Teaching Biology at a Distance: Pleasures,Pitfalls, and Possibilities

Abstract

The Open University (OU) has a long and distinguished history of teaching biology at a distance by a supported open learning model. This article examines some of the challenges in delivering biology via distance teaching, explores some of the lessons learned, and discusses the opportunities and hazards of new teaching technologies that the OU has helped pioneer.     

Further Reflections on the WorldCat Collection Analysis Tool

This article focuses on a recent enhancement to the WorldCat Collection Analysis tool, the Interlibrary Loan Analyses module, exploring the possibilities that this enhancement offers for strategic collection development. The study concentrates on the tool as a way to assess the impact of the recent growth at North Carolina State University in biomedicine and human medicine programs. The research contained in this article originated from a session presented at XXVII Annual Charleston Conference, which was held in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 8, 2007.     

'Well,I've Not Done Any Work Today. I Don't Know Why I Came to School'. Perceptions of Play in the Reception Class

The place of play in the education of young children has been the focus of much interest in the past. But the findings from this research project demonstrate that there remains a significant amount of confusion about the role that play has in young children's education. In particular we found that there is a clear distinction between the rhetoric and reality of play in the reception class. Further, there was evidence of real anguish for some early years workers who were failing to offer the play activities that they knew should be provided. These findings are particularly interesting at present, since the debate on the role of play has once again emerged as fundamental in the attempt to define a curriculum appropriate to the needs of the 3-6 year olds who, from the year 2000, will be required to work within the highly contentious Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum.     

IQEA and special schools

Projects focused on Improving the Quality of Education for All (IQEA) have been running for ten years. The Nottinghamshire special schools IQEA project is the first to draw schools exclusively from the special education sector. In this article, John Beresford, IQEA's research officer; Hilary Stokes, co-ordinator of the Nottinghamshire special schools IQEA project; and John Morris, secondary inspector and IQEA co-ordinator for Nottinghamshire LEA, briefly outline the philosophy in which IQEA is grounded. They discuss the particular challenges encountered in a special schools project and illustrate responses by providing a case study of one school's engagement in the project. The article concludes with a tentative assessment of the benefits that participation in the project has brought to the special schools and units involved.     

Student voices: Re-conceptualising and re-positioning Australian library and information science education for the twenty-first century

This paper reports on the preliminary research findings of the sub-study group of a larger undertaking, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) priority project Re-conceptualising and Re-positioning Australian Library and Information Science Education for the Twenty-first Century. It examines student experiences of library and information science (LIS) education across both the tertiary and vocational education sectors in Australia. The student sub-study group’s task was to provide the student/recent graduate perspective on LIS education in Australia. The research considered four major themes to find out how students and recent graduates felt about LIS education in Australia. The themes were: learning opportunities; learner attributes; learning experiences; and learner outcomes. In the second half of 2010, self-administered anonymous web questionnaires and focus groups were used to explore issues such as student demographics, socio-economic backgrounds, past experiences, expectations and rationale behind course choices. In addition the destinations of graduates were explored. Key findings suggest there are various pathways that students take to achieve a LIS qualification in Australia; students are generally optimistic about the future of the LIS profession, and consider that technology will continue to play a key role in future career options; they stress the importance of practical workplace experiences as part of course structure; their satisfaction levels with current courses are high and students feel confident they have been provided with the skills required to begin their professional life.