Genetic research and genetic information: a health information professional's perspective on the benefits and risks

BACKGROUND: The completion of the Human Genome Project, and recent breakthroughs in identifying the genes both directly responsible for and contributing to the severity of specific diseases and disabilities in humans offer great potential for future health care. AIM: The aim of the paper is to inform the health information community of these developments in order to foster debate over their wide-reaching implications. METHODS: The article outlines recent research in this area and explains how our growing understanding opens the way for improved diagnosis of disease, detection of possible predisposition to specific diseases, the interaction between genetics and environmental aspects such as diet, as well as enabling gene therapy and preventative actions. This new knowledge also opens the way for the use of pharmacogenetic information to enhance the efficacy of pharmaceuticals and to avoid toxic reactions. RESULTS: These advances have significant social, legal and ethical implications. Most countries have limited legislative control over the use and protection of genetic information about individuals. CONCLUSION: There is a role for health information professionals to play in promoting wider public knowledge of genetic research and its implications, in fostering public debate on key issues, and in seeking clearer policies in the health sector concerning the use of genetic information about individuals.     

Experienced Teachers’ Strategies for Assessing Nature of Science Conceptions in the Elementary Classroom

This study explored the nature of science (NOS) assessments K-4 classroom teachers developed for measuring students’ understandings of NOS elements. We used the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire-Form VNOS-D2 (Views of Nature of Science Elementary School Version 2) and interviews to verify that teachers’ conceptions of NOS were sufficient to enable them to teach and assess NOS. We collected copies of teachers’ action research designs, lesson plans, and assessment tools, conducted classroom observations and made field notes of their science instruction and assessments. We videotaped conversations at monthly workshops to note discussion surrounding teaching and assessing NOS in K-4 classrooms. We found that experienced teachers designed a variety of strategies for assessing NOS conceptions that differed by grade level.     

LEA support services for special educational needs provision and management

The National Foundation for Educational Research recently undertook research on the impact of delegation on local authority support services for special educational needs. This paper presents data on the provision offered by these services and the way in which they are managed. In particular, it examines how support is targeted, the extent and profile of service staff, mechanisms for the referral of pupils for support from the services, management structure, staff deployment and the professional development of service staff, and service monitoring, review and evaluation. Ways in which support services have developed in the 1990s, and their challenges for the next decade in the light of developments in the governance of education and the local policy context, are discussed.     

The Museum of Irish Industry,Robert Kane and education for all in the Dublin of the 1850s and 1860s 1

The Museum of Irish Industry in Dublin, in its short existence (1845–1867) facilitated the access of ordinary people to popular scientific education, became a cause célèbre and was defended by popular protest when the government recommended its abolition in 1862. Its Director, Sir Robert Kane (1809–1890) was not only an advocate of popular industrial education but also had a lifelong commitment to ‘united’ (or non‐denominational) education believing that only this type of education would achieve the ultimate result of tolerance, religious peace and national prosperity in Ireland. From 1854 a Government School of Science was part of the museum’s educational activities and from 1854 to 1867 the professors attached to the museum offered courses of lectures, both ‘popular’ and formal courses, on physics, chemistry, botany, zoology and geology, and in applied science. With its exhibition collections, its laboratories and the range of educational courses organised by its staff the museum was one of the British government’s most innovative experiments in education in Victorian Ireland. Beyond this, Kane’s determination that the courses offered by the museum would be available to all, with no distinction of creed or gender, distinguishes this institution as a pioneer in providing equal access to scientific education to all in the mid‐nineteenth century. This article will explore the role this unique education played in the educational and social life of mid‐Victorian Dublin.     

The effects of a single night of complete and partial sleep deprivation on physical and cognitive performance: A Bayesian analysis

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effects of complete and partial sleep deprivation on multiple aspects of athletic performance. Ten males completed a cognitive function test, maximal handgrip strength, countermovement jump (CMJ) and a 15 min all out cycling test to assess aerobic performance. These tests were performed following 3 different sleep conditions; normal sleep (CON), a 4 hr sleep opportunity (PART) and complete sleep deprivation (DEP). Data were analysed using a Bayesian multi-level regression model to provide probabilities of impairment (p = %). Aerobic performance, CMJ and handgrip strength were impaired by 11.4% (p = 100%), 10.9% (p = 100%) and 6% (p = 97%) following DEP, while aerobic performance and CMJ were highly likely impaired by 4.1% (p = 90%) and 5.2% (p = 94%) following PART. Cognitive reaction time was not impacted by PART or DEP. In contrast the accuracy of responses was highly likely impaired by 2% (91) following DEP, while there was less certainty of impaired accuracy following PART (?1%, p = 73). Multiple aspects of physical and cognitive performance were impacted by sleep deprivation. The greatest detrimental effects were seen for aerobic performance and CMJ. Partial sleep deprivation equating to 4 hrs of sleep causes subtle, but potentially important negative impairments on athletic performance.     

Assessing learner‐centredness through course syllabi

One attempt to revitalise undergraduate education has been by shifting the dominant pedagogy to a learner‐centred focus and supporting an emphasis on the scholarship of teaching and learning. The discussion regarding efforts to refocus undergraduate education to be more intentional by moving towards a learner‐centred paradigm is encouraging, yet it is crucial to acknowledge that most of the effort and literature on the learner‐centred paradigm and the scholarship of teaching and learning have necessarily focused on strategies for the classroom. It is equally important for administrators to consider the impact of the paradigm shift on their roles. Assessment and evaluation are the very core of the learner‐centred paradigm. Assessment is both the single‐most important gage of learning that drives the educational process and the most effective means of implementing institutional change. In this article, the authors offer a means of assessing the degree of learner‐centredness in current teaching practices through a systematic review of course syllabi. Using a rubric developed for this purpose the authors have reviewed course syllabi in order to develop a benchmark for the degree of learner‐centredness present in current teaching practices and employed the results as a vehicle for planning professional development.     

Computational What? Relating Computational Thinking to Teaching

Computational thinking is one of the skills critical for successfully solving problems posed in a technology driven and complex society. The limited opportunities in school settings to help students develop computational thinking skills underscores the need for helping teachers integrate it in their practices. Besides developing the knowledge of technology, content, and pedagogy, teachers need to recognize the relevance of computational thinking to their teaching, a factor influencing their future practice with it. Drawing from the literature on problem-solving and TPACK framework, this paper discusses strategies, including content-specific examples, problem-solving nature of computational thinking, and the methods of teaching problem-solving for enabling teachers to make the connections between computational thinking and their practices.