The h-index Debate: An Introduction for Librarians

This article reviews the debate within bibliometrics regarding the h-index. Despite its popularity as a decision-making tool within higher education, the h-index has become increasingly controversial among specialists. Fundamental questions remain regarding the extent to which the h-index actually measures what it sets out to measure. Unfortunately, many aspects of this debate are confined to highly technical discussions in specialised journals. This article explains in simple terms exactly why a growing number of bibliometricians are sceptical that the h-index is a useful tool for evaluating researchers. It concludes that librarians should be cautious in their recommendations regarding this metric, at least until better evidence becomes available.     

Quality Psychological Advice for Teachers,Parents/Carers and LEA Decision‐makers with Respect to Children and Young People with Special Needs

The educational psychologist can be a very important resource to a school. The psychologist’s knowledge of the school and its context is key. Through regular consultation with schools, educational psychology services can provide help in clarifying problems and devising problem solving strategies; in carrying out specialised assessments, including techniques in managing behaviour and evaluating pupil progress. (DfES, 2001 Department for Education and Skills (DES). 2001. Special educational needs code of practice, Nottingham: DfES Publication.  [Google Scholar], Code of Practice, Section 10.8)     

Community-driven informal adult environmental learning: Using theory as a lens to identify steps toward concientización

Abstract

This article examines community-driven adult environmental learning in a volunteer watershed stewards program. We look for evidence of elements that portray steps toward “concientización”—the process of individuals and communities directing their own learning in nonhierarchical ways. Leveraging two theories from the learning sciences and community development research, affinity spaces and the Asset-Based Community Development model, we trace participants’ development toward concientización. Data collected through interviews with watershed stewards speaks to parts of these theories that in turn signal elements of concientización. Our findings point to the importance of providing communities with support that is flexible and easy to use for identifying and leveraging the resources in their community. We call for a new framework to understand how to help learners access community-driven environmental learning experiences and supporting resources at opportune times.     

Teacher preparation for inclusion in Norway: a study of beliefs,skills, and intended practices

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the educational experiences of teacher education students and their attitudes towards planning and making adaptations for children with learning disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Participants comprised pre-service teachers in the second and fourth years of teacher preparation at a major Norwegian university. Fourth-year students were completing a 1-year elective in special education (n = 34) or coursework in other subjects (n = 30). Second-year students were grouped based on their intention to take special education (n = 26) or other coursework (n = 62). Participants rated their beliefs, skills, and intended practices with regard to planning and making adaptations. No significant differences were found between second- and fourth-year students in general education courses. However, students in the special education programme held significantly higher ratings of beliefs, skills, and intended practices than did second-year students; yet, only beliefs and practices were higher for this group when compared to other fourth-year students. Findings suggest that coursework in special education can have a positive impact on attitudes towards inclusion. However, teachers’ confidence in their ability to use these adaptations may be far more difficult to foster.     

Making visible the literacy practices of elders through the day in the life methodology: considerations for literacy education across the lifespan

This pilot study uses ‘day in the life' methodology to observe the everyday literacy practices of a self‐identified thriving elder. Through the case of one nonagenarian female residing in an assisted living community in the United States, we identified the multimodal, posthuman nature of this elder's literacies, exploring how they were connected to a sense of well‐being and the types of literacies that remain relevant across the lifespan. We further consider what the insights gained from such a study might teach about literacy education more generally. We advocate for education that keeps open people's literacy options across the lifespan through acknowledging and cultivating the myriad interrelated constituents of literacies, including the physical, social and political.     

Role of perceptual and conceptual similarity in category matching at age two years

Perceptual and categorical similarity were varied independently in a concept-matching task administered to 26-month-old children (N = 25). 44 test sets were assembled. Each set included a 3-dimensional standard and an array of 4 pictures, one of which was a member of the same basic or superordinate category as the standard. On each trial, placing the standard on the matching picture resulted in activation of 1 of 12 mechanical displays. The test sets varied in the perceptual and categorical resemblance of the standard to the match and to the nonmatches, as determined by adults' ratings. Perceptual similarity proved to be the primary determinant of difficulty level. When perceptual resemblance of the standard and the match were equated, superordinate and basic matches were equally difficult. When perceptual resemblance was minimal, most children were unable to recognize matches at either the basic or superordinate level.     

Proficiency in the explanation of procedures: A test of the intuitive understanding of teachers of undergraduate mathematics

A discussion of production system approaches to the representation of learned procedures, and of stage models of the acquisition of procedures, yielded four general principles applicable to the construction of effective explanations. The intuitive appreciation of these principles by tertiary teachers was tested in two studies. In the first, separate verisons of an explanation of a standard undergraduate mathematics problem solution procedure were prepared, these versions differing in the extent to which they exemplified the derived principles. Subjects ranked the explanations in terms of their perceived effectiveness. In the second study, subjects of varying experience at teaching tertiary level mathematics were video recorded while they individually explained three standard undergraduate problems. Their explanations were scored for the extent to which some awareness of the general principles was evidenced. In general terms the findings from these two studies suggested that mathematics teachers might be well able to discriminate between explanations which differ in their compliance with the derived general principles, but that they were not well skilled at employing these principles in explanations which they generated themselves.     

EPILOGUE: SPACED‐RETRIEVAL MEMORY TRAINING IN AN ADULT DAY‐CARE CENTER

A memory‐impaired client at an adult day‐care center was trained to remember the name of a staff member using the spaced‐retrieval technique. After two brief training sessions, the client demonstrated long‐term retention of the target name. Retention was maintained at follow‐up testing 6 months later. Details of the unique aspects of this cognitive intervention, along with implications of this project for cognitive aging research in general, are discussed. In particular, the social and emotional components of memory‐ and cognitive training tasks are emphasized.