The Single Sex Debate for Girls in Science: a Comparison Between Two Informal Science Programs on Middle School Students’ STEM Identity Formation

Currently, there are policy debates regarding the efficacy and legality of single sex formal and informal education programs. This issue is particularly poignant in science education due to the historical marginalization of women in these fields. This marginalization has resulted in women being positioned as a stigmatized group within many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields. Research points to adolescence as the age where this sense of marginalization begins to develop. As a result, policy responses have utilized various frameworks such as: increased access for women, changing pedagogy to address women’s learning styles, changing the language and culture of science to prevent marginalization of stigmatized groups, and finally exploring the role that individual identity plays in the marginalization of women. This study adds to the policy debate as it applies to single sex education by comparing middle school participants’ STEM identity formation during two informal science learning environments (an all girls’ STEM camp and a co-educational STEM camp). Additionally, this study focuses on the influence of camp activities within two informal science education programs: particularly the provision of role models and authentic STEM research activities, as means to improve STEM identity and make these fields relevant to the lives of middle school students. The results indicate that both camps improved girls’ STEM identities. These findings suggest that the single sex environment is not as important to STEM identity as the pedagogy used within the program.     

Buddy up: the Köhler effect applied to health games

The present investigation examined the K?hler motivation gain effect in a health game using an absent partner, presented virtually. The K?hler effect occurs when an inferior team member performs a difficult task better in a team or coaction situation than one would expect from knowledge of his or her individual performance. The effect has been strongest in conjunctive task conditions in which the group's potential productivity is equal to the productivity of its least capable member. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (individual control, coaction, additive, and conjunctive) in a 4 (conditions) ? 2 (gender) factorial design and performed a series of isometric plank exercises within an exercise game. They performed the first series of five exercises alone holding each position for as long as they could, and, after a rest period, those in the partner conditions were told they would do remaining trials with a same-sex virtual partner whom they could observe during their performance. The partner's performance was manipulated to be always superior to the participant's. Results showed that task persistence was significantly greater in all experimental conditions than in the individual control condition. The conjunctive condition was no more motivating than either the additive or coactive conditions. Results suggest that working out with virtually present, superior partners can improve persistence motivation on exercise game tasks.     

The complexity of morality: Being a ‘good child’ in Vietnam?

In this article I examine what it means to be a good child in Vietnam. Throughout the country ancestral worship is widely practiced. This traditionally places emphasis on the need for a boy child to continue the practice of worship into the next generation. Because of this, while the high value placed on the boy child has been tempered by the influence of communist rule and modernity, the eldest boy still often holds preferential status. Under such circumstances the good child is one who accepts his or her position within the hierarchical structure of the family and is also willing to subjugate his or her individual needs to the greater collective good. This might manifest itself in a child’s ‘choice’ to work on the streets so that their earnings can be sent home to support other siblings through their schooling. Or it might show itself in the practice of children accepting and apparently supporting that fact that they have been sent to an orphanage or ‘hidden’ so that a parent can try for more male children. It would be naive though to conclude from this that boys and girls are automatically raised within separate moral frameworks. Instead this article proposes that at the local level what it means to be a good child is even more complex because the notion of the good, moral and filial child is shaped as much by family circumstances and expectation as it is by the mores and values of the wider society.     

Group in‐course assessment promotes cooperative learning and increases performance

The authors describe and evaluate a method to motivate medical students to maximize the effectiveness of dissection opportunities by using In‐Course‐Assessments (ICAs) to encourage teamwork. A student's final mark was derived by combining the group dissection mark, group mark for questions, and their individual question mark. An analysis of the impact of the ICA was performed by comparing end of module practical summative marks in student cohorts who had, or had not, participated in the ICAs. Summative marks were compared by two‐way ANOVA followed by Dunnets test, or by repeated measures ANOVA, as appropriate. A cohort of medical students was selected that had experienced both practical classes without (year one) and with the new ICA structure (year two). Comparison of summative year one and year two marks illustrated an increased improvement in year two performance in this cohort. A significant increase was also noted when comparing this cohort with five preceding year two cohorts who had not experienced the ICAs (P <0.0001). To ensure that variation in the practical summative examination was not impacting on the data, a comparison was made between three cohorts who had performed the same summative examination. Results show that students who had undertook weekly ICAs showed significantly improved summative marks, compared with those who did not (P <0.0001). This approach to ICA promotes engagement with learning resources in an active, team‐based, cooperative learning environment. Anat Sci Educ 7: 224–233. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

The value of library and information services in patient care: results of a multisite study

Objective:

The research conducted a large-scale, multisite study on the value and impact of library and information services on patient care.

Methods:

The study used: (1) 2 initial focus groups of librarians; (2) a web-based survey of physicians, residents, and nurses at 56 library sites serving 118 hospitals; and (3) 24 follow-up telephone interviews. Survey respondents were asked to base their responses on a recent incident in which they had sought information for patient care.

Results:

Of the 16,122 survey respondents, 3/4 said that they had definitely or probably handled aspects of the patient care situation differently as a result of the information. Among the reported changes were advice given to the patient (48%), diagnosis (25%), and choice of drugs (33%), other treatment (31%), and tests (23%). Almost all of the respondents (95%) said the information resulted in a better informed clinical decision. Respondents reported that the information allowed them to avoid the following adverse events: patient misunderstanding of the disease (23%), additional tests (19%), misdiagnosis (13%), adverse drug reactions (13%), medication errors (12%), and patient mortality (6%).

Conclusions:

Library and information resources were perceived as valuable, and the information obtained was seen as having an impact on patient care.

Highlights

• Library and information resources were perceived as valuable, and the information obtained was seen as having an impact on patient care.
• Electronic access to information resources from multiple locations has increased the ability of health professionals to use these resources for improved patient care.
• The roles of librarians are diversifying to include management of electronic resources, user instruction and support, specialized research and clinical information search services, and involvement in institution-level quality improvement.
• It is possible to conduct a large-scale, multisite study on the value and impact of library services on patient care.

Implications

• Ongoing studies of the value and impact of library and information resources will be important for advocacy and quality improvement.
• Community-Based Participative Research methods hold promise as a way of ensuring the relevance of future research.

     

INCORPORATING FIELD SITES INTO SERVICE-LEARNING AS COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS

This article, which describes the service-learning program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, advocates incorporating the needs and perspectives of field sites selected for involvement in service-learning projects. Information is gathered through interviews with field site supervisors. Service-learning requires the active participation of both members of the college or university (e.g., students, faculty members, and administrators) and community partners in a collaborative process. When successful, this collaboration focuses on both mutual interests and common goals. Involving all partners throughout the process is crucial for successful collaboration. This article offers suggestions for the development of strong service-learning collaborations with community organizations. These suggestions fall into three broad categories: (a) level of site involvement throughout the project, (b) conceptualization of the project, and (c) managerial aspects of the collaboration.     

On-chip collection of particles and cells by AC electroosmotic pumping and dielectrophoresis using asymmetric microelectrodes

The recent development of microfluidic "lab on a chip" devices requiring sample sizes <100 μL has given rise to the need to concentrate dilute samples and trap analytes, especially for surface-based detection techniques. We demonstrate a particle collection device capable of concentrating micron-sized particles in a predetermined area by combining AC electroosmosis (ACEO) and dielectrophoresis (DEP). The planar asymmetric electrode pattern uses ACEO pumping to induce equal, quadrilateral flow directed towards a stagnant region in the center of the device. A number of system parameters affecting particle collection efficiency were investigated including electrode and gap width, chamber height, applied potential and frequency, and number of repeating electrode pairs and electrode geometry. The robustness of the on-chip collection design was evaluated against varying electrolyte concentrations, particle types, and particle sizes. These devices are amenable to integration with a variety of detection techniques such as optical evanescent waveguide sensing.     

Destabilising equilibriums: harnessing the power of disruption in participatory action research

ABSTRACT

This article draws on insights gained from three projects described as participatory action research (PAR) undertaken in the UK. What binds them together is that each project coordinator raised the issue of the under-representation of opportunities for disruption in the possible trajectory to knowledge democracy.

PAR places a relational process at the centre of the research practice. It brings together people with varied knowledges, perspectives and experiences and aspires to be a non-hierarchical, relational, collaborative endeavour. This challenges the traditional hierarchical hegemony of the external expert in research situations. Bringing people together does not, however, equate to shared agency, authentic participation and knowledge democracy. For different knowledges to be created previous knowledges need to be disrupted.The argument raised in this paper is that a neglected element of PAR has been the deliberate intent to nurture disruption within communicative spaces in relationally based engagements. It is posited that the disruption of beliefs and assumptions that underpin local actions, is an important enabler of other voices and knowledges being recognised and acted upon. The three projects described reveal how and why the harnessing of power through disruption contributes to creating a functional knowledge democracy for more radical change.