Reflections on the EPPP: A commentary on Sharpless and Barber.

In their article “The EPPP in the Era of Evidence-Based Practice,” B. A. Sharpless and J. P. Barber (see record 2009-11890-004) shine a critical spotlight on the standardized exam for professional psychology licensure. Yet their arguments are based on some inaccurate assumptions about the purpose and the validity of the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP). In this critical response paper, we focus on several areas of disagreement with Sharpless and Barber, including the purpose of the EPPP, reflections on its validity and failure rates, and the need for generic versus specialized entry-level professional licensure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring Training Needs and Development of Construction Language Courses for American Supervisors and Hispanic Craft Workers

This study explores the training needs of American supervisors and Hispanic construction craft workers and describes the development, delivery, and evaluation of construction-focused training courses intended to facilitate accommodation for American supervisors and assimilation of Hispanic craft workers to the United States (U.S.) industry. A survey was conducted to better understand the adaptation issues between American supervisors and their Hispanic craft workers. As a result of the survey, two unique construction language courses were developed: English as a second language (ESL) and Spanish as a second language (SSL) for construction. Evaluation feedback from initial course offerings suggest that they were useful in terms of increased confidence and improved ability to communicate. It is anticipated that the courses developed and the training provided will improve the communication channels between American supervisors and Hispanic workers, as well as strengthen the supervisor-worker relationship as the American supervisor grows aware of the existent communication differences. A model for transferring these research findings to other cultural groups and a technology-based approach for delivering these courses to the construction site are also discussed.     

Awards for distinguished professional contributions: Robert D. Weitz.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliography for Robert D. Weitz, this year's (1994) winner of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions--Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Psychology as a Professional Practice. From Weitz's citation: "Dr. Robert D. Weitz has filled a lifetime of energy, enthusiasm, and achievement into his 50-plus year career in professional psychology. As a clinician, educator, editor, and activist, he has been an inspiration and role model for generations of clinical and applied psychologists who have benefited from the efforts of the early pioneers of the profession. More than a dreamer, Bob has manifested the ability to turn ideas into reality, with the development of his own successful clinical practice, the evolution of two professional schools of psychology, a scholarly journal for practitioners, and the significant advances for the profession in the political arena. Of his greatest accomplishment, he has obtained these goals while earning and maintaining the love and respect of his colleagues and preserving an unmatched zest for life and people." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Melba J. T. Vasquez: Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Independent or Institutional Practice in the Private Sector.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliography for Melba J. T. Vasquez, the 2007 recipient of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Independent or Institutional Practice in the Private Sector. Also presented is an article based on the author's award address delivered at the APA's 115th annual meeting, held August 17-20, 2007, in San Francisco, California. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Approaches of truck drivers and non-truck drivers toward reckless on-road behavior

The purpose of the study was to compare the reported approaches of truck drivers to those of non-truck drivers toward reckless on-road behaviors. One hundred and sixty-seven adult males, including 70 non-truck drivers, completed the questionnaires voluntarily. The truck drivers were employees of a concrete manufacturing company working at various company plants throughout Israel. Seventy were professional mixer truckers and 27 were tip-truckers. The participants completed the Reckless Driving Self-Report Scale based on Taubman Ben-Ari et al. [Taubman Ben-Ari, O., Florian, V., Mikulincer, M., 1999. The impact of mortality salience on reckless driving: a test of terror management mechanisms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 76, 35-45], adapted for truck drivers for this study. It was expected that non-professional, as compared to professional (truck) drivers, would be more permissive regarding reckless driving, since driving risks are less prominent in their daily driving experience. An ANOVA performed on mean reckless-driving scores yielded significant results. The post hoc Schéffe test indicated significantly higher reckless-driving scores for automobile drivers as compared to both mixer-truck driver scores and tip-truck driver scores. In addition, the reckless-driving scores for mixer-truck drivers were significantly higher than the tip-truck driver scores. We discuss various explanations for the findings and consider possible implications for training strategies in organizations as well as for media campaigns focused on mutual safe road use of truck drivers and private vehicle drivers.     

什么样的职业环境适合BIM人才的发展—对BIM咨询团队与BIM人才的思考

社会对BIM人才的需求逐步增加,然而BIM人才却面临技术与职业发展的难题。作者结合在阁朗芙工程公司的带队经历,以及目前在上海优建咨询的BIM团队组建工作,探索适合BIM人才长远发展的职业环境。     

教育云平台下的高职计算机专业信息化教学改革分析

高职院校信息化教学发展过程中存在一系列问题,计算机发展时间很短,但是由于具备很强大优势,在当前占据大量市场之后,进入教育领域成为专业学科。信息化教学课程资源建设重复、理论教学和实践运用之间相互独立,教学资源滞后、信息快速发展等原因,让现阶段计算机信息化教学存在很多问题。在教育云平台下进行教育改革,有非常必要的可行性,以计算机为例,在与计算环境下进行改革创新,促进信息化资源和促进教学改革等,建立起灵活的具备时代性的信息化教学体系,让计算机教学在高职教学中真正发挥价值和作用,推进高职教学的现代化发展。     

面向高校计算机专业的专业外语教学体系研究

在分析专业外语教学重要性的基础上,指出单纯依靠《计算机专业英语》课程提高学生专业外语能力的不足,提出结合专业课程开展双语教学可以取得更好的教学效果,进而给出了一个面向计算机专业的专业外语教学体系框架,就如何做好专业外语教学提出几点建议。     

Case study of online workshop for the professional development of teachers

The study investigates the value and effectiveness of online workshops as a tool for creating professional learning communities. The pattern of interaction, mentoring quality and attitude of teacher toward participation in a Web-based Teacher's Professional Development Platform were addressed. One hundred and twenty eight participants were co-mentored by three senior elementary mathematics teachers to meet a professional development requirement. Data collection involved content analysis and supplemental surveys. The content analyzed included the participants' message posts, the quality of the dialogue and the quality of mentoring by assistants. A survey was administered to elucidate participants' attitudes towards and perceptions of the Web as a tool for professional development.The study revealed that most participants claimed to have benefited emotionally and intellectually from using telecommunications networks for professional development and support. Positive learning effects on members were satisfactory, yet their participation was not highly interactive or as reflective as the authors would have wished. Closely examining the messages posted by participants revealed that the categories general introduction and organization were most, with the fewest associated queries and responses. The assistants' mentoring strategies mainly included feedback/praise, directing, modeling, questioning, cognitive elaboration and efforts to explore accounted for less than 10% altogether. That is, the assistants focused more on social and organizational functions, and less on intellectual function. The study was significant in that the computer-mediated workshop nurtured the teachers' professional growth, but their participation was neither highly interactive nor and, even though there much anecdotal evidence supported the claim that members enjoyed and valued the online workshops. The paper concludes by offering some recommendations concerning the future design of technology in professional learning.     

Knowledge sharing and creation in a teachers’ professional virtual community

By virtue of the non-profit nature of school education, a professional virtual community composed of teachers provides precious data to understand the processes of knowledge sharing and creation. Guided by grounded theory, the authors conducted a three-phased study on a teachers’ virtual community in order to understand the knowledge flows among community members from different organizations. This study also portrays the process of knowledge sharing and creation for teachers participating in virtual teams of a teachers’ professional community. The resulting model articulates causal conditions, action/interaction strategies, consequence, and contextual environments. The concept of knowledge buckle is derived to connect the knowledge transfer among socialization, externalization, and combination activities.