A Longitudinal View of the Liberal Arts Curriculum a Decade After Merger: A Multiple Case Study of Community Colleges in Connecticut,Kentucky, and Louisiana

This study is an examination of the state of the liberal arts curriculum in community colleges in three geographic regions of the United States. From a constructivist paradigm and using globalization theory as a theoretical framework, this multiple case study examined faculty work life and administrative processes related to curriculum change in merged community and technical colleges. Through an examination of research on globalization, mergers, and trends in the general education and liberal arts curriculum, a gap in the literature emerged in the studies of community college curriculums after merger. This study considers whether the focus on workforce development and decrease in the transfer mission has diminished the liberal arts courses in the college curriculum. Research on liberal arts courses identified them as courses that emphasize higher order thinking and the development of intellectual skills needed to engage in a democratic society. If students are not exposed to these skills, it may have a detrimental effect on a democratic society. Study findings suggested that the English and communication curriculums are narrowing and the mission is more toward workforce skill preparation. Also, the changing demographics of today[#x02019]s community college students, as well as the ongoing budget constraints, create challenges and frustrations for faculty members.     

Search tactics used in solving everyday how-to technical tasks: Repertoire,selection and tenacity

With greater access to computational resources, people use search to address many everyday challenges in their lives, including solving technology problems. Although there are now many useful ‘how-to’ resources online (especially videos on YouTube), it can still be difficult to identify, understand, and resolve certain kinds of technical problem. While research tasks have been studied for many years and we know the tactics people use, we know far less about searchers’ tactics for how-to technical tasks that involve actually being able to apply found information to resolve a problem. Crucial to our study was developing and studying a highly realistic, how-to technical task, for which there was no single guidance resource: making a phone safe for a child. After providing 39 participants with an actual phone to fix, and a search engine to perform the task, we analysed their search tactics using retrospective cued think aloud interviews. Our primary contribution is a set of 77 tactics used, in three categories, along with detail of how common they were. We conclude that people had a lot of tactics in their repertoire. Although it was not hard for participants to find relevant information, what was hard was for participants to find information they could use; indeed only 23% of participants successfully completed the entire task. Domain knowledge affected the choice of tactics used (although not necessarily towards better task success). We discuss these influences and make design recommendations for how future search systems can support those in resolving how-to technical tasks.     

A preliminary investigation of an early intervention program: Examining the intervention effectiveness of the Bracken Concept Development Program and the Bracken Basic Concept Scale‐Revised with Head Start students

This research study evaluated the efficacy of the Bracken Basic Concept Scale‐Revised (BBCS‐R; Bracken, 1998) and the Bracken Concept Development Program (BCDP; Bracken, 1986a) in a test‐teach‐test paradigm with students from a Head Start program. Prior to the intervention, 54 children were administered the BBCS‐R and were divided into three groups, two of which received basic concept instruction. Once the intervention was completed, the children were reassessed with the BBCS‐R. Posttest scores were calculated for each BBCS‐R subtest and the Total Test and School Readiness Composites after controlling for the pretest scores. A MANOVA and sequential ANOVAs were conducted and proved a significantly higher performance of the two intervention groups compared to the control group. Effect sizes for five of the six BBCS‐R subtests were classified as large, with the sixth (Time/Sequence) classified as medium. Discriminant function coefficients found that the Texture/Material subtest contributed the most to the detection of differences between the groups. However, no significant difference between the two intervention groups was found. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 301–311, 2004.     

Implications of planning for regional libraries: our underlying philosophy

The National Library of Medicine Extramural Program in administering the Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965 has developed the following specific program objectives: provide financial assistance for improving biomedical libraries; encourage and assist the establishment and functioning of a responsive national biomedical information network by strengthening present biomedical libraries and their interlibrary relationships; and assure that the biomedical library network is linked to related science information systems. The ultimate goal is to develop the role of the library as a full learning resource center for education, research, and service. The regional library program aims to augment present capability of existing medical libraries so that information can be made available more extensively and more rapidly. Comprehensive and thorough advanced planning is a basic element in the development of regional medical libraries.     

Deep Dive into KBART

ABSTRACT

The Deep Dive into KBART preconference workshop provided a comprehensive overview of the National Information Standards Organization Knowledge Bases and Related Tools (KBART) Phase II Recommended Practice (http://www.niso.org/publications/rp/rp-9–2014/). The workshop was divided into four sections. The first provided an overview of the background, purpose, and value of KBART to all members of the information supply chain. The next section focused on the basic guidelines for effective exchange of metadata with knowledgebases, including method of exchange, data format, file naming conventions, and frequency of exchange. The remaining two sections of the workshop addressed the correct use of KBART data fields, first in relation to serials and then to monographs. Through classroom instruction, interactive quizzes, and hands-on exercises, the workshop provided in-depth coverage of all KBART data elements, with special focus on many of the most frequently asked questions about the recommended practice.     

Interest,not Preference: Dewey and Reframing the Conceptual Vocabulary of School Choice

School choice positions parents as consumers who select schools that maximize their preferences. This account has been shaped by rational choice theory. In this essay, Terri Wilson contrasts a rational choice framework of preferences with John Dewey's understanding of interest. To illustrate this contrast, she draws on an example of one parent's school decision‐making process. Dewey's concept of interest offers an alternative conceptual vocabulary attentive to the complex, value‐laden, and evolving process of choosing a school. Her analysis considers how schools might not just appeal to the preexisting preferences of families, but might instead actively shape those interests to democratic ends.