Textbook access and affordability through academic library services: A department develops strategies to meet the needs of students

In the spring of 2015, the University of Minnesota Libraries formed the Content Services department, which is comprised of Interlibrary Loan, Publishing Services, and the Copyright Permissions Service. These three service points, as well as additional Library units, work together with campus partners to save students money on their course materials through a variety of programs and pilot projects. By employing multiple avenues to help faculty and students put affordable content into their existing workflows for providing and accessing required readings, the University of Minnesota Libraries are ensuring that there are many options available that support coursework and ultimately student success.     

The peritextual literacy framework: Using the functions of peritext to support critical thinking

The peritextual literacy framework (PLF) is a tool for accessing, evaluating, and comprehending the content of media using elements that frame the body of a work and mediate its content for the user. Paratextual elements are the focus of research in classification, bibliometrics, reader’s advisory work, and in studies of authorship and publication. However, paratextual theory is just beginning to be acknowledged in LIS. The PLF closes a gap in paratext theory by categorizing the functions of peritext into six types: production, promotional, navigational, intratextual, supplemental, and documentary. The PLF is unique that it provides both a framework for further research on peritext, as well as a pedagogical tool that supports teaching in the areas of information literacy, media literacy and analysis, critical thinking, reading, and media design and production.     

Creating a web of support: an important leadership strategy for advancing campus diversity

Research demonstrates that leadership, particularly among presidents, is important for moving a diversity agenda forward and make appreciable progress on it. The research questions pursued here are: What is the role of the college president in advancing a diversity agenda? What strategies do presidents identify as important to facilitating a diversity agenda? There were three main findings: (1) strategies are deployed in a non-linear way best represented through a web metaphor, (2) six sets of actors that serve as key nodes on the web and specific strategies were crucial to enhancing and deepening the web-developing an internal network, hiring, mentoring, partnering with faculty on the curriculum, supporting student affairs staff, working directly with and learning from students, and establishing external networks; and, (3) strategies within the human resource frame are noted by presidents as particularly important to moving a diversity agenda forward.     

General population norms about child abuse and neglect and associations with childhood experiences

BACKGROUND: A variety of definitions of child abuse and neglect exist. However, little is known about norms in the general population as to what constitutes child abuse and neglect or how perceived norms may be related to personal experiences. METHODS: We conducted a random-digit-dialed telephone survey of 504 Washington State adults. Respondents were asked whether they believed each of 34 behaviors, identified in focus groups as possibly physically, sexually or emotionally abusive or neglectful, constituted abuse or neglect. Then, they were asked whether they had experienced 33 of the behaviors. RESULTS: Five of the six behaviors with the highest levels of consensus were for sexual abuse, whereas only one emotionally abusive behavior had a high level of consensus (95% agreement). Consensus that spanking constituted abuse increased with severity. Those respondents who reported experiencing a particular behavior were significantly less likely to believe the behavior abusive for 11 of the 33 behaviors and more likely to believe the behavior abusive for two of the behaviors. Where comparisons were possible, there was a high level of consensus that behaviors identified as abusive in Child Protective Service operational definitions constituted abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported childhood experiences were associated with perceived norms about child abuse. A better understanding of community norms about child abuse and neglect may be helpful in communicating with the public or allow for better targeting of educational messages through the media, parenting education classes, and so forth.     

Relaxation and guided imagery as an intervention for children with asthma: A replication

Asthma is a pervasive inflammatory disorder of the bronchial airways that causes the normal functioning of the airways to become overreactive. This disorder affects approximately 8 million children in schools per year and accounts for a significant amount of absences. Researchers have speculated that pharmacological interventions are alone insufficient or overaggressive in treating asthma, and numerous studies have demonstrated a connection between emotions and asthma. It has therefore been suggested that psychological interventions may be appropriate for this population. One such intervention, relaxation and guided imagery (RGI), that incorporates mental representations as well as the senses in a process of relaxing all the parts of the body has been shown to be effective with children with asthma. The current study served as a replication and extension of this previous research. The purpose of the investigation was to examine the effectiveness of RGI with an elementary school sample as well as determine the overall improvement in happiness, anxiety, and quality of life of the participants. Results demonstrated that RGI significantly improved the lung functioning of 3 out of 4 participants in the study. Furthermore, overall happiness improved for 1 participant in the study, state anxiety decreased for 2 of the 4 participants, and trait anxiety decreased for all 4 participants. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 707–720, 2005.     

Introducing positive psychology: Finding a place within school psychology

An introduction to the special issue addressing positive psychology and its “place” in and implications for schools is provided. The articles contained within the issue are described within the context of our perspective regarding positive psychology in schools. As the study of positive psychology continues to evolve, it is likely that its application within other fields (including school psychology) will be more clearly expressed. We contend that the “success” of introducing, implementing, and sustaining positive psychology within schools may be dependent on its early yet also sustained integration across multiple contexts. And, a “positive” school psychology will require attention to the convergence of multiple, diverse areas of literature. The articles within this special issue begin this movement toward finding either a place for positive psychology within school psychology or a place for school psychology within positive psychology. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 1–5, 2004.     

Dialogue in the support of learning to teach: a case study of a mentor/mentee pair in a teacher education programme

In this paper, we examine the role of reflection in teacher preparation, specifically within a mentoring relationship between cooperating and preservice teacher. We report findings from a case analysis of this pair who engaged in problem-posing dialogue within pre- and post-conferences around practice over one year of their work together in an elementary-level classroom. The context is an innovative programme in which cooperating teachers pursue their Master’s degree while undergraduates (preservice teachers) complete their elementary education degrees. Our analysis of talk about teaching during six coaching cycles as well as supporting documents illustrates how Jane’s mentoring supported reflective practices and disrupted a notion of a field experience as simply a place to ‘practice’ pedagogical knowledge with corrective feedback. Additionally, we explore the tensions in this approach to mentoring. This case study has implications for teacher educators who seek to bolster teacher preparation through the support of mentoring relationships.     

Advancing the case for creativity through graduate business education

We describe an MBA course focusing on creativity and innovation in organizations. Drawing on the creativity literature and experiential learning theory, the theoretical foundations of the course are discussed. Core aspects of the course include reading articles from academic journals and business periodicals, engaging a wide variety of experiential activities, keeping a personal journal, and completing two individual projects. We sought to understand the effect of the course on students’ perceptions of the importance of creativity for organizations, their own creativity and self-perceptions of creativity, as well as their perceptions of the utility of journaling. Data were collected at the beginning and end of the course to examine these issues. The results suggest that the course had a positive influence in each case. These results are discussed and thoughts for future research are provided.