the design brief and the type of problem statements have the potential to act as a catalyst for creativity early in the design process.     

Perceptions of male and female academics within a teaching context

One hundred and sixty male and female undergraduates were exposed to one of four videotaped lectures that differed on two dimensions: sex of lecturer (male or female), and style of presentation (affiliative or instrumental). Analyses revealed that students' perceptions of lecturers are dependent largely on lecturing style. In general, all students preferred an affiliative style of lecturing. Affiliative lecturers were seen as more effective lecturers as well as more confident, professional, and approachable. Students also indicated that they would be more likely to approach lecturers presenting affiliatively to discuss content issues. Although the findings do not distinguish between male and female lecturers except as gender relates to lecturing style, they do support earlier research and indicate a highly responsive environment for male and female lecturers conducive to the development of high self-efficacy within a teaching context. Implications for female lecturers, for whom it is argued that an equally responsive research environment does not exist, are discussed in terms of differential career paths.     

Examining Psychometric Properties and Level Classification of the van Hiele Geometry Test Using CTT and CDM Frameworks

The van Hiele theory and van Hiele Geometry Test have been extensively used in mathematics assessments across countries. The purpose of this study is to use classical test theory (CTT) and cognitive diagnostic modeling (CDM) frameworks to examine psychometric properties of the van Hiele Geometry Test and to compare how various classification criteria assign van Hiele levels to students. The findings support the hierarchical property of the van Hiele theory and levels. Using conventional and combined criteria to determine mastery of a level, the percentages of students classified into an overall level were relatively high. Although some items had aberrant difficulties and low item discrimination, varied selection of the criteria across levels improved item discrimination power, especially for those items with low item discrimination index (IDI) estimates. Based on the findings, we identify items on the van Hiele Geometry Test that might be revised and we suggest changes to classification criteria to increase the number of students who can be assigned an overall level of geometry thinking according to the theory. As a result, practitioners and researchers may be better positioned to use the van Hiele Geometry Test for classroom assessment.     

Altering the Modality of Instructions to Facilitate Imagination: Interactions between the Modality and Imagination Effects

Under some conditions, learning is improved by using a dual mode presentation involving for example, visual diagrams and auditory, rather than written text (modality effect). Under other conditions, learning is improved by asking learners to imagine rather than study instructional material (imagination effect). Both effects have been explained using cognitive load theory. This paper investigates interactions between the modality and imagination effects. It was hypothesized that the imagination effect would be facilitated when accompanied by audio/visual instructions compared to visual only instructions. Experiment 1 provided evidence to suggest that for the materials used, audio/visual instructions were required to obtain an imagination effect. Experiment 2 through verbal protocols aimed to investigate the cognitive mechanisms required when studying and imagining and found that learners who studied tended to engage in search while learners who imagined focused on entities and relations that needed to be learned. in final form: 8 December 2005     

Examining Drivers of Course Performance: An Exploratory Examination of an Introductory CIS Applications Course

The accelerating diffusion of broadband Internet access provides many opportunities for the development of pedagogically robust Web‐based instruction (WBI). While the supporting technology infrastructure of broadband disseminates, the attention of academic researchers focuses upon issues such as the drivers of student usage of WBI. Specifically, the research presented herein examined the impact of WBI on a student's aggregate course performance. We hypothesized that learning independence (LI) is a determinate factor in a student's use of WBI. In this study, we employed structural equation modeling techniques to examine the data and assess the direct and indirect effects of LI on WBI usage. The subjects, students in an introductory Computer Information Systems applications course, used a Web‐based tutorial program for skills instruction. The findings of this study suggest that WBI usage has a significant impact on a student's course performance. Despite its plausibility, the effect of LI on WBI usage was not significant. However, we did conclude that two of the second order factors of the LI construct have a direct effect on a student's performance in the course.