Predictors of Relationship Satisfaction in Online Romantic Relationships

Based on traditional theories of interpersonal relationship development and on the hyperpersonal communication theory, this study examined predictors of relationship satisfaction for individuals involved in online romantic relationships. One hundred-fourteen individuals (N = 114) involved in online romantic relationships, and who had only engaged in computer-mediated communication (CMC) with their partners, completed an online questionnaire about their relationships. Intimacy, trust, and communication satisfaction were found to be the strongest predictors of relationship satisfaction for individuals involved in online romances. Additionally, perceptions of relationship variables differed depending on relationship length and time spent communicating. Implications for interpersonal and hyperpersonal communication theories, and future investigation of online relationships, are discussed.     

Topic Valence and Ambiguity in Parent-Emerging Adult Child Postdivorce Discussions

Communication privacy management theory maintains permeability rules manifest as communication strategies used during conversation. Although postdivorce families tend to privilege openness, this conclusion is based on recalled reports and single discussions about negatively valenced topics. To determine whether ambiguity functions as a manifestation of permeability rules and its effects on relational satisfaction and psychological well-being, 39 parent-emerging adult child dyads discussed one negatively valenced and one positively valenced postdivorce topic. Results indicated parents were ambiguous while discussing negatively and positively valenced topics, and children were perceptive of parents' ambiguity during the conversations. No differences were found between parents' use and children's perceptions of parents' ambiguity. Further, children's relational satisfaction and psychological well-being were affected by ambiguity in both discussions.     

An Introduction to Gamification: Adding Game Elements for Engagement

Gamification is defined as the use of game design elements in a nongame context. While gamification is not a new concept, new dynamics are unfolding that may cause more businesses, educators, and librarians to consider the use of game-like elements into future endeavors. In addition to more generation Y or millennials entering higher education and the workplace, there has been a significant acceptance of routinely using smartphones and playing games. This column will explain what gamification is, provide an overview of the benefits and concerns surrounding gamification, and describe how and where it is currently being used.     

Presenting Your Best: Web-Based Applications for Library Instruction

Library instruction in academic, health sciences, and hospital libraries is an evolving concept. Content, the intended learner, and various teaching models influence the creation of library instructional tutorials and presentations. Standard programs such as PowerPoint and Keynote are often used to generate these instructional materials. However, new and dynamic web-based presentation applications have the potential to improve the learning experience for patients and health care professionals. This column will briefly touch on library instruction and standard presentation creators, but will mainly concentrate on six web-based applications that can be used for the creation of library instructional presentations.     

An Effective Assessment Model for Implementing Change and Improving Learning

Assessment at Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) involves asking the right questions and using data to determine what changes should be implemented to enhance student learning. Guided by a 5-stage design, CCBC's assessment program is faculty-driven, risk-free, and externally validated. Curricular and pedagogical changes have resulted in evidence-based learning improvements that benefit everyone.     

Body‐Building: A Female Student's Use of the Transitional Spaces of a Painting Degree Course to Explore her Sexual Desirability and Aesthetics as a ‘Grotesque’ Female Body

Whilst a part of the fine art degree course is about teaching technical skills and learning from tutor/peer group crits, a larger part is about the facilitation of a ‘safe’ and structured space in which students gain the confidence to experiment with personal ideas, to hone a self‐critical reflection and understand who they are as individuals, before being cast out into the world as ‘artist’. In this article I examine the thought processes and decision‐making of one undergraduate female painting student. For this student, who struggled to find her own ‘grotesque’ female body image in the canon of art historical works or contemporary popular media, the spaces of the painting degree course created a frame for possible enactments of identity and desire, as well as for playing with roles and practices. Through a mix of interviews with the student, viewing her visual work and written narratives, I analyse how she was able to carve out a space for her visual representation within the institutional frame. My analysis reveals how this student uses the transitional spaces of the degree course to develop creative strategies through which to explore her sexual desirability and aesthetic self. As an individual who felt marginalised from the visual realm of the ‘body beautiful’, the degree course offered an important refuge where she could examine how she felt about her own body and develop a confidence and character to present her body to the world.     

Transitioning in elementary school: parent advocacy and teacher allyship

This paper examines how parent advocacy and teacher allyship played an important role in supporting six-year-old Violet Addley’s (a pseudonym) gender transition in elementary school. We first met the Addley family in the spring of 2015 when we interviewed them for a research study on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) families in Ontario schools. The goals of the study are to interview LGBTQ families about issues that come up at school, document how families have worked with schools to create safer and more respectful classrooms for their children, and share the families’ interviews with teachers and principals so they can begin to think about the ways they can best work with LGBTQ parents and their children. Our paper also discusses what a group of teachers learned about parent advocacy and teacher allyship from their engagement with the Addley family interviews.     

Children’s stereotypes of older adults: Evaluating contributions of cognitive development and social learning

Past research has investigated the development of stereotypes surrounding race and gender in children; however, there is a lack of literature examining the development of children’s stereotypes of older adults. In this study, 163 children from four grades: first (n = 44), fourth (n = 49), fifth (n = 35), and eighth (n = 35) completed a new trait-rating questionnaire assessing their stereotypes of older adults. Children’s stereotypes of older adults were largely positive. Younger children described older adults in more positive, but more stereotyped, ways than older children. Older children’s views shared a stronger relationship with those of their parents and peers compared to younger children. Together, these results support both cognitive development and social influences as contributing factors to the formation of children’s stereotypes of older adults.     

Referring and Reporting Research Participants at Risk: Views from Urban Adolescents

Researching developmental risks of urban youth raises ethical concerns when an investigator discovers a participant is in jeopardy. This study collected data on 147 seventh, ninth, and eleventh graders' views of 3 investigator options: (1) taking no action and maintaining confidentiality, (2) reporting the problem to a concerned parent or adult, and (3) facilitating adolescent self-referrals. Participants judged these options within the context of 5 risk domains: substance abuse, child maltreatment, life-threatening behaviors, delinquency, and shyness. Judgments of reporting options were related to grade and ratings of risk severity, but not to moral reasoning. Confidentiality was viewed favorably for risk behaviors of low perceived severity or for which the consequences of adult discovery might introduce greater risk. Confidentiality was viewed unfavorably and reporting to adults favorably for child maltreatment and threats of suicide. Self-referral was viewed favorably across all grades and risk behaviors. Implications of adolescent perspectives for research ethics are discussed.     

Critical race and LatCrit theory and method: Counter-storytelling

Using critical race theory as a framework, the article utilizes counter-storytelling to examine the different forms of racial and gender discrimination experienced by Chicana and Chicano graduate students. After describing the critical race theory framework and counter-storytelling method, the article moves to a story of two composite and data-driven characters, Professor Leticia Garcia and graduate student Esperanza Gonzalez. Various theoretical and conceptual issues such as self-doubt, survivor guilt, impostor syndrome, and invisibility are woven into Esperanza's graduate school and Professor Garcia's pre-tenure experiences.