Teachers' comprehension of psychological reports

Three formats of psychological reports were studied. It was found that teachers comprehended better reports that organize information by functional domain, that describe strengths and problems in clear behavioral terms, that describe the child's learning style fully, and that state specific and elaborated program recommendations. Teachers preferred these reports over shorter reports that did not have the above features. They especially liked reports that explicitly respond to the referral questions.     

Automated scoring in context: Rapid assessment for placed students

This study investigated the use of automated essay scoring (AES) to identify at-risk students enrolled in a first-year university writing course. An application of AES, the Criterion^® Online Writing Evaluation Service was evaluated through a methodology focusing on construct modelling, response processes, disaggregation, extrapolation, generalization, and consequence. Based on the results of our two-year study with students (N = 1,482) at a public technological research university in the United States, we found that Criterion offered a defined writing construct congruent with established models, achieved acceptance among students and instructors, showed no statistically significant differences between ethnicity groups of sufficient sample size, correlated at acceptable levels with other writing measures, performed in a stable fashion, and enabled instructors to identify at-risk students to increase their course success.     

Can giftedness be taught?

This study investigates the relationship between giftedness and strategic flexibility using cognitive training methodology. The two experiments showed that the metacognitive training influenced strategic flexibility and metacognition of students. The results further showed that it is much easier to enhance performance on closed problems than with open problems which call for creativity.     

一吻定情

We seal our love so sweetly, In a kiss that＇s warm and kind You give me joy and bliss, And always peace of mind.     

Balancing between two goods: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and ethical compliancy considerations for privacy-sensitive materials in health sciences archival and historical special collections

Objective:

The investigation provides recommendations for establishing institutional collection guidelines and policies that protect the integrity of the historical record, while upholding the privacy and confidentiality of those who are protected by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or professional ethical standards.

Methods:

The authors completed a systematic historical investigation of the concepts of collection integrity, privacy, and confidentiality in the formal and informal legal and professional ethics literature and applied these standards to create best practices for institutional policies in these areas.

Results:

Through an in-depth examination of the historical concepts of privacy and confidentiality in the legal and professional ethics literature, the authors were able to create recommendations that would allow institutions to provide access to important, yet sensitive, materials, while complying with the standards set by HIPAA regulations and professional ethical expectations.

Conclusion:

With thoughtful planning, it is possible to balance the integrity of and access to the historical record of sensitive documents, while supporting the privacy protections of HIPAA and professional ethical standards. Although it is theorized that collection development polices of institutions have changed due to HIPAA legislation, additional research is suggested to see how various legal interpretations have affected the integrity of the historical record in actuality.

Highlights

• Ethical standards call upon special collections professionals to collect and provide access openly, while protecting individual privacy.
• A systematic historical investigation of legal and professional ethics literature can lead to standard best practices that address issues of privacy and access.

Implications

• Special collections professionals can establish guidelines that preserve the historical record and maintain collection integrity and access, while adhering to privacy legislation and ethical concerns.
• The framework suggested here can be used to write a collection development and access policy that complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
• Librarians who interact regularly with hospital administrators or researchers using patient data need to be aware of the ethical and legal issues involved in patient data retention.

     

A probability ranking principle for interactive information retrieval

The classical Probability Ranking Principle (PRP) forms the theoretical basis for probabilistic Information Retrieval (IR) models, which are dominating IR theory since about 20 years. However, the assumptions underlying the PRP often do not hold, and its view is too narrow for interactive information retrieval (IIR). In this article, a new theoretical framework for interactive retrieval is proposed: The basic idea is that during IIR, a user moves between situations. In each situation, the system presents to the user a list of choices, about which s/he has to decide, and the first positive decision moves the user to a new situation. Each choice is associated with a number of cost and probability parameters. Based on these parameters, an optimum ordering of the choices can the derived—the PRP for IIR. The relationship of this rule to the classical PRP is described, and issues of further research are pointed out.

Enhancing Critical Reflection and Writing Skills in the HBSE Classroom and Beyond

Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) is an ideal location in which graduate social work students can enhance their critical reflection and writing skills while integrating social work theories with practice, research, and policy. A writing-intensive, learner-centered model using specific strategies is described via a framework of critical pedagogy. In addition to its application within HBSE, this model can be adapted across the social work curriculum. The article is situated within ongoing debates concerning the relevance of social constructionism and postmodernism to social work.     

5. BOOKS AND LIBRARIES

THE HIGHWAYMEN: WARRIORS OF THE INFORMATION SUPER‐HIGHWAY by Ken Auletta (New York: Random House, 1997—$27.50, ISBN 0–679–45378–0, 346 pp., index)

THE BARRY DILLER STORY: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AMERICA'S GREATEST ENTERTAINMENT MOGUL by George Mair (New York: John Wiley, 1997—$24.95, ISBN 0–471–13082–6, 348 pp., notes, photos, index)

MONOPOLY TELEVISION: MTV'S QUEST TO CONTROL THE MUSIC by Jack Banks (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996—$22.00, ISBN 0–8133–1820–3, 291 pp., notes, references, index)

BE SEEING YOU ...DECODING THE PRISONER by Chris Gregory (Luton, England: John Libbey Media/University of Luton Press, 1997—$24.00, paper, ISBN 1–86020–521–6, 228 pp., bibliography and filmography, index)

GLOBAL SPOTLIGHTS ON LILLEHAMMER: HOW THE WORLD VIEWED NORWAY DURING THE 1994 WINTER OLYMPICS edited by Roel Puijk (Luton, England: John Libbey Media/ University of Luton Press, 1997— $40.00, ISBN 1–86020–520–8, 285 pp., appendix)

BROADCAST/CABLE PROGRAMMING: STRATEGIES AND PRACTICES by Susan Tyler Eastman and Douglas A. Ferguson (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 1997 [5th ed.]— $58.95, ISBN 0–534–50744–1, 471 pp., abbreviations and acronyms, glossary, annotated bibliography, bookmarks for the world wide web, index to program titles, general index)

TV DRAMA IN TRANSITION: FORMS, VALUES AND CULTURAL CHANGE by Robin Nelson (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997—$55.00, ISBN 0–312–17276–1, 277 pp., notes, references, index)

GLUED TO THE SET: THE 60 TELEVISION SHOWS AND EVENTS THAT MADE US WHO WE ARE TODAY by Steven D. Stark (New York: Free Press, 1997—$17.50, ISBN 0–684–82817–0, 340 pp., appendix, bibliography, index)

GEN X TV: THE BRADY BUNCH TO MELROSE PLACE by Rob Owen (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997—$24.95, ISBN 0–8156–0443–2, 240 pp., photos, bibliography, index)