Users can change their web search tactics: Design guidelines for categorized overviews

Categorized overviews of web search results are a promising way to support user exploration, understanding, and discovery. These search interfaces combine a metadata-based overview with the list of search results to enable a rich form of interaction. A study of 24 sophisticated users carrying out complex tasks suggests how searchers may adapt their search tactics when using categorized overviews. This mixed methods study evaluated categorized overviews of web search results organized into thematic, geographic, and government categories. Participants conducted four exploratory searches during a 2-hour session to generate ideas for newspaper articles about specified topics such as “human smuggling.” Results showed that subjects explored deeper while feeling more organized, and that the categorized overview helped subjects better assess their results, although no significant differences were detected in the quality of the article ideas. A qualitative analysis of searcher comments identified seven tactics that participants reported adopting when using categorized overviews. This paper concludes by proposing a set of guidelines for the design of exploratory search interfaces. An understanding of the impact of categorized overviews on search tactics will be useful to web search researchers, search interface designers, information architects and web developers.     

The XML revolution

XML, the Extensible Markup Language, is key to the current revolution in publishing technology. Liberating content from proprietary systems and presentational coding, XML enables content to be published efficiently in a multitude of forms – print and electronic. This article discusses XML itself – a metalanguage by which publishers can describe the particular features of their publications apart from how those features are to be rendered in specific presentations – and also surveys a number of other related technologies in the XML family for styling, transforming, and linking. The result of an unprecedented degree of collaboration among competing interests, XML is an enabling technology that greatly enriches our publishing environment.     

The construction of gender,social class and mathematics in the classroom

This study is part of the Social Context Project at the Centre for Mathematics and Science Education in Brisbane, Australia. Classroom observations were conducted in mathematics classes at two all girls' schools with different socioeconomic backgrounds. The aim was to investigate differences in the construction of the content of mathematics and the construction of the learners in both classes. The class in the high socioeconomic school constructed content that was perceived as required for entry into higher education while the low socioeconomic school constructed mathematics needed for everyday life transactions. Likewise, the learners were constructed differently in both schools on the basis of their perceived ability and needs. The study concluded by arguing for diversity of research methodologies and for an increasing emphasis on the experiences of successful females as well as females from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.     

Physical and chemical change in textbooks: An initial view

The concepts of physical and chemical change have been treated in a variety of ways in textbooks. In this study 527 chemistry/science textbooks from a variety of countries and written at different levels of education were examined to see how they dealt with the topic of physical and chemical change. Textbooks have continued to cover this topic for over one hundred years. What evidence do textbooks contain about the purposes and methods of teaching this topic? Is its coverage in textbooks increasing or decreasing? When was physical and chemical change first taught and is it still appropriate to teach this topic? These and other related questions are considered in the paper.     

How might we better design support for postdocs?

Abstract

Internationally, career prospects for postdocs, whether salaried on a Principal Investigator’s (PI) grant or a fellowship, are precarious. Yet, many aspire to permanent research-teaching positions, and to achieve this goal they often strive to gain PI funding to demonstrate their research potential. Like many developers in research-intensive universities, we are responsible for supporting postdocs. Yet, it was unclear what actual support they needed. Further, studies show postdocs seldom access formal institutional support. Thus, we undertook a needs assessment. We describe here our substantive learning about supporting aspiring and new PIs, and then reflect more generally on the value of needs assessments in academic development practice.     

Types of educational leadership in a postindustrial society

As school improvement efforts shift to emphasis on restructuring, the types of leadership required to effectively develop new patterns of shool structure and relationships also are being questioned. This discussion examines transactional, transformational, cultural, and critical types of leadership, compared on the dimensions of the roles of formal school leaders, the roles of teachers and other school staff, and the value system of leadership (which would include the goals and purpose of leadership and perceptions of the standards by which performance will be evaluated). Critical leadership is suggested to be the most promising approach through combining the pursuit of democratic value with explicit examination of structural and cultural dimensions of school organization.     

Birth,life and death of the Victorian Education Ultranet

This article examines the development and ultimate demise of the Ultranet, a major ICT infrastructure project in the education system of the Australian State of Victoria. The case is interesting as it was a very large project, intended for 1500 schools and funded to $180 m (Au). The study traces the design and implementation of the project as a socio-technical innovation in education. Although there are examples of how this project worked very well, its uptake was less than anticipated. The study found that potential benefits from a very large project like this can be nullified by a number of factors including: change in sponsorship of the project, an over emphasis on security concerns, failure to enrol crucial stakeholders and a naive assumption by technologists that technology with potential benefits will always be accepted. The study also found that technology projects must be delivered where a need exists and one that, most importantly, is recognised by the stakeholders. This will also be the case in other education systems around the world. If resources are not to be wasted the problem must be clearly identified and its need accepted before a solution is proposed. The Victorian Government finally abandoned the Ultranet in June 2013.