Early Childhood Education and Care Content for the Social Work Curriculum

Social workers are poised to play an important role in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings; however, they need the knowledge and skills necessary to make a meaningful contribution. This article presents learning activities that infuse ECEC content, centered on the following four areas for social work education: (1) history of the profession, (2) observation of current practice, (3) culturally competent service delivery, and (4) advocacy to enhance social justice. Through this infusion of content, social work educators can better prepare their students for the growing field of ECEC practice and for social work practice more broadly.     

Choice of exercise: a predictor of behavioral risks?

After controlling for differences in gender, educational achievement, and exercise duration among a sample of 7,248 Americans 18-34 years old, we found that runners-joggers-fast walkers (RJWs) and tennis players were less likely to be obese, smoke, consume large quantities of alcohol, and drive without seat belts than those who participate in team and an aggregate of other sports. These behavioral differences might be explained by imprecise data, intervening variables such as exercise intensity, or other variables that were not measured. But a more interesting explanation is that running-jogging-fast walking and playing tennis are integral components of healthy lifestyles, and team sports and some other exercise behaviors are part of riskier ways of living. No consistent association was found between duration of exercise and behavioral risk.     

Student-Staffed Virtual Reference Services: How to Meet the Training Challenge

Student workers are a well-established component of academic library operations. Recently, their traditional role has expanded to include responsibilities that were previously assigned to librarians, including in-person and virtual reference support. This trend has raised concerns about service quality and highlighted the importance of adequate training and evaluation for student employees. This case study outlines the training and assessment program for student employees working on Ask a Librarian, an academic consortial chat reference service in Ontario, Canada. Evaluations indicate that student assistants are less formal in their communication style, do not consistently perform a thorough reference interview, and deviate from some Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) best practices. However, students are consistently rated very highly by users in exit surveys. With a training program that addresses communication, in-depth reference interview techniques, and consistent follow-up and assessment, students are a viable option for staffing chat and can meet high service quality standards for reference service.     

为植物鉴定和学习科学建立词表

北卡罗林纳大学植物语言研究课题组（University of Noah Carolina Plant Language Team，UPLanT）根据学生和一般公众学习植物科学知识的特点，提出了建立植物学语言工具，为学生及一般公众充分利用网络上的植物科学信息提供方便．本文探讨了词表的含义，辨别植物的关键，植物分类表以及用于植物鉴别的描述性词汇。文中还介绍了U-PLanT的研究开发活动和当前研究方向，本课题组开发了一系列词表工具，包括技术性的植物词汇、学生植物学字典、植物描述概念表、植物学辞典以及UNC-OpenKey植物词汇。该文的一个重要内容是介绍了U-PLanT开发植物学词表的做法，具体包括（1）确定现有的词表；（2）评价它们的可用性及是否经济；（3）修改；（4）改造现有词表使之适用于检索环境；（5）实施；（6）测试评估；（7）再修改等7个步骤。这个项目主要是为了缩小学生和科学家之间词汇上的差别，帮助学生更好地利用数字化科学教育资源。     

Positive reframing and the test performance of test anxious children

The present study tested whether the paradoxical technique of positive reframing, presented in the form of test instructions, could be used to reduce the cognitive experience of worry and thereby improve the arithmetic test performance of highly test anxious third-and fourth-grade children. Thirty high test anxious and thirty low test anxious children were assigned randomly to receive one of three types of instructions prior to taking an arithmetic word problem test: neutral instructions, reassuring instructions, and positive-reframing instructions, which encouraged the children to view worry as a positive attribute. The results indicated that the type of instructions given had no significant effect upon subsequent test performance. However, both high and low test anxious children who received positive reframing scored significantly higher on a state anxiety measure given post test. These findings suggest that, although positive reframing may have an emotional impact, it is ineffective in improving the arithmetic test performance of highly test anxious children.