Special Section Introduction: Best Practices in Risk and Crisis Communication

There is a substantial gap between those people in the United States who identify as being favorable toward organ donation (~90%) and those registered as donors (~30%). A growing body of evidence suggests Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offices are effective sites for facilitating higher organ donor registration rates on a national scale. The goal of the current study was to determine the utility and sustainability of a message immediacy approach, which draws from theoretical concepts such as priming and cues to action. Message immediacy requires individuals be: (a) exposed to a message that prompts an action, (b) in an environment where a prescribed action or behavior can be enacted, and (c) favorable toward the promoted behavior or action. Thirty-four Michigan counties, divided into three implementation groups, received campaigns in October (Group 1), November (Group 2), and December (Group 3) of 2009. Registration rates for three to six months after campaign implementation indicate that the on-site message prompts almost doubled registration rates in DMV offices. Additionally, preliminary cost-effectiveness evidence suggests message immediacy offers a relatively inexpensive campaign strategy.     

Applicant communication satisfaction,intent to accept second interview offers,and recruiter communication style

As attention to the recruitment function of campus employment screening interviews increases, the impact of recruiter communication on applicant decisions has come under scrutiny. Unfortunately, the extant research on applicants’ reactions to recruiters is inconclusive because of conceptual and methodological shortcomings. The present investigation addresses the problem by examining the extent to which applicants’ satisfaction with the communication that takes place during interviews predicts their intent to accept second interview offers, and by studying the influence of recruiter communication style on applicant satisfaction. Using the modified Interpersonal Communication Satisfaction Inventory and the Communicator Style Measure, data gathered from students and recruiters participating in interviews showed that communication satisfaction significantly predicts intent to accept second interview offers, and that recruiter communication style is a moderate predictor of applicant communication satisfaction. Implications for research and practice are explored in the concluding section of the paper.     

“Do I Really Hafta?” WebCal,A Look at the Use of LiveMath Software in Web-based Materials that Provide Interactive Engagement in a Collaborative Learning Environment for Differential Calculus

This paper describes the use of a Web-based Computer Algebra System (CAS) called LiveMath in a computer supported collaborative learning environment for Differential Calculus. The instructional design incorporated a Reform Calculus notion of Calculus and a constructivist philosophy of learning. Based on interviews with students, independent observations in the classroom, and observations by the teacher, this paper provides insight for students, instructional designers and classroom educators into the issues raised in this environment. The study was exploratory in nature, concerning itself with testing and revising both the materials and the setting in which they were used. The intent was to discover interaction between characteristics of students and the environment which warrant future study. For example, the use of LiveMath seemed in some cases to cause cognitive overload. In addition, student epistemological beliefs, prior knowledge of symbolic representations of functions and propensity for self-directed learning interacted with the ability of students to use LiveMath inserts to attain conceptual understanding. While students appear to have learned some concepts more deeply, and others more rapidly than anticipated, they reported that they judged that they were working harder than friends in other sections. Further, being in a student centred learning environment was unsettling for both the students and the instructor.     

Extinction produces context inhibition and multiple-context extinction reduces response recovery in human predictive learning

Two experiments with human participants were used to investigate recovery of an extinguished learned response after a context change using ABC designs. In an ABC design, the context changes over the three successive stages of acquisition (context A), extinction (context B), and test (context C). In both experiments, we found reduced recovery in groups that had extinction in multiple contexts, and that the extinction contexts acquired inhibitory strength. These results confirm those of previous investigations, that multiple-context extinction can produce less response recovery than single-context extinction, and they also provide new evidence for the involvement of contextual inhibitory processes in extinction in humans. The foregoing results are broadly in line with a protection-from-extinction account of response recovery. Yet, despite the fact that we detected contextual inhibition, predictions based on protection-from-extinction were not fully reliable for the single- and multiple-context group differences that we observed in (1) rates of extinction and (2) the strength of context inhibition. Thus, although evidence was obtained for a protection-from-extinction account of response recovery, this account can not explain all of the data.     

Writing as an Information Literacy Tool: Bringing Writing in the Disciplines to an Online Library Class

ABSTRACT

The Writing in the Discipline (WID) concepts lend themselves to execution in an online realm, where written communication is the primary means of contact between students and instructors. The author instituted WID in an online section of a 1-credit research class and found the WID framework also made it easier for students to demonstrate information literacy. WID provides space within a course for students to become accustomed to the discourse of a discipline, writing to understand before being asked to formally communicate. This article explains the concepts behind WID and outlines how it was executed within an urban community college online class.     

More Than Just Cat Pictures: Reddit as a Curated News Source

Uncritical acceptance of many occult and paranormal belief systems has become more and more common in modern Western society in the past decade. Until recently few professionals have taken the time to respond to these beliefs. However, within the past few years several journals and books have appeared which contain detailed refutations of numerous occult and paranormal beliefs. This article presents an annotated bibliography of such journals and books that are currently in print.