Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Preparing Public Service Professionals For A Diverse And Changing Workforce And Citizenry: Evaluating The Progress Of Naspaa Programs In Competency Assessment, Nadia Rubaii, Crystal Calarusse

Nadia Rubaii

This paper examines the self-reported progress of public service degree programs in NASPAA for defining, measuring, and assessing student learning outcomes as they relate to the “ability to communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce.” The analysis is placed in the context of the need for cultural competencies among public administration professionals and the evolution of this accreditation standard. Using data drawn from accreditation records, we first present an exploratory qualitative analysis of how programs are defining this competency over time and how progress on this competency relates to progress on competency assessment generally and to other …

Informed Learning, Information Literacy, And Scholarly Communication: Library Pedagogy As A Bridge To The Disciplines, Kim L. Ranger

Kim L. Ranger

This paper explores collaboration between librarians and faculty in higher education to construct connections between informed learning theory, information literacy practice, and disciplinary scholarly products to foster reflective and deep engagement with information.

Increasing digital innovations in communication and pedagogy, the need for various literacy capabilities, and the potential wisdom gained from considering diverse methodological perspectives have driven the need for interdisciplinary collaboration (Witt, 2012). There have also been several calls for a relational approach to teaching and learning, changing the roles of librarians (Farrell and Badke, 2015; Gunton et al, 2014; Jaguszewski and Williams, 2013), and scholarship which examines …

Bioregional Assessment Project: Sydney Metropolitan, Southern Rivers And Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchments: Data Collation Phase To Study The Impact Of Mining Activity And Coal Seam Gas On Environmental Assets, John Bradd, Tim Cohen, Sam Marx, Sol Buckman, Emma Burkhardt, A Clarke, Nicole Cook, Stephen Cullen, James Daley, Alexi Gavin, Ren Hu, Emma Kiekebosch-Fitt, Matt Lemcke, Andrew Lowe, Thomas Mcmahon, Luke Mcneilage, Kaitlyn O'Mara, Garth Nagle, Sam Robson, Carolyn Silveri, Joe Stammers

John Copeland Nagle

This study was commissioned by the Hawkesbury-Nepean (HNCMA), Sydney Metropolitan (SMCMA) and Southern Rivers (SRCMA) Catchment Management Authorities and undertaken by the University of Wollongong to collate existing data and to provide a preliminary assessment of the potential impacts of coal seam gas (CSG) and coal mining activities on environmental assets within the three CMA regions, where environmental assets were defined under three broad themes; water, land and biodiversity. This study formed part of the Australian Federal Government’s Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPaC) Bioregional Assessment initiative within regions potentially affected by CSG and coal mining activities. …

Measuring Altruistic Impact: A Model For Understanding The Social Justice Of Open Access, Margaret Heller, Franny Gaede

Margaret Heller

INTRODUCTION Traditional assessment of ways in which open access initiatives and institutional repositories have provided a return on investment normally use pragmatic measures such as download counts and citation benefits. This pragmatic approach misses out on the powerful altruistic impact of improving access to international and/or marginalized communities. Using a frame of social justice, this article considers the importance of developing altruistic measures of repositories, particularly for institutions with missions specifically related to social justice and related themes. METHODS Using web analytics data for search keywords from eight institutions and geographic usage data from nine institutions, the authors were able …

The Promises And Realities Of Evidence-Based Practices: Perceptions From Assessment Personnel, Jessica A. Rueter, Cynthia G. Simpson

Jessica Rueter

Assessment personnel are those individuals who work in the capacity of evaluation of students with disabilities, including, but not limited to, educational diagnosticians, educational examiners, psychometrists, and instructional specialists. These professionals are responsible for identifying strengths and weaknesses and for providing teachers with evidence-based recommendations that can be implemented in the classroom to improve performance of students with learning deficits. This qualitative study examines 19 educational diagnosticians’ perceptions related to the barriers and supports that impacted their ability to provide evidence-based recommendations for students who are learning disabled. Three categories of barriers to issuing successful evidence-based recommendations emerged as a …

The Influence Of Emotions, Attitudes And Perceptions On Learning With Technology, Meg O'Reilly

Dr Meg O'Reilly

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Faculty Autonomy In A Course-Integrated Information Literacy Program, Anne Jumonville

Anne Jumonville Graf

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of faculty autonomy in sustaining a successful information literacy program.

Design/methodology/approach – Faculty members were given the opportunity to create courses that integrated and assessed information literacy as part of a course grant program associated with an institutional assessment mandate. This case study analyzes course grant proposals, course assessment methods and results. It also presents results of a follow-up survey of faculty participants to see if they continued to integrate information literacy in other courses. Results are situated in the context of self-determination theory to better understand the …

The Art Of Discovery: Helping Students Find Inspiration In Unlikely Places, Kelly Grey Carlisle, Anne Jumonville Graf

Anne Jumonville Graf

How can an "old space" like Special Collections be repurposed to meet evolving information literacy learning goals? This presentation will address ways in which a traditional library space can be reimagined as a place to engage students in affective learning at the beginning of the research process. By crafting activities for students that emphasize exploration and open-ended discovery, librarians and faculty can help students slow down and approach research more creatively. In the session, we (two librarians and a teaching faculty member) will share specific outcomes, activities, and the results of our assessments. Participants will: Understand the importance of affective …

Reflective Assessment: Opportunities And Challenges, Anne Jumonville Graf, Benjamin R. Harris

Anne Jumonville Graf

Purpose: Librarians engage in assessment for several purposes, such as to improve teaching and learning, or to report institutional value. In turn, these assessments shape our perspectives and priorities. How can we participate critically in the assessment of information literacy instruction and library programming while broadening our view and making room for questions about what we do? This paper explores self-reflection as a method for building on existing assessment practices with a critical consciousness.

Design/Methodology/Approach: In tracing the trajectory of assessment and reflective practice in library literature, the authors conducted a selective literature review and analyzed the potential …

What Does Your Repository Do? Measuring And Calculating Impact, Margaret Heller

Margaret Heller

A multifaceted approach at understanding the impact of institutional repositories using both quantitative and qualitative processes, particularly with regards to alignment with institutional mission.

What Does Your Repository Do?: Understanding And Calculating Impact, Margaret Heller

Margaret Heller

Librarians working in scholarly communications need to understand how to calculate and explain how including work in a repository affects its impact. This presentation describes the current state of research and practice into metrics for repositories including traditional metrics and newer alternative metrics, and some preliminary results of a research study assessing the usage and impact of a Digital Commons repository.

Trustworthiness In Mhealth Information Services: An Assessment Of A Hierarchical Model With Mediating And Moderating Effects Using Partial Least Squares (Pls), Shahriar Akter, John D'Ambra, Pradeep Ray

Shahriar Akter

The aim of this research is to advance both the theoretical conceptualization and the empirical validation of trustworthiness in mHealth (mobile health) information services research. Conceptually, it extends this line of research by reframing trustworthiness as a hierarchical, reflective construct, incorporating ability, benevolence, integrity, and predictability. Empirically, it confirms that partial least squares path modeling can be used to estimate the parameters of a hierarchical, reflective model with moderating and mediating effects in a nomological network. The model shows that trustworthiness is a second-order, reflective construct that has a significant direct and indirect impact on continuance intentions in the context …

Mapping For Change: Re-Imagining Assessment With Concept Maps, Heidi Gauder, Fred W. Jenkins

Fred W Jenkins

Facilitate student creativity and assess information skills at the same time with concept maps. Learn how to administer these easy assessments and analyze them for evidence of learning. The presenters will demonstrate how this assessment technique can be used in multiple situations and how it is possible to transform these maps into results that can be easily understood by stakeholders.

Measuring Depression In Prostate Cancer Patients: Does The Scale Used Make A Difference?, Christopher Sharpley, Vicki Bitsika, David Christie, Myra Hunter

Vicki Bitsika

This study investigated differences in the scores, relative severity and major depressive disorder (MDD) and subsyndromal depression status from three standardised self-report scales for depression in prostate cancer (PCa) patients. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression subscale (HADS-D), the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for depression were administered to a sample of 138 PCa patients via mail-out self-reports in Queensland, Australia during May 2014. Despite significant correlations between the total scores from the three scales, severity classification differed across the three scales and there was evidence of considerable underestimation of depression by the HADS-D …

We're Gonna Make It After All: Perspectives From Kent State University, Elizabeth A. Richardson, Virginia A. Dressler

Elizabeth A Richardson

Differences In The Prevalence, Severity And Symptom Profiles Of Depression In Boys And Adolescents With An Autism Spectrum Disorder Versus Normally Developing Controls, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley

Vicki Bitsika

The prevalence, severity and symptom profiles for major depressive disorder (MDD) were compared in samples of boys and adolescents with and without an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Self-reports were obtained on the Depression subscale of the Child and Adolescent Symptoms Inventory (CASI-D) with 70 ASD and 50 non-ASD male participants between the ages of 8 and 18 from Queensland, Australia who were matched for age and IQ. Results indicated that the ASD participants had significantly higher total CASI-D scores, a greater proportion of participants who qualified for a diagnosis of MDD, and over 50% higher scores for 8 of the …

Agreement Between Self- Vs Parent-Ratings Of General Anxiety Disorder Symptoms And Salivary Cortisol In Boys With An Asd, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley, Nicholas Andronicos, Linda Agnew

Vicki Bitsika

To determine the relative validity of parent-assessed and self-assessed symptoms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in boys with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). 140 boys with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) were assessed for GAD by their parents and by themselves, and gave a sample of cortisol during the afternoon of these assessments. There were significant differences between self-assessments and parents’ assessments for the total GAD score and on four of the eight individual GAD symptoms. Using cortisol concentrations as a validation index, the two key GAD items were most validly assessed via boys’ self-ratings. Key GAD symptoms in boys …

Quantifying Students' Scientific Problem Solving Efficiency And Effectiveness, Ronald H. Stevens, Vandana Thadani

Vandana Thadani

Using online problem-solving tasks and machine learning tools, a measure has been developed to quantify the effectiveness and efficiency of students’ problem solving strategies. This measure can be normalized across problem solving tasks allowing the efficiency of problem solving to be measured across individuals, classes, schools and science domains. This extensible approach has relevance for helping teachers to teach, students to learn, and administrators to make intelligent, data-driven decisions via documentation of students’ problem solving progress.

Government Crisis Assessment And Reputation Management: A Case Study Of The Vietnam Health Minister's Crises In 2013-2014, Tuong-Minh Ly-Le

Tuong-Minh Ly-Le

In Vietnam, many government announcements have gathered negative receptions from the public. Among them, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Vietnam Minister of Health, has received more of it. Through the case study of Ms. Kim Tien’s many scandals during the 2013-2014 period, this study is interested to see if the health scandals eventually elevated into a government crisis, how they affected the minister’s reputation, and what she could have done to better respond to the public. This study examined news articles on such health scandals to confirm whether the health scandals indeed escalated to be a government crisis. It also …

Best Practices For Student Learning Assessment In Smaller-Sized Undergraduate Mass Communication Programs, Douglas J. Swanson Ed.D Apr

Douglas J. Swanson, Ed.D APR

Assessment of student learning in higher education is no longer optional, because the public increasingly expects universities to spend less and produce more. Generating detailed, meaningful assessment is challenging, particularly for smaller-sized mass communication programs with limited resources. Mass communication-focused assessment literature is scarce. This best practices essay reviews other research to illustrate proven examples of ways to assess simply and effectively in undergraduate mass communication programs to achieve maximum faculty support and curriculum improvement.

Assessing Computer Searches Used For Systematic Reviews, Paul Fehrmann

Paul Fehrmann

Systematic reviews (SR) are valued for increasing the rigor of and reader confidence in “reviews of the literature”. SR have been widely adopted in the health and social sciences. Computer searches are key for the information base of SR, and computer searches must be evaluated. The Computer Search Report Checklist (CSRC) is being developed to evaluate computer search reports. This paper has 4 objectives: 1. To report on development of the Computer Search Report Checklist (CSRC). 2. To report comparisons to AMSTAR, PRISMA, PRESS, and others. 3. To report on the inter-rater agreement for CSRC items. 4. To report on …

Lassi: An Australian Evaluation Of An Enduring Study Skills Assessment Tool, James Gt Marland, Joanne Dearlove, Jennifer Carpenter

James Grice Thomas Marland

This study assesses the reliability and validity of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI), an American survey instrument, in an Australian context. The results of this study were compared with those generated by a comparison study held at a different Australian university and also against other internationally published research. There was a high degree of similarity between the LASSI scores from the students at the two Australian universities, however these scores were considerably different from norms published in the LASSI manual. The students' scores in this study were also compared with data on their gender and age and the …

Variation In The Profile Of Anxiety Disorders In Boys With An Asd According To Method And Source Of Assessment, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley

Vicki Bitsika

To determine any variation that might occur due to the type of assessment and source used to assess them, the prevalence of 7 anxiety disorders were investigated in a sample of 140 boys with an Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 50 non-ASD (NASD) boys via the Child and Adolescent Symptom Inventory and the KIDSCID Clinical Interview. Boys with an ASD were significantly more anxious than their NASD peers. Data collected from the boys with an ASD themselves showed differences in the severity and diagnostic criterion of anxiety disorders to data collected from the boys’ parents. There were age-related variations to …

Building Support For The Introductory Oral Communication Course: Strategies For Widespread And Enduring Support On Campus, Jon A. Hess

Jonathan A. Hess

A strong introductory course is important for many communication departments, for the discipline, and for meeting our obligation to society. This paper utilizes the example of a recent curricular reform that threatened to eliminate a required oral communication course to reflect on strategies departments can use to build widespread and lasting support for the course. The paper reviews the events that led to the challenge and details the department’s response, which offers lessons that may be useful for other institutions. Four lessons include: * Tailoring the introductory course to the institution’s needs and mission * Involvement in university work * …

Assessing The Strategic Credibility Of Special Collections And Archives Departments, Erin Passehl-Stoddart, Rick Stoddart

Erin Passehl Stoddart

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Variance Approach To Content Validation, Timothy R. Hinkin, J. Bruce Tracey

Timothy R. Hinkin

Although procedures for assessing content validity have been widely publicized for many years, Hinkin noted that there continue to be problems with the content validity of measures used in organizational research. Anderson and Gerbing, and Schriesheim, Powers, Scandura, Gardiner, and Lankau discussed the problems associated with typical content validity assessment and presented techniques that can be used to assess the empirical distinctiveness of a set of survey items. This article reviews these techniques and presents an analysis of variance procedure that can provide a higher degree of confidence in determining item integrity and scale content validity. The utility of this …

Desk Statistics Under A Microscope = Improved Library Services, Susan [Gardner] Archambault

Susan Gardner Archambault

This presentation offers a case study of how one library’s assessment of datagathered from its public service desk led to changes and improvements in service. The William H. Hannon Library at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) recorded all of the questions and answers asked at its Information Desk from Fall 2009 to the present using the Gimlet (http://gimlet.us) electronic question tracking system. A content analysis was performed on the data that led to advancements in signage and a new knowledge base of FAQ’s. In addition, new services were implemented related to technology and research that addressed user needs.

Developing A Health Sciences Information Literacy Assessment For Undergraduates., Carolyn Schubert, Stephanie Baller, Katherine Ott Walter, Lara Sapp, Jessica Jacovidis, Mandalyn Swanson

Carolyn F Schubert

This poster describes the development and pilot of a tailored information literacy assessment tool for undergraduate allied health students. Tool development included collaboration between assessment experts, Health Science faculty, and Health Science librarians. The poster includes results from the tool deployment and next steps in applying results back into revised curriculum.

Student Learning In High-Impact Practice Mass Communication Courses, Douglas J. Swanson Ed.D Apr

Douglas J. Swanson, Ed.D APR

College and university high-impact practice (HIP) courses involve students in intensive values-focused learning inside and/ or outside of the traditional classroom environment. Much research has documented that participation in HIPs increases student retention and graduation rates. At the same time, the nontraditional learning structure of an HIP course can complicate a thorough assessment of student learning. Anecdotal evidence reflects strong involvement in HIPs by mass communication programs, although communication efforts in this regard are not as well documented in the literature as efforts in other fields. This essay briefly defines HIPs and presents an appropriate theory that would guide HIPs …

Power Quality Emission Assessment Of Photovoltaic Inverters Based On Iec Technical Report 61000-3-15:2011, Devinda Perera, Philip Ciufo, Lasantha G. Meegahapola, Sarath Perera

Dr Philip Ciufo

The International Electrotechnical Committee Technical Report IEC 61000-3-15:2011 provides electromagnetic compatibility requirements and test conditions for distributed generators up to 75 A per phase. In the current research, two commercially available photovoltaic (PV) inverters up to the capacity of 3600 W were tested following the guidelines proposed in IEC 61000-3-15 in relation to low order harmonic emission and flicker emission. In addition, the harmonic and flicker emission behaviour of the PV inverters were investigated under varying irradiation conditions. Both PV inverters were observed to comply with the emission requirements prescribed by the technical report under most conditions except for even …