Digital Commons Network^™

What Is Shared? A Framework For Understanding Shared Innovation Within Communities, Richard E. West

Faculty Publications

The 21st century economy often requires the innovative production of conceptual and physical artifacts. These innovations frequently are developed collaboratively within communities of workers. Previous theories about the nature of work and learning within communities have emphasized shared meaning or shared practice, but now shared innovation is required. In this paper, I describe the development of a model for conceptualizing and studying shared innovation within communities. This model was created from merging elements of social learning and creativity/innovation theories. I explain that at an intersection of these two domains is a unique kind of social structure, called a Community of …

Patterns Of User Activity In The Different Features Of The Blackboard Cms Across All Courses For An Academic Year At Brigham Young University, Michael E. Griffiths, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

In the past decade, course management systems (CMS) have become an integral part of most institutions of higher education. While there has been a significant amount of research looking at CMS usage at the course level, there has been less research looking at the institution-wide CMS usage from a CMS activity database perspective. This article shares findings from a study which analyzes over 36 million student and instructor clicks within the Blackboard CMS across the entire campus of Brigham Young University (BYU) during one full academic year. This research reports overall levels of user activity across campus, patterns of user …

Childhood Sexual Abuse, Other Childhood Factors, And Pathways To Survivors’ Adult Relationship Quality, Eric C. Walker, Thomas B. Holman, Dean M. Busby

Faculty Publications

We were interested in understanding how the effects of childhood sexual abuse, in concert with other negative childhood experiences, were carried forward into adult romantic relationships. Data from 15,831 married or cohabitating individuals were gathered via the RELATE Questionnaire. Empirical research, attachment theory, and a general model of adult relationship quality suggested that the path from negative childhood events to adult relationship quality was mediated by a number of individual and relational affect-laden variables. Results showed that childhood abuse and other family-of-origin variables work primarily through the adult survivor’s perceptions of the events of his or her childhood. This “current …

Integrating Modern World Tax Issues Into The Classroom, Annette M. Nellen

Faculty Publications

The article examines the benefits of interdisciplinary and integrated coursework that brings modern world issues into a tax classroom. Among the topics suggested for possible integration into such a course are virtual worlds and climate change. It says the subjects where chosen for their currency and the advantages they offer in engaging college students and providing an opportunity for them to apply integrated learning in the course. Some resource materials relevant to tax issues are also provided.

Interpreting Facial Expressions: The Influence Of Social Anxiety, Emotional Valence, And Race, Lora Rose Hunter, Julia D. Buckner, Norman B. Schmidt

Faculty Publications

Social anxiety is posited to be linked to interpersonal skills deficits, including accurate interpretation of emotional social cues, such as facial expressions. However, empirical support for an interpersonal skills deficit model of social anxiety is lacking. Studies of information processes indicate that socially anxious individuals may be more accurate at identifying threatening facial expressions in particular. In the present study, undergraduates who self-identified as Caucasian (N = 158) completed a task assessing facial expression accuracy. Relevant parameters such as emotional valence as well as race of the target were assessed. As predicted, socially anxious individuals were overall more accurate at …

Ect And Aect: Opening Doors For Student Development, Richard E. West

Faculty Publications

In 2003, I attended my first AECT presentation. As a first-year master’s student, I was excited but overwhelmed; however, I quickly learned that AECT is an organization where even newcomers can be involved. One day, I saw a description of a session for “leadership development.” Because I was brand new to AECT, and to the field of instructional design, I knew I needed development if I ever hoped to be a leader! I found the room with the door open and walked in and sat down. I quickly learned that this was a session for those who train new leaders—not …

Open Educational Resources, C. Jeffrey Belliston

Faculty Publications

Open Educational Resources (OER) were the topic of the ACRL-SPARC Forum at the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association in January." Textbook prices are a significant barrier for students. Most students still prefer print to online textbooks. How OERs can help this situation and what librarians can do to facilitate creation and adoption of OERs.

Barriers To Mitigation: A Pilot Study, James Lee, Crystal Paul, Guna Selvaduray

Faculty Publications

This pilot research was undertaken to discover barriers that prevent homeowners from mitigating earthquake hazards in their homes. There is a relatively significant body of literature on disaster mitigation, which is reviewed and summarized in this report. However, no studies address how these barriers may be overcome so that homeowners would be more proactive in mitigation. If the barriers can be identified, then future communications and policy actions that address these barriers can be taken, resulting in more widespread mitigation implementation that reduces the injury and damage potential that communities face, leading to a reduction in the post-disaster response requirement, …

The Risk Of Developing A Second Cancer After Receiving Craniospinal Proton Irradiation, Wayne D. Newhauser, Jonas D. Fontenot, Anita Mahajan, David Kornguth, Marilyn Stovall, Yuanshui Zheng, Phillip J. Taddei, Dragan Mirkovic, Radhe Mohan, James D. Cox, Shiao Woo

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this work was to compare the risk of developing a second cancer after craniospinal irradiation using photon versus proton radiotherapy by means of simulation studies designed to account for the effects of neutron exposures. Craniospinal irradiation of a male phantom was calculated for passively-scattered and scanned-beam proton treatment units. Organ doses were estimated from treatment plans; for the proton treatments, the amount of stray radiation was calculated separately using the Monte Carlo method. The organ doses were converted to risk of cancer incidence using a standard formalism developed for radiation protection purposes. The total lifetime risk of …

Friendship And Romantic Relationship Qualities In Emerging Adulthood: Differential Associations With Identity Development And Achieved Adulthood Criteria, Carolyn Mcnamara Barry, Stephanie D. Madsen, Larry J. Nelson, Jason S. Carroll, Sarah Badger

Faculty Publications

This study examined how emerging adults’ identity development and achievement of adulthood criteria were related to qualities of their friendships and romantic relationships. Participants included 710 emerging adults (ages 18–26). Results indicated that identity achievement was related positively to four romantic relationship qualities, but not to any friendship qualities. Several achieved adulthood criteria were related positively to romantic relationship qualities; however, achieved adulthood criteria were related negatively to friendship qualities. It appears that progress on salient developmental tasks of adulthood carries important implications for emerging adults’ social relationships, but in ways that are more differentiated than commonly assumed.

The Sloan-C Pillars And Boundary Objects As A Framework For Evaluating Blended Learning, Charles R. Graham, Mark Laumakis, Chuck Dziuban

Faculty Publications

The authors contend that blended learning represents a boundary object; a construct that brings together constituencies from a variety of backgrounds with each of these cohorts defining the object somewhat differently. The Sloan-C Pillars (learning effectiveness, access, cost effectiveness, student satisfaction, and faculty satisfaction provide a foundation for the evaluation of asynchronous learning networks that works equally well for the evaluation of blended learning environments. The Pillars and a simplified model of learning system, focus on inputs, processes, and outputs, and provide the framework for a case study of blended learning design and evaluation in a 500-student section of an …

Language Characteristics Of Individuals With Down Syndrome, Gary E. Martin, Jessica Klusek, Bruno Estigarribia, Joanne E. Roberts

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Quantifying The Effectiveness Of Interactive Tutorials In Medical Library Instruction, Rozalynd P. Anderson, Steven P. Wilson

Faculty Publications

The goal of this study was to determine whether a passive or an interactive tutorial design improves understanding of key concepts, as measured by pre- and post-test data. The authors also collected data regarding the participants’ preference for taking an interactive versus a passive tutorial. The interactive tutorial group improved statistically significantly from pre-test to post-test for all three learning questions. While the passive tutorial group improved from pre-test to post-test on all three questions, the improvement was statistically significant for just two of the three questions. The majority of the participants preferred interactive tutorials (78%) to passive tutorials (22%).

Exploration Of Anxiety Sensitivity And Distress Tolerance As Vulnerability Factors For Hoarding Behaviors, Kiara R. Timpano, Julia D. Buckner, J. Anthony Richey, Dennis L. Murphy, Norman B. Schmidt

Faculty Publications

Background: The phenomenon of compulsive hoarding, characterized by the acquisition of and failure to discard a large number of possessions, is increasingly recognized as a significant public health burden. Despite the magnitude of the impairment associated with this condition, empirical research is still in the nascent stages and many facets of the phenomenology, underlying vulnerability and risk factors for hoarding, are as of yet unknown. Method: The overall aim of the current investigation was to examine the association between hoarding behaviors and two potential vulnerability factors-anxiety sensitivity (AS) and distress tolerance (DT). In addition, we investigated the robustness of these …

Using Salience And Influence To Narrow The Tax Gap, Susan Morse

Faculty Publications

This Article contains five parts. Part I describes the details and limitations of several existing tax-gap-closing approaches relevant to self-employed and small business taxpayers: third-party reporting, audit, whistleblower rewards, and gatekeeper strategies. Part II outlines the concepts of salience and influence and places them in the context of proposals to address or close the tax gap. Part III considers how salience and the influence principle of social proof could improve government messages to taxpayers about taxpaying obligations and audit risks, and to tax preparers about diligence requirements. Part IV outlines strategies based on the influence principles of reciprocity and commitment …

Interdisciplinary, Translational, And Community-Based Participatory Research: Finding A Common Language To Improve Cancer Research, James R. Hébert, Heather M. Brandt, Cheryl A. Armstead, Swann Arp Adams, Susan E. Steck

Faculty Publications

Preventing cancer, downstaging disease at diagnosis, and reducing mortality require that relevant research findings be translated across scientific disciplines and into clinical and public health practice. Interdisciplinary research focuses on using the languages of different scientific disciplines to share techniques and philosophical perspectives to enhance discovery and development of innovations; (i.e., from the “left end” of the research continuum). Community-based participatory research (CBPR), whose relevance often is relegated to the “right end” (i.e., delivery and dissemination) of the research continuum, represents an important means for understanding how many cancers are caused as well as for ensuring that basic science research …

Law Students Are Different From The General Population: Empirical Findings Regarding Learning Styles, Robin Boyle, Jeffery Minneti, Andrea Honigsfeld

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)
It was a snowy day during a semester break when Prof. Robin Boyle was discussing teaching law students and learning styles with Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld, who has performed numerous empirical studies and has published many books and articles on teaching to the learning style of children and adults. Also at the table was Susan Rundle, president of Performance Concepts International (PCI). PCI develops and administers the Building Excellence (BE) Survey, an online learning style assessment survey (described below). Prof. Boyle was aware during this conversation that professors who teach in other graduate programs are fascinated by law students. Dr. …

The Dynamics Of Income And Neighborhood Context For Population Health: Do Long Term Measures Of Socioeconomic Status Explain More Of The Black/White Health Disparity Than Single-Point-In-Time Measures?, D. Phuong Do

Faculty Publications

Socioeconomic status, though a robust and strong predictor of health, has generally been unable to fully explain the health gap between blacks and whites in the Untied States. However, at both the individual and neighborhood levels, socioeconomic status is often treated as a static factor with only single-point-in-time measurements. These cross-sectional measures fail to account for possible heterogeneous histories within groups who may share similar characteristics at a given point in time. As such, ignoring the dynamic nature of socioeconomic status may lead to the underestimation of its importance in explaining health and racial health disparities.

In this study, I …

The Cost Of Violating Design Affordances And Conventions., Jeremiah Still, Veronica Dark

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Swearing In The Cinema: An Analysis Of Profanity In Us Teen-Oriented Movies, 1980-2006, Dale Cressman, Mark Callister, Tom Robinson, Chris Near

Faculty Publications

The exposure of children to profanity continues to be a concern for parents, media researchers, and policy makers alike. This study examines the types, frequency, and usage of profanity in movies directed at and featuring teenagers. A review of relevant literature explores the nature, use, and psychology of profanity, its potential social effects, and its prevalence in the media. A content analysis was conducted of the ninety top-grossing domestic teen films in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s (thirty from each decade) in the US based on domestic gross box-office amounts. Results indicate no change in preferences in types of profanity …

Patrons Cataloging? The Role And Quality Of Patron Tagging In Item Description, William Lund, Allyson Washburn

Faculty Publications

With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies, user participation in the description and evaluation of content has come to the library. User tagging is almost a given in applications such as Del.icio.us, Flickr, and LibraryThing. The question is whether tagging provided by users with their own motivations is better in some sense then descriptions provided by professionals. Is the tagging provided by the wisdom of the crowd a better description of an item?

Ethnic Differences In Trajectories Of Depressive Symptoms: Disadvantage In Family Background, High School Experiences, And Adult Characteristics, Katrina M. Walsemann, Gilbert C. Gee, Arline T. Geronimus

Faculty Publications

Although research investigating ethnic differences in mental health has increased in recent years, we know relatively little about how mental health trajectories vary across ethnic groups. Do these differences occur at certain ages, but not others? We investigate variations in trajectories of depressive symptoms, and examine the extent to which disadvantages in family background, high school experiences, and adult characteristics explain these differences. Employing random-coefficient modeling using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we find that blacks and Hispanics experience higher symptom levels in early adulthood in comparison to whites, but equivalent levels by middle-age. Ethnic differences remained in early …

The Unanimous Decisions Of The Supreme Court Of Canada As A Test Of The Attitudinal Model, Donald R. Songer, Julia Siripurapu

Faculty Publications

Most of the empirical work on the decision making of justices on the Supreme Court of Canada has taken as its exclusive focus the divided decisions of the Court. In contrast to this extensive body of research on divided decision, the much more limited knowledge of unanimous decisions is troubling because such decisions constitute nearly three-quarters of all of the formal decisions of the Court. The analysis reported below provides a first step towards understanding the neglected nature of unanimous decisions. This investigation of the nature and causes of unanimity in the Supreme Court of Canada explores two competing explanations: …

Argument Structure Effects In Action Verb Naming In Static And Dynamic Conditions, Dirk B. Den Ouden, Steve Fix, Todd B. Parrish, Cynthia K. Thompson

Faculty Publications

Argument structure, as in the participant roles entailed within the lexical representation of verbs, affects verb processing. Recent neuroimaging studies show that when verbs are heard or read, the posterior temporoparietal region shows increased activation for verbs with greater versus lesser argument structure complexity, usually bilaterally. In addition, patients with agrammatic aphasia show verb production deficits, graded based on argument structure complexity. In the present study, we used fMRI to examine the neural correlates of verb production in overt action naming conditions. In addition, we tested the differential effects of naming when verbs were presented dynamically in video segments versus …

Chinese Elementary School Teachers' Perceptions Of Students' Classroom Behavior Problems, Paul Caldarella, Ryan H. Shatzer, Michael Richardson, Caiyun Zhang

Faculty Publications

Teachers’ Perceptions of Misbehavior: Studies over the past 20 years; Many different parts of the world. Teachers’ perceptions can influence: Responses to students; Confidence. Factors that Can Influence Perceptions: Teachers’ experience; Students’ grade level; Student gender; Demographic area; Classroom setting.

Families And Childhood Cancer: An Exploration Of The Observations Of A Pediatric Oncology Treatment Team, Amanda Douglas Harrington, Thomas G. Kimball, Roy A. Bean

Faculty Publications

The authors propose that families facing childhood cancer inadvertently become part of a distinct cultural group. To better train clinicians working with these families, this study was conducted as a phenomenological exploration of the common experiences of those who work with, and participate in, this "culture of cancer" (i.e., members of a pediatric oncology treatment team that includes medical family therapists). Two primary themes emerged from the data: culture of change and relationships. A qualitative description of medical family therapists as part of the treatment team was also developed. Insight into this culture and recommendations for family therapists working in …

Linking Indoor Environment Conditions To Job Satisfaction: A Field Study, Jay Brand

Faculty Publications

Physical and questionnaire data were collected from 95 workstations at an open-plan office building in Michigan, US. The physical measurements encompassed thermal, lighting, and acoustic variables, furniture dimensions, and an assessment of potential exterior view. Occupants answered a detailed questionnaire concerning their environmental and job satisfaction, and aspects of well-being. These data were used to test, via mediated regression, a model linking the physical environment, through environmental satisfaction, to job satisfaction and other related measures. In particular, a significant link was demonstrated between overall environmental satisfaction and job satisfaction, mediated by satisfaction with management and with compensation. Analysis of physical …

Review Of The Book "When Your Spouse Comes Out: A Straight Mate’S Guide To Recovery", Kristen Cole

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Past Tense Marking By African American English-Speaking Children Reared In Poverty, Sonja Pruitt, Janna Oetting

Faculty Publications

Purpose: This study examined past tense marking by African American English (AAE)-speaking children from low-and middle-income backgrounds to determine if poverty affects children's marking of past tense in ways that mirror the clinical condition of specific language impairment (SLI). Method: Participants were 15 AAE-speaking 6-year-olds from low-income backgrounds, 15 AAE-speaking 6-year-olds from middle-income backgrounds who served as age-matched controls, and 15 AAE-speaking 5-year-olds from middle-income backgrounds who served as language-matched controls. Data were drawn from language samples and probes. Results: Results revealed high rates of regular marking, variable rates of irregular marking, high rates of over-regularizations, and absence of dialect-inappropriate …

Eating Routines: Embedded, Value Based, Modifiable, And Reflective, Margaret M. Jastran, Carole A. Bisogni, Jeffrey Sobal, Christine E. Blake, Carol M. Devine

Faculty Publications

Eating routines are a compelling issue because recurring eating behaviors influence nutrition and health. As non-traditional and individualized eating patterns have become more common, new ways of thinking about routine eating practices are needed. This study sought to gain conceptual understanding of working adults' eating routines. Forty-two purposively sampled US adults reported food intake and contextual details about eating episodes in qualitative 24-h dietary recalls conducted over 7 consecutive days. Using the constant comparative method, researchers analyzed interview transcripts for recurrent ways of eating that were either explicitly reported by study participants as "routines" or emergent in the data. Participants' …