This article surveys research in the areas of aesthetics and design, usability, visual aesthetics in education, and recent statistics related to online education. The focus of the article is on defining the role of visual content and aesthetics in the user interface and exploring what importance aesthetics and visual content have to education.…

This study examines the effects victim disability (physical vs. intellectual vs. none), victim resistance (physical vs. verbal vs. none) and respondent gender (male vs. female) have on attributions of blame and credibility in a hypothetical case of child sexual abuse. Three hundred and thirty-five respondents read a fictional police statement…

Out-of-classroom communication (OCC) in the form of email has increased considerably in the past few years. This study uses Interaction Adaptation Theory (IAT) to inform and frame the impact of using overly casual email messages with instructors. Study one used an experimental method to determine that message quality (casual vs. formal messages)…

The primary goal of this study was to test a credibility-learning model in U.S., Chinese, German, and Japanese classrooms. Using structural equation modeling, an etic credibility-learning model was generated from the common significant paths of the hypothesized model across the four cultures. Teacher credibility showed only an indirect…

Despite their increasing use, composite indicators remain controversial. The undesirable dependence of countries' rankings on the preliminary normalization stage, and the disagreement among experts/stakeholders on the specific weighting scheme used to aggregate sub-indicators, are often invoked to undermine the credibility of composite indicators.…

The broad enthusiasm for service-learning on U.S. campuses and in education abroad is an extremely welcome development. However, the status of service-learning is problematic institutionally and academically. It is frequently not located in mainstream academic departments or is seen as an incidental activity nor does it, for the most part, achieve…

Recent findings show that preschool children are selective with respect to whom they ask for information and whose claims they endorse. In particular, they monitor an informant's record of past accuracy or inaccuracy and use that record to gauge future trustworthiness. We ask if preschoolers also monitor the non-verbal cues of assent or dissent…

The primary purpose of this article is to further discussions of validity in mixed methods research by introducing a validation framework to guide thinking about validity in this area. To justify the use of this framework, the authors discuss traditional terminology and validity criteria for quantitative and qualitative research, as well as…

Prior studies suggest that faculty members who are credible are more effective in the classroom in that they are evaluated more highly and their students achieve greater learning. This paper explores how the instructor's attire impacts his or her perceived credibility, and how the students' corresponding perception of instructor credibility…

The authors examined 3 possible explanations for the failure of a social norms campaign at a large public university. They administered an anonymous survey to 2 random samples of undergraduate classes: a baseline assessment of 616 students before the campaign's implementation and a follow-up survey of 723 students 4 academic years later. At…

This research examines socio-economic status (SES) differences in parents' Web use, skills, and satisfaction. A total of 120 parents were interviewed about their use of the Web to find child and family information, and they provided feedback as they searched for information online. Findings indicate that the higher the SES level (a) the greater…

Sixty-five (38 male and 27 female) preschool children (mean age=5 years 1 month) completed measures of peers' trustworthiness (promise keeping and secret keeping). Teachers rated the preschool children's inhibitory control, trustworthiness, and preschool adjustment. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) yielded support for the hypothesized model. The…

In this article, the curriculum workshop (CW) is elaborated as an approach to professional learning, deliberation and inquiry. It offers a comprehensive framework for school-based deliberation and inquiry, is rooted in curriculum theory, promises a broad range of applications in teacher education and provides tools to assess the trustworthiness of…

The current study looked at the relation between advisee perceptions of advisor's verbal aggression, credibility, and conflict styles. Participants were 153 graduate students who reported their perceptions concerning their advisor. First, the study found that advisee perceptions of their advisor's credibility (competence, caring/goodwill, &…