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1 – 10 of over 24000Since 1996, hyperlinks have been studied extensively by applying existing bibliometric methods. The Web impact factor (WIF), for example, is the online counterpart of the journal…
Abstract
Since 1996, hyperlinks have been studied extensively by applying existing bibliometric methods. The Web impact factor (WIF), for example, is the online counterpart of the journal impact factor. This paper reviews how this link‐based metric has been developed, enhanced and applied. Not only has the metric itself undergone improvement but also the relevant data collection techniques have been enhanced. WIFs have also been validated by significant correlations with traditional research measures. Bibliometric techniques have been further applied to the Web and patterns that might have otherwise been ignored have been found from hyperlinks. This paper concludes with some suggestions for future research.
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This final instalment covers present generation printers and includes a description of printer control languages, particularly Postscript, and colour printers. The concluding…
Abstract
This final instalment covers present generation printers and includes a description of printer control languages, particularly Postscript, and colour printers. The concluding section is about the use of image processing in libraries as embodied in page preservation systems, facsimile—which has had a long chequered career—Desktop Publishing, with some examples of the kind of work being done in libraries, and Compact Discs.
Page A. Smith and Larry L. Birney
This research aims to analyse student bullying and faculty trust in elementary schools in the state of Texas.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to analyse student bullying and faculty trust in elementary schools in the state of Texas.
Design/methodology/approach
Two dimensions of school bullying (teacher protection and student bullying) and three aspects of faculty trust (in clients, colleagues and the principal) were examined.
Findings
In general, the better the organizational trust of a school, the less student bullying. In addition, the greater degree of faculty trust in a school, the more teacher protection was evident. However, as predicted, different dimensions of faculty trust were more or less important in affecting the aspects of student bullying. In addition, two simple and parsimonious research instruments designed to measure salient organizational characteristics are identified.
Research limitations/implications
This study represents an addition to the extant literature on bullying in schools; particularly the relationship between organizational trust and school bullying. It, however, represents a beginning and not an end to the examination of school bullying and trust. Hence, questions remain. For example, what are the institutional mechanisms that foster school trust? To what extent does each of the aspects of trust examined in this study relate to school bullying as perceived by students? To what extent is the collective efficacy of the faculty related to school bullying? Does faculty gender influence teacher perceptions of organizational trust and school bullying?
Practical implications
One of the more important findings of this study was that teacher trust in the principal did not play an important role in encouraging staff to protect students from their peers. The current research reaffirms the need for principals to assume an active role in ensuring that teachers do not disassociate themselves from attempts to monitor, regulate and confirm incidents of student aggression.
Originality/value
This study provides further groundwork to assist school administrators in identifying other areas sensitive to school‐based aggression and trust issues such as after school events, extracurricular activities and parent‐teacher interactions.
Page A. Smith and Wayne K. Hoy
The aim of this study was two‐fold: to demonstrate a general construct of schools called academic optimism and to show it was related to student achievement in urban elementary…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was two‐fold: to demonstrate a general construct of schools called academic optimism and to show it was related to student achievement in urban elementary schools, even controlling for socioeconomic factors, and school size.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 99 urban elementary schools in Texas and multiple regression and factor analyses were used to test a series of hypotheses guiding the inquiry.
Findings
The major hypotheses of the study were supported; academic optimism was a second‐order construct comprised of collective efficacy, faculty trust, and academic optimism. Moreover, academic optimism is a school characteristic that predicts student achievement even controlling for socioeconomic status.
Practical implications
The results support Bandura's social cognitive theory, Coleman's social capital theory, Hoy and Tarter's work on organizational climate, and demonstrate the existence of a cultural property of schools called academic optimism. Further, the findings have practical implications for developing strategies to improve the academic performance of urban schools.
Originality/value
The findings demonstrate the existence of a new collective construct, academic optimism, which has the potential to help improve the effectiveness of schools.
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Winston Shakantu, John E. Tookey and Paul A. Bowen
Construction is possibly one of the most cost orientated industries in any economy. The primary mode of supplier selection has always tended to be on the basis of lowest material…
Abstract
Construction is possibly one of the most cost orientated industries in any economy. The primary mode of supplier selection has always tended to be on the basis of lowest material or service cost at point of consumption. Indeed, this remains the case even in the post‐Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) world in which we live. In general, construction cost estimates are based on a straight ‘take off’ of the quantities required. All further ‘other’ costs in the form of overhead, profit, labour and wastage are consolidated into the cost of the materials. Construction is unique within the various industries making up a modern economy in that the bulk of the materials and components that it uses are of relatively low value while being of high volume. Consequently, a significant proportion of the ‘other’ costs associated with materials purchases must be in the form of transportation from the point of extraction and / or production to the point of consumption. This paper provides an overview of the hidden costs associated with the transportation of construction materials within the industry and proposes improved methods of managing the logistics of the construction process e.g. reverse logistics, in order to reduce costs and increase the basic sustainability of the construction process.
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Peter Organisciak, Michele Newman, David Eby, Selcuk Acar and Denis Dumas
Most educational assessments tend to be constructed in a close-ended format, which is easier to score consistently and more affordable. However, recent work has leveraged…
Abstract
Purpose
Most educational assessments tend to be constructed in a close-ended format, which is easier to score consistently and more affordable. However, recent work has leveraged computation text methods from the information sciences to make open-ended measurement more effective and reliable for older students. The purpose of this study is to determine whether models used by computational text mining applications need to be adapted when used with samples of elementary-aged children.
Design/methodology/approach
This study introduces domain-adapted semantic models for child-specific text analysis, to allow better elementary-aged educational assessment. A corpus compiled from a multimodal mix of spoken and written child-directed sources is presented, used to train a children’s language model and evaluated against standard non-age-specific semantic models.
Findings
Child-oriented language is found to differ in vocabulary and word sense use from general English, while exhibiting lower gender and race biases. The model is evaluated in an educational application of divergent thinking measurement and shown to improve on generalized English models.
Research limitations/implications
The findings demonstrate the need for age-specific language models in the growing domain of automated divergent thinking and strongly encourage the same for other educational uses of computation text analysis by showing a measurable difference in the language of children.
Social implications
Understanding children’s language more representatively in automated educational assessment allows for more fair and equitable testing. Furthermore, child-specific language models have fewer gender and race biases.
Originality/value
Research in computational measurement of open-ended responses has thus far used models of language trained on general English sources or domain-specific sources such as textbooks. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to study age-specific language models for educational assessment. In addition, while there have been several targeted, high-quality corpora of child-created or child-directed speech, the corpus presented here is the first developed with the breadth and scale required for large-scale text modeling.
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School climate has been associated with the academic achievement of students. The purpose of this study was to extend that body of research by examining the organizational health…
Abstract
School climate has been associated with the academic achievement of students. The purpose of this study was to extend that body of research by examining the organizational health of a typical set of high schools in the state of Ohio. In particular, the focus was on the organizational health of high schools and mathematics proficiency as defined by the percentage of 12th grade students who passed the Ohio Proficiency Examination in Mathematics.
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Wayne K. Hoy and Page A. Smith
The purpose of this article is to examine and condense the literature on influence and persuasion.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to examine and condense the literature on influence and persuasion.
Design/methodology/approach
The article identifies basic principles of influence in the theoretical and research literature, which are supported by empirical study.
Findings
Ten principles of influence were identified, empirical support for each was given, and implications for educational leaders were discussed. In brief, ten basic strategies for educational leaders are proposed to persuade and influence students, teachers, and parents – ten principles of influence.
Practical limitations
The propositions identified are a beginning not an end, and caution must be used to prevent the unethical use of each principle.
Originality/value
This study refines Cialdini's six principles of persuasion and add four more of our own to round out ten basic strategies educational leaders can use to persuade and influence students, teachers, and parents – ten principles of influence.
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Page A. Smith and W. Sean Kearney
The purpose of this study is to examine the relative impact of achievement press on student success in elementary schools in the Southwestern USA.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relative impact of achievement press on student success in elementary schools in the Southwestern USA.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from individual teacher assessments and student achievement tests are collected and aggregated at the campus level. Hierarchical linear modeling is utilized to calculate the Intra Class Correlation (ICC), then campus level scores for achievement press (along with control variables) are regressed on school success indicators in order to determine the relative impact of achievement press on various levels of school attainment.
Findings
The results of these analyses demonstrate that achievement press made a statistically significant independent contribution to school success, both near term (one year) and longitudinally (over three years).
Research limitations/implications
Via the use of a reliable and valid diagnostic tool, this investigation adds to the extant literature on school climate, achievement, and school effectiveness.
Practical implications
This study provides important information for educational leaders interested in improving both school climate and student achievement. Practical concerns about socioeconomic status and administrator longevity are also addressed.
Originality/value
This research validates the usefulness of achievement press as a concise multi‐level school climate measure. To that end, this study both demonstrates that achievement press makes an impact on school level success and adds to a growing body of literature connecting specific campus climate variables directly to student achievement.
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Jon D. Elhai, Mojisola Tiamiyu and Justin Weeks
Previous research has found support for depression and anxiety severity in association with both increased and problematic smartphone use. However, little research has explored…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research has found support for depression and anxiety severity in association with both increased and problematic smartphone use. However, little research has explored transdiagnostic psychopathology constructs as mediators that may account for these relationships. The purpose of this paper is to test rumination as a possible transdiagnostic (cross-sectional) mediator in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors recruited 296 college students to complete relevant web survey measures, including the patient health questionnaire-9 (for depression severity), social interaction anxiety scale (for social anxiety severity), ruminative thought styles questionnaire, smartphone addiction scale-short version (to measure levels of problematic smartphone use), and a measure of smartphone use frequency.
Findings
The authors found support for a structural model whereby the severity of depression and social anxiety accounted for variance in rumination, which, in turn, correlated with problematic smartphone use levels. Rumination accounted for relations between both depression and social anxiety severity with levels of problematic use.
Originality/value
The authors discuss the role of rumination as a possible mechanism between anxiety- and depression-related psychopathology levels with problematic smartphone use severity. This study is unique in exploring rumination in the context of problematic smartphone use.
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