Rethinking Library Service to Distance Education Students: Analyzing the Embedded Librarian Model

Since fall 2009, reference librarians at The George Washington University's Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library have been embedded in online classes through Blackboard within the School of Nursing and School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The authors sought to determine the types of questions asked of the librarian, with the goal of informing future interactions with distance education classes to help develop a standard “protocol” for working with this population of students. Eighty-two questions were categorized and qualitatively analyzed. The findings have prompted librarians to explore tools such as Elluminate Live!, a tool that allows librarians to provide synchronous instruction within the Blackboard environment.     

Poetic expression and poetic form in practitioner research

The article draws on an experience of classroom-based collaborative research in South African primary schools. After a brief presentation of the overall research methodology, the debate focuses on the complexity of collaborative meaning making and debates the ethical implications of managingthe fluid relational boundaries that characterise narrative research.     

Single-case experimental designs in remedial teaching of English as a foreign language

First-year failure of German Gymnasium pulils is frequently the result of insufficient achievement in EFL (English as a foreign language); such failure has traditionally been attributed to a lack of talent and/or effort on the learner's part.The poor statistical correlation between intelligence and EFL achievement does not adequately explain this failure. Although the proportion of failure in EFL has long been known, no basic changes in teaching approach have resulted.Concepts of didactic models presented by Carroll, by Bloom, and by Harnischfeger and Wiley indicate that too little emphasis on active learning time, quality of instruction, and individualized teaching strategies may constitute sources of failure. Furthermore, the concept of learning hierarchies suggests that the cumulative effect of learning deficits will inhibit further learning.In the absence of institutionalized remedial teaching in the German school system, a research project was planned; its aim was to identify factors responsible for learning difficulties, and to work remedially with failing pupils in order to ensure further learning in the normal classroom setting.Both areas and sources of failure in first-year EFL and effective strategies are reported on. The possibility of monitoring and quantifying the effectiveness of remedial teaching is discussed in presenting multiple baselines as documentation of single-case experimental designs.Presented in part at the Third Overseas Conference of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language, Poznán, Poland, April 18–20, 1979.     

Smart schools on the way: How school principals from Catalonia approach the future of education within the fourth industrial revolution

Learning Environments Research - The advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is introducing developments in Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and other technologies in different...     

Rotary inverted pendulum with magnetically external perturbations as a source of the pendulum’s base navigation commands

The main objective of this paper is to drive a rotary inverted pendulum by following a desired navigation instruction. This navigation is commanded by the user through a new electromagnetic device which is allowed to perturb the pendulum from its upright position. This apparatus consists of an electronic magnetic driving circuit to introduce commands and realized via two operated magnetic coils. So, the external programmed magnetic perturbation can be seen as external commandments. Therefore, the control problem statement is solved via a modified regulation control implementation, to maintain the pendulum on its upright position and giving free manipulation of the base of the rotary inverted pendulum. Hence, by using the corresponding H_∞-linear matrix inequality technique, a static state controller is designed and tested experimentally so supporting our findings.     

Stability of Markov jump systems with quadratic terms and its application to RLC circuits

The paper presents results for the second moment stability of continuous-time Markov jump systems with quadratic terms, aiming for engineering applications. Quadratic terms stem from physical constraints in applications, as in electronic circuits based on resistor (R), inductor (L), and capacitor (C). In the paper, an RLC circuit supplied a load driven by jumps produced by a Markov chain—the RLC circuit used sensors that measured the quadratic of electrical currents and voltages. Our result was then used to design a stabilizing controller for the RLC circuit with measurements based on that quadratic terms. The experimental data confirm the usefulness of our approach.     

Principals’ reactions to feedback received by school inspection: A longitudinal study

This article presents the results of a follow-up study on the attitudes of German principals towards receiving feedback from school inspections. In a first study, we explored the attitudes of 50 principals towards feedback from school inspections [Quality Analysis (QA) in North Rhine-Westphalia] before school inspections took place at these schools (Bitan et al., Int J leadersh Educ 18(4):418–439, 2015). In the present study, the change in attitude of 20 of these principals towards the feedback instrument was investigated in a longitudinal study that took place 6 months after the schools had been inspected. Mixed methods were used. The main aim of the study was to assess the principals’ reactions and attitudes toward the feedback given by school inspectors as well as the change in principals’ attitudes after the school inspection and to explore the underlying reasons for their attitudes and reactions. 20 % of the principals changed to a more negative attitude towards the QA after the inspection, whereas 0 % voiced a neutral attitude. 60 % changed to a more positive attitude and 20 % remained positive after the QA. The discussion presents implications for school inspections as a feedback instrument as well as school development.     

The Force of Personality: Gottfried Keller's Educational Philosophy

We set out to identify the benefits and drawbacks of using more than one instructor to teach single section science courses at a large research university. Nine courses were investigated involving widely differing subjects and levels. Teaching models included: sequential teaching with two to six instructors each covering only their own modules, two teachers present in class at all times, and hybrids of these two models. A three-question survey was answered by 957 students and 17 instructors. Dominant advantages identified by both groups were variety of teaching style or perspectives and instructor expertise, with instructors being more likely to identify expertise as the primary advantage. Dominant disadvantages identified were adjustment to teaching style and expectations and confusion and communication issues. Data suggest that advantages are maximized and disadvantages minimized either in courses with two or more instructors interacting and collaborating in class or when special care is taken with coordination and collaboration if the course is sequentially taught. We conclude with specific recommendations to instructors and departments based on evidence from the data.