Prediction and prevention of child abuse and neglect

Utilizing an interview, a questionnaire, and observations during labor, delivery, and the postpartum period, a sample of one hundred mothers was identified as at high risk for abnormal parenting practices. These mothers were randomly divided into a “High-Risk Intervene” group (N=50) and a “High-Risk Nonintervene” group (N=50). The “Intervene” group received comprehensive pediatric follow-up by a single physician, a lay health visitor, and/or a public health nurse in the home. The “Non-intervene” group received routine care, although the results of these screening procedures were shared with the physicians and nurses responsible for their ongoing care. Another group of 50 mothers, who delivered during the same time period and who were assessed as low risk in terms of abnormal parenting practices, served as controls. When the children were approximately two years old (mean age 26.8 months), 25 families in each of the three groups were chosen at random for detailed evaluation.     

Evaluation and the new curricula

A comparison of student performance on CHEM Study chemistry and conventional chemistry in terms of certain cognitive abilities.     

Empirical evidence of the impact of lesson study on students’ achievement,teachers’ professional learning and on institutional and system evolution

In this article we review the evidence of the impact of lesson study on student learning, teacher development, teaching materials, curriculum, professional learning and system enhancement. We argue for lesson study to be treated holistically as a vehicle for development and improvement at classroom, school and system levels rather than as a curricular or pedagogical intervention. We illustrate the need for this approach to evaluating lesson study through a complex case exemplar which used Research Lesson Study (a form of lesson study popular in the UK and Europe) to develop learning, teaching, curriculum and local improvement capacity across schools initially involved in a two‐year mathematics curriculum development project that later evolved into three self‐sustaining, voluntary lesson study school hubs in London. We discuss resulting changes in culture, practice, belief, expectation and student learning. We argue as a result for greater policy level understanding of this expanded conception of lesson study as a vehicle in classroom, school and system transformation.     

Optical versus virtual: teaching assistant perceptions of the use of virtual microscopy in an undergraduate human anatomy course

Many studies that evaluate the introduction of technology in the classroom focus on student performance and student evaluations. This study focuses on instructor evaluation of the introduction of virtual microscopy into an undergraduate anatomy class. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with graduate teaching assistants (TA) and analyzed through qualitative methods. This analysis showed that the teaching assistants found the virtual microscope to be an advantageous change in the classroom. They cite the ease of use of the virtual microscope, access to histology outside of designated laboratory time, and increasing student collaboration in class as the primary advantages. The teaching assistants also discuss principal areas where the use of the virtual microscope can be improved from a pedagogical standpoint, including requiring students to spend more time working on histology in class.     

Engaging young students in scientific investigations: prompting for meaningful reflection

This study examined the verbal prompts a tutor used to promote reflection and young students’ responses to these prompts. Seven children (ages 8–12) participated in 260 min of one-on-one tutoring to learn scientific concepts related to gear movement; the tutor spontaneously provided these students with 763 prompts for reflection. Prompts reliably induced reflection: Students responded verbally 87% of the time. Turn-by-turn discourse analysis revealed seven distinct types of prompts and 11 distinct types of verbal responses. High-level prompts were strongly associated with high-level responses. A log-multiplicative association model with two dimensions (temporality and certainty) represented the relationships between prompt and response types; from this model, odds ratios estimated the strength of association between specific pairs of prompt and response types. Findings are discussed in terms of the effects that reflection may have on students’ developing understanding of scientific concepts.     

Positive Effects of Converting a Food and Bioprocessing Analysis Course to an Inquiry‐Guided Approach

Abstract: Food science laboratory courses are traditionally taught as a series of preplanned laboratories with known endpoints. In contrast, inquiry‐guided (IG) laboratories allow students to ask questions, think through problems, design experiments, then adapt and learn in response to unexpected results. This study examined the effects of converting the course, “Analytical Techniques in Food and Bioprocessing Sciences” from a traditional approach (2008 to 2010 data) to an IG approach (2011 data) by assigning teams of 2–3 students a food and a set of 5 analyses to conduct over the course of the semester. Students were required to choose and justify the use of specific methods for each analysis, as well as to develop a supply list and a budget for the semester‐long project. During the semester, students were required to post and discuss their weekly progress with the instructor, teaching assistants, and the rest of the class using an online discussion forum. At the end of the semester, students were required to present the results of their analysis in both oral and written formats. Overall course grades were significantly higher (P≤ 0.05) using IG in 2011 compared to 2010 and 2009, but not to 2008 grades. Numerical course evaluations for the instructor, overall course, and lab, as well as written course evaluations all significantly (P≤ 0.05) improved. This suggests that an IG approach may measurably improve student performance in terms of course grades and the ability to complete semester long projects. It may also increase student satisfaction with the course, as measured by numerical and written end of semester surveys.     

The Willed Body Donor Interview project: Medical student and donor expectations

The Anatomical Donations Program at the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) has begun a multiphase project wherein interviews of donors will be recorded and later shown to medical students who participate in the anatomical dissection course. The first phase of this project included surveys of both current UMMS medical students and donors concerning their perceptions of such a program. A five‐question survey administered via Qualtrics software was electronically mailed to all current medical students at UMMS, and a survey was mailed to registered and potential donors requesting information from the UMMS on anatomical donations. A total of 224 medical student responses (response rate 33%) and 54 donor responses (response rate 27%) were received. Seventy‐four percent of students and 81% of donors reported they would participate in this program if it existed. Students and donors supported the implementation of this program for varying reasons, though many felt strongly they would not want to participate in a donor interview program. These qualitative results support those of previous studies that show a majority of students desire a closer personal relationship with the donor, and these are the first results to be reported on donor perceptions of a donor interview program. Although many students and donors are in favor of instituting this program, others feel strongly that such an experience could be traumatic. The causes of these differing reactions need to be further explored, and the opinions of those who object to this study will be respected by maintaining voluntary participation in future phases of this study. Anat Sci Educ 6: 90–100. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

4. TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

THE END OF NEWS by Roger Bird (Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1997—$24.95 paper, ISBN 0–7725–2285–5, 165pp., notes, index)

CANADIAN INTERNET HANDBOOK, 1998 edition by Jim Carroll and Rick Broadhead (Scarborough, ON: Prentice Hall Canada, 1997—$24.95, paper, ISBN 0–13–897554‐X, 365pp., charts, tables, index)

THE JOURNALIST'S LEGAL GUIDE by Michael G. Crawford (Scarborough, ON: Carswell Thomson Professional Publishing, 1996 [3rd ed]—40.00 paper, ISBN 0–459–25425–1, 380pp., charts, notes, glossary, index)

GUIDE TO CANADIAN ENGLISH USAGE by Margery Fee and Janice McAlpine (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1997—$50.00, ISBN 0–19–540841–1, 549pp., glossary, bibliography, index)

A CANADIAN WRITER'S POCKET GUIDE by Jack Finnbogason and Al Valleau (Toronto: ITP Nelson, 1998—$20.00 spiral‐bound paper, ISBN 0–17–616618–1, 180pp., index)

SUSTAINING DEMOCRACY? JOURNALISM AND THE POLITICS OF OBJECTIVITY by Robert A. Hackett and Yuezhi Zhao (Toronto: Garamond Press “Culture and Communication in Canada Series,”; 1998—$24.95 paper, ISBN 1–55193–013–7, 284 pp., notes, index)

CYBERLAW: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DOING BUSINESS ONLINE by David Johnston, Sunny Handa, and Charles Morgan (Toronto: Stoddart, 1997—U.S.$17.97 paper, no ISBN given, 282pp., notes, glossary, bibliography, index)

MASS COMMUNICATION IN CANADA edited by Rowland Lorimer and Jean McNulty (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1996 [3rd ed]—$34.95 paper, ISBN 0–19–541208–7, 398pp., glossary, bibliography, index)

MEDIA LAW by Robert Martin (Concord, ON: Irwin Law “Essentials of Canadian Law,”; 1997—$34.95 paper, ISBN 1–55221–004–9, 193pp., charts, notes, index)

THE INTERNET HANDBOOK FOR WRITERS, RESEARCHERS, AND JOURNALISTS by Mary McGuire, Linda Stilborne, Melinda McAdams, and Laurel Hyatt (Toronto: Trifolium Books, 1997—$29.95 paper, ISBN 1–895579–17–1, 242pp., glossary, index)

THE CANADIAN REPORTER: NEWS WRITING AND REPORTING by Catherine McKercher and Carman Cumming (Toronto: HarcourtBrace Canada, 1998 [2d ed]—$47.95 paper, ISBN 0–7747–3562–7, 456pp., glossary, index)

ELECTRIC LANGUAGE: UNDERSTANDING THE MESSAGE by Eric McLuhan (Toronto: Stoddart, 1998—$29.95 paper, ISBN 0–7737–5972–7, 192 pp., color notes)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW: COPYRIGHT, PATENT, TRADEMARKS by David Vaver (Concord, ON: Irwin Law, 1997—$39.95 paper, ISBN 1–55221–007–3, 345pp., notes, bibliography, glossary, table of cases, index)     

Popular Music

Brad Benedict and Linda Barton's Phonographics: Contemporary Album Cover Art and Design (New York: Collier Books/Macmillan Publishing, 1977—$9.95, paper)

George McCue, ed. Music in American Society, 1776-1976: From Puritan Hymn to Synthesizer (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Inc., 1977—$14.95/3.95)

Dean Tudor and Andrew D. Armitage, comps. Popular Music Periodicals Index, 1975 (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1976—$15.00)

Derek Jewell, Duke: A Portrait of Duke Ellington (New York: Norton, 1977—$9.95)

Stanley Dance, The World of Earl Hines (New York: Scribner's, 1977—$14.95/7.95