It’ll Be Okay,Because We Belong Together: The Influence of Person-Organization Fit on Interpretation of Bad-News Messages in Academic Settings

Higher education has recently faced significant budget cuts. In response, academic leaders must communicate negative information to stakeholders while simultaneously attempting to maintain morale and credibility. This project investigated how students interpret a bad-news message from the university president and examined the impact of person-organization fit and demographic characteristics on interpretations and credibility. In Study 1, participants (N = 52) provided 19 varying interpretations for a real-life message. Using 5 components derived from the interpretations, Study 2 (N = 466) determined that person-organization fit and demographic characteristics influence interpretations and source credibility. Some outcomes varied according to whether participants had previously read the bad-news message.     

Building an ethical digital humanities community: Librarian,faculty, and student collaboration

ABSTRACT

This article examines work building a digital humanities community at Salem State University's Berry Library. The initiatives are comprised of a three-pronged approach: laying groundwork to build a DH center, building the DH project Digital Salem as a place-based locus for digital scholarship, and launching an undergraduate internship program to explore ethical ways of creating innovative research experiences for undergraduate students. Together, these initiatives constitute an important move toward putting libraries at the center of creating DH opportunities for underserved student populations and a model for building DH at regional comprehensive universities.     

The impact of body image on Fitbit use: a comparison across genders

This article is the first in the feature to explore personal tracking devices – in this case the Fitbit – and the relationship between their use and people's self‐perceptions and behaviour. Amber Edwards conducted the research for her MA dissertation at the University of Sheffield, graduating with an MA in Librarianship in January 2017. Her study shows that body image plays a large role in Fitbit use and that this is slightly more evident in females than males, although the differences are subtle. She argues that the results have implications for information professionals involved in teaching health information literacy. Amber began working in the library at Bishop Grosseteste University in June 2016, while completing her dissertation. A. M.     

Interpretation-Something New

Abstract

The ecological worldviews of 95 undergraduates were assessed via Blaikie's Ecological World View scale (1992). Positive ecological worldviews were associated with receptivity to arguments for preserving endangered species based on ethics and morality, the importance of a species to the ecosystem, and one's ability to make a difference; the type of organism that was endangered was not a factor in determining the effectiveness of a message. There was no relationship between ecological worldviews and receptivity to arguments on the basis of aesthetics or economics. Women had more positive ecological worldviews and found moral arguments to be more persuasive than did men.     

Positioning adult educators in discourses of professional development

This article explores the discursive work done by different notions of professional development in adult education. In particular we outline the ways in which the discourses of technical expertise, competence and reflective practice are deployed to mobilise professional practices and identities in particular ways and position certain practices and dispositions as specifically professional. We suggest that these discourses help to shape the negotiations between economies of performance and ecologies of practice within which professionals operate. We argue that much of this work is implicit in the pedagogies and curriculum of programmes for adult educators and that there is a need for detailed empirical research on the pedagogies of professional development and practice in adult education. With moves in Europe to develop professional standards for adult educators we suggest that studying the rhetoric of professional development provides an opportunity to open some existing diverse practices to new forms of scrutiny.     

Education for citizenship in Key Stages 1 and 2

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the current context and looks ahead to the opportunities that may now exist to develop education for citizenship. The place of citizenship in Key Stages 1 and 2 is discussed in the light of the National Commission's recommendations, the Dearing review of the curriculum and OFSTED's inspection framework. Questions about what is happening in schools are then raised. Answers to these questions were pursued through case‐studies of ten schools. An account of the findings under nine headings is presented and key issues summarized.     

Young people’s perceptions of the mathematics involved in everyday activities

This paper describes a study exploring young people’s perceptions of the mathematics involved in five everyday activities. It is based on individual interviews with pupils in Years 7 and 10 in four English secondary schools. Results suggest that young people are more aware of the mathematics embedded in everyday activities than previously thought. There was no evidence to support existing theories that young people have particular difficulties identifying mathematics within practical activities or those traditionally performed by women. However, participants did seem to restrict the label mathematics to activities involving a problem with a single or limited solution, and to activities which require a formal rather than experimental or intuitive approach. Some participants also seemed to relate their discussion of mathematics only to the aspect of each activity which takes most time and attention.