The unfinished nature of rights-informed HIV- and AIDS-related education: an analysis of three school-based initiatives

Over the past 25 years, there has been growing investment in concepts of rights in the areas of HIV prevention, care and treatment, including HIV- and AIDS-related education delivered in schools. Despite this increasing commitment to the notion of rights, few efforts appear to have been made to understand the varying conceptions of rights that underpin different kinds of initiatives. Engaging with a multi-disciplinary body of literature on the issue of rights, and through a focus on three rights-informed HIV- and AIDS-related initiatives, this paper seeks to address this gap in the current literature. In so doing, it also examines a central tension within human rights discourse, namely between the construal of rights as shared and universally applicable to all human beings, while being created in and limited by the location in which they were elaborated, as well as by the language used to formulate them. More explicit engagement with the diversity of approaches made possible through a commitment to human rights may facilitate forms of HIV- and AIDS-related education that are more meaningful to young people.     

Related Multiscreening as a Strategy to Retain Audiences and Increase Persuasion During a Commercial Break

The aim of the study was to deepen our understanding of how related multiscreening affects audience memory and persuasion. A survey was administered after a live television show. The results showed that the higher the perceived relatedness of the multi-screen activity, the more persuasive the message. This effect was mediated by subsequent attention to television content, program involvement, and attention to the commercial break. The model was replicated for three different multiscreen activities: social media use, chatting, and information search. Furthermore, it was found that related multiscreening increased the likelihood of respondents staying tuned to the television after the show.     

Public health practitioners' information access and use patterns in the Maryland (USA) public health departments of Anne Arundel and Wicomico Counties

PURPOSE: To increase understanding of the information needs and use of public health practitioners. SETTING: From June 2005 to May 2006, the library offered a course in public health information resources to eighteen practitioners in two counties, access to the library's licensed electronic resources through a tailored web portal, and consulting services. EVALUATION METHOD: We combined usage statistics from the web portal, self-report and observational data collected during training and shadowing of participants. CONCLUSIONS: The data from this project indicate that usage of licensed information resources and services is infrequent but broad ranging. A few users register at the high end of the usage range, but one use of one high quality article can have a significant impact on policy decisions. Time and competing responsibilities often constrain the retrieval and use of resources for evidence-based decision making and an informationist or power-user model may be more appropriate than training all practitioners to integrate searching into their workflow. This study indicates (i) that evidence-based public health practice requires seamless and broadly based information access; and (ii) that the currently existing patchwork does not support the level of use or take into account the time constraints of information needs for public health practice.     

Developing the 21st Century Academic Librarian: The Research Support Ambassador Programme

ABSTRACT

The nature of academic librarianship is changing as librarians move away from the curation of material and into research support roles. Although this creates new opportunities it can be difficult for staff to learn the skills needed. The Office of Scholarly Communication at Cambridge University seeks to address this issue with the Research Support Ambassadors Programme, an initiative which skills staff in areas such as Research Data Management and Open Access. This case study outlines the evolution of the program from its pilot through to its recently completed second run in 2016. The challenges associated with running a cross-library training program are discussed and solutions highlighted. Also discussed is the impact that the program has had on participants. This case study will be of interest to those aiming to pursue a career in this area of librarianship and those looking at preparing staff for the future of the academic library.     

Designing professional learning for effecting change: Partnerships for local and system networks

This paper presents (i) a purpose-built conceptual model for professional learning and (ii) a leadership framework designed to support a large-scale project involving diverse sites across the state of Queensland, Australia. The project had as its focus teacher-capacity building and ways to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for students at educational disadvantage. It involved 15 intersectoral clusters and brought together Middle School teachers, principals, curriculum leaders and management personnel from Education Queensland, the Association of Independent Schools Inc., and the Catholic Education Commission. In the paper we discuss how the project worked at the interface of research and practice. Further, we discuss how professional learning was facilitated by a multi-layered approach that acknowledged the importance of research-based learning, curriculum and pedagogic leadership by principals, and strong opportunities for teacher agency through cross-cluster and intersectoral collaboration. In conclusion, we invite readers to consider how the approach represents a radical new way to think about what could count as valued professional learning interactions.     

Using feedback to promote student participation in online learning programs: evidence from a quasi-experimental study

Educational technology research and development - How should learner analytics and different media be used to optimize feedback to increase students’ motivation and sense of learning...     

Electronic Course Surveys: Does automating feedback and reporting give better results?

This paper discusses an electronic course survey system designed to support evaluation of a modular programme in management taught through distance education. The scale and communication issues raised by distance education, when compounded by a complex rolling modular programme, make conventional evaluation complicated, slow and expensive. To overcome these problems, an automated evaluation process was introduced, partly based on web-based surveying, but significantly emphasising the reporting process and allowing performance indicators and complex analyses to be embedded in high quality word-processed reports, that can be quickly and easily generated after each presentation of a module. The paper discusses the system and the impact that it has had on the evaluation process, before looking to future opportunities for developments in this field, and discussing some of the implications - both expected and unanticipated - that have come out of using automation in the evaluation process.     

Analysis of Personality,Suicide, and Self‐Injury in Emerging Adulthood

Nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) is a maladaptive coping strategy that is of significant clinical concern for behavioral health professionals in college settings. Relationships between NSSI, acquired capability for suicide, interpersonal cognitions, and five‐factor model personality traits were assessed in a survey‐based study that included 192 young adults in a college setting. Results indicated that those with an affirmative suicide attempt history, greater acquired capability for suicide, and elevated neuroticism had an increased likelihood of lifetime NSSI.     

Coordination of reading and spelling in early literacy development: An examination of the discrepancy hypothesis

The Discrepancy Hypothesis posits that childrenearly in the acquisition process read visually(holistically) and spell phonologically. Thisclaim was examined and rejected. Weinvestigated reading and spelling in Grade 1and Grade 2 children using controlled nonwordand word materials with a variety oforthographic patterns. While reading andspelling were strongly correlated even amongthe younger readers, discrepancies betweenperformance levels occurred in both directions. Children's responses were affected by wordcharacteristics and whether or not theyreceived school phonics instruction. Phonologically complex words, such as thosecontaining consonant clusters, wereparticularly difficult for Grade 1 children toread, while words that were difficult to spellcorrectly but not to read tended to havemultivalent mappings from sound to spelling.The generation of reading responses tospecially selected nonwords was affected byboth implicit and explicit phonological sourcesof knowledge. Orthographic knowledge gained inspelling did not always transfer to reading,and vice versa.     

Tablet computers in Philippine public schools: school-level factors that influence technology management and use

Many developing countries are investing in large-scale initiatives to deploy information and communications technology in schools. However, merely equipping schools with hardware and software does not guarantee that the technology is used effectively to improve learning outcomes. This study aims to identify factors that influence the use of technology in schools in a developing-country context. It investigates this through a multiple-case study of the Australian AID tablet computer programme in the Philippines, in which 1000 tablets were given to nine public schools for student use. Focusing specifically on the impact at a whole-school level, the study revealed factors affecting outcomes that were specific to a developing-country context, as well as confirming the relevance of more general factors identified in the literature. The study also brings to light tablet-specific benefits and issues in this context. These results have implications for the effective school-level implementation of technology programmes in developing countries. Recommendations that proceed from these are presented for policy-makers and school administrators looking to use these devices in schools.