Reconcilable Differences: Conflict and Collegiality in a Unionized Community College Environment

Faculty unions are a prominent, though a comparatively recent, feature of American higher education. Today, a vast majority of community colleges have a unionized faculty. A number of researchers in the 1970s speculated that the presence of unions signaled the end of collegial shared governance and that interactions between administrators and unions would become increasingly adversarial. Subsequent experience suggests that the dire predictions were overblown. However, little institution-level research has been done to understand how unionization has affected academic governance. This study examines the governance system at a large, urban community college. The findings indicate that though at times relations are contentious, there are levels of conflict. Further there are a number of factors that tend to mitigate conflict and allow for collegial decision making. These include utilizing personal ties between members of the administration and the union, sharing data openly and also working together to collectively make sense of “the facts” before discussing possible resolutions to the presenting issue, and establishing an institutional norm that values finding solutions rather than scoring political points.     

Critical Issues Facing America's Community Colleges: A Summary of the Community College Futures Assembly 2008

Three focus groups consisting of board of trustee members, community college presidents, senior administrators, administrators, and faculty members developed critical issues facing community colleges with respect to instructional planning and services; planning, governance, and finance; and workforce development. Thereafter, the delegation of more than 200 voted on various aspects of the most critical issue divulged in the 2008 Community College Futures Assembly: general education assessment is coming. The findings, including opportunities and challenges, potential implications for community college administrators, and future research topics are also discussed, mostly in the context of workforce development opportunities.     

Exploring the Underlying Factor Structure of the Parent Reading Belief Inventory (PRBI): Some Caveats

Although mainstream preschool programs have been in existence since the 1970s, little is known about the ways in which typical children attempt to understand what it means for a peer to have a disability. In this study, 4-year-old children without disabilities who were enrolled in a mainstream preschool class explained their peers' disabilities by referring to concepts of immaturity, accident, or adaptive equipment to account for the behavioral differences that they observed. The implications of these cognitions for children's developing attitudes and behaviors toward peers with disabilities are discussed.     

Centrality of enactive experiences,framing, and motivation to student teachers’ emerging professional identity

Professional identity has emerged as a common theme in teacher development research, and the student-teaching practicum is often identified as foundational to identity development. In the context of the student-teaching practicum, interactions with cooperating teachers and pupils are believed to comprise the press for professional identity development, though theory-based explanations are often neglected in the literature, and findings are not always consistent. To address this issue, we used grounded theory to articulate a model explaining the relations among three constructs important to the process of identity development of student teachers (n = 14). Our findings are organized around a model that highlights the phenomenon of “negotiating who I am as a teacher,” which helps us describe differences between student teachers who changed identity vs. those that did not, and psychological and contextual reasons for renegotiation of identity. Discussion focuses on comparisons with previous models and possible implications for teacher education.     

Efficacy of using non-linear pedagogy to support attacking players’ individual learning objectives in elite-youth football: A randomised cross-over trial

ABSTRACT

The present study examined the efficacy of a coaching curriculum, based on non-linear pedagogy, on improving attacking players’ individual learning objectives (ILOs) in elite-youth football. Participants included 22 attacking players (i.e., centre-forwards, wide-players and attacking midfield players) from a professional football academy in England. The players were randomly appointed to both control (CON) and intervention (INT) periods following baseline measures. The INT (non-linear) and CON (linear) periods were both designed to support the ILOs provided to each player as part of the elite player performance plan. The study adopted a randomised cross-over design and ILOs considered important for attacking players (i.e., strong foot finishing, weak foot finishing, 1-v-1 and decision-making) were evaluated using the Loughborough Shooting Skill Test. The results showed significant differences for INT in 1-v-1 (P< 0.02) and decision-making (P< 0.01). However, there were no significant differences for strong foot finishing, weak foot finishing or time taken. These results support non-linear pedagogy in developing 1-v-1 game play and decision-making but not for technical shooting proficiency.     

Sensemaking and crisis revisited: the failure of sensemaking during the Flint water crisis

ABSTRACT

This study operationalized Weick’s [(1988). Enacted sensemaking in crisis situations. Journal of Management Studies 25(4), 305–317 and (1993). The collapse of sensemaking in organizations: The Mann Gulch disaster. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38, 628–652] theory of enacted sensemaking to examine the communication processes associated with the Flint Water Crisis of 2014–2015. A content analysis of 389 emails and attachments from a total population of N?=?37,376 pages of publicly released e-mails and documents pertaining to Flint’s water issues, identified examples of failed sensemaking by government officials. These failures hastened and intensified a growing crisis of lead contamination and an outbreak of Legionnaires disease associated with Flint’s municipal water system. Analysis of email messages suggests that strong commitments by top leaders and limited capacity were important factors as were efforts to create and maintain consensus among officials. The Flint Water Crisis offers an important application of sensemaking theory and its utility for both organizational and risk communication scholars and for practical application. The authors emphasize the importance of questioning previous assumptions and commitments, insuring that communication practitioners are involved in decisions, and avoiding over reliance on image repair as a strategic response.     

Reliably Assessing Growth with Longitudinal Diagnostic Classification Models

Recent advances have enabled diagnostic classification models (DCMs) to accommodate longitudinal data. These longitudinal DCMs were developed to study how examinees change, or transition, between different attribute mastery statuses over time. This study examines using longitudinal DCMs as an approach to assessing growth and serves three purposes: (1) to define and evaluate two reliability measures to be used in the application of longitudinal DCMs; (2) through simulation, demonstrate that longitudinal DCM growth estimates have increased reliability compared to longitudinal item response theory models; and (3) through an empirical analysis, illustrate the practical and interpretive benefits of longitudinal DCMs. A discussion describes how longitudinal DCMs can be used as practical and reliable psychometric models when categorical and criterion‐referenced interpretations of growth are desired.     

Cut points of the Actigraph GT9X for moderate and vigorous intensity physical activity at four different wear locations

ABSTRACT

Accelerometer cut points are an important consideration for distinguishing the intensity of activity into categories such as moderate and vigorous. It is well-established in the literature that these cut points depend on a variety of factors, including age group, device, and wear location. The Actigraph GT9X is a newer model accelerometer that is used for physical activity research, but existing cut points for this device are limited since it is a newer device. Furthermore, there is not existing data on cut points for the GT9X at the ankle or foot locations, which offers some potential benefit for activities that do not involve arm and/or core motion. A total of N = 44 adults completed a four-stage treadmill protocol while wearing Actigraph GT9X sensors at four different locations: foot, ankle, wrist, and hip. Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) levels assessed by indirect calorimetry along with Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were used to establish cut points for moderate and vigorous intensity for each wear location of the GT9X. Area under the ROC curves indicated high discrimination accuracy for each case.     

Learner self-efficacy,goal orientation,and academic achievement: exploring mediating and moderating relationships

ABSTRACT

Within the context of Pintrich’s self-regulated learning model, recent reviews of the literature show that motivational factors are the strongest predictors of academic performance. Even so, gaps remain in terms of which goal orientation constructs area most strongly related to performance, and whether academic self-efficacy is involved in such relationships, either as mediator or moderator. This study addresses these gaps using a sample of 478 university students; 409 females aged 17–62 (M?=?23.28, SD?=?7.22) and 69 males, aged 18–47 (M?=?22.5, SD?=?6.31). Analyses revealed that academic self-efficacy (ASE) mediated relationships between both mastery and performance-approach goal orientation with achievement, though the mediation effect was larger for the relationship involving mastery approach goal orientation. ASE did not moderate the relationship between performance-approach goal orientation and achievement. Findings suggest teaching programmes should foster learning environments that encourage persistence and effort when learning, and consider how course delivery and feedback can enhance academic self-efficacy, regardless of the goal orientation adopted by students.     

An Introduction to the Blockchain and Its Implications for Libraries and Medicine

The blockchain is a relatively new technology used to verify and store transaction records for online cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The system is redundant and distributed, making it difficult for transactions to be rescinded, duplicated, or faked. Beyond online currencies, the blockchain has potential uses in health care, education, and many other fields. This column will briefly describe what the blockchain is and how it is being used, potential future uses that may be of interest to librarians and medical practitioners, and some of the problems with the system.