Low cost organization of a mental retardation facility staff library

A mental retardation facility staff library of 700 volumes required complete organization. Two restraining factors were lack of personnel and limited funds. A plan was developed to classify titles according to Library of Congress, with the subject heading catalog predominantly based on Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). A cataloging service was located which produced custom card sets and book labels from CATLINE and MARC computer databases. Where necessary, MARC records were edited to alter LC subject headings to MeSH terminology. Organization was accomplished at an average cost per title of less than $1.50.     

Seen,Unseen or Overlooked? How can Visual Perception Develop through a Multimodal Enquiry?

This article outlines an exploration into the development of visual perception through analysing the process of taking photographs of the mundane as small‐scale research. A preoccupation with social construction of the visual lies at the heart of the investigation by correlating the perceptive process to Mitchell's (2002) counter thesis for visual study and Sontag's (1979) analysis of the function of photography in society. Why visual perception is a fundamental human activity is considered and so positioned as a vital component of art education. Pedagogical implications for teaching visual perception and expertise to others are subsequently revealed, including the appropriate selection of media to construct and communicate meaning through an exploration of subject‐matter, and the need to consider symbiotic processes which enable the construction and refinement of perception and meaning for maker and audience. How this contributes to a debate about the purpose of an art education is tentatively examined in the light of current educational policy and ideology.     

Lifelong education and the workplace: a critical analysis

This paper contains an analysis of policy formulations which underlie the work of the ‘Leeds Adult Learners at Work’ project (1991‐93). The overall aim of the project was to assess the contribution that broadly based Employee Development training schemes organized through the workplace can make towards achieving the internationally recognized goal of ‘lifelong learning’. The paper follows Ball (1990) in seeing policy as a contested arena in which different actors struggle to impose their views. This involves an analysis of competing discourses. However, the discourse interfaces with a socio‐economic system in which individual adults find their day‐today lives increasingly constrained. First, an analysis is made of the economic context of education and training policy in terms of the international division of labour, the apparently contradictory processes of deskilling and reskilling, and mass unemployment. A critical analysis follows of the rhetoric which identifies education and training as a panacea for economic crisis, extending into the field of adult education and training for employed people some of the insights gained by policy analysts in the school and further education arenas. It is argued that there are indeed a number of significant interventions in the field (e.g. by educational institutions, employers, trades unions, TECs) but that there is a distinct lack of overarching policy direction. It is concluded that there is a need to develop a policy discourse which locates paid work as an important arena in which lifelong learning can be developed, while recognizing the complex divisions of labour within society and the learning needs of people largely excluded from paid work.     

Computer Simulations Improve University Instructional Laboratories

Laboratory classes are commonplace and essential in biology departments but can sometimes be cumbersome, unreliable, and a drain on time and resources. As university intakes increase, pressure on budgets and staff time can often lead to reduction in practical class provision. Frequently, the ability to use laboratory equipment, mix solutions, and manipulate test animals are essential learning outcomes, and “wet” laboratory classes are thus appropriate. In others, however, interpretation and manipulation of the data are the primary learning outcomes, and here, computer-based simulations can provide a cheaper, easier, and less time- and labor-intensive alternative. We report the evaluation of two computer-based simulations of practical exercises: the first in chromosome analysis, the second in bioinformatics. Simulations can provide significant time savings to students (by a factor of four in our first case study) without affecting learning, as measured by performance in assessment. Moreover, under certain circumstances, performance can be improved by the use of simulations (by 7% in our second case study). We concluded that the introduction of these simulations can significantly enhance student learning where consideration of the learning outcomes indicates that it might be appropriate. In addition, they can offer significant benefits to teaching staff.     

Efficient approximate representation of bi-objective tradeoff sets

The problem of efficiently approximating the tradeoff (Pareto-optimal) curve or set for optimization problems with two conflicting objectives is considered. In particular, a new method is proposed for computing a relatively small number of points to define an approximate representation of the tradeoff set. The efficiency of the method is established by showing the maximum number of points required to achieve a prescribed precision of approximation. Finally, a general algorithm embodying the method is outlined and analysed.     

Sluts: Heteronormative Policing in the Stories of Lesbian Youth

The power of compulsory heterosexuality regulates the sexuality of adolescent lesbians as strongly as it does their heterosexual peers. Marked with a sexual(ized) identity, young Southern lesbians in this life history study made claim to moral high ground by consistently identifying with the hegemonic good girl construct and by participating in the naming of women whose sexual behavior demonstrated a disregard for the “rules.” The good girl/bad girl, the virgin/slut binaries, played significant roles in their identity claims, in their relationships, and in their choices of friendships. Personal self-control (“just kissing”) is seen by these young women as admirable and sluts are seen as dangerous women who harm others and themselves. This article explores the marking of sluts and too experienced women in the life stories of White Southern adolescent lesbians and the continued social controls imposed on adolescent female sexuality through the devaluing of women's sexual agency.     

The high skills project and the limits of possibility: a response to Coffield

In 2003, we wrote a critical reply to Frank Coffield’s reflections in this journal on the significance of the Performance and Innovation Unit’s project on workforce development for the future direction of skills policy in England. As Coffield made clear in a rejoinder, underpinning our arguments are fundamental disagreements about what would be required to tackle the low skills equilibrium and develop the UK as a high skills society. Coffield criticised our project for being unrealistic and as offering no threat to the status quo. In this reply, we respond to these criticisms before subjecting Coffield’s own policy recommendations to closer scrutiny. The danger with following his approach is that it not only results in academics setting their sights too low but is overly optimistic about what can be achieved by working with policy makers given current political and ideological constraints.     

The Professionalization of Gerontology: A Canadian Perspective

Globally, the need for development of a competent workforce to serve the burgeoning older population is well documented. Persons with degrees in gerontology are prepared to fill positions in this labor market, yet they are not in demand. This research explores the path of professionalization of gerontologists in Canada as a means of increasing their contribution to the aging services workforce. A cross-sectional online survey of aging-service administrators (n = 66) was conducted in Ontario, Canada, to ascertain their perceptions of gerontologists as professionals in the service delivery to older persons. Aging-service administrators show low rates of hiring gerontologists and low knowledge of gerontological competencies. There was a significant (p < .05) relationship between the knowledge of gerontologist's competence and their rate of employment. The administrators expressed high interest in regulation and credentialing of gerontologists (63.6%). Credentialing of gerontologists is a means of professionalization that legitimizes the competence of this field as a profession. Education is needed—for governmental agencies and health and social service providers—on the role of gerontologists in meeting aging service workforce demands. Ultimately, regulatory policy considerations are needed.     

Reviews

In the UK policy context, skills, education and learning are seen as a universal solution to a vast array of economic and social problems. In challenging this view, this paper argues that those educationalists calling for progressive reforms to the education system need to acknowledge the reality of the contemporary workplace and the institutional context of UK capitalism. When it comes to the question of how the UK might move towards a more inclusive high skills society, no matter where we start to look - be it the economy or a highly class-divided English education system - it all seems to add up badly. In challenging the current policy agenda, educationalists will need to insist that progressive educational reform cannot be separated from the struggle for broader political, social and economic change.