Angel: post-implementation evaluation at the Indiana University School of Medicine

With continued adoption of course management systems, librarians are assuming new roles and challenges with regard to providing information resources and library services in a digital environment. For approximately five years, the Indiana University School of Medicine has employed Angel as its online teaching environment, and the Ruth Lilly Medical Library has been actively involved in the adoption of Angel. As the implementation phase was completed, a post-implementation evaluation was due. The authors conducted an evaluation of the Angel system to evaluate utilization level, content types, and library resources/services integration. This article provides the findings of the post-implementation Angel Courses Evaluation.     

The Methodology of the 'Views and Visions Project' of Land Use-UK: Practices,issues, decisions and experiences

The Land Use-UK Project was conducted with the support of teachers and students in schools throughout the UK. At the time they acted as surveyors of the landscape and, as well as mapping the land use, students recorded their perceptions of what they had seen together with their views for the future. Referred to now as the 'Views and Visions Project', these collective opinions from mostly whole class groups of students provide a database of 1287 responses. Along with the richness of discovery and meaning which the readings of these narratives of landscape experience provide, there have been many decisions to be made regarding the appropriate style and strategies needed for development of the data and interpretation and analysis of the research. This paper provides a reflection on the methodological decisions taken from the personal perspective of the authors as well as some critical comment on the limitations and possibilities of this essentially qualitative research approach.     

Canada’s national initiative to advance access to electronic journals*

This paper describes a national experiment in the licensing of full text information in journals, primarily in the fields of science, technology and medicine. It discusses the initiative of the federal government of Canada through the creation of the Canada Foundation for Innovation as a new funding agency, with an objective of improving research and creativity in Canadian science. The successful efforts initiated by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries/Association des bibliothèques de recherche du Canada to create a funding opportunity to develop the ‘information infrastructure’ for Canadian researchers and the resulting Canadian National Site Licensing Project (CNSLP) progress is discussed. The evolution of a project governance structure to maintain the support of the 64 participating institutions is reviewed and the need to develop an appropriate exit strategy at the conclusion of the federal funding is also considered.     

Seeking the Passionate Career: First‐in‐Family Enabling Students and the Idea of the Australian University

This paper examines the idea of the university from the first‐in‐family enabling students’ perspective. It provides an overview of the current crisis of meaning in scholarly commentary that points to a spectrum of meanings about the university. This spectrum ranges from the ancient imaginary of the monastic university as ‘ivory tower’ to the instrumental idea of the entrepreneurial university. The analysis then reports on the idea of the university in over 40 interviews and surveys of first‐in‐family enabling students who attended two large regional Australian universities in 2014. Their metaphorical understandings of the university constitute a powerful imaginary about what a university is and can do for individuals and the wider society. For many, the resolution of the individualistic passion for knowledge of ‘ivory tower’ studies and the commitment to the social and economic usefulness of the fully engaged entrepreneurial university can be found in the pursuit of the passionate career.     

The Contribution of Memory and Anxiety to the Math Performance of College Students with Learning Disabilities

The impact of memory and anxiety on math performance was analyzed in a sample of 115 college undergraduates, all of whom had a diagnosed learning disability. The direct effects of memory and anxiety on math performance were first examined, followed by an examination of whether anxiety moderates the relationship between memory and math. Both memory and anxiety were found to directly affect math performance. Additionally, anxiety served as a moderator of the relationship between memory and math for most, but not all, measures of math achievement. The moderating effect of anxiety was stronger for long-term retrieval than for short-term memory. The relationships between memory, anxiety, and math were not significantly different for males and females. These findings suggest that, when working with individuals who have low anxiety but poor memory, enhancing memory strategies may be effective for remediating problems in math. However, for those with high levels of anxiety, it may be more efficacious to first ameliorate the anxiety, as working on memory may have a negligible effect on math performance for these individuals.     

THE POWER OF SOCIAL AND MOTIVATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS FOR TEST‐ANXIOUS ADOLESCENTS’ ACADEMIC SELF‐REGULATION

Based on cognitive evaluation theory (CET) and organismic integration theory (OIT) – both sub‐theories of self‐determination theory (SDT) – the present study examined whether the academic self‐regulation of youth with test anxiety can be strengthened through social and motivational relationships with peers and teachers. This study employed a large sample (N = 1088; MAge = 13.7) of early adolescents from secondary schools in Brandenburg, Germany. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the proposed associations. The results revealed a negative association between test anxiety and intrinsic motivation as well as test anxiety and identified regulation, which was fully mediated by teachers as positive motivators. Furthermore, both teachers as positive motivators as well as the teacher‐student relationship were found to be strong predictors of the self‐determined aspects of academic self‐regulation. Additionally, both peers as positive motivators and the student‐student relationship are essential for external self‐regulation.     

Effortful Control Predicts Adolescent Antisocial‐Aggressive Behaviors and Depressive Symptoms: Co‐Occurrence and Moderation by Impulsivity

Effortful control is associated with fewer aggressive‐antisocial behaviors (AAB) and depressive symptoms (DEP), but impulsivity may moderate these relations. However, few researchers have considered the effects of AAB‐DEP co‐occurrence. A multi‐informant, multimethod approach assessed 5‐ to 10‐year‐olds’ effortful control and impulsivity and, 5–6 years later, their AAB and DEP (N = 474). Participants were non‐Hispanic Caucasian (59.2%) or Hispanic (27.9%) from a Southwestern U.S. metropolitan area. Low effortful control predicted pure AAB. Low effortful control and low impulsivity predicted pure DEP and co‐occurring AAB‐DEP. An effortful Control × Impulsivity × Age interaction predicted pure AAB and co‐occurring AAB‐DEP. For older adolescents, lower effortful control predicted more symptoms only at average and high impulsivity. Results highlight multiple pathways to pure DEP versus pure AAB or co‐occurring AAB‐DEP.