Using clinical vignette assignments to teach medical informatics

In response to curricular changes, many academic health sciences librarians have participated in curriculum planning and/or developed informatics course requirements for students enrolled at health sciences universities. This article describes the use of clinical vignette assignments, student journal club activities, and vignette-type multiple choice questions to teach and assess skills related to managing biomedical information, communicating effectively, basic computing, and life-long learning.     

Predictors and Outcomes of Early vs. Later English Language Proficiency Among English Language Learners

The development of English language learners (ELLs) was explored from kindergarten through eighth grade within a nationally representative sample of first-time kindergartners (N = 19,890). Growth curve analyses indicated that, compared to native English speakers, ELLs were rated by teachers more favorably on approaches to learning, self control, and externalizing behaviors in kindergarten and generally continued to grow in a positive direction on these social/behavioral outcomes at a steeper rate compared to their native English-speaking peers, holding other factors constant. Differences in reading and math achievement between ELLs and native English speakers varied based on the grade at which English proficiency is attained. Specifically, ELLs who were proficient in English by kindergarten entry kept pace with native English speakers in both reading and math initially and over time; ELLs who were proficient by first grade had modest gaps in reading and math achievement compared to native English speakers that closed narrowly or persisted over time; and ELLs who were not proficient by first grade had the largest initial gaps in reading and math achievement compared to native speakers but the gap narrowed over time in reading and grew over time in math. Among those whose home language is not English, acquiring English proficiency by kindergarten entry was associated with better cognitive and behavioral outcomes through eighth grade compared to taking longer to achieve proficiency. Multinomial regression analyses indicated that child, family, and school characteristics predict achieving English proficiency by kindergarten entry compared to achieving proficiency later. Results are discussed in terms of policies and practices that can support ELL children's growth and development.     

A symposium on “speech act theory in mainstream communication research”: An introduction

The referential, sequential, and inferential dimensions of discourse are explicated and discussed in order to obtain a vantage point from which to view the contributions of speech‐act theory to our understanding of human communication processes. A preview is then provided of four papers, each of which explores the intersection of two or more of these dimensions in order to enrich our understanding of speech‐act theory.     

Developing a prototype information system framework to handle pedagogical knowledge in a secondary school modern foreign languages department

This paper reports a small-scale project to develop a prototype web-based information system to support teaching and learning within the modern languages department of a comprehensive secondary school. The system was developed in close consultation with the teaching staff and the work is presented within the broader context of knowledge management systems and their potential use in an educational environment.