A model for using a concept inventory as a tool for students' assessment and faculty professional development

This essay describes how the use of a concept inventory has enhanced professional development and curriculum reform efforts of a faculty teaching community. The Host Pathogen Interactions (HPI) teaching team is composed of research and teaching faculty with expertise in HPI who share the goal of improving the learning experience of students in nine linked undergraduate microbiology courses. To support evidence-based curriculum reform, we administered our HPI Concept Inventory as a pre- and postsurvey to approximately 400 students each year since 2006. The resulting data include student scores as well as their open-ended explanations for distractor choices. The data have enabled us to address curriculum reform goals of 1) reconciling student learning with our expectations, 2) correlating student learning with background variables, 3) understanding student learning across institutions, 4) measuring the effect of teaching techniques on student learning, and 5) demonstrating how our courses collectively form a learning progression. The analysis of the concept inventory data has anchored and deepened the team's discussions of student learning. Reading and discussing students' responses revealed the gap between our understanding and the students' understanding. We provide evidence to support the concept inventory as a tool for assessing student understanding of HPI concepts and faculty development.     

Proposed modifications to the conceptual model of coaching efficacy and additional validity evidence for the Coaching Efficacy Scale II-High School Teams

The purpose of this study was to determine whether theoretically relevant sources of coaching efficacy could predict the measures derived from the Coaching Efficacy Scale II-High School Teams (CES II-HST). Data were collected from head coaches of high school teams in the United States (N=799). The analytic framework was a multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis with ordered-categorical indicators and observed covariates. Applying this framework to the conceptual model of coaching efficacy (CMCE) resulted in a statistical model equivalent to a multiple-group multivariate regression with latent outcomes. Results provided evidence for the ability of measures derived from the CES II-HST to be predicted by theoretically relevant sources of coaching efficacy and suggested modifications to the CMCE.     

Internet Research: The Role of the Focus Group

LIS researchers have used the face-to-face focus group interview for many years. Other researchers have recently embraced a new rendition of the focus group—the online focus group. This article examines face-to-face and online focus group modes through a review of actual research experiences using the two approaches. Relevant literature is considered. Comparisons are then drawn as to similarities and contrasts in methodology, group dynamics, and group communication. Within this context, possible applications of the online focus group approach for library and information science researchers and practitioners can be considered. Rapid development of technology coupled with the face-to-face and the online focus group approaches may allow the creation and implementation of the hybrid version, the virtual focus group.     

The Road Oft Traveled: Collection Analysis and Development in a Modern Academic Law Library

While law students and faculty are content to research solely online, the librarians at Stetson University College of Law's Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library are actively involving every library department to analyze and develop both the print and digital collection. This case study will analyze the print to digital shift in academic law libraries and its effect on collection development. It will then describe the process of collection management at the Hand Law Library and how the entire library team is used to determine what is required of the collection to best serve our students, faculty, and the public.     

Collecting sexual orientation in counseling research: Implications for counselor education

Sexual orientation is often invisible in counseling research despite increasing LGBQ+ identity in the United States. We used consensual qualitative research to explore considerations from LGBQ+ counseling researchers for collecting sexual orientation. Three domains emerged: risks, benefits, and methodological considerations. Our findings highlight inclusive research practice strategies for LGBQ+ research participants.     

The role of sport as a social status determinant for children: thirty years later

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of sport as a social status determinant among racially diverse children. Participants were 1,233 fourth- to seventh-grade children. Results indicated there were gender, grade, and racial differences for the selection of social status determinants. Boys placed more importance than girls on being good at sports and wealth. Girls placed more importance than boys on getting good grades and being attractive. Fourth- and fifth-grade students ranked getting good grades as most important, while sixth- and seventh-grade students ranked being attractive as most important. Non-Hispanic Caucasian students ranked being good at sports and being attractive as most important, while African American students ranked getting good grades and wealth as most important