A model for the evaluation of search queries in medical bibliographic sources

The aim of this study was to develop a model to evaluate the retrieval quality of search queries performed by Dutch general practitioners using the printed Index Medicus, MEDLINE on CD-ROM, and MEDLINE through GRATEFUL MED. Four search queries related to general practice were formulated for a continuing medical education course in literature searching. The selected potential relevant citations from the course instructor and the 103 course participants together served as the basic set for the three judges to evaluate for (a) relevance and (b) quality, with the latter based on journal ranking, research design and publication type. Relevant individual citations received a citation quality score from 1 (low) to 4 (high). The overall search quality was expressed in a formula, which included the individual citation quality score of the selected and missed relevant citations, and the number of selected non-relevant citations. The outcome measures were the number and quality of relevant citations and agreement between the judges. Out of 864 citations, 139 were assessed as relevant, of which 44 citations received an individual citation quality score of 1, 76 of 2, 19 of 3 and none of 4. The level of agreement between the judges was 68% for the relevant citations, and 88% for the non-relevant citations. We describe a model for the evaluation of search queries based not only on the relevance, but also on the quality of the citations retrieved. With adaptation, this model could be generalized to other professional users, and to other bibliographic sources.     

Students' understanding of the greenhouse effect,the societal consequences of reducing CO2 emissions and the problem of ozone layer depletion

This study is an attempt to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about students' conceptions and views concerning environmental and natural resource issues. Answers have been sought to the following questions: “How do Swedish students in grade 9 (15–16 years old) and grade 12 (18–19 years old) explain the greenhouse effect?”, “How do they think reduction of CO₂ emission would affect society?” and “How do they explain that the depletion of the ozone layer is a problem?” The method chosen to answer these questions was to give students written tasks of the open‐ended type. Five models of the greenhouse effect appear among the answers, all more or less incomplete, but nevertheless with potential for development. The students' responses also indicate that they do not fully understand what fundamental societal changes would occur as a result of a drastic reduction in CO₂ emission. On the other hand, they are rather well informed about how injurious depletion of the ozone layer is to humans. The findings are discussed, including implications for teaching. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 1096–1111, 2000     

Gender-fair psychotherapy in the United States: A possible dream?

Since Freud's era, women have been counseling and psychotherapy's largest consumers. White Freud talked and wrote almost exclusively about men, his patients were primarily women. This practice of treating women as patients, while perceiving men as the prevailing standard for percept and practice has resulted in the largely androcentric or mate-determined psychology of human behavior which we have today (Denmark, 1980; Hare-Mustin, 1983).A number of studies commencing with the Broverman's work in the 1970(s) has demonstrated that psychotherapists, for the most part, share the same sex role biases toward women as the rest of society (Broverman et al., 1970; Fabrikant, 1973, 1974; Nickerson, 1978; Orlinsky & Howard, 1980). Most disconcerting, however, is a recent extensive replication of the Brovermans' study (O'Malley & Richardson, 1985), using 249 counselors, which found that they still described males and females in stereotypic ways, though they did attribute some female designated traits to healthy adults.The evidence regarding the measured effects of therapists' attitudes, whether reportedly biased or gender-fair, however, is mixed in nature and replete with methodological problems (Maffeo, 1979; Marachek & Johnson, 1980; Orlinsky & Howard, 1980; Smith, 1980; Whiteley, 1979); as is the evidence for effectiveness of therapy generally (Garfield, 1981). Some have argued that a counselor's values and expectations do not matter, as long as she or he is aware and does not impose them (Smith, 1980; Whiteley, 1979). It would seem equally probable, based on other evidence that choice of therapeutic goals and processes can be influenced by the therapist's expectations (Brovermans et al., 1970; Nickerson, 1978; O'Malley & Richardson, 1985).The crucial point is that in a sexist society (Such as the United States), it is improbable that anyone without special non-sexist, gender-fair training can adequately aid women in exercising their independence and selecting their goals. Hence, a format is presented for insuring the dream of gender-fair counseling through the inclusion of appropriate training experiences and materials.     

Frequent testing and personalized systems of instruction

This research compared course achievement in elementary statistics under Keller-plan Personalized Systems of Instruction and under other lecture methods of instruction incorporating only some of the basic components of Keller-plan teaching methods. The addition of content unitization and learning objectives to a lecture/midterm method resulted in course achievement below that found with Keller-plan methods. However, the addition of frequent testing (12 tests in a 14-week semester), content unitization, and learning objectives to a lecture method resulted in achievement at the same high level as achievement of students in a Keller-plan course. Both findings were replicated in two independent semesters. These results suggested that the achievement found in Keller-plan courses may be due to the frequent testing aspects of the mastery learning component of such methods and not to the personalization with proctors or allowance for individual rates present in Keller-plan methods.     

Effect of an evidence-based answering service on GPs and their patients: a pilot study

Objectives: For general practitioners (GPs), an important obstacle to practising evidence‐based medicine is lack of time. An evidence‐based answering service was developed that took over searching and appraisal of medical evidence from the GPs. GPs sent in questions, and the informationist formulated the answers. Our objectives were to find out if such an evidence‐based answering service was feasible, including assessing the effect of the answers on GPs and their patients, as reported by the GPs. Methods: After attending a workshop on building well‐formulated questions from daily practice, the GPs sent in questions to the informationist. The literature was searched, the relevant information was appraised, and the answers to the questions were formulated. With a questionnaire, the effect of the answers on the GP and the patient was assessed, as well as the perceived barriers to implementing the answers. Results: From 26 GPs, 61 questions were received. For 12% of questions, information was found with the highest evidence level, while for 36%, no information was found. However, for 89% of the questions for which no information could be found, the answer ‘no information found’ did have an effect on the GP concerned. In total, 81% of all the answers had an effect on the GP, and, according to the GP, 52% had an effect on the patient. Few barriers to implementing the evidence were perceived. Most of the answers were found in Pubmed/Medline, the Cochrane Library and Embase. Conclusions: This study indicates that an evidence‐based answering service can have an impact on GPs and their patients. Librarians can provide an evidence‐based answering service for GPs and their patients. The evidence‐based answering service for GPs in this study had an impact on 81% of the GPs and on 52% of their patients. Although for one‐third of the questions no evidence‐based answer was found, this message in itself had an impact on 89% of the GPs. An informationist as mediator between medical information and doctors can save doctors’ time.     

Students’ experiences of academic success with dyslexia: A call for alternative intervention

This article describes a small‐scale study exploring the perspectives of five undergraduate students with dyslexia. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted in two universities in the UK. The interviews explored participants’ perceptions of their dyslexia label and how it had affected their academic success. The aim of the research was to identify facilitating factors that supported participants with dyslexia during their education. The following themes were identified: age of dyslexia identification, family support, dyslexic identity, self‐advocacy skills and learning resources. The study makes a case for an intervention for children and young people (CYP) with dyslexia that, in addition to remedial literacy support, explores self‐advocacy, thinking and study skills and facilitates positive academic self‐concepts. Future research could evaluate such an intervention for its effectiveness on CYP's social emotional well‐being and literacy skills.