Anxiety and the Use of Alcohol‐Related Protective Behavioral Strategies

Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are useful skills for reducing the negative consequences of alcohol. The moderating effects of anxiety on the relationship between 3 different types of PBS and negative consequences were examined among students accessing college counseling services. Results revealed a significant interaction between anxiety and strategies while drinking, suggesting that these simple strategies may be particularly beneficial among students who drink heavily and experience high levels of anxiety. Implications for counseling centers are discussed.     

Evaluating academic development in the higher education sector: academic developers’ reflections on using a toolkit resource

The professionalisation of teaching is of increasing importance in UK higher education due to converging processes including the proliferation of managerialism, increasing quality agendas and changes to student fee structures. These have brought into sharp relief the need for greater understanding of how quality teaching evolves in university settings. One key element of this involves academic development and its impacts on teaching and learning. Current literature suggests that a plethora of ideas, frameworks and instruments claiming best practice exist but that take-up of these is inconsistent. This prompted a UK national research project which produced an evidence-based toolkit for evaluating academic development. As part of the toolkit augmentation, academic development representatives from across the sector were asked to create, review and test uniquely tailored evaluation instruments. These instruments were then piloted on university teachers who had participated in teaching-related continuing professional development activities. This paper reports on these individuals’ reflections of using the toolkit. It suggests that academic developers are interested in evaluating the impact of their work on teachers, students and on the wider institutional culture but that confidence and expertise varies. Using the toolkit generated ‘traditional’ evaluation data including satisfaction with the development activity and changes to lecturers’ conceptions and behaviours. However, it also prompted critical discussions around current evaluation practice. This included the need for transformational reform of institutional culture to support links between evaluation and good standing; and making explicit the thorny issue of evidencing student learning. This paper will be of interest to those with an interest or responsibility for evaluating teaching in higher education. The paper offers an important contribution to the international literature at a time when global higher education is faced with questions about teaching, learning and quality. Evaluation, and how to do it well, is timely and important business.     

Project ISLA: A space/time/full-text/format search and retrieval system designed by end users

This article discusses the role of end users in the design of a multi-format digital library project (ISLA) being developed at the University of Southern California Library for the study of the Los Angeles region. ISLA focuses on the specific needs of cross-disciplinary research involving large urban regions.     

Factors influencing adaptation from university to employment in Portugal and Brazil

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - The career adaptation model helps to explain the process of transitioning from university to employment among college students. This...     

Children’s sibling relationships and gendered practices: talk,activity and dealing with change

This article addresses children’s sibling relationships as a site of social learning involving the (re)production of femininity and masculinity, drawing on in‐depth qualitative interviews with children aged 8–12. We begin by noting the lack of focus on gender in the majority of previous work on siblings. After introducing our own study, we look at the ways in which children understood their siblings in relation to themselves, highlighting points of closeness and division, and pointing to class distinctions around individuality and collectivity. We then explore how ‘talk’ and ‘activity’ are key gendered features of children’s relationships with their sisters and brothers, revealing versions of femininity and masculinity, and interplays of power. Finally, we consider how these gendered features of sibling practices have implications for children’s ability to deal with change in relationships with their sisters and brothers, especially living apart from each other, and we return to class as a feature of their understandings.