Shaking the “Magic 8 Ball”: Reflections of a First-Time Teacher

Social work doctoral candidates and others without much or any formal teaching experience or training are frequently invited to teach a variety of graduate-level social work courses. This beginning teaching experience can be quite challenging both personally and professionally. Yet, it is seldom discussed in the literature, especially from a personal perspective. This paper seeks to address that gap by providing a narrative account of the author's first-time experience teaching an Advanced Clinical Practice course to fifteen second year social work masters students. Included is an examination of influences on the experience of teaching, with particular attention to the importance of attending to student needs, teaching techniques, and to who the “self” is that one brings to teaching. Implications of the author's experience, including an appended “list” of what might have been done differently is presented as a general guide for other new social work educators as well as for those who mentor them.     

Culturalizing Science Instruction: What Is It,What Does It Look Like and Why Do We Need It?

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Children with epilepsy in school: Special service usage and assessment practices

Special services usage and related assessment procedures were investigated for 50 students with epilepsy. Fifty‐six percent of students with epilepsy received special education services, with mental retardation designation and self‐contained placement common, especially among individuals with epilepsy plus a coexisting neurological diagnosis. Sixteen percent of participants had an “other health impairment” designation, and several of these were deemed eligible in at least one other special education category. The majority of students who had been evaluated were administered IQ, adaptive behavior, speech/language, and sensorimotor components, whereas few were assessed for executive or memory functions. Little information about antiepileptic drugs, their effects, or the actual manifestation of students' seizures appeared in special services school documents. Additional empirical information regarding services for children with chronic health conditions, such as epilepsy, is necessary to improve school psychologists' practice. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 169–181, 2006.     

从专业教育视野看参考咨询与信息服务过程模型

二十多年来,参考咨询与信息服务日益介入电子世界,而逐渐远离图书馆的参考咨询台和纸质馆藏.本文介绍一项基于不断变化的环境针对参考咨询与信息服务进行的研究,旨在分析两个研究问题:①从用户和馆员行为及其所利用信息源的角度来看,当前参考咨询与信息服务活动有哪些趋势?②当前参考咨询过程的基本模型是什么?作者通过焦点访谈法搜集承担参考咨询与信息服务专业课程教师的意见,并通过自由讨论的形式征集其他专业课程教师和博士研究生有关虚拟参考咨询教育的看法.研究结果表明,参考咨询模型具有明显的互动性和合作性,其中参考馆员和用户均扮演信息获取、信息接收和信息生成的角色.论文提出参考咨询过程的模型,并分析这一模型对参考咨询与信息服务活动产生的影响.图1.参考文献63.     

Becoming a mature student: How adult appplicants weigh the advantages and disadvantages of higher education

The data presented in this paper is taken fromthe results of two much larger studies ofmature student decision-making and HigherEducation (HE), which considerprocesses of agency from initial considerationof the possibility of becoming a studentto eventually becoming one. In thispaper, six categories of applicant to HE arediscussed: `Delayed traditional students', `Late starters' who have undergone alife-transforming event e.g. redundancy ordivorce and require `a new start'. `Single parents' `Careerists', who are currently in employment who seek a qualification to make progress in their existing careers, `Escapees' who are currently in employment who want a qualification as a way out of `dead-end' jobs, Finally, the `personal growers', a small number pursuing education for its own sake.These categories of applicants are discussed inlight of the factors that both catalyse andinhibit individuals' decision-making duringapplication to HE.     

General experiences + race + racism = Work lives of Black faculty in postsecondary science education

Existent research indicates that postsecondary Black faculty members, who are sorely underrepresented in the academy especially in STEM fields, assume essential roles; chief among these roles is diversifying higher education. Their recruitment and retention become more challenging in light of research findings on work life for postsecondary faculty. Research has shown that postsecondary faculty members in general have become increasingly stressed and job satisfaction has declined with dissatisfaction with endeavors and work overload cited as major stressors. In addition to the stresses managed by higher education faculty at large, Black faculty must navigate diversity-related challenges. Illuminating and understanding their experiences can be instrumental in lessening stress and job dissatisfaction, outcomes that facilitate recruitment and retention. This study featured the experiences and perceptions of Black faculty in science education. This study, framed by critical race theory, examines two questions: What characterizes the work life of some Black faculty members who teach, research, and serve in science education? How are race and racism present in the experiences of these postsecondary Black faculty members? A phenomenological approach to the study situates the experiences of the Black participants as valid phenomena worthy of investigation, illuminates their experiences, and seeks to retain the authenticity of their voices.