Interactive Kiosk at the Texas Tech University Libraries

The academic library, given its often privileged position on campus, is the information source that can include directional as well as general campus facts among the myriad of print and e-resources for reference. Also, an academic library's audiences can be quite varied and include prospective students or parents seeking more general knowledge of the building and the campus. Many times this need for information drives patrons to the library service desks. Sometimes, especially during the high-demand seasons of new student orientation and beginning of the fall semesters, the desk is so busy that many patrons will leave because they don't have the time to wait. To address this immediate need for information, Texas Tech University Libraries developed an interactive kiosk to provide general information for frequently asked questions in a more efficient, creative, and interactive way. The kiosk provides a fun method of satisfying a patron's information needs without the requirement of a staff member or the need to wait in line for help. The kiosk is available as long as the Library is open and provides a variety of useful answers to general questions, as well as facts about the Library.     

Child and Adolescent Predictors of Personality in Early Adulthood

This study investigated development of the Big Five personality traits from early childhood into adulthood. An initial group of 137 Swedish children were assessed eight times between ages 2 and 29 years. Initial decreases in extraversion leveled off in early adulthood; agreeableness and conscientiousness increased from ages 2 to 29; neuroticism initially increased, leveled off in later childhood and adolescence, and decreased throughout early adulthood; while openness to experience showed an initial increase, then decreased and leveled off in early adulthood. Individual developmental trajectories varied significantly, particularly in relation to gender. Personality traits became increasingly stable, and the fact that childhood scores predicted scores in adulthood indicated that personalities are fairly stable across this portion of the life span.     

Transforming education systems: comparative and critical perspectives on school leadership

The centrality of education in the pursuit of better economic and social prosperity is now well established. The dominance of human capital theory, which provides a strong argument for better education as a key factor in fuelling economic growth, has encouraged policy makers, in various countries, to focus on education reform as a key priority and to borrow policy solutions from other countries. This special edition explores one policy solution in depth. It investigates the preparation and training of school leaders in very different countries and takes a comparative perspective. This article argues that the limitations of standardized strategies are clearly visible when taking a comparative view and, most importantly, that context matters significantly in shaping, defining and explaining differential educational performance.     

Comparing performance: a cross-national investigation into the teaching of mathematics in primary classrooms in England and China

This article presents initial findings from an empirical study of the effectiveness of mathematics teaching (EMT). The article explores the teaching of mathematics in two very different contexts: England and China. Within each country, the target cohort of pupils were those aged 9–10 and overall, 19 teachers, 10 from England and nine from China, participated in the study together with their pupils (n = 562). Two internationally validated instruments were used to collect the data and teacher behaviours were also measured systematically. In addition, structured observation was undertaken in classrooms in both countries. The results show that, on average, Chinese teachers scored higher on effective teaching measures and Chinese pupils outscored their English peers in the tests that were part of the study. This research project is currently collecting qualitative data but its findings, to date, reinforce the findings from previous research studies suggesting that certain teacher behaviours and classroom factors work effectively to improve student learning outcomes.