Teacher e-mail message strategies and students' willingness to communicate online

In light of the prevalent use of e-mail between teachers and students, researchers have highlighted the need to assess its uses and effects. Relying on the research and thinking of teacher immediacy and extra-class communication, we developed a scale that measures those e-mail message strategies that influence students' willingness to communicate online with their teachers. Next, we isolated those reasons that students use e-mail to interact with their teachers: (1) to clarify course material and procedures, (2) as a means of efficient communication, and (3) for personal/social reasons. Finally, we examined student characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, and history of e-mail use that may (or may not) influence their attitudes toward e-mail exchanges with teachers.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Perspectivesand Experiences on Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Research: Part II

Abstract

This issue is the second of a special PRIMUS two-part issue collecting articles on undergraduate research from experienced faculty mentors. We offer it as a valuable resource for faculty leading undergraduate research programs. This issue presents a collection of papers offering advice on a variety of specific topics important for leaders of undergraduate research programs. Issues of finding and designing appropriate and accessible research projects, assessing undergraduate research, and publicizing it in the media are addressed.     

Domesticating Computers and the Internet

The people who use computers and the ways they use them have changed substantially over the past 25 years. In the beginning highly educated people, mostly men, in technical professions used computers for work, but over time a much broader range of people are using computers for personal and domestic purposes. This trend is still continuing, and over a shorter time scale has been replicated with the use of the Internet. This paper uses data from four national surveys to document how personal computers and the Internet have become increasingly domesticated since 1995 and to explore the mechanisms for this shift. Now people log on more often from home than from places of employment and do so for pleasure and for personal purposes rather than for their jobs. Analyses comparing veteran Internet users to novices in 1998 and 2000 and analyses comparing the change in use within a single sample between 1995 and 1996 support two complementary explanations for how these technologies have become domesticated. Women, children, and less well-educated individuals are increasingly using computers and the Internet and have a more personal set of motives than well-educated men. In addition, the widespread diffusion of the PC and the Internet and the response of the computing industry to the diversity in consumers has led to a rich set of personal and domestic services.     

Using the Content of Online Privacy Notices to Inform Public Policy: A Longitudinal Analysis of the 1998-2001 U.S. Web Surveys

In the United States, Congress has had a long-standing interest in consumer privacy and the extent to which company practices are based on fair information practices. Previously, public policy was largely informed by anecdotal evidence about the effectiveness of industry self-regulatory programs. However, the Internet has made it possible to unobtrusively sample web sites and their privacy disclosures in a way that is not feasible in the offline world. Beginning in 1998, the Federal Trade Commission relied upon a series of three surveys of web sites to assess whether organizations post online privacy disclosures and whether these disclosures represent the U.S. definition of fair information practices. While each year's survey has provided an important snapshot of U.S. web-site practices, there has been no longitudinal analysis of the multiyear trends. This study compares a subset of equivalent individual-level web-site data for the 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 web surveys. Implications for using this type of research to inform public policy are discussed.     

Researching Internet Communities: Proposed Ethical Guidelines for the Reporting of Results

Communication researchers and social scientists are quickly discovering the value of data that exists in the postings of members of Internet e-mail, Usenet, and real-time groups. The ability to communicate with one's peers, no matter how esoteric the interests, is causing an explosion in the number of new virtual communities. The interpersonal dynamics of these groups are increasingly coming under the scrutiny of academic research. The publicly available archived records of Internet virtual communities are being analyzed for a wide variety of research interests. The ability to do naturalistic observations of group dynamics, as they are exhibited in these exchanges of text, has captured the attention of many researchers. The institutional review boards of major universities are granting researchers exempt or expedited (exempt from full review) status for this work, due to the public nature of the notes being analyzed. These studies often involve the lack of informed consent, where the group members under study are unaware they are being monitored. There is a potential for psychological harm to the members of these groups, depending on the way results are reported. This article explores the ethical considerations that must be taken into account to protect cyberspace participants. The guidelines proposed are based on the American Psychological Association ethical guidelines for use of human subjects in research. An explanation is offered as to how such guidelines can best be applied to the study of Internet communities. The constructs of Group Accessibility (the public/private nature of the actual cyberspace occupied by a group) and Perceived Privacy (the level of privacy that group members assume they have) are defined and proposed as two dimensions by which individual Internet communities may be evaluated in order to assure the ethical reporting of research findings.     

Dialog系统上证券信息的检索

本文在介绍Tradeline文档的基础上，探讨了通过Dialog系统的检索证券信息的方法，并指出，在因特网上充斥着大量免费信息的情况下，Dialog系统仍然是证券投资类研究人员重要的情报源。     

The impact of peer mentoring on pupils’ emotional literacy competencies

Research suggests that peer mentoring can positively impact on emotional literacy competencies. This study explored the effects of peer mentoring on the emotional literacy competencies of Year 7 peer mentees using a quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test control group design. Results supported the hypothesis that peer mentoring has a positive impact on the emotional literacy competencies of mentees with low to average levels of emotional literacy at pre-intervention. Results also showed a significant negative correlation between attendance at sessions and perceived Conduct Problems. Unexpectedly, results indicated adverse effects of reading mentoring on the emotional literacy competencies of control participants.     

在线学习活动设计与网络教学平台的功能

本文主要论述了网络教学平台在网络教学中的重要地位,并从功能模块和网络课程教学实施的角度分析了网络教学平台的功能,通过调研提出了目前成人学历教育中在线学习活动的类型及特点,最后分析不同类型在线学习活动对网络教学平台的功能要求。     

在线实践社区中教师同伴互助活动的可视化

教师同伴互助活动的可视化有助于设计者对在线实践社区功能的反思和更精致设计的决策,对于参与在线实践社区同伴互助活动的教师而言,有利于识别教师同伴互助的行为模式、增加社区感、增强社会存在感、吸引教师的专注力和个人行为的反思与行动。对于研究的本身,为进一步的教师同伴互助行为的预测和挖掘奠定了基础。本文的目标是探究教师同伴互助活动可视化的思路、技术和方法。     

基于混合图的在线社交网络朋友推荐算法

针对在线社交网络朋友推荐问题,尝试融合多个社会网络为一个混合图模型,采用基于混合图模型的重启动随机游走算法,为用户提供个性化的朋友推荐,并通过参数调节多个网络的权重。实验表明,该算法提高了在线社交网络朋友推荐的准确性。