New Learning: a different way of approaching conference evaluation

New Learning (NL) is an innovative process aimed at collaborative learning in professional and scholarly events and is a new way of approaching evaluation at professional conferences. NL is a process integral to a conference that focuses on the learner and how and what they learn, rather than on presenters and presentations. Whereas most professional conferences claim learning as a primary objective, seldom do any structure or evaluate to maximize that objective. The NL process helps to structure and assess organizational learning as a primary outcome in addition to providing avenues for collection of traditional evaluation information. This article explains the NL process, reviews the literature of learning and evaluation, describes what NL is and how it works, and then compares and contrasts it with traditional evaluation methods and theory. It concludes with implications for future applications and research for NL.     

Different approaches to classroom environments based on teacher experience and effectiveness

The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to continue looking at the differences in classroom environments for different levels of teachers. Specifically, we wanted to focus on teacher perspectives of classroom management, relationships with students, motivating students, student risk-taking within the classroom, and student self-regulation. The three levels we looked at for this study included highly effective teachers, proficient teachers who have taught for more than 3 years, and new/developing teachers. The results found three major themes with differences in how teachers at each level approached classroom management, relationships with students, and student behaviors within the classroom. The student behaviors within the classroom included self-regulation and risk-taking. The results of this study provide researchers more information regarding the different stages of teaching, information to schools on ways to mentor teachers at each level of teaching, and information to teacher preparation programs on ways to help preservice teachers prepare for the classroom.     

Dependency and Autonomy: Strategies for a Leader’s First 90 Days

Abstract

Rather than reinventing the wheel for each new position, leaders in libraries may choose to rely on heuristics that leading thinkers in organizational theory have pointed out exist in many organizational settings. One of the central concerns they have elucidated is the dynamic between dependency and autonomy, which are ways of understanding a main theme in the narrative the organization is telling about itself in direct and indirect ways. This column adapts this framework to a new leader’s first few months on the job in order to highlight organizational signals or tells that would key the new leader into how dependency and autonomy exist as a balance.     

Wallowing in Media Past: Media-Induced Nostalgia’s Connection to Parasocial Relationships

This article elaborates on media-induced nostalgia as a mixed emotion elicited by remembering past media content and characters. It argues that social components of media consumption such as parasocial relationships (PSRs) play an important part in the elicitation of nostalgia. In an online study, participants (N = 96) remembered their individual media use and preferred media characters as children. Results show that media-induced nostalgia is significantly associated with PSRs to characters in the past. These findings are evaluated concerning their implications for future research on nostalgia and PSRs.     

Students’ perceptions of family influences on their academic motivation: A qualitative analysis

Research examining family influences on student motivation and achievement in school has generally focused on parental influences and has often been limited to one or two variables (e.g., parental expectations or aspirations, parental involvement in schoolwork). In the present study we interviewed high school seniors to examine whether and how family members affected their academic motivation and achievement. Interviews were coded holistically for the strength, affective tone, source, and types of familial influence. Emergent themes from the interview analyses revealed that students perceived a broad range of types and sources of familial influence on motivation. Interviews were divided into five prototypical patterns: Family Obligation, Family Pleasing, Family Support, Aversive Influence, and No Influence. The types of familial influence differed by cultural characteristics (generational status, native country) and by achievement level. Associations between the five patterns of family influence and existing theories of family influence are discussed.