This paper reports on an exploratory study that investigates the relationship between participants' learning style preferences and their perceptions of a professional workshop on collaboration and technology to support collaboration. The Learning Preference Scale-Students (LPSS) (Owens & Barnes, 1992) was administered to identify participants' learning style preferences as cooperative, competitive and/or individualized. Using cluster analysis two groups, or categories, of learning style preferences among the participants emerged. Group 1 showed a strong preference for the cooperative learning style, and Group 2 showed a strong preference for competitive and cooperative learning styles. Group 1 rated the workshop more positively than Group 2. However, Group 2 reported a larger increase in self-efficacy compared to those in Group 1 (18.9% vs. 6.0%). Both groups provided different suggestions regarding the content of the workshop. Group 1 suggested adding more discussions and group exercises, whereas Group 2 suggested adding explicit theory or rules to govern behavior. These findings indicate that learning styles should be considered as a potential variable that influences learning outcomes and preferences.

We propose a model of search term selection process based on our empirical study of professional searchers during the pre-online stage of the search process. The model characterizes the selection of search terms as the navigation of different discourses. Discourse refers to the way of talking and thinking about a certain topic; there often exists multiple, diverse discourses on the same topic. When selecting search terms, searchers appear to navigate a variety of discourses, i.e., they view the topic of a client's search request from the perspective of multiple discourse communities, and evaluate and synthesize differences and similarities among those discourses when selecting search terms. Six discourses emerged as sources of search terms in our study. These discourses are controlled vocabularies, documents and domains, the practice of indexing, clients' search requests, databases and the searchers' own search experience. Data further suggest that searchers navigate these discourses dynamically and have preferences for certain discourses. Conceptualizing the selection of search terms as a meeting place of different discourses provides new insights into the complex nature of the search term selection process. It emphasizes the multiplicity and complexity of the sources of search terms, the dynamic nature of the search term selection process, and the complex analysis and synthesis of differences and similarities among sources of search terms. It suggests that searchers may need to understand fundamental aspects of multiple discourses in order to select search terms.

Most health care providers lack the education or clinical training to adequately recognize delirium. and are distressed when caring for patients with delirium (Akechi et al., 2010; Brajtman, Higuchi, & McPherson, 2006; Griffiths, Knight, Harwood, & Gladman, 2014; McCrow, Sullivan, & Beattie, 2014). Early recognition of delirium can improve patient safety and decrease the use of hospital resources (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014). Although delirium knowledge and recognition are increased after implementation of education and the use of screening tools, more could be done to improve patient outcomes and increase sustainability of knowledge learned (Yanamadala et al., 2013; Soja et al., 2008; van den Boogaard et al., 2009; Pun et al., 2005). The purpose of this DNP project was to explore the perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of ICU nurses in a community hospital when caring for patients with delirium. Findings indicated that most nurses felt delirium is an underdiagnosed problem. Almost all agreed or strongly agreed that assessing ICU patients for delirium is a worthwhile intervention. Interestingly, 38.5% disagreed and 30.7% were neutral that delirium is largely preventative. Despite 69.2% of the participants agreeing that they felt heard by the provider when they suspect the patient is delirious, 76.9% are neutral that they are satisfied with the applied treatment. Despite agreeing that delirium is underdiagnosed, there is lack of knowledge regarding prevention and treatment of delirium. In this ICU, it would be beneficial to tailor the education prior to implementing any delirium screening tools. Results show that education should include: the types of delirium, delirium prevention strategies, RASS scales, importance of daily sedation vacations, and treatment. Education should be provided to both the nurses and the providers. In addition to this, "buy in" should be obtained from the providers to ensure that they will use data gathered from screening tools. Prior to implementing any screening tool, examples of screening tools should be provided to the staff, as well as a bedside demonstration to show ease of use. An additional study should be done to assess the sustainability after tailoring education based on perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors.

This study has a twofold purpose. The first is to determine the consequences related to labeling deviant behaviors, especially as these effects are reflected in the person who labels and defines deviant behavior. The second is to evaluate the medical model of abnormality in relation to the labeling of deviant behavior.

Using a manufacturing setting that is organized into self-managed teams, the current study identified and measured key leadership behaviors within the teams. Questions that were asked include: are some team leadership behaviors more critical to a team's level of functioning than other behaviors? and do successful self-managed teams rely on formal leadership to a lesser extent than members of less successful teams? These questions were asked in the context of leadership as a process, not an individual.

The purpose of this investigation is to study a given school situation with which the writer is familiar to determine as objectively as possible the various social attitudes present and their resultant behavior. To what extent these attitudes depend upon the home environment of the child is to be studied. The influence of the age-grade range in the development of various attitudes is to be considered, and the influence of the school environment as a factor in the process of attitude formation and social adjustment is to be determined.

Headquarters of multinational corporations can be involved in their subsidiaries and help with the development and transfer of innovative ideas. However, headquarters involvement might not always be desired or needed, and it can thus be perceived as interference with local activities, potentially reducing local willingness to go the extra mile. We address the lack of knowledge about subsidiary manager behavior by answering the following question: How does headquarters involvement influence the proactive behavior of subsidiary managers to push for new and innovative ideas? Using data from 120 top managers in subsidiaries of multinational corporations, we find that the negative relationship between headquarters involvement and their subsidiary managers' support for initiatives can be reduced when socialization mechanisms such as a common corporate culture or rotation programs are put in place.

Inspired by nature, swarm robotics aims to increase system robustness while utilizing simple agents. In this work, we present a novel approach to achieve decentralized coordination of forces during collective manipulation tasks resulting in a highly scalable, versatile, and robust solution. In this approach, each robot involved in the collective object manipulation task relies on the behavior of a cooperative ``virtual teammate' in a fully decentralized architecture, regardless of the size and configuration of the real team. By regulating their actions with their corresponding virtual counterparts, robots achieve continuous pose control of the manipulated object, while eliminating the need for inter-agent communication or a leader-follower architecture. To experimentally study the scalability, versatility, and robustness of the proposed collective object manipulation algorithm, a new swarm agent, Δρ is introduced which is able to apply linear forces in any planar direction. Efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed decentralized algorithm are investigated by quantitative performance metrics of settling time, steady-state error, path efficiency, and object velocity profiles in comparison with a force-optimal centralized version that requires complete information. Employing impedance control during manipulation of an object provides a mean to control its dynamic interactions with the environment. The proposed decentralized algorithm is extended to achieve a desired multi-dimensional impedance behavior of the object during a collective manipulation without inter-agent communication. The proposed algorithm extension is built upon the concept of ``virtual coordination' which demands every agent to locally coordinate with one virtual teammate. Since the real population of the team is unknown to the agents, the resultant force applied to the manipulated object would be directly scaled with the team population. Although this scaling effect proves useful during position control of the object, it leads to a deviation from the desired dynamic response when employed in an impedance control scheme. To minimize such deviations, a gradient descent algorithm is implemented to determine a scaling parameter defined on the control action. The simulation results of a multi-robot system with different populations and formations verify the effectiveness of the proposed method in both generating the desired impedance response and estimating the population of the group. Eventually, as two case studies, the introduced algorithm is used in robotic collective manipulation and human- assistance scenarios. Simulation and experimental results indicate that the proposed decentralized communication- free algorithm successfully performs collective manipulation in all tested scenarios, and matches the performance of the centralized controller for increasing number of agents, demonstrating its utility in communication- limited systems, remote environments, and access-limited objects.

Site-based management (SBM) in schools can trace its roots back to two phenomena, citizen's movements in large cities such as New York in the late 1960s and decentralization efforts of business in the 1970s. Both were done in the belief that achieving a better result can be done 11 through decisions made by the people closest to the process. Site-based management programs are diverse. Some stress one aspect, the restructuring of the school administration and program to affect achievement. Other schools stress a second aspect, the empowerment of teachers and stakeholders to make administrative decisions. Whichever emphasis chosen, several changes must occur for school management to move from the central office to the local school. These changes are evolutionary, taking 10-15 years. An evaluation study in a northern rural Utah school that has been involved with site-based management since 1990 allows for a context to understand the changes that might occur, namely, (a) the relinquishment of central school district authority; (b) the assumption of authority by the local school; ( c) the assumption of accountability for student achievement; ( d) the development of sensitivity between school and community; and (e) the development of consensus among school stakeholders. An instrument was developed for the evaluation, the Site-Based Management Progress Check. The instrument used items covering the agents and activities that would be present as these five changes occur. Additionally, the largest portion of the progress check was based on the goals in the school. As respondents showed more agreement concerning which goals were chosen and achieved, an inference was made that greater progress had occurred toward the team activity necessary for local school management. The data were provided by 100% of the lower-elementary teachers; upper-elementary teachers, however, were poorly represented, restricting data generalizability. The study indicated that, despite its 7-year involvement with site-based management, the school was still at an early stage of development with no change in district authority and no use of stakeholder groups to monitor goals. The school did have a wide base of teacher leadership. Slow progress seems to be related to lack of knowledge of SBM processes.

This research study examined the perspectives of social workers regarding the effects of domestic violence on adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. Research has shown that adolescents who are exposed to domestic violence suffer from long-term psychological and behavioral issues; they exhibit many external and internal behaviors. This study gathered qualitative data by interviewing 13 social workers who have experience working with this demographic and hold a master’s degree in social work. These social workers were employed at a Foster Family Agency, located in Southern California, at the time of the interviews. Participants were asked 11 open and closed ended questions. The study found that adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 who witness domestic violence exhibit numerous external and internal behaviors with aggression/anger and depression being the top behaviors exhibited by adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17.