When do students ask why? Examining the precursors and outcomes of causal search among first-year college students

It has been theorized that students are most likely to ask why following unexpected, negative, and/or important events (Weiner, 1985); however, the unique contribution of these precursors to causal search and the resultant cognitions, emotions, and behaviors remain largely unclear. In the current study we examined causal search regarding test outcomes among 371 first-year college students. Responses to hypothetical scenarios indicated that unexpected events, and unexpected/negative events in combination, would elicit the most causal search. Based on performance on an actual test, precursors measured prior to the test indicated negative test outcomes elicited the greatest causal search. Alternatively, precursors measured following the test indicated a similar pattern to the scenarios. In each instance, event importance was also found to positively predict casual search. Overall, the results suggest that the exclusion of relevant precursors, self-serving biases, and divergent methodologies may have resulted in the discrepancies of previous research on causal search precursors. Finally, students who engaged in more causal search made more ability, test difficulty, and luck attributions, fewer effort attributions, experienced less pride and more shame, guilt, regret, and anger, and received poorer grades. The internal/uncontrollable attributional pattern suggests that first-year college students who are at-risk of de-motivating cognitions, emotions, and behaviors could be supported with cognitive interventions such as attributional retraining.     

Comprehensive reading instruction for students with intellectual disabilities: Findings from the first three years of a longitudinal study

This longitudinal experimental study investigated the reading progress of students with IQs ranging from 40 to 69 (i.e., range for students with mild or moderate mental retardation or intellectual disabilities [ID]) across at least two academic years, as well as the effectiveness of a comprehensive reading intervention for these students across the same period of time. Participants were 59 elementary students who were randomly placed into treatment and contrast groups. Students in the treatment condition received daily, comprehensive reading instruction in small groups of 1–4 students for 40–50 minutes per session across two or three academic years. Measures of phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition, comprehension, and oral language were included. Findings indicate that students with IQs in the ID range made significant progress on multiple standardized measures of reading. Furthermore, significant differences between the treatment group and contrast group were found on several measures, including progress‐monitoring measures of phoneme segmentation, phonics, and oral reading fluency. Results demonstrate that, on average, students with ID, even those with IQs in the moderate range, learn basic reading skills given consistent, explicit, and comprehensive reading instruction across an extended period of time. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Development and assessment of specialized liaison librarian services: clinical vs. basic science in a veterinary medicine setting

In 1998, the University of Florida Health Science Center Libraries (HSCL) developed and implemented a Liaison Librarian Program, dedicated to providing customized, subject-specific services to the faculty, students, clinicians, researchers, staff, and administrators of the six Health Science Center Colleges (Dentistry, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine). Subject- and role-specific (clinical vs. basic sciences) liaisons were assigned. This paper describes the HSCL liaison program, exemplified by the liaisons' work with the College of Veterinary Medicine. Preliminary program evaluation, a pilot project developed to discern the needs of the veterinary medicine clientele and facilitate awareness of liaison services, and subsequent re-evaluation of patron awareness and satisfaction are also discussed.     

Trends in Special Libraries: Observations Based on Conference Content

The annual conference of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) provides an opportunity to observe trends in special libraries emerging, continuing, and fading. This column analyzes the program of the SLA 2015 conference held in Boston June 14–16, 2015, and compares it to the programs of previous SLA conferences. Prior analyses and observations of SLA conferences are discussed. Emerging trends noted at the 2015 conference include data management and analysis, print collections, laboratory safety, and prospect research. Consulting, outsourcing, strategic alignment, open access, digitization, institutional repositories, and taxonomies have maintained a prominent presence at SLA conferences over the years. The column closes by calling for more research on and analysis of the content of SLA and other conferences attended by special librarians to capture trends not yet appearing in the journal literature.