No scholar is an island: The impact of sharing in the work life of scholars

The sharing of scholarly articles is an intrinsic and often ignored facet of the value and mission of scholarship. It is so entwined in the daily work life of scholars that it has almost become second nature, an integral part of the research process itself. This article addresses this often overlooked area of research in usage studies. In an international survey of 1,000 published scholars, the Beyond Downloads project examined their sharing behaviours in order to gain a more contextualized and accurate picture of their usage beyond download patterns and citation counts. Scholars share published articles with others as a mode of content discovery and dissemination, particularly if they work in groups, and most expect to increase their sharing in the future. While their methods of sharing articles may change, and their reasons for sharing may vary from self‐promotion to the more altruistic motives of scientific progress, they desire to share the final published versions of articles with their colleagues.     

Social media rumors as improvised public opinion: semantic network analyses of twitter discourses during Korean saber rattling 2013

Social media rumors are improvised and expressive forms of public opinion that especially arise under uncertain sociopolitical situations. This study utilizes early rumor studies as theoretical framework for textual analysis of Twitter public opinion. A content and semantic network analysis of Twitter messages spread during Korean saber rattling in 2013 was conducted for understanding public opinion in an uncertain context. The results show that, while non-rumor narratives focus on policy-level responses to the threat situation in a similar manner to institutionalized opinion polling, rumors are less concerned with official responses, instead reflective of hegemonic tensions between anti-leftwing political sentiments and the counteractive accounts. Some rumors reveal the public's coping with fears in the form of humor, guesswork, or wishes. Online rumor analysis helps understand how the society's collective memories interact with the current situational uncertainty in shaping public opinions and sentiments.     

Work‐related learning for students with significant learning difficulties: relevance and reality

The 14–19 proposals brought work‐related learning to the forefront of educational policy. We look at how the tenets, which underpin them, can be interpreted and applied for students with significant learning difficulties. We examine the nature of vocational or work‐related learning for students with severe and or profound and multiple learning difficulties as currently reported by schools in England. Its relevance for this group of learners is discussed in the light of the proposals and we consider the reality of current practice in relation to the slippery concept of vocational learning. Finally, we reflect on important recent policy commitments relevant to our research, but published after its completion, outlined in the White Paper 14–19 education and skills. We note and welcome its explicit consideration of the needs of students with significant learning difficulties. At the same time we remain concerned and perturbed about its affirmation of educational aims that are narrowly conceived in relation to an economic imperative.     

Creating inclusive communities through pedagogy at three elementary schools

This qualitative study investigated how pedagogy-driven schools create inclusive communities. From the analysis of open-ended interviews with members of 3 pedagogically driven public elementary schools (Core Knowledge, Experiential, and Montessori) in the United States of America, 3 themes emerged: (1) community and culture, (2) structure, and (3) responsibility and expectations. The emphasis on community building and conscious attention to culture was universal: Members wanted to be at that school, there was a strong belief in the pedagogy, and all school community members were clear that their most important outcome was student success. Each school had 3 essential building blocks in their pedagogy: academic education, affective education, and individualization of instruction. Each school expected adults and students to set and achieve high behavior and learning targets. Recommendations for applying these findings by practitioners and researchers are provided.     

Variation in learning orchestration in university biology courses

The manner in which students manage their learning activities in response to perceived task or course demands describes their 'learning orchestration'. This paper addresses relations between a student's learning orchestration and their learning outcome as a function of prior understanding in first year university biology courses. A cluster analysis of 272 Australian students revealed three different forms of learning orchestration - understanding, reproducing and disintegrated. In one cluster, students felt their environment was more supportive of deep approaches to learning and they adopted deeper approaches. They were the students who had the better prior understanding and they did best on measures of meaningful learning. However, less than one third of the students showed this coherent (and desirable) learning pattern. A second cluster of students showed a coherent but less desirable learning orchestration focused on more surface perceptions and approaches and they had significantly worse learning gains and achievement scores. The third cluster of students saw the learning environment as being more supportive of deep approaches, but, unlike the other groups, they did not adopt an approach consistent with their perception. We describe these students as having a disintegrated learning orchestration. A key finding is that the students with this orchestration also have very poor levels of prior knowledge and also have very poor achievement outcomes.     

Choosing to compromise: women studying childcare

Reporting on a study of mature women training to work in childcare, this article demonstrates how some women choose to be part-time mothers, workers and students, wanting ‘the best of both worlds’. It presents a theory of integrated lives that contrasts with customary deficit models and shows how a series of reciprocal links bind the women's different roles together, introducing an adaptation of Coser's theory of greedy institutions to demonstrate how this is an inherently stable position. Whilst the theory can stand alone, it is usefully recast as a localised example of a capability set as it frames the co-realisable choices open to the women. Making further links with Amartya Sen's capability approach, it is suggested that we should encourage governmental interventions that enable individual choice and support those women who want to integrate their lives alongside those who seek parity in the public sphere.