This research tested the relationship between individuals cultural values and the malleability in their ways of knowing in two social contexts. Two hundred and ninety-two college students majoring in either business or social sciences initially received two priming conditions (two weeks apart) where they reflected on either their in-group or their out-group. Then, their adherences to ways of knowing: separate knowing (SK, being a devil’s advocate) and connected knowing (CK, being perspective taker) and cultural values: collectivist-horizontal, collectivist-vertical, individualist-horizontal and individualist-vertical were assessed. Analyses revealed a priming condition X ways of knowing X cultural values interaction. When students had their in-group in mind, their CK score was significantly higher than their SK score in all cultural categories. When students had their out-group in mind, their CK scores decreased to comparable levels of their SK score in all cultural values except horizontal-collectivist. Students with a dominant collectivist-horizontal values maintained higher CK scores compared with their SK scores in the out-group condition. Implications for perspective-taking and critical thinking are discussed.

The debate over the advantage and/or disadvantage of students using technology in the on-ground classroom continues. Unlike the 70s where overhead projectors and flipcharts were the standard equipment in the classroom, today on-ground Smart Classrooms in higher education are outfitted with computers, laptops, Smart podia, Blu-ray player, HD projector, Data projector, DVD player, sound speakers, Document Camera, etc. Because of the increasing use of technology in the classroom and because students bring their own technology to the classroom, faculty are setting limits on the degree to which students use their laptops, tablets, iPods, iPads, and cell phones. Some faculty have banned students from using technology during their lectures, while others have barred students using technology in the classroom altogether. Although a number of students during class may be taking notes, interacting with professor's guided instruction, reading the text materials or following along with the instructor— others are texting, emailing, surfing the web, on Facebook, hulu, Netflix, YouTube, Twitter, Skype, etc. These students are doing everything but their assigned work; their multitasking and/or off-task behavior may interfere with both teaching and learning. Because many students may be misusing technology in the classroom, faculty have developed policies to effectively manage student use while in class. This concept paper examines how professors' use guided instruction to control the use of technology in the on-ground classroom—increasing success in both teaching and learning.

Willingness to argue is associated with higher level thinking. The authors tested the relation between ways of knowing—involving separate knowing (i.e., playing the devil's advocate) and connected knowing (i.e., empathic understanding)—and students' willingness to argue. Participants were 171 male and 231 female college undergraduates who completed assessments in ways of knowing and willingness to argue. Also, the participants defined the word argument in their own words. After the authors controlled for demographic variables, endorsement of separate knowing predicted willingness to argue. Students with high scores in separate knowing (objective, adversarial knowing) and connected knowing (subjective, empathic knowing) indicated more willingness to argue. Furthermore, these same students defined argument as a constructive form of communication. Students with low scores in separate knowing defined argument as an emotional battle with the goal of psychological harm. This negative perspective could be an impediment to engaging students in classroom debate and critical thinking.

Given the increasingly culturally diverse composition of students in American classrooms, understanding the nature of cultural differences is necessary to generate effective instructional interventions. This study examines the individual differences in epistemological beliefs, ways of knowing, study strategies, and academic performance among different cultural groups. These cultural groups include European Americans (Americans of European ancestry) and first and successive generations of Asian Americans. College junior and senior business majors completed instruments assessing epistemological beliefs, ways of knowing, and study strategies. Multivariate analyses of variances revealed significant differences among cultural groups in 5 study strategies (low anxiety, selecting main ideas, testing strategies, high motivation, and information processing), course grades, and reading comprehension. Regression analyses revealed that beliefs about learning speed, knowledge construction, characteristics of successful students, and separate knowing contributed to cultural differences. This study highlights the need to avoid strong stereotyping and to consider individual differences in the classroom.

To obtain a more complete understanding of personal epistemology this study examines two epistemic paradigms – ways of knowing (specifically connected knowing and separate knowing) and epistemological beliefs (specifically beliefs about knowledge structure, knowledge stability, learning speed, and learning ability). Participants were 107 college students who completed questionnaires that assessed ways of knowing and epistemological beliefs. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that men score significantly higher on separate knowing. Path analyses revealed that the effects of ways of knowing on academic performance are mediated by belief in the speed of learning.

We begin by reviewing literature describing the characteristics and policy issues bearing on freight. We extract from that literature a structure for describing those policy issues, and then go on to design a series of map displays and quantitative measures that provide a linkage between the characteristics of local delivery trucking and the public policy issues that stem from and influence these characteristics. The Regional Freight Logistics Profile (RFLP) emerges as an easy-to-understand yet comprehensive description of urban trucking that stimulates a more constructive dialog among government transportation leaders, shippers, truckers, and the general public. The design balances coverage of the variety of public and business concerns relative to freight against the costs and other practicalities of collecting data. To overcome reluctance on the part of private companies to reveal performance information, we have designed an institutional approach to gathering truck fleet performance data that does not compromise confidential performance data from competing carriers and shippers. We recommend that metropolitan planning organizations, as well as state and federal freight mobility offices with responsibility for technical assistance to MPOs, review the RFLP design for potential adaptation and adoption.