Computer-assisted and traditional psychological assessment of elementary-school-aged children

Computer-assisted psychological assessment was evaluated as a possible alternative to traditional assessment methods. Forty gifted children and forty behavior problem children were administered the State Anxiety and FIRO-BC personality inventories. Half from each group were tested using a cathode ray tube computer terminal while the others were given standard written forms of the tests. All children were retested at a mean interval of 1 week using the same procedures. Test—retest correlations were significant for all six FIRO-BC personality scales regardless of assessment method. Time required to administer and score the inventories was significantly reduced by the computer procedure. While the children's initial perceptions of computers were generally favorable, the perceptions of those children who received the computerized tests significantly increased. Measures of mean state anxiety were uniform with all groups showing significant decreases from first to second testing sessions. These findings suggested that interactive computer assessment may provide a viable alternative to traditional assessment methods with children.     

THE IMAGE OF ISRAELI UNIVERSITIES AS PERCEIVED BY JOURNALISTS: POLICY AND PLANNING IMPLICATIONS

Universities throughout the world are being held increasingly accountable to society, and demands are being made that universities provide solutions to problems facing society. The demands seem to be correlated with the image of the universities.

In the present study, the overall image of Israeli universities is perceived to be positive, mainly because of their successes in the areas of scientific and technological endeavour. For this reason, much credit is given to them despite the minimal contribution they are perceived to have made to society in other important domains.

However, because of the serious economic crisis facing Israel, coupled with social problems of major magnitude, it is thought that in the foreseeable future the positive image of Israeli universities will change and a greater amount of accountability and contribution to society will be called for, especially in the moral, social, and economic spheres. University policy will be placed under increasing pressure to become more congruent with reality so as to provide conditions under which the universities may continue to enjoy public support as well as government aid.     

Dispositions as goals for teacher education

It is proposed that professional dispositions be added to professional knowledge and skills as goals for teacher education programs. Dispositions, which are defined as summaries of act frequencies or trends in behavior, are contrasted with habits, skills, attitudes, and traits. Professional dispositions are treated as “habits of mind” that give rise to the employment of skills and are ideally manifested by skillful behavior. Justifications for including dispositions in the goals of teacher education are also proposed.     

Students’ reaction to classroom discipline in Australia,Israel, and China

This study investigates the extent to which students from Australia, Israel, and China report that their teachers’ classroom disciplinary behaviour affects their attitudes towards schoolwork and the teacher. They also report how justifiable a teacher's intervention appeared. In all three settings, both punishment and aggression relate significantly to the level of students’ distraction and negative affect towards the teacher. Teachers’ recognition of responsible behaviour and discussion with students relate to less distraction and greater belief that the intervention was necessary. Hinting and the involvement of students in classroom discipline decision making relate to a stronger belief that the disciplinary actions taken are warranted. Implications are discussed.     

Social disaffection among deprived groups

One test of societal cleavages is the extent of differences in the population between subgroups such as race, social class, or generations, at three levels: nationalism, support for the political system, and satisfaction with aspects of every day living. National sample data indicate no clear marks of division on these three dimensions in the U.S. for groupings based upon income, education, occupation, age, or sex. The greatest potential cleavage is racial, for here there are differences between Blacks and Whites. consistent though not great, at all three levels. Various groups are tied into the system in different ways. People in the lower strata are stronger than managerial groups in their nationalism and evaluation of administrative agencies but lower on their confidence in national political leadership.     

Cell phones in campus libraries: An analysis of policy responses to an invasive mobile technology

This study examines how libraries within college and university settings in the United States have dealt with the influx of patron mobile telephone use. We contacted 150 colleges and universities throughout the United States and received 87 responses. These institutions were ranked by US News and World Report in their 2006 Edition of “America’s Best Colleges;” we sampled from their list stratified within the following categories: “top public universities;” “best liberal arts colleges;” “fourth tier liberal arts colleges;” “best national universities;” and “fourth tier national universities.” We found that those college and university libraries adopt an array of stances when approaching cell phone use within their library facilities. These approaches include structured guidelines that specifically address cell phone use posted on the library website, signs displayed throughout the library barring cell phone use, and signage that provides patrons with a list of areas in which use is permitted. Interestingly, we found that several libraries lack any kind of mobile phone policy and instead, assume all patrons will behave in a proper way.