Evaluating multi-institutional partnership sustainability: a case study of collaborative workforce development in renewable energy assessment

Partnership evaluation typically occurs during the final stages either to assess why a collaborative effort did not work or to identify the indicators of success. Partnerships are rarely evaluated at their incipient stage, which is a critical time to assess their potential for long-term sustainability. In this paper, we present an early-stage evaluative framework for assessing multi-institutional academic partnerships’ sustainability based on 3 dimensions: decision processes, problem orientation, and social capital. We apply the evaluative framework using case study research to the Renewable Energy Assessment (REA) Program, a workforce enhancement academic partnership that focuses on facilities and lands viability assessment. Using the evaluative framework, we identified critical elements present within and missing from the REA Program that could influence the partnership's long-term sustainability. This study demonstrates the need to conduct incipient stage and ongoing evaluations to foster partnership sustainability, and provides a framework for conducting such assessments.     

伦敦塔里的鬼魂

也许你知道伦敦塔藏有无数文物珍宝,保存着英国历代王冠和王室珠宝;也许你听说过这里是全英国闹鬼传闻最多的地方,但你知道个中原因吗?这里曾经被用作监狱,无数皇亲国戚命丧于此。伦敦塔里到底藏着怎样的史实和谜题?住在这样一个地方又是怎样的感觉?想知道答案,伦敦塔守卫将为你一一道来。     

Educational reform and the educational psychologist: Another perspective

In responding to the work of Benton and Hoyt, Kowalski argues that an adequate analysis of reform efforts is incomplete without an examination of underlying purposes. Questions are raised regarding the motives of those who promote extended teacher education programs and the Carnegie Forum proposal for national certification. The author suggests that educational psychologists can contribute to reform efforts by helping to explore values, beliefs, motivations, and needs as they relate to change proposals in teacher education.     

The relative effects and equity of inquiry‐based and commonplace science teaching on students' knowledge,reasoning, and argumentation

We conducted a laboratory‐based randomized control study to examine the effectiveness of inquiry‐based instruction. We also disaggregated the data by student demographic variables to examine if inquiry can provide equitable opportunities to learn. Fifty‐eight students aged 14–16 years old were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Both groups of students were taught toward the same learning goals by the same teacher, with one group being taught from inquiry‐based materials organized around the BSCS 5E Instructional Model, and the other from materials organized around commonplace teaching strategies as defined by national teacher survey data. Students in the inquiry‐based group reached significantly higher levels of achievement than students experiencing commonplace instruction. This effect was consistent across a range of learning goals (knowledge, reasoning, and argumentation) and time frames (immediately following the instruction and 4 weeks later). The commonplace science instruction resulted in a detectable achievement gap by race, whereas the inquiry‐based materials instruction did not. We discuss the implications of these findings for the body of evidence on the effectiveness of teaching science as inquiry; the role of instructional models and curriculum materials in science teaching; addressing achievement gaps; and the competing demands of reform and accountability. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:276–301, 2010     

The long‐day childcare context: implications for toddlers' pretend play

Forty‐eight toddlers aged 17 to 31 months attending long‐day childcare participated in this project, which examined some of the influences of the day‐care context on their emerging pretend play. Ninety minutes of video‐taped observations were collected for each participant as they engaged in free play with their same‐age peers and their pre‐school‐aged peers. The play environment was assessed on a number of dimensions, including the provision of play materials, the quality of care and staff attitudes toward play. Additionally, the participants' weekly attendance pattern was taken into consideration. The complexity of pretend play was coded in accordance with Westby's Symbolic Play Scale (1991 Westby C A scale for assessing children's pretend play 1991 in: C. E. Shaefer, K. Gitlin & A. Sandgrund (Eds) Play diagnosis and assessment New York Wiley 131 161  [Google Scholar]). Two components of the long‐day childcare context—play with pre‐school‐aged peers and the unsatisfactory provision of play materials—were found to be significantly influential on the participants' complexity of pretend play. An attendance of four or more days in childcare was also found to be favourable. A number of implications for educational programming in the day‐care context arise from these results.     

Changing Kinesiology and Physical Education by Infusing Information About Individuals With Disabilities

Just as faculty are expected to refer to performance and behavior changes that occur by age, gender, and other factors, an infusion of information about individuals with disabilities requires us to focus on the range of human variability and its relation to physical activity across the life span. This call to infuse information about individuals with disabilities should affect most kinesiology/ physical education undergraduate and graduate curricula in institutions of higher education. Advocacy for this idea has been developing for many years (Hall & Stiehl, 1978; Sherrill, 1988; Stein, 1969). Such infusion could add to and enhance our ability to contribute to the broad goals of society. But for us to assume this role, we must change our curricula to meet our published mission of serving society. This change will help disciplinary and professional preparation programs produce a broader range of scholarly activity and provide leadership that other disciplines may envy