The role of word recognition,oral reading fluency and listening comprehension in the simple view of reading: a study in an intermediate depth orthography

Empirical research has provided evidence for the simple view of reading across a variety of orthographies, but the role of oral reading fluency in the model is unclear. Moreover, the relative weight of listening comprehension, oral reading fluency and word recognition in reading comprehension seems to vary across orthographies and schooling years. This study aims to examine the direct effects of these three variables on reading comprehension and to test for the existence of indirect effects of word recognition and listening comprehension on reading comprehension via oral reading fluency in European Portuguese, an orthography of intermediate depth. A sample of 264 students was assessed at the end of grades 2 and 4. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that listening comprehension, word recognition and oral reading fluency predicted reading comprehension in both grade 2 and grade 4. Moreover, the three variables measured in grade 2 predicted later reading comprehension in grade 4. Listening comprehension was always the strongest predictor. Oral reading fluency mediated the relationship between word recognition and reading comprehension, but it was not a mediator variable in the relationship between listening comprehension and reading comprehension. These findings indicate that, similarly to what has been found for other orthographies, the simple view of reading is a valid framework to account for reading comprehension variability in European Portuguese and that interventions to increase reading comprehension levels should focus on word recognition, fluency, and, especially, listening comprehension.     

Conceptions of e‐learning and professional development for e‐learning held by tertiary educators in New Zealand

The conceptions an individual holds about a phenomenon can influence and determine associated behaviours and perspectives. Consequently, they have a bearing upon how learning about a phenomenon is undertaken and how that phenomenon is experienced and applied in context. A phenomenographic research approach was used to gather the expressed experiences of e‐learning and professional development for e‐learning held by teachers and support staff from institutions across New Zealand. Five conceptions of e‐learning (as tool and equipment; as a facilitator of interaction; as learning; as a reduction in distance; and as a collaborative enterprise) and four conceptions of professional development for e‐learning (as training; as opening up possibilities; as collaboration; and as relevant and purposeful) were discovered. In this report, we discuss the conceptions, and show how they are interrelated through outcome space. Implications for the professional development of tertiary teachers and teaching support staff are outlined. The study provides some insights for individuals, institutions and those responsible for planning and implementing professional development programmes to help them to support the development and progress of e‐learning in appropriate and rewarding directions.     

Videoconferencing in Math and Science Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Field Placements

This study was designed to examine benefits and challenges of teaching through videoconferencing in the context of students’ field placement experiences, particularly as it relates to an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning math and science. In the context of mathematics and science methods courses, preservice teachers, with the supervision of professors, field placement supervisors and cooperating teachers, taught a series of math and science lessons via video conferencing to 5th grade classes in a major urban public school. Two major results of this study indicate that: (1) teaching through videoconferencing highlights strengths and weaknesses in questioning skill techniques that are at the heart of an inquiry-based approach; (2) teaching through videoconferencing raises the intellectual challenge of teaching and allows preservice teachers to look face to face into their limited understanding of the content matter in math and science.     

The Cost-effectiveness of Preventive Conservation Actions

ABSTRACT

Two historic house museums, a municipal art gallery, and a provincial archive have had comprehensive risk and option assessments done by the Canadian Conservation Institute. For each institution, an average of 60 options addressing 40 risks was analyzed in terms of risk reduction, cost, and cost-effectiveness. A meta-analysis found that cost-effectiveness follows a strong economy of scale within each institution. By estimating valuation of each collection, cost-effectiveness was converted into benefit–cost ratio of dollar spent per dollar value saved and was found not to follow an economy of scale between small and large institutions. Optimization software was applied to see if precise maximization of risk reduction gave significantly different recommendations than those in the original reports which relied on the Pareto rule of addressing the largest risks first.     

Stories and statistics from library‐led publishing

Library‐led publishing is one of the new approaches to journal publishing and open access that has grown tremendously in the last few years. A 2010 IMLS‐funded survey found that 55% of respondents – from US academic libraries of all different types and sizes – were already implementing or developing a publishing program. Library‐led publishing has garnered such momentum because, by offering low‐ or no‐cost publishing to university scholars, it addresses needs that traditional publishing has not been able to meet. This article presents a series of small case studies to illustrate different journals that have benefited from the library‐publishing model: (i) a journal that struggled to find an affordable publisher in its emerging field; (ii) a small society journal that could no longer afford to support itself in print; (iii) society publications that go beyond the traditional journal format; and (iv) a student journal with a revolving editorial board.     

Cardiorespiratory fitness and arm bone mineral health in young males with spinal cord injury: the mediator role of lean mass

Spinal cord injury (SCI) derives in loss of bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD). However, physical activity is an important determinant in bone mass acquisition, which is partially mediated through the lean mass (LM). The aim was to examine the effect of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) on BMD and BMC arms of adult males with SCI and able-bodied controls using the arm LM as a mediator variable. Thirty able-bodied men and thirty men with SCI participated. BMC and BMD were analysed by DXA, and indirect calorimetry was used to calculate VO_2peak during a progressive arm-cranking test. When groups were divided by the amount of LM, the subgroup with highest LM had significantly higher arm BMC compared to the lowest LM subgroup (p ≤ 0.05) in both SCI and able-bodied groups. Moreover, same differences were found when confidence intervals were analysed. Only in the SCI group, arm LM mediated the relationship between bone mass and CRF at 30.9%, as indicated by the Sobel test (z = 2.17 and z = 2.04 for BMC and BMD, respectively). In conclusion, LM mediates the indirect association between CRF and bone health, specifically in the arms. This finding highlights the importance of having an adequate CRF for the maintenance of good bone health in SCI men.     

Using Scopus to Study Researchers’ Citing Behavior for Local Collection Decisions: A Focus on Psychology

In recent years, the University of Houston has engaged in a campus-wide effort to raise the university to Tier-One status. The initiative has led to a significant increase in faculty's research output in the field of psychology. This dynamic change inspired the Psychology Librarian and Collection Coordinator to embark on a citation analysis to investigate two questions: how has faculty been using information for their research and how does the library's collection meet the research needs of faculty? In addition to reporting these findings, the article also describes how to use features in Scopus to simplify the data collection process.