Using Harry Potter to teach literacy: different approaches

The ubiquity of the Harry Potter phenomenon offers an opportunity to examine the different ways educators use popular books to teach reading. This study analyses a number of journal articles that address the Harry Potter novels as tools for the classroom. These articles show a great diversity of approaches. Government testing of discrete, assessable skills can dominate contemporary discussions of literacy, and the Harry Potter books are sometimes used to address these targets. Other educators use Harry Potter to teach children about multimedia technologies. Most often, educators who embrace the Harry Potter novels affirm the value of reading for pleasure. This view often also promotes reading as a route to the critical literacy goal of social inclusion and the psychological development of the child. Taken together, these uses of Harry Potter present a confused picture, with no clear agreement on what good reading is or how it should be taught.     

Spatial density as a setting event for the social interaction of preschool children

The effects of spatial density as a setting event on the social interaction of preschool children were examined in this review. A specific interest was the potential application of this setting event to children with special needs in inclusive settings. Twelve studies were examined revealing a range of methodological and technical difficulties in the extant research. Several studies reported significant effects, but results were inconsistent and very limited research examining students with special needs is available. Several suggestions for future research are offered including conduct of studies in typical preschool settings with representative group sizes, study of children with special needs, and use of research designs that allow idiosyncratic responses to interventions to be considered. Despite considerable recent interest and research on setting events, the body of research on spatial density is dated and methodologically problematic. It is suggested that renewed interest in this class of setting events might be appropriate.     

Embedded Library Services: From Cooperation to Collaboration to Enhance Student Learning in Asynchronous Online Course

The online environment presents a unique challenge to higher education. Shifting from the face- to-face format to online not only involves rethinking course design, but requires careful consideration of when and how to teach students, how to find and evaluate information needed to successfully complete coursework. One solution is faculty teaming with subject librarians to design and build in teachable moments. This case study discusses one such successful partnership from designing the course to choosing and embedding library resources and finally to the learning outcome of the online course.     

The relationship between dominance and spawning inHerotilapia multispinosa (Pisces: Cichlidae)

The outcomes of fights between all possible pairs of same-sexed individuals were used to infer the within-sex dominance rank of six male and six femaleHerotilapia multispinosa. The resulting dominance hierarchies were compared with the order in which all 12 fish spawned when placed together in a large aquarium. Two replications of dominance rank assessment and spawning order were carried out. The spawning order of females was highly correlated with their dominance rank in both replications. Males spawned in a similar order in both replications but did not form a stable dominance hierarchy as inferred from the outcomes of fights. It is suggested that this finding may be due to the importance of site attachment in the agonistic behavior of maleH. multispinosa.     

A Transformative Model for Undergraduate Quantitative Biology Education

The BIO2010 report recommended that students in the life sciences receive a more rigorous education in mathematics and physical sciences. The University of Delaware approached this problem by (1) developing a bio-calculus section of a standard calculus course, (2) embedding quantitative activities into existing biology courses, and (3) creating a new interdisciplinary major, quantitative biology, designed for students interested in solving complex biological problems using advanced mathematical approaches. To develop the bio-calculus sections, the Department of Mathematical Sciences revised its three-semester calculus sequence to include differential equations in the first semester and, rather than using examples traditionally drawn from application domains that are most relevant to engineers, drew models and examples heavily from the life sciences. The curriculum of the B.S. degree in Quantitative Biology was designed to provide students with a solid foundation in biology, chemistry, and mathematics, with an emphasis on preparation for research careers in life sciences. Students in the program take core courses from biology, chemistry, and physics, though mathematics, as the cornerstone of all quantitative sciences, is given particular prominence. Seminars and a capstone course stress how the interplay of mathematics and biology can be used to explain complex biological systems. To initiate these academic changes required the identification of barriers and the implementation of solutions.     

Bureaucratic governance,family economies and the 1930s NSW teachers’ marriage bar,Australia

This paper reports the findings of an analysis of a collection of Statutory Declaration forms completed by teachers seeking exemption from dismissal under the NSW Married Women (Lecturers and Teachers) Act (1932–1947). Most sought exemption on hardship grounds, recording details of their husbands’ inability or unwillingness to provide them with ‘adequate’ support. The collection offers insight into the gendered finances of a particular group during the 1930s Depression, revealing some complex interdependencies—such as the need to support extended kin—and offering insights into the role of the state in the making of the family as a social and economic unit. The bureaucratic apparatus of regulation and standardised paperwork operated materially and discursively to distinguish the exceptional (salaried married women) from the more desirable or legitimate order of gendered responsibilities (financially dependent wives). Finally, the forms are strikingly silent about the professional teaching work of the women.     

Developing research potential through a structured mentoring program: issues arising

Changes in higher education have meant that academics originally in institutions without a strong research culture are now being called upon to raise their level of research activity. These institutions have implemented a range of strategies to support their academic staff making this transition. One program to develop research potential of staff is reported in this paper. It involved matching inexperienced researchers with experienced researchers who acted in a mentoring role. The individual mentoring was supplemented with a two day workshop covering research skills and also providing an opportunity to focus on the issues, questions and projects of the participants. An evaluation of the program revealed that participants benefited from the support provided by their peers in the program as well as from the support provided by the mentors. The mentors assisted the participants with specific aspects of their research and also with the social and political aspects of research involvement. The program legitimated the helping relationship established between participants and mentors.