Black Panthers in Peyton Place

This article uses the prime-time drama Peyton Place (ABC, 1964–67) to examine the challenges of racial integration in the serial narrative. Peyton Place broke ground as a prime-time serial, but declined in popularity by its fourth year on the air. An African-American family was added to the story canvas as part of a strategy to revive audience interest by exploring stories with social relevance. I use the archived papers of the show’s writers and producers to examine the negotiations behind the racial integration of a continuing drama that established its success with a white cast of characters.     

ICONic training: use of a course management system to provide continual reference student education

In an effort to provide continuing education to the students working at the Hardin Library reference desk, staff members have created an online training course using the University of Iowa's course management system called ICON(Iowa Courses Online). The course has four main components-a content page, an article discussion forum, quizzes, and a challenging questions module. ICON has quickly become an essential training resource and has also provided an electronic professional community for students who primarily work in isolation. Additionally, the experience with the software has positioned the library to provide training support for the health campus and to take advantage of new technology based collaborations.     

Emotional and motivational relationship of elementary students to mathematical problem-solving: a person-centered approach

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Recent literature has shown that achievement emotions, their regulation, and perceived competence play a compelling role in mathematics learning and...     

Using evidence and implementation experience for advocacy and policy influence: the Rwanda Emergent Literacy and Maths Initiative (ELMI) case study

This paper discusses applied research initiatives led by Save the Children in Rwanda that were used to inform advocacy and policy efforts surrounding the expansion of high quality early childhood education (ECE) services in Rwanda. Qualitative and quantitative studies were carried out around a new program focused on improving early literacy and math competencies (the Emergent Literacy and Maths Initiative (ELMI)) from 2013–2017. They include a Political Economy Analysis in 2013–2014 and longitudinal impact evaluations in 2014–2015 and 2015–2016. Together, the mixed-methods data helped to identify strengths and gaps in the Rwandan education system, potential solutions to improving ECE for all children in the country, and insights into best practices for taking successful pilot programs to scale in a low-income country. Changes in national policy and ECE service provision are discussed.     

Numerical Estimation in Deaf and Hearing Adults

Deaf students often lag behind hearing peers in numerical and mathematical abilities. Studies of hearing children with mathematical difficulties highlight the importance of estimation skills as the foundation for formal mathematical abilities, but research with adults is limited. Deaf and hearing college students were assessed on the Number-to-Position task as a measure of estimation, and completed standardised assessments of arithmetical and mathematical reasoning. Deaf students performed significantly more poorly on all measures, including making less accurate number-line estimates. For deaf students, there was also a strong relationship showing that those more accurate in making number-line estimates achieved higher scores on the math achievement tests. No such relationship was apparent for hearing students. Further insights into the estimation abilities of deaf individuals should be made, including tasks that require symbolic and non-symbolic estimation and which address the quality of estimation strategies being used.     

Internet Galaxy Meets Postnational Constellation: Prospects for Political Solidarity After the Internet

Might online social relations play a role in the rise of political solidarities sufficient to support a democratic postnationalist project? As things currently stand, it does not appear that the Internet supports either the commitment or cohesiveness needed to underpin a demanding new mode of social and political relations. Looking at factors such as conceptions of community and social interaction, systems of meaning, political engagement, and social inclusivity can help us assess the question. The exercise suggests that while the Internet may be a factor in change, it may not yield the kind of change many are anticipating. This finding raises doubts concerning the postnationalist hope that new social and political bonds will help ground transnational projects such as the European Union.     

Evaluation of machine-aided indexing2

The Defense Documentation Center (DDC), a field activity of the Defense Supply Agency, implemented an automated indexing procedure in October 1973. This Machine-Aided Indexing (MAI) System [1] had been under development since 1969. The following is a report of several comparisons designed to measure the retrieval effectiveness of MAI and manual indexing procedures under normal operational conditions.Several definitions are required in order to clarify the MAI process as it pertains to these investigations. The MAI routines scan unedited text in the form of titles and abstracts. The output of these routines is called Candidate Index Terms. These word strings are matched by computer against an internal file of manually screened and cross-referenced terms called a Natural Language Data Base (NLDB). The NLDB differs from a standard thesaurus in that there is no related term category. Word strings which match the NLDB are accepted as valid MAI output. The mismatches are manually screened for suitability. Those accepted are added to the NLDB. If now, the original set of Candidate Index Terms is matched against the updated NLDB, the matched output is unedited MAI. If both the unedited matches and mismatches are further structured in accession order and sent to technical analysts for review, the output of that process is called edited MAI.The tests were designed to (a) compare unedited MAI with manual indexing, holding the indexing language and the retrieval technique constant; (b) compare edited MAI with unedited MAI, holding both the indexing and the retrieval technique constant; and (c) compare two different retrieval techniques, called simple and complex, while holding the indexing constant.     

Engaging Students in Science Courses: Lessons of Change from the Arctic

Where you live should have something to do with what you teach. In the Arctic, the idea of place-based education – teaching and sharing knowledge that is needed to live well – is central to the UARCTIC consortium and the 4^th International Polar Year educational reform effort. A place-based issue oriented context can engage students in chemistry concepts when it intersects with their experience and lives. This article examines the rationale and means of integrating local concerns such as world view, culture, traditional knowledge, and policy into both general and specialized chemistry courses. More broadly, capacious placebased issues should be widely adapted by all curriculum reform efforts to demonstrate the connectivity between science and societal understanding of technological options. A case in point is the inclusion of indigenous perspectives in a non-majors general chemistry course when the concepts of scientific method, ice and water resources, genetic engineering, and so forth are discussed. In a specialized course on radioactivity in the north, topics connected nuclear chemistry and radioactivity to people and energy. The local landscape should be central to science courses and involve issues relevant to stewardship, a component of the indigenous world view. The historical issues can be connected to current nuclear energy and uranium mining as they relate to the risks and benefits for the local community. This article will make the case that curriculum reform that focuses on real-world topics will not only engage students so that they perform well in class but also spark their interest so that they continue learning after the course is over.     

Education policy borrowing in China: has the West wind overpowered the East wind?

Recent education reform in China reflects the global trend of education policy borrowing from Anglophone countries such as the USA. The reform in China essentially advocates shifting from knowledge reproduction and didacticism to knowledge construction by students through a learner-centredness approach. Aware of the trend of borrowing policy from ‘Western’ countries, some educators in China use the proverb ‘the West wind has overpowered the East wind’ to describe this phenomenon. This paper examines the cultural factors that influence education policy borrowing in China by drawing upon Johnson’s metaphors of the ‘politics of selling’ and the ‘politics of gelling’. This paper argues that there exist fundamental cultural differences between Western and Chinese perspectives on the nature and transmission of knowledge that make education policy transfer in China challenging. This paper further proposes that China borrow education policy judiciously by integrating foreign and indigenous sources of knowledge, teaching and learning.