<p> High fidelity human simulation (HFHS) has become a common feature in nursing education in recent years. This case study explored the practices and perceptions of nursing directors, faculty, and students regarding the integration of HFHS in associate degree RN and LPN programs. The course of study in these particular programs is two years or less in length, presenting added challenges for faculty to introduce new pedagogies into an abundantly full curriculum. Multiple data sources were used and included 41 participants through interviews with nursing directors and instructors, observation of instructors and students during HFHS scenarios and debriefing sessions, and student focus group interviews at four nursing schools in two Midwestern states. Data analysis resulted in the emergence of four major themes: time limitation, limited resources, instructional disconnect, and student perspectives. These findings were consistent with much of the current literature. Findings also demonstrate the negative effects of limited time, resources, and faculty practices on the ability of nursing students to suspend disbelief and fully engage in the learning scenarios. Given the financial investments in HFHS, achieving best use through supporting student participation in active learning and facilitating the development of clinical judgment are goals which should be considered.</p>

<p> The instructor-student relationship is an important predictor of students' attitudes, motivation, and learning. Students benefit when they believe their instructor cares about them and instructors demonstrate caring for their students by supporting their needs. Instructors can support students' emotionally or academically. However, little is known about instructor characteristics that influence instructors' responsiveness to students. </p><p> Compassionate and self-image goals are powerful predictors of relationship dynamics because of their association with responsiveness (Canevello &amp; Crocker, 2010). Compassionate goals, or goals focused on supporting others out of genuine concern for others' well-being (Crocker &amp; Canevello, 2008), initiate positive relationship cycles. I proposed two types of compassionate goals, focused either on supporting students' learning or supporting students' emotions. I hypothesized that instructors' compassionate goals to support students' learning would be most beneficial to students. Self-image goals, or goals focused on creating and maintaining a desired impression in others' eyes (Crocker &amp; Canevello, 2008), undermine healthy relationships. I proposed two types of self-image goals, focused on appearing either likable or competent and hypothesized that both forms of self-image goals would undermine the instructor-student relationship. </p><p> The present work was the first investigation of the association between college instructors' compassionate and self-image goals and students' experiences in the class. In Study 1, I created a scale to measure instructors' compassionate and self-image goals for teaching. In Study 2, college instructors' compassionate and self-image goals for teaching were used to predict end-of-semester student evaluations. In Study 3, students' interpretations of their instructors' goals were measured and used to predict student evaluations. </p><p> Results indicated that that students respond most positively to instructors' goals to compassionate goals to support their learning. Instructors' compassionate goals to support students' emotions are largely unrelated to students' experiences in the class. Surprisingly, instructors' self-image goals are unrelated to student evaluations. </p><p> Overall, this research advances research in several domains. It advances understanding of effective teaching by indicating that instructors' compassionate and self-image are important components of the college classroom. This research also advances theory on interpersonal goals, as this is the first time that a non-relationship compassionate goal has been identified. </p>

<p> Practicing architects and architectural educators have called for better writing by architecture graduates; however, there appears to be a gap in published empirical studies on instructional designs that address the problem of developing student architects&rsquo; writing fluency. Writing well is an especially challenging process for architecture students in design studios because learners must transform the concepts in their visual metaphors, design spaces, and physical models into written language. The study investigated whether architecture students in the treatment group showed greater writing fluency and critical thinking after using sketching as a metacognitive process than did the control group that used words in an identical online lesson. Fifty-six architecture design studio students participated in the quasi-experimental online intervention designed to help students describe their design projects in writing. Student papers following the online sketching intervention were scored using <i> The Cognitive Level and Quality Writing Assessment, Critical Thinking Rubric. </i> Although the one-way ANOVA analysis of mean scores on students&rsquo; papers showed no statistical difference between the treatment group, which used sketching, and the control group, which used words, sketching stimulated students in the treatment group to write lengthy posts critiquing each other&rsquo;s sketches. The finding suggests that online instruction using sketching as a metacognitive scaffolding tool should be further explored as a strategy to engage architecture students in writing practice.</p>

<p> Lack of presence in online courses can result in perceived isolation leading to student dissatisfaction with the learning experience. The purpose of this study was to measure nursing students&rsquo; perceived extent of teaching, social and cognitive presence and course satisfaction in an online undergraduate nursing course, and whether relationships and associations existed between the three presences, course satisfaction, student demographic, academic, and technology variables, and selected instructional strategies. </p><p> The Community of Inquiry theory was the framework used in this descriptive correlational study of RN-BSN students (n= 76). Variables were measured using the <i>Community of Inquiry Survey</i> and the <i>Perceived Student Satisfaction Scale</i> instruments, and a researcher developed survey. </p><p> Findings indicated students&rsquo; perceived teaching and cognitive presence were present to a greater extent than social presence. Significant positive correlations (p &lt; .01) were found between teaching and cognitive presence (r =.79), cognitive and social presence (r =.64), teaching and social presence (r =.52), satisfaction and the teaching (r =.77), social (r =.63), and cognitive (r =.52) presences. There were no significant findings associated with age, ethnicity, race, number of online courses taken, expected course grade or GPA and perceptions of the three presences and course satisfaction. There was a significant difference (<i>p</i> &le; .05) with gender and perceived social presence with male students reporting stronger levels. Students experiencing course technology difficulties reported significantly (<i> p</i> &le; .05) lower perceptions of teaching presence than those experiencing no difficulty. Significant differences (<i>p</i> &le; .05) were found between specific course instructional strategies and each presence and course satisfaction. The findings provide faculty with an understanding of online course management and teaching/learning strategies that may increase students&rsquo; perceptions of presence in online courses and improve student satisfaction with online learning.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of theories of intelligence and an intervention of incremental mindset training on students' attitudes toward statistics and their mastery of content in an introductory statistics college course. The sample was 547 undergraduate students at a small, faith-based, liberal arts college in the Midwest.</p><p> A pretest-posttest design was used for the three instruments implemented. The Comprehensive Assessment of Outcomes in a first Statistics course (CAOS) assessed students' statistical literacy. The Student Attitudes Towards Statistics - 36^&copy; (SATS^&copy;) assessed six components of students' attitudes toward statistics including affect, cognitive competence, difficulty, effort, interest, and value. The Theories of Math Intelligence Scale - Self Form (TMIS) assessed students' mindsets toward mathematics. Students in the treatment group received four brief incremental mindset training sessions throughout the semester. The initial mindset categorization had no significant effect on the difference in mean SATS^&copy; or CAOS gain (<i> p</i> &lt; .05); the power to detect a difference was limited due to a low response rate.</p><p> Students in the treatment group decreased at a rate greater than students in the control for the component of effort on the posttest SATS^&copy; assessment when the pretest was controlled for, <i>F</i>(1, 138) = 14.778, <i>MSE</i> = 10.954, <i>p</i> &lt; .001. The remaining components produced no significant differences between groups (<i>p</i> &lt; .05). Students in the control group also improved more on their mastery of statistics as assessed by the posttest CAOS when the pretest CAOS was controlled for, <i>F</i>(1, 297) = 6.796, <i> MSE</i> = .100, <i>p</i> = .010.</p><p> Analysis revealed that females gained more than males in the treatment group on the SATS^&copy; component of value, &micro;_Diff = 0.829, <i>t</i>(28)= 3.123, <i>p</i> = .004. The remaining components of the SATS^&copy; assessment did not produce statistically significant results (<i>p</i> &lt; .05).</p><p> Recommendations for practice include creating classrooms that support growth mindsets and the design of mindset training. Recommendations for research include replication of the current research in statistics and other mathematics courses. A final recommendation calls for an examination of the differences by gender on the SATS^&copy; assessment. </p>

People involved in library mergers often have little or no previous experience in planning or implementing such mergers. Therefore they have to rely primarily on research literature for guidance and advice. However, a study of literature dealing with mergers in higher education in general and libraries in particular, shows a number of different theories, beliefs and practices concerning issues such as reasons for merging, success factors, processes, and outcomes of mergers. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to some of these theories, beliefs and practices that, for the sake of clarity and better understanding of merger issues, need to be put into perspective. This is done by analysing different views and by proposing supporting arguments or counter claims. The article concludes with a summary and a list of recommended research topics.

In a time when “traditional” Islam and Islamic education are seen as incommensurable with American society and ideals, American Muslims are mobilizing traditions of Islamic scholarship within liberal arts institutional frameworks to articulate and establish the future possibilities of Islam and being Muslim in North America. This research shows how the Islamic discursive tradition is being critically engaged by the scholars and students of Zaytuna College to craft an “American Islam” based on a shared moral and ethical system that draws from and is relevant to the heterogeneous experiences of diverse Muslims and their material circumstances. Based on eighteen months of ethnographic research at Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, and in the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area, this study’s methodological approach is grounded in participant-observation, interviews, and visual ethnography.

In a time when “traditional” Islam and Islamic education are seen as incommensurable with American society and ideals, American Muslims are mobilizing traditions of Islamic scholarship within liberal arts institutional frameworks to articulate and establish the future possibilities of Islam and being Muslim in North America. This research shows how the Islamic discursive tradition is being critically engaged by the scholars and students of Zaytuna College to craft an “American Islam” based on a shared moral and ethical system that draws from and is relevant to the heterogeneous experiences of diverse Muslims and their material circumstances. Based on eighteen months of ethnographic research at Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, and in the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area, this study’s methodological approach is grounded in participant-observation, interviews, and visual ethnography.

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify whether a correlation exists between perceived online incivility experiences and RN-BSN student program satisfaction. This study used a cross-sectional, quantitative (correlational) survey method. There were 85 participants, 93% female and 7% male, with 89% of the respondents identifying as Caucasian, 6% Asian, 4% African American, and 1% as Pacific Islander. The age range was 20-64 years, with a mean age of 41.4 years. Of the participants in this study, 32% reported experiencing one or more occurrences of online incivility from faculty, primarily through emails. Online incivility and RN-BSN program satisfaction were found to produce a correlation coefficient of -0.32, which was significant and indicates a relationship of medium strength. Limitations of this study include a small sample size, the sensitivity of the topic, and survey responses based on memories of perceived experiences. Implications for practice include development of clear expectations with respect to faculty conduct, including a zero tolerance policy and an avenue through which students can freely report incivility. Further research should focus on identifying other variables that may contribute to online incivility and RN-BSN program satisfaction.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project is to create a career planning guidebook for undergraduate hospitality management students. This guidebook will allow students to determine what their interests are in various hospitality careers. Students&rsquo; interests will be determined by performing a self assessment via the web based O*Net Interest Profiler&trade; instrument. The Interest Profiler report will identify students&rsquo; interests based on the six personality types adapted from John Holland&rsquo;s typology of personality types and work environments.</p>