Bioinformatics Education in High School: Implications for Promoting Science,Technology, Engineering,and Mathematics Careers

We investigated the effects of our Bio-ITEST teacher professional development model and bioinformatics curricula on cognitive traits (awareness, engagement, self-efficacy, and relevance) in high school teachers and students that are known to accompany a developing interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. The program included best practices in adult education and diverse resources to empower teachers to integrate STEM career information into their classrooms. The introductory unit, Using Bioinformatics: Genetic Testing, uses bioinformatics to teach basic concepts in genetics and molecular biology, and the advanced unit, Using Bioinformatics: Genetic Research, utilizes bioinformatics to study evolution and support student research with DNA barcoding. Pre–post surveys demonstrated significant growth (n = 24) among teachers in their preparation to teach the curricula and infuse career awareness into their classes, and these gains were sustained through the end of the academic year. Introductory unit students (n = 289) showed significant gains in awareness, relevance, and self-efficacy. While these students did not show significant gains in engagement, advanced unit students (n = 41) showed gains in all four cognitive areas. Lessons learned during Bio-ITEST are explored in the context of recommendations for other programs that wish to increase student interest in STEM careers.     

Knowledge Management and Library Culture

Knowledge management (KM), or the effective use of knowledge, has been practiced successfully by many business organizations. Individual libraries and librarians have periodically utilized KM. However, on a comprehensive scale, the library culture seems divided. This article examines the attitudes and practices of two distinct groups of specialized librarians and their relationship to the use of KM tools.     

Information sources and voting in a primary and general election

There is a considerable variance in audience perceptions of media use and credibility between primary and general elections. The authors are in the School of Journalism and the Department of Speech, respectively, at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. They gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Drs. Robert 0. Hirsch and Larry Kokkeler in the collection of data for this report.     

Using a Field Trip Inventory to Determine If Listening to Elementary School Students' Conversations,While on a Zoo Field Trip,Enhances Preservice Teachers' Abilities to Plan Zoo Field Trips

This study investigated whether listening to spontaneous conversations of elementary students and their teachers/chaperones, while they were visiting a zoo, affected preservice elementary teachers' conceptions about planning a field trip to the zoo. One hundred five preservice elementary teachers designed field trips prior to and after listening to students' conversations during a field trip to the zoo. In order to analyze the preservice teachers' field trip designs, we conducted a review of the literature on field trips to develop the field trip inventory (FTI). The FTI focussed on three major components of field trips: cognitive, procedural, and social. Cognitive components were subdivided into pre-visit, during-visit, and post-visit activities and problem-solving. Procedural components included information about the informal science education facility (the zoo) and the zoo staff and included advanced organizers. Social components on student groups, fun, control during the zoo visit, and control of student learning. The results of the investigation showed that (a) the dominant topic in conversations among elementary school groups at the zoo was management, (b) procedural components were mentioned least often, (c) preservice teachers described during-visit activities more often than any other characteristic central to field trip design, (d) seven of the nine characteristics listed in the FTI were noted more frequently in the preservice teachers' field trip designs after they listened to students' conversations at the zoo, and (e) preservice teachers thought that students were not learning and that planning was important.     

Developing Scientific Literacy in a Primary School

The science education literature demonstrates that scientific literacy is generally valued and acknowledged among educators as a desirable student learning outcome. However, what scientific literacy really means in terms of classroom practice and student learning is debatable due to the inherent complexity of the term and varying expectations of what it means for learning outcomes. To date the teacher voice has been noticeably absent from this debate even though the very nature of teacher expertise lies at the heart of the processes which shape students' scientific literacy. The research reported in this paper taps into the expertise of (participating) primary teachers by analyzing the insights and thinking that emerged as they attempted to unravel some of the pedagogical complexities associated with constructing an understanding of scientific literacy in their own classrooms. The research examines the processes and structures within one primary school that were created to provide conditions to allow teachers to explore and build on the range of ideas that presently inform the scientific literacy debate. The research reports these teachers' views and practices that shaped their actions in teaching for scientific literacy.     

The usefulness of motivational interviewing as a consultation and assessment tool for working with young people

Previous case‐study research has explored the efficacy of motivational interviewing (MI) as a therapeutic approach for supporting young people in schools. This article considers how MI may additionally be used as an assessment and consultation tool for ascertaining the needs of disaffected young people and identifying appropriate support strategies. Here, the approach is used with three pupils aged 13–15 years, using visual stimuli to involve them explicitly in the process of MI. Findings indicate that in general MI was felt by the young people to be helpful in allowing them to think about issues relating to their behaviour. The article also indicates that MI may be useful both as an initial assessment tool and in providing supporting adults with practical ideas for assisting disaffected young people in making positive changes to their behaviour. The authors acknowledge limitations in terms of the usefulness of this approach for pupils who may be less ready for change, have difficulty in identifying aspirational goals or have language and communication difficulties. Further larger scale research is recommended, including other vulnerable groups, such as excluded pupils or school refusers.     

The Scottish educational crisis of 2000: an analysis of the policy process of unification

The ‘exam results debacle’ of August 2000 provoked a crisis of confidence in Scottish education and appeared to reveal widespread discontent with the current Higher Still reform of post-16 education. For a time the political future of the reform seemed to hang in the balance. This is surprising because the reform incorporated the views of the consensus that emerged from the Howie debates of the early 1990s, and its development involved consultation on a wide scale. Subsequent debates blamed the leadership style of those, especially the Inspectorate, who steered the reform process; some commentators invoked Humes' (1986) analysis of the ‘leadership class’ of Scottish education. This paper argues that a full explanation must take account of Higher Still's character as a flexible, unified system. Compared with other types of reform, the introduction of a flexible unified system tends to involve more conflict between educational interests, and a policy process that is relatively centralized, ‘top-down’ and linear. An analysis of this process must take account of horizontal as well as vertical lines of conflict in education, and of the political weaknesses which prevented the leadership from articulating clear principles and priorities as a basis for conflict resolution. The paper concludes that Humes' analysis should be complemented by McPherson and Raab's (1988) account of Scottish educational policy-making as the interplay of pluralist and corporatist forces.