Is the supply of continuing education in the anatomical sciences keeping up with the demand? Results of a national survey

Continuing education (CE) is an essential element in the life‐long learning of health care providers and educators. Despite the importance of the anatomical sciences in the training and practice of clinicians, no studies have examined the need/state of anatomy‐related CE nationally. This study assessed the current landscape of CE in the anatomical sciences to contextualize preferences for CE, identify factors that influence the perceived need for CE, and examine the association between supply and demand. Surveys were distributed to educators in the anatomical sciences, practicing physical therapists (PTs), and anatomy training programs across the United States. Twenty‐five percent (9 of 36) of training programs surveyed offered CE, certificates, or summer series programs related to anatomy. The majority of PTs (92%) and anatomy educators (81%) felt they had a potential or actual need for anatomy related CE with the most popular formats being online videos/learning modules and intensive, hands‐on workshops. The most commonly perceived barriers to participating in CE for both groups were program location, cost, and duration, while educators also perceived time of year as a significant factor. Logistic regression analyses revealed that no investigated factor influenced the need or desire for PTs to engage in anatomy related CE (P ≤ 0.124), while teaching experience and the highest level of learner taught significantly influenced the perceived need among anatomy educators (P < 0.001). Overall, quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed a robust need for CE that strategically integrates anatomy with areas of clinical practice and education. Anat Sci Educ 11: 225–235. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

How Classroom Conversations Unfold: Exploring Teacher–Child Exchanges During Shared Book Reading

Research Findings: This study examined how teacher–child conversations unfold during shared book reading in Head Start classrooms as well as the relations between that talk and children’s vocabulary learning. Book reading experiences in 27 Head Start classrooms were videotaped and coded for teacher talk, child responses, teacher follow-up remarks, and teacher wait time; we also assessed children’s vocabulary learning. Findings indicated that Head Start teachers infrequently asked open prompts or provided book-related comments; the predominant tool used in shared reading was the closed prompt. Teachers generally accepted 1 answer per question, and children’s answers were nearly always correct. Wait time was rarely observed. Across the sample, more child talk was predictive of stronger child vocabulary learning. For children with low initial vocabulary skills, learning was also linked to more expository comments by teachers. Practice or Policy: Findings help to map out the sequence of instructional events that make up preschool classroom conversations and provide insight into potential levers for improvement.     

Teacher-Rated Family Involvement and Children's Social and Academic Outcomes in Kindergarten

This study examines the relation between teachers' report of family involvement in school and children's social and academic competencies during kindergarten, after accounting for the contribution of socioeconomic status and early maternal sensitivity. Teachers reported on the family involvement for 223 children. Two dimensions of family involvement with school were measured: families' attitudes toward schools and families' activities with schools. Children's social and academic competence was assessed through classroom observations and teachers' reports. Results describe the contribution of socioeconomic status and maternal sensitivity in predicting some aspects of kindergarten competence, and the association of family involvement and child competence after accounting for these covariates. Findings suggest that teachers' reports of family attitudes are a more consistent predictor of outcomes than teachers' reports of family involvement activities. These findings support the position that families and schools can collaborate and provide a social resource to children in kindergarten.     

Fostering At-Risk Preschoolers' Number Sense

Research Findings: A 9-month study served to evaluate the effectiveness of a pre-kindergarten number sense curriculum. Phase 1 of the intervention involved manipulative-, game-based number sense instruction; Phase 2, computer-aided mental-arithmetic training with the simplest sums. Eighty 4- and 5-year-olds at risk for school failure were randomly assigned to (a) structured discovery of the n+0/0+n=n pattern and the n+1/1+n = the number after n relation; (b) structured discovery with explicit instruction; (c) blocked practice of (zero, one, and number-after) items; and (d) haphazard practice. Analyses with a Wilcoxon signed-rank test of follow-up Test of Early Mathematics Ability–Third Edition and mental-arithmetic testing indicated that general achievement and fluency with n+0/0+n combinations improved significantly. Significant improvement for n+1/1+n combinations was evident only if success included slow or counted answers. Practice or Policy: Theoretical, methodological, and educational implications are discussed, including the need to “score in context” (e.g., consider responses to other items).     

Physical Disability on Children's Television Programming: A Content Analysis

Research Findings: Media representations of physical disability can influence the attitudes of child audiences. In the current study, the depiction of physical disability was analyzed in more than 400 episodes of children's television programming to better understand how media depict physical disability to children and, in turn, how exposure may influence children's attitudes toward this social minority. Characters with a physical disability were rare. When present, characters with a physical disability tended to be older White males. The disabilities were not central to the characters' importance, but the characters themselves were not central to the plot. A majority of characters with a physical disability were depicted as morally good, attractive, and satisfied with life. Able-bodied characters were shown as treating characters with a physical disability the same way they treated other able-bodied characters. Practice or Policy: The results of the current study could be utilized by policymakers, media professionals, and educators in an effort to increase depictions of physical disability in children's programming as a method of integrating individuals with physical disabilities into a predominantly able-bodied society.     

Acknowledgement of contributions by reviewers

Given the immense power of the mass media, how they selectively represent the world requires investigation and critique. Selective representation refers basically to the promotion and reinforcement of certain ways of thinking (Fairclough 1995b, Lull 1995). This paper examines, by way of linguistic analysis, particular representations of the school experience in three popular English teenage magazines in Singapore. It concentrates on the implicit ‘commonsense’ assumptions about school which underlie common teenage discourse on such popular topics as having fun, being cool, looking good, etc.     

The Kilgour Collection of Russian Literature at Harvard College Library

As an undergraduate at Harvard University, Bayard L. Kilgour (’27) developed a life-long interest in Russia. Kilgour made numerous trips to Soviet Russia where he placed special emphasis on acquiring books, paintings, and other decorative artwork. His passion for Russia is witnessed through his philanthropic endeavors both to the Harvard University Libraries and to the Cincinnati Art Museum. In addition to donations of books and other artifacts, Mr. Kilgour provided endowments for the continued acquisition of Slavic materials to ensure that the collections he established continue to develop and grow.     

Changing the Tire Instead of Reinventing the Wheel: Customizing an Existing Online Information Literacy Tutorial

ABSTRACT

Information literacy instruction has become a core responsibility of many academic librarian positions in recent years. Online information literacy tutorials have gained increasing popularity among librarians struggling to keep up with the growing demand for this type of instruction. The availability of high-quality, open source tutorials has prompted some librarians to customize existing tutorials rather than build their own resource from scratch. This article provides an overview and checklist for librarians who are considering customization of an existing online tutorial as a means of meeting student information literacy needs.     

Migration timing and parenting practices: contributions to social development in preschoolers with foreign-born and native-born mothers

Little is known about how key aspects of parental migration or childrearing history affect social development across children from immigrant families. Relying on data on approximately 6,400 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort, analyses assessed the role of mother’s age at migration on children’s social development in the United States (sociability and problem behaviors). Consistent with models of divergent adaptation and assimilation, the relation between age at arrival and children’s social development is not linear. Parenting practices, observed when children were approximately 24 months of age, partially mediated the relation between mother’s age at arrival and children’s social development reported at approximate age 48 months, particularly in the case of mothers who arrived as adults.