A new normal? Competing national cultural discourses and workers’ constructions of identity and meaningful work in Norway

We examine how conceptions of identity and meaningful work are influenced by a nation's changing economic and political environment. We collected research in Norway – a country with a rich economy that has heavily relied upon oil production since the 1980s. Yet depleting oil resources are prompting an economic transformation. Twenty-seven interviews and a thematic analysis revealed how Norwegian workers safeguarded their traditional, collective workplace values, yet were simultaneously confronted with modern – more masculinized – workplace performances ushered in with the oil era. We contribute to theory by suggesting that work's meaningfulness is constructed by competing national cultural discourses that evolve over time. These discourses become narratives that citizens draw upon to evaluate work and to negotiate their personal and professional identities.     

Relational Maintenance and Social Support in the Aftermath of Sudden and Expected Death

Bereavement is a state of grieving after the loss of a loved one. Past research has suggested that bereavement is particularly challenging, both physically and emotionally, in the aftermath of unexpected death. Here, we examine bereavement in which death occurred suddenly, compared to a chronic condition where death was expected, in terms of perceived social support and relational maintenance with the deceased in the form of imagined interactions and social media interactions. Results indicated that individuals experiencing sudden death bereavement were more likely to engage in both postmortem relational maintenance techniques and perceived less social support than individuals in the expected death bereavement group. Results are discussed in terms of previous findings.     

A Comprehensive Model for Addressing Severe and Persistent Mental Illness on Campuses: The New Diversity Initiative

In response to the increase in severity and prevalence of student‐presented mental disorders on college campuses, a comprehensive campuswide identification and intervention program titled “The New Diversity Initiative” was developed to help college counselors and student personnel staff address students with severe mental disorders. Details of the program and recommendations for college counselors interested in implementing such a program are provided.     

Altered surfaces,taking the long view: Applications of ethnographic conservation practices to the conservation of contemporary art

While working together on tradition-based and contemporary works at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) and in private practice, the authors found that their expertise in ethnographic conservation can be applied to the conservation of contemporary works. The treatment approach to ethnographic works has evolved over decades, shifting from alteration of original surfaces and heavy restoration to an emphasis on preserving the original integrity of the artwork through minimal intervention. This paper describes the evolution of ethnographic object conservation regarding surface alteration, while specifically focusing on African objects, and discusses applications of this approach to the conservation of contemporary art. The historical change in treatment attitudes is presented using examples from NMAfA's collections to underscore why the profession developed a minimal intervention approach and to argue for the relevance of this approach to related contemporary media.     

Space Case: Moving from a Physical to a Virtual Journal Collection

Journal publishing has evolved and changed considerably over the years, leaving many libraries to grapple with analyzing and identifying the purpose and scope of these collections. After numerous discussions and an analysis of how the current print journal collection was being used, Kraemer Family Library at the University of Colorado–Colorado Springs decided to withdraw over 50% of the library’s print journal holdings in order to create a collaborative space for students. This article begins with an overview of journal publishing as it relates to academic libraries and the impact of electronic serials on the scope and purpose of a print journal collection. It then highlights the steps used to complete the project, and communication goals and methods employed to keep library staff members, faculty on campus, and other constituents aware of the changes taking place in the library.     

Epistemological beliefs and self-regulated learning with hypertext

This study investigated the relationship between epistemological beliefs, prior domain knowledge and self-regulated learning. Biology students (n?=?25) and humanities students (n?=?26) who varied in their epistemological beliefs learned with a hierarchical hypertext about the topic of genetic fingerprinting. During their learning processes, logfiles and questionnaire data were collected. Results indicate that students do metacognitively calibrate their learning process to the complexity of the presented learning material, e.g. by processing more complex deeper-level nodes longer. Furthermore, these calibration processes were significantly related to epistemological beliefs. For example, more ‘sophisticated’ epistemological beliefs were associated with processing more nodes, whereas more ‘naïve’ beliefs were related to spending more time on single nodes. Both effects were especially pronounced on deeper hierarchical hypertext levels. Prior domain knowledge also had an impact, especially on comprehensibility ratings: biology students considered all nodes more comprehensible than humanities students. Additionally, epistemological beliefs as well as prior domain knowledge were also significantly associated with the learning outcome: for example, more prior domain knowledge led to significantly higher learning outcome.     

The speaker/gender effect: does the speaker’s gender matter when presenting auditory text in multimedia messages?

Current cognitive multimedia design theories provide several guidelines on how to integrate verbal and pictorial information. However, the recommendations for the design of auditory texts (narrations) are still fragmentary, especially with regard to the characteristics of the voices used. In the current paper, a fundamental question is addressed, namely, whether to use a male or a female speaker. In two experiments, learners studied dynamic visualizations on probability theory that were accompanied by narrations. The learner’s gender and the speaker’s gender served as between-subjects variables. In the first study, learners were randomly assigned to speakers of different gender. In the second study, learners could choose among different speakers. The results show that learners achieved better learning outcomes when the narration was presented by a female speaker rather than a male speaker irrespective of the learner’s gender (speaker/gender effect). Being given the choice, learners preferred female speakers, but this individual preference had no impact on learning outcomes. The results suggest augmenting purely cognitive approaches to multimedia design by social-motivational assumptions.     

Visual-Motor Integration,Executive Functions,and Academic Achievement: Concurrent and Longitudinal Relations in Late Elementary School

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: Using data from a short-term longitudinal study of 343 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students, we investigated visual-motor integration (VMI) skills as a predictor of direct assessments of executive functions (EFs) and academic achievement. This is the first study to investigate relations among these three constructs in late elementary school. VMI predicted change in EFs from fall to spring. EFs and VMI were independently associated with math and English/language arts standardized test scores. When controlling for earlier achievement test scores, EFs—but not VMI—remained a significant predictor of later academic achievement. Results indicate that VMI may help support the continued development of EFs in late elementary school, but EFs appear to be comparatively more important as a direct predictor of continued academic development during this age period. Practice or Policy: VMI is a complex ability that combines fine motor coordination (an aspect of school readiness) and visual-spatial reasoning skills. VMI has been identified as an influential predictor of early academic development, but it has been neglected in middle childhood studies. Our results suggest that VMI remains important through the end of elementary school for the continued development of children’s EFs and therefore merits more attention from researchers and educators.