Innovation,education, and media

Conclusion The reluctance to change on the part of educators and school systems represents a paradoxical situation. Teaching and learning consists of trying to bring about behavior changes, and the purpose of education is to develop individuals who are adaptive and creative. Therefore, the effort of the teacher and the major purpose of the educational enterprise is to bring about planned change in the individual. Why persons who are committed to this objective for all of the pupils for whom they have responsibility should reject or be neutral to planned change in their own practices as teachers is a gnawing and perplexing question. The preparation of this paper was supported by a contract with the Office of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, under the provisions of Title VH-B of the National Defense Education Act. The publicationMedia and Educational Innovation, upon which this paper is based, is available for $2 from the University of Nebraska Extension Division, Nebraska Hall #511, Lincoln.     

The beneficial effect of sleep on behavioral health problems in youth is disrupted by prenatal cannabis exposure: A causal random forest analysis of Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development data

Studies suggest prenatal cannabis exposure is associated with mood/behavioral problems in children. However, it is unclear if targeting modifiable domains like sleep behaviors would improve outcomes in exposed youth. Using a causal inference framework, the effect of changing sleep-hours on changing internalizing/externalizing problems in children was examined using the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development™ study baseline (ages 9–10; collected during 2016–2018) and year-1 follow-up data (N = 9825; 4663 female; 5196 white). Average treatment effects (ATE) indicated that more sleep predicted less internalizing (ATE = −.34, SE = .08, p < .001) and externalizing (ATE = −.29, SE = .07, p < .001) problems over time. However, prenatal cannabis exposure moderated the ATE on internalizing (conditional-ATE = .91, SE = .39, p = .019), whereby participants with exposure (n = 605) did not show any effect of changing sleep-hours on mood (B = .09, SE = .24).     

Evaluating the Continuity of Offending from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood and its Effect on Academic Failure among College Student Arrestees: A Research Note

Life-course/developmental criminology has generated a significant amount of research in recent years, yet some questions remained unanswered. The current study seeks to fill the gap in the literature by exploring two related research questions: (1) Are there identifiable factors that distinguish offenders who demonstrate continuity in their offending in adolescence and emerging adulthood? (2) Does offending continuity increase the likelihood for experiencing negative adult outcomes? Using official data from 1,920 college student arrestees, the results of this study suggest that males and violent offenders are significantly more likely to demonstrate offending continuity, and that offending continuity significantly increases the likelihood of academic failure in college (e.g. dropping out). Study limitations and implications are discussed.     

Beyond the sensible world: a discussion of Mark Zuss’ The practice of theoretical curiosity

In this article, Gene Fellner reviews Mark Zuss??s recently published The practice of theoretical curiosity (2012) and provides a synopsis of the book??s structure. These two sections are followed by a metalogue in which Mark Zuss, Welsey Pitts, and Fellner discuss curiosity and the conundrum of establishing limits beyond which curiosity should not roam. This is a central theme of Zuss??s book, and it is of particular significance today as curiosity, driven by developments in technoscience and transgenics, transforms nature and we who are part of it. Influenced by Merleau-Ponty??s phenomenological lens, Zuss discusses how our knowing the world through our senses is entering an uncertain future mediated by curiosity??s reach into everyday life.     

Examining the Role of Gender in the Prevalence of Campus Victimization,Perceptions of Fear and Risk of Crime,and the Use of Constrained Behaviors among College Students Attending a Large Urban University

The incidence and the impact of crime on college campuses are important issues for students and administrators alike. This study examines experiences with victimization and perceptions of crime on campus with a convenience sample of 997 students attending an urban university in Colorado. Approximately 8% of the student respondents indicated they had been victimized by at least one type of crime since first enrolling at the university. Respondents indicated low‐to‐moderate levels of fear and perceived risk of victimization on campus and viewed the campus as being moderately safe. Male and female respondents did not significantly differ in victimization rates, although gender differences were found in levels of fear, perceived risk of victimization, constrained behavior, and perceptions of overall safety on campus. The results from this study are compared to findings from the work of Jennings, Gover, and Pudrzynska in 2007, which examined campus crime among students at a traditional university, published in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education.     

Acculturation and Ecological Worldview Among Latino Americans

Abstract

The authors examined environmental attitudes among foreign-born Latino Americans and differences in these attitudes associated with acculturation. Data were collected from Spanish-speaking students (N = 153) enrolled in 3 levels of English as a second language (ESL) courses and from English-speaking students (N = 39) enrolled in a Spanish as a second language course. Measures included the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale, a 4-item acculturation scale, ESL course level, and demographics. Acculturation was negatively related to scores on the NEP scale, and Spanish-speaking students in lower level ESL courses scored higher on the NEP than students in higher level courses. These effects remained significant even when income and education were used as covariates. These findings suggest that culture is an important determinant of environmental attitudes.     

Exploring the Scholarly Output of Academic Organization Leadership in Criminology and Criminal Justice: A Research Note on Publication Productivity

A number of studies analyzing publication productivity of criminology and criminal justice scholars have emerged in recent years. More specifically, this body of literature applies varied cross‐sectional and longitudinal methodological approaches to demonstrate the publication productivity of scholars. Furthermore, these studies often diverge in their operationalization of the key construct of interest (publication productivity); however, one relative consistency is the list of “elite” criminology and criminal justice journals. This study seeks to explore the elite publication productivity among recent executive board members of the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences along with the board members of Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ regional affiliate associations. Comparisons are made between and within organizations/associations, and individual board member rankings are also presented. The results of this study indicate that publishing in the elite criminology and criminal justice journals is rare and there is variation across organizations/associations and variation among their respective members in the rate of publishing in these elite journals. Suggestions for future research examining publication productivity are also discussed.     

Internet Indiscipline: Two Approaches to Making a Field

This essay outlines two approaches to Internet research as an area of scholarship, the disciplined and the “indisciplined.” The former approach involves departments and curricula and is more stable in the long term but the chances of success are low. The latter approach is more flexible, emphasizing interaction between scholars and innovation without classics and constraints.