Librarian and faculty collaborative instruction: A phenomenological self-study

Several models of librarian and faculty collaboration are found in the professional librarian literature. The literature on collaborative self-study research in university settings suggests collaborative self-study research can improve interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to teaching and research and facilitate the transfer of knowledge. A research librarian and professor of education conducted a phenomenological self-study to examine their multiple roles as researchers and instructors who collaborated to develop, implement, and evaluate distance-delivered instructional services for public school teachers who live and work in remote, rural, and Alaska Native communities throughout the state of Alaska. Several themes emerged from this phenomenological self-study: (a) our interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts resulted in increased opportunities to team teach and conduct future collaborative research; (b) we struggled to communicate effectively with our students via audio-conference; and (c) our beliefs and practices were transformed by our participation in this phenomenological self-study. We believe our collaborative approach to phenomenological self-study research can promote intense self-reflection, stimulate creativity, and facilitate open and honest communication between academic librarians and teaching faculty who engage in collaborative instruction and collaborative research; furthermore, we believe our collaborative approach to phenomenological self-study research can increase the instructional effectiveness of academic librarians and teaching faculty collaborating to teach in distance-delivered higher education.     

Engagement versus participation: A difference that matters

The kind of engagement that transforms a person is more than mere participation. It is risk‐taking, spontaneous, socially supported, heart‐pounding co‐creation. Some campuses, the University of Maryland Baltimore County for one, are taking small steps to foster this kind of engagement. They've found that it's good, hard work.     

Working with 'Difficult' Children from the Inside Out: Loss and Bereavement and how the Creative Arts can Help

Most teachers will come into contact with pupils who are experiencing or have experienced a loss or bereavement and they often feel ill equipped to offer the kind of support they would like to. This paper offers insights into the nature of this area and a specific approach through which children may be supported. The writer discusses some research and thinking on loss and bereavement and the implications of this. She presents two case studies of work with individual students using the creative arts. She also discusses the connections between behavioural problems, loss and the use of the arts in supporting the students.     

The rapid structured literature review as a research strategy

A diversity of sources of literature encompassed by the management disciplines appears to result in a growing need for a systematic methodology to map the territory of management theory. As such, when scoping out a study, structured literature review （SLR） can be considered as a means by which any critical, central literature might be considered. However, there is little guidance, or evidence, of this being undertaken for the purposes of small scale projects such as undergraduate or masters＇ dissertations. This paper reports four case studies of master＇s degree students following management programmes of undertaking a structured literature review （SLR） and the issues and problems they had to encounter during their journey. The findings from the case studies suggest that in terms of time to complete and the volume of output required in terms of word count, Tranfield, et al＇s （2003） approach to SLR＇s, whilst suited to doctoral level research is not appropriate generally when dealing with undergraduate and masters research projects. Therefore, this paper provides accounts of the experiences of four students who undertook SLR for their undergraduate or master＇s degree dissertation. The paper identifies that these students had to deal with a new set of conceptual problems relating to this ＂unorthodox＂ approach to a postgraduate research dissertation in coming to terms with new paradigms of enquiry that are not normally taught as part of a traditional research methods course. This was despite gaining a greater depth of insight into the subject area through a more rigorous and structured manner. The paper presents alternative remedies by way of a rapid structured literature review （RSLR） model. This would appear to be more appropriate to the conducting of small scale literature based research projects when used with undergraduate and master＇s degree students than SLR identified for other research activities.     

Learning in virtual worlds: Using communities of practice to explain how people learn from play

Although there is interest in the educational potential of online multiplayer games and virtual worlds, there is still little evidence to explain specifically what and how people learn from these environments. This paper addresses this issue by exploring the experiences of couples that play World of Warcraft together. Learning outcomes were identified (involving the management of ludic, social and material resources) along with learning processes, which followed Wenger's model of participation in Communities of Practice. Comparing this with existing literature suggests that productive comparisons can be drawn with the experiences of distance education students and the social pressures that affect their participation.     

Developing a School Focused Approach to Continuing Professional Development in Sustainability Education

This article has two aims. Its first is to describe how findings from a questionnaire survey of 96 UK primary schools influenced the theory of action adopted in the SEEPS Project, (Sustainability Education in European Primary Schools, 1997) funded by DGXI and DGXXII of the European Commission and Scottish Natural Heritage. SEEPS is a continuing professional development (CPD) project developed by representatives from 11 European educational systems. The first section of the article outlines how the Project came to adopt a school focused theory of action in CPD, in preference to a centralised or school-based approach. School focused CPD trains trainers and provides them with adaptable materials that can support individualised CPD programmes decided in and by the school and its staff. The second aim is to outline and analyse some of the more interesting inter and intra-regional relationships, correlations and differences which emerged from the survey. We have only included those findings that illuminate CPD provision in sustainability education. This article seeks to share data with others working in environmental education and sustainability education and to stimulate a debate about the relevance of school focused approaches in international discussions about CPD in environmental and sustainability education.