Emporia State University

We built an immersive virtual reality environment where preservice nurses practice with generative artificial intelligence-driven virtual standardized patients (AI-VSPs). We ran mixed-methods study (experimental <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$n=23$</tex>; control <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$n=34$</tex>). Usability score was <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$81.6 / 100$</tex>, indicating excellent usability. A single session increased self-efficacy from 3.74 to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$4.11(t(22)=3.82, p&lt;0.001$</tex>). In the standardized-patient (SP) encounter performance assessment, scores for AI-VSP users did not differ from controls <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(t(55)=-0.134, p=0.894)$</tex>. AI-VSP encounter performance did not relate to engagement, presence, or immersion, although these experience measures were strongly intercorrelated. Interviews highlighted helps and hindrances. Overall, AI-VSPs are a usable, confidence-building supplement to SP encounter preparation. We also outline practical design steps: cap reply length, enable reliable barge-in, improve speech quality and latency, and keep scaffolding minimal.

Creative giftedness gained a foothold in American K-12 schools with the inception of the Marland report. To understand the growth and direction of creative giftedness over a 50-year timeframe from an international basis, we selected 16 academic journals in the field of gifted education from the United States, Europe, Türkiye, Korea, and Oceania and conducted keyword search strings for creative and Marland . Our retrospective study found precursors on creative giftedness rooted in early psychological research (1900–1950); a transitional conceptualization through a global awakening from Guilford’s presidential speech (1950–2000); and new world interconnectedness with a democratization of creativity that contemplates cyber-creativity (2000–2025). Content analysis of 2,564 keyword article titles showed eight main topics, and we analyzed the distribution of work on these themes, over the three time periods. Trends are observed in terms of journal topics and trends over time across the set of journals.

This study contributes to theory in persuasion and humor by hypothesizing distinct audience segments that determine how people respond to humor appeals. Across two studies, using a multiple message design and two different humor appeals, we specify and validate four discrete audience segments, referred to here as audience receptivity profiles, that align with previous theorizing and are differentially related to persuasion. Findings suggest that those with different audience receptivity profiles vary in whether they find humor appeals humorous, resulting in increased perceptions of humor and message-consistent persuasive effects among audiences who belong to supportive audience receptivity profiles, and decreased humor as well as increased likelihood of unintended effects among audiences who belong to non-supportive audience receptivity profiles. These findings align with previous theorizing in this area, and highlight when humor may have deleterious effects on audiences whose attitudes and values suggest they are most open to persuasive attempts.

This is a descriptive study of private sector rehabilitation practitioners’ opinions about rehabilitation counseling preparation, including distance education delivery. An electronic survey created at SurveyMonkey.com was distributed anonymously to members of the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals (IARP), which is the professional organization representing private sector practitioners in rehabilitation. Fifty-six members responded to the survey. Respondents identified master’s level training in rehabilitation counseling or a related discipline as necessary preparation for practice in the private sector, but generally viewed master’s level graduate readiness for entry into the private sector as insufficient. Of respondent-suggested essential topics, business law, business management and human resources, disability management, non-profit management, forensic statistics, and forensic rehabilitation are not adequately covered in current program instruction. A majority of respondents viewed the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) credential as essential.

Simple SummaryEmergency departments often have long wait times, but we do not fully understand all the factors that contribute to ED overcrowding. This study looked at how weather, football games, holidays, and hospital operations affect ED waiting times at a major medical center over four years. We found that bad weather, especially thunderstorms, leads to more people waiting in the ED. Surprisingly, clear weather also increased wait times. Football games caused more crowding 12 h before game time, likely because of pre-game injuries and celebrations. Weekends and federal holidays had fewer people waiting, probably because people delay non-urgent visits when regular doctors are not available. The number of patients stuck in the ED waiting for hospital beds (boarding) and overall hospital fullness showed complex patterns. When measured at different time points, their effects changed from increasing to decreasing wait times, showing that timing matters in understanding ED crowding. These findings can help hospitals better predict busy periods and adjust staffing. For example, hospitals could add extra staff before thunderstorms or football games. Understanding these patterns helps hospitals prepare for crowding before it happens, potentially reducing your wait time when you need emergency care.Objectives: This study analyzes factors influencing Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding by examining the impacts of operational, environmental, and external variables, including weather conditions and football games. Materials and Methods: This retrospective observational study analyzed emergency department (ED) tracking and hospital census data from a southeastern U.S. academic medical center covering 2019–2023. These data were merged with corresponding weather, football event, and federal holiday data. The dependent variable was the hourly waiting count in the ED, our operational measure of overcrowding. Seven regression models were developed to assess different predictors across various timestamps. Results: Weather conditions were significantly correlated with increased ED waiting count in the Baseline Model, while federal holidays and weekends were consistently correlated with reduced waiting counts. Boarding count was positively correlated with ED waiting count when concurrent, but boarding counts 3 h and 6 h before showed significant negative correlations. Hospital census showed a negative correlation in the Baseline Model but shifted to a positive effect in other models, reflecting its time-dependent influence on ED operations. Football games 12 h before significantly correlated with increased waiting counts, while games 12 and 24 h after had no significant effects. Discussion: While existing research typically focuses on limited variables and narrow timeframes, the temporal relationships between operational and non-operational factors affecting ED overcrowding remain understudied, particularly the delayed impacts of external events and environmental conditions. Conclusions: This study emphasizes the importance of incorporating both operational and non-operational factors to understand ED patient flow. Identifying robust predictors such as weather conditions, federal holidays, boarding count, and hospital census can inform dynamic resource allocation strategies to mitigate ED overcrowding effectively.

The ALISE Youth Services Special Interest Group (SIG) presents a panel exploring how youth services programs support communities. Community issues of homelessness and barriers to youth engagement are considered, as well as the need to honor the voices of all library users. The session will begin with presentations of papers (15 minutes each), followed by a themed question-and-answer portion to conclude. Attendees will be able to share their own experiences and work-in-progress on these topics during the discussion. Amanda Hovious will discuss the barriers that may prevent rural teens and youth from engaging in their libraries, regardless of whether youth services are offered. Findings from a needs assessment survey conducted with Kansas public libraries (N = 50) as a component of the statewide Adaptive and Resilient Infrastructures Driven by Social Equity (ARISE) will be shared. Jessie Maimone will present information on the experiences of black teenagers in the public library. The aim of the research is to identify how race affects their interactions within the library, what they see as the purpose of libraries, and what an ideal library would look like for them. Vikki C. Terrile will share research about library support of homeless children and families. Practitioner and/or scholarly work in LIS is focused on people who are or appear to be chronically homeless adults. Children and families who are experiencing homelessness are rarely mentioned. Terrile shares an exploration of her work partnering with shelters and how this experience is used with LIS students. DeAnza Williams and Caitlin Tobin will detail the reading experience of children and youth as experts of their own reading preferences and library experiences. They will propose potential methods for incorporating youth voices in children and youth literature courses. Youth services can nurture youth, community, and support learning and family connections. This presentation and the subsequent attendee discussion will explore the ways in which the LIS field can work to address these and other community needs through excellent youth services.

Since the onset of COVID-19, the boom in streaming platforms and television seems to have replaced the sense of escape that many people once found in reading books. Meanwhile there has been a global revival of reading promotion initiatives within public libraries. Existing studies, primarily small-scale action research or empirical research, emphasize the impact of reading on early literacy development, lifelong learning, and the enhancement of mental health and cognitive function in later life. To provide research-based evidence, this longitudinal analysis utilized survey data from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS, 1996–2021) and the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS, 2010–2025). A cross-lagged panel model was used to examine relationships among reading, memory and depressive symptoms (i.e., CES-D) from 2016 to 2022. The results show reading predicts later improvements in memory, but has no direct effect on depressive symptoms. In contrast, memory decline strongly predicts subsequent depressive symptoms, while the effects of depression on later memory is minimal. Accordingly, reading may indirectly protect against depression by supporting memory. The findings highlight the essential roles of public libraries in reading promotion among older adults to strengthen cognitive function and lower the risk of depression. Key library services span from readers’ advisory, author signings and readings, new book exhibitions, book clubs, and bookmobiles. These initiatives aim to meet the information needs of the growing aging population and promote their overall health and well-being worldwide.

Attempts to censor library materials and services are on the rise, with new data indicating that it ties most of library censorship to organized campaigns. The American Library Association (ALA), the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, and their ALA affiliates recognize that the education of librarians about intellectual freedom is important in defending First Amendment rights. A dominant response to the need for teaching about intellectual freedom in libraries invokes a critical inquiry into library and information science content and pedagogy used in intellectual freedom teaching and learning as an authentic expression of protecting legal rights to give and receive information. The voices of enrolled students in a new intellectual freedom course at Emporia State University, School of Library and Information Management, are authentic expressions of their new awareness of how policy and law are central to effective education, communication, and efforts to unite and protect the freedom to read and support library workers at a critical time in American history. The Unite Against Book Ban campaign and Law for Librarians and Lawyers for Libraries (L4L) programs are highlighted in their active pursuit to provide excellent educational opportunities and resources, and as examples of pedagogical and curricular resources for intellectual freedom education.

Predicting student academic performance is crucial for early intervention and improved educational outcomes. This study introduces a deep learning framework using a feedforward neural network built with PyTorch to predict students’ final grades based on demographic, behavioral, and academic features from the UCI Student Performance dataset. Preprocessing involved categorical encoding and feature scaling. Despite the dataset’s limited size (395 samples), the model achieved a Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of approximately 2.5 on a $0-20$ grade scale. To benchmark its effectiveness, the model’s performance was compared with traditional machine learning algorithms including Random Forest and SVM. Basic explainability using SHAP was also incorporated to interpret feature contributions. Security features such as encrypted model parameters and secure deployment protocols were implemented to ensure responsible handling of student data. The study highlights the promise of deep learning in educational analytics, offering an interpretable, secure, and effective method to support proactive academic interventions.