Information systems management: The need for a post-modern approach

This paper proposes a post-modern way of thinking about the development and the management of information systems and especially information systems development. The paper proposes a framework for a co-evolutionary or co-creation approach to information systems development and management incorporating all the main stakeholders.     

Examining the effectiveness of real-time query expansion

Interactive query expansion (IQE) (c.f. [Efthimiadis, E. N. (1996). Query expansion. Annual Review of Information Systems and Technology, 31, 121–187]) is a potentially useful technique to help searchers formulate improved query statements, and ultimately retrieve better search results. However, IQE is seldom used in operational settings. Two possible explanations for this are that IQE is generally not integrated into searchers’ established information-seeking behaviors (e.g., examining lists of documents), and it may not be offered at a time in the search when it is needed most (i.e., during the initial query formulation). These challenges can be addressed by coupling IQE more closely with familiar search activities, rather than as a separate functionality that searchers must learn. In this article we introduce and evaluate a variant of IQE known as Real-Time Query Expansion (RTQE). As a searcher enters their query in a text box at the interface, RTQE provides a list of suggested additional query terms, in effect offering query expansion options while the query is formulated. To investigate how the technique is used – and when it may be useful – we conducted a user study comparing three search interfaces: a baseline interface with no query expansion support; an interface that provides expansion options during query entry, and a third interface that provides options after queries have been submitted to a search system. The results show that offering RTQE leads to better quality initial queries, more engagement in the search, and an increase in the uptake of query expansion. However, the results also imply that care must be taken when implementing RTQE interactively. Our findings have broad implications for how IQE should be offered, and form part of our research on the development of techniques to support the increased use of query expansion.     

Executive function effects and numerical development in children: Behavioural and ERP evidence from a numerical Stroop paradigm

Most research on numerical development in children is behavioural, focusing on accuracy and response time in different problem formats. However, Temple and Posner (1998) used ERPs and the numerical distance task with 5-year-olds to show that the development of numerical representations is difficult to disentangle from the development of the executive components of response organization and execution. Here we use the numerical Stroop paradigm (NSP) and ERPs to study possible executive interference in numerical processing tasks in 6–8-year-old children. In the NSP, the numerical magnitude of the digits is task-relevant and the physical size of the digits is task-irrelevant. We show that younger children are highly susceptible to interference from irrelevant physical information such as digit size, but that access to the numerical representation is almost as fast in young children as in adults. We argue that the developmental trajectories for executive function and numerical processing may act together to determine numerical development in young children.     

Navajo child abuse and neglect study: A comparison group examination of abuse and neglect of navajo children

The presence of vastly different cultural influences on child rearing and family life in Native Americans than are found in the general population offers an opportunity to examine the issue of child abuse and neglect in a different cultural context. A study was conducted to obtain baseline data and to isolate types and circumstances associated with maltreatment of Navajo children under 9 years of age. Records from tribal and state courts, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), state social services and a sample of ambulatory pediatric cases were reviewed to elicit abuse or neglect status data for calendar year 1975. Data on 365 abuse or neglect cases were compared with 867 nonabused or nonneglected children (comparison group). A double blind case numbering system was employed to ensure confidentiality of data obtained. Abuse cases were dichotomized according to litigation status (e.g., adjudicated versus documented by clinical findings). Neglect cases were categorized by perceived parental control over circumstances leading to the neglect (e.g., voluntary versus involuntary neglect). Reliability sub-studies were conducted by study staff and Navajo volunteers to assess the degree of agreement in the classification of study case status. Tribal census data for 1975 provided baseline information from which the incidence of abuse or neglect involving Navajo children was established. Extrapolated study data suggests up to 8.6% of the reservation resident Navajo children under age 9 to have been abused or neglected. Various sociode-mographic characteristics differentiating the abusive and neglectful families from those of the nonabused or nonneglected children in the comparison group are reported.     

Longitudinal Relations Among Parenting Styles,Prosocial Behaviors,and Academic Outcomes in U.S. Mexican Adolescents

This article examined parenting styles and prosocial behaviors as longitudinal predictors of academic outcomes in U.S. Mexican youth. Adolescents (N = 462; Wave 1 M_age = 10.4 years; 48.1% girls), parents, and teachers completed parenting, prosocial behavior, and academic outcome measures at 5th, 10th, and 12th grades. Authoritative parents were more likely to have youth who exhibited high levels of prosocial behaviors than those who were moderately demanding and less involved. Fathers and mothers who were less involved and mothers who were moderately demanding were less likely than authoritative parents to have youth who exhibited high levels of prosocial behaviors. Prosocial behaviors were positively associated with academic outcomes. Discussion focuses on parenting, prosocial behaviors, and academic attitudes in understanding youth academic performance.     

Developmental Relations Among Behavioral Inhibition,Anxiety, and Attention Biases to Threat and Positive Information

This study examined relations between behavioral inhibition (BI) assessed in toddlerhood (n = 268) and attention biases (AB) to threat and positive faces and maternal‐reported anxiety assessed when children were 5‐ and 7‐year‐old. Results revealed that BI predicted anxiety at age 7 in children with AB toward threat, away from positive, or with no bias, at age 7; BI did not predict anxiety for children displaying AB away from threat or toward positive. Five‐year AB did not moderate the link between BI and 7‐year anxiety. No direct association between AB and BI or anxiety was detected; moreover, children did not show stable AB across development. These findings extend our understanding of the developmental links among BI, AB, and anxiety.     

Transforming Perceptions of Urban Education: Lessons From Rowan University's Urban Teacher Academy

To be an effective urban educator requires teachers to understand the contextual factors of students, the school, and the community, and their cumulative effects on learning. Urban teacher academies support a better understanding of urban classrooms and challenge stereotypes of the urban context. The focus of this study was to compare participants' perceptions of urban settings before and after 2 weeks spent at an urban teacher academy for high school students.     

Vaginal introital diameter in the evaluation of sexual abuse

Physical objective markers to aid in the diagnosis of sexual abuse are few. We therefore studied 242 females, ages 1 through 12 years, to determine if the vaginal introital diameter is useful in evaluating a child for sexual abuse. The children were divided into three groups: Group I, history of sexual contact and/or Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Group II, no history of sexual contact but at risk; and Group III, nonabused. A vaginal introital transverse diameter of greater than 4 mm was more prevalent among children in Group I (94%) than in Group II, (5%); or in Group III (0%) (chi 2, p less than .001). Eighty-eight percent of children who complained of penile-vaginal penetration had a vaginal introital diameter greater than 4 mm as compared to 18% of children with no penetration (chi 2, p less than .001). Forty-six percent of children who complained of fondling with penetration had a vaginal introital diameter of greater than 4 mm as compared to 14% in those without a history of penetration (chi 2, p less than .008). Fifty-eight percent of children with more than one encounter had a vaginal introital diameter greater than 4 mm as compared to 29% in those with one encounter (chi 2, p less than .006). In a logarithmic regression analysis, the greatest proportion of children with a vaginal introital diameter greater than 4 mm was observed in the penile-vaginal contact group (chi 2, p less than .00003). The test is not very sensitive but highly specific. The sensitivity drops precipitously at greater than 5 mm without losing the specificity. A vaginal introital diameter of greater than 4 mm is highly associated with sexual contact in children less than 13 years of age.     

New Orleans Early Intervention Study of Children with Visual Impairments

There is widespread agreement that early intervention for children with visual impairments and their families is important and beneficial. However, few con- trolled prospective studies of the effectiveness of various types of early intervention have been completed with these children. This randomized study evaluated the immediate and long-term effects of a comprehensive, weekly homebased intervention for infants and toddlers with visual impairments, compared with a low-intensity treatment through parent group meetings offered approximately 12 times per year. In annual assessments conducted for t h e years after the intervention was begun, there were negligible statistically significant or practical differences between groups based on a variety of measures of child and family functioning. In light of the cost-effectiveness analyses reported, questions are raised about the type of early intervention that should be provided to children with visual impairments.     

Liminality in education: generating a creative space of encounter and dialogue between teachers and students within educational structures

ABSTRACT

The dominant results-driven/performance-oriented culture and the pressures of performativity in education have meant that the promotion of creativity has been narrow in scope and the translation into practice less apparent than the rhetoric would suggest. Creativity can survive even in times of standardisation, but it is more likely to be confined to interstitial zones. Interstitial zones are in-between social spaces outside the formal teaching zones in which creativity may give voice to those students whose voice is not always heard in the formal teaching context.

Often, creativity is equated exclusively to substantial creative outputs and, as a result, teachers who are not sensitised to creativity in a broader sense may underestimate their own creative ability and the positive impact this might have on the relationship with their students. A shift in teacher education that results in a more meaningful appreciation of both the nature of creativity and its benefits is therefore required. A developmental approach which starts with teacher cultivation of creative sensibility is essential to achieve greater infusion of creativity. The paper posits that teachers who resist rigid social structures and engage in critical pedagogy are also more likely to be receptive to creativity and its the pastoral potential in education.