Evaluating Qualitative Inquiry in Technical and Scientific Communication: Toward a Practical and Dialogic Validity

In this article, we argue that one important criterion for evaluating qualitative studies of technical and scientific communication is whether we find our accounts meaningful and capable of redirecting our scholarly and professional practices. As a means of improving our understanding of the situations and practices we study, we address how to engage in our research in ways that not only are self-reflexive and dialogic, but that also solicit and use our participants' perspectives and authority—even when they may differ from our own.     

Online Education from the Perspective of Community College Students within the Community of Inquiry Paradigm

This article describes a qualitative inquiry that explored the phenomenon of online learning on a community college campus within the paradigm of Community of Inquiry (CoI). The learning experience of 15 community college students taking fully online courses was examined in-depth for evidence of social, cognitive, and instructional domains identified by CoI as critical components for the facilitation of a meaningful learning experience in computer-mediated environments. Findings conveyed suppressed social, cognitive, and teaching presence; and as a result, a meaningful learning experience was not achieved for the participants. Additionally, first-time online learners manifested a unique learning experience that warrants further investigation. Findings from this study raise questions about the pedagogical soundness of fully online courses for community college students. Future research should examine online learning as a distinct pedagogy and focus more intently on the teaching and learning process.     

Therapy Dogs in Academic Libraries: A Way to Foster Student Engagement and Mitigate Self-Reported Stress during Finals

More and more modern academic libraries are turning to student engagement activities designed to welcome students into Academia, join a community of scholars, and avail themselves of the full range of resources and services that a university library can provide. One unusual, but inexpensive and highly effective method of engaging students is bringing therapy dogs into the library. This article begins by explaining how therapy dogs differ from other types of dogs and how to counter objections to library engagement activities involving canines. It then offers a research-based rationale for human-canine interaction that is consistent with an academic library's mission. Next, the article addresses the planning/implementation phase a student engagement event involving handler/therapy dog teams, reviews the literature on successful programs at various institutions, and offers guidance to others seeking to initiate a similar program. A project of this type depends upon collaboration among faculty members, college students, support staff, volunteers, and the larger community. Finally, the article highlights results from a questionnaire administered to 449 students during a sequence of three “de-stress during exam week” events. Overall, the survey data suggest that: (1) social media was the most effective means of advertising, (2) students strongly supported the continuation of the event, and (3) 95% of the student participants considered interaction with the therapy dogs to be a means of stress reduction.     

The Structure of Discourse in Collaborative Learning

The authors examined the types of discourse structures that emerge during peer learning and the ways in which those structures are related to learning. One hundred and five 5th graders learned about writing conclusions that summarized the results of experiments they had conducted with electrical circuits. In groups of 4, they discussed the quality of 3 conclusions. The discourse structure of the discussions could be readily characterized as a network of arguments and counterarguments. The quantitative measures of the quality of those argument structures were positively related to improvement in the students' ability to write their own conclusions. In addition, the students who simply discussed whether the 3 conclusions were OK or not OK generated less complex argument structures than the students who discussed which of the 3 conclusions was best and which was worst. The results demonstrate the importance of considering the structure of peer discourse as a mediator of what students learn from peer interactions.     

Effect of the number of scale points on chi‐square fit indices in confirmatory factor analysis

This article investigates the effect of the number of item response categories on chi‐square statistics for confirmatory factor analysis to assess whether a greater number of categories increases the likelihood of identifying spurious factors, as previous research had concluded. Four types of continuous single‐factor data were simulated for a 20‐item test: (a) uniform for all items, (b) symmetric unimodal for all items, (c) negatively skewed for all items, or (d) negatively skewed for 10 items and positively skewed for 10 items. For each of the 4 types of distributions, item responses were divided to yield item scores with 2,4, or 6 categories. The results indicated that the chi‐square statistic for evaluating a single‐factor model was most inflated (suggesting spurious factors) for 2‐category responses and became less inflated as the number of categories increased. However, the Satorra‐Bentler scaled chi‐square tended not to be inflated even for 2‐category responses, except if the continuous item data had both negatively and positively skewed distributions.     

Parents’ Perspectives on Surf Therapy for Children with Disabilities

This qualitative study was designed to understand parents’ perceptions of their children’s participation in an inclusive surf therapy programme in the United States. Ten parents and one caregiver were interviewed about theirs and their children’s experience in the surf programme. Parent discussions centred on the child, parent/caregiver, instructor and challenges of parenting. Results indicate that parents perceive surf therapy to positively impact their child physically, socially and behaviourally. Findings also suggest cost, an inclusive, family-centred approach and opportunities for socialisation with other families were important to parents’ satisfaction.     

Computational What? Relating Computational Thinking to Teaching

Computational thinking is one of the skills critical for successfully solving problems posed in a technology driven and complex society. The limited opportunities in school settings to help students develop computational thinking skills underscores the need for helping teachers integrate it in their practices. Besides developing the knowledge of technology, content, and pedagogy, teachers need to recognize the relevance of computational thinking to their teaching, a factor influencing their future practice with it. Drawing from the literature on problem-solving and TPACK framework, this paper discusses strategies, including content-specific examples, problem-solving nature of computational thinking, and the methods of teaching problem-solving for enabling teachers to make the connections between computational thinking and their practices.     

Field experience study in a traditional setting

This paper presents a field experience in Fashion Marketing that is available to students at Kansas State University. The functions and responsibilities of the coordinator, the student, and the departmental supervisor are described, as are the evaluation processes that are used.The field experience is based on the premise that students will obtain realistic views of careers by on the job work experiences. Both students and participating retail establishments have indicated that this type of experience is mutually beneficial. It is anticipated that the field experience will continue to grow in popularity for the fashion marketing major.Dr. Theresa A. Perenich was formerly Department Head of the Clothing, Textiles and Interior Design Department at Kansas State University and is presently Department Head of the Clothing, Textiles, Interiors and Furnishings Department at the University of Georgia.