Supporting the fight against terrorism: A proposal for public library services provision for internally displaced persons in North-East Nigeria

This paper examined the state of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North-East Nigeria, the need to provide education and information services to the IDPs, and the role of libraries. It begins with the remote cause of the displacement. The paper also examined the state of the IDPs in terms of education and information services provision. It reported that the IDPs live in very deplorable conditions. There are no provisions for education and information services. The paper further discussed the importance of education and information to IDPs especially the children, teens, and youths. It recommended the empowerment and involvement of public libraries in the provision of education and information services to IDPs. It alluded that public libraries and librarians are better positioned to provide education and information services to displaced persons. The paper concluded that if necessary logistics and support are provided, libraries and librarians have the capacity to provide effective and efficient education and information services to IDPs and therefore bridge the current gap.     

Fifth graders' science inquiry abilities: A comparative study of students in hands‐on and textbook curricula

A large number of American elementary school students are now studying science using the hands‐on inquiry curricula developed in the 1990s: Insights; Full Option Science System (FOSS); and Science and Technology for Children (STC). A goal of these programs, echoed in the National Science Education Standards, is that children should gain “abilities to do scientific inquiry” and “understanding about scientific inquiry.” We have studied the degree to which students can do inquiries by using four hands‐on performance assessments, which required one or three class periods. To be fair, the assessments avoided content that is studied in depth in the hands‐on programs. For a sample of about 1000 fifth grade students, we compared the performance of students in hands‐on curricula with an equal number of students with textbook curricula. The students were from 41 classrooms in nine school districts. The results show little or no curricular effect. There was a strong dependence on students' cognitive ability, as measured with a standard multiple‐choice instrument. There was no significant difference between boys and girls. Also, there was no difference on a multiple‐choice test, which used items released from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). It is not completely clear whether the lack of difference on the performance assessments was a consequence of the assessments, the curricula, and/or the teaching. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 467–484, 2006     

Spatial configuration and list learning of proximally cued arms by rats in the enclosed four-arm radial maze

In an enclosed four-arm radial maze, after sampling three experimenter-selected baited arms (thestudy segment) and following rotation of the maze, rats had to find the fourth baited arm among all four unblocked arms (test segment). The rats learned this task with two sets of arm cues, objects at arms’ entrances and full arm inserts, each maintained in a fixed configuration. When we changed the configuration of one set of arms to itsmirror image and that of the other set to a moremixed variation by switching opposite and adjacent cued arms, the rats’ accuracy was similarly disrupted (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, the same rats rapidly recovered their high search accuracy on four new configurations recombined from pairs of adjacent arms and pairs of opposite cued arms from the previous final two configurations. Their test segment search accuracy, however, was again disrupted when these configurations were varied either only over trials’ study segments or only over trials’ test segments. In Experiment 3, however, these rats attained accuracy as high on two sets of cued arms with constantly changing configurations as on two sets with constant configurations. Thus, the rats were able to separately represent four different spatially stable configurations, and then they could learn to represent two of these configurations as lists of spatially irrelevant items. We discuss these findings in terms of association theory and parallel map theory (Jacobs & Schenk, 2003).     

Using an iterative mixed-methods research design to investigate schools facing exceptionally challenging circumstances within Trinidad and Tobago

In this study, methodology and theory were linked to explicate the nature of education practice within schools facing exceptionally challenging circumstances (SFECC) in Trinidad and Tobago. The research design was an iterative quan>QUAL-quan>qual multi-method research programme, consisting of 3 independent projects linked together by overall purpose. Although large-scale quantitative data were first used to identify and describe SFECC, the overall programme was driven by an inductive theoretical thrust, with findings from the multiple-site case studies of Projects 2 and 3 used to construct substantive theory on SFECC. The integrated findings point to the pervasive role of beyond-school factors, which were magnified and intertwined with between- and within-school factors. SFECC in this study found great difficulty transcending states of chronic low performance. We hypothesized on the need for transformative school leadership, but in this context, greater external support by stakeholder agencies and broad place-based strategies appeared essential for turnaround.     

Explicit instruction in orthographic structure and word morphology helps Chinese children learn to write characters

Previous research in alphabetic languages had shown that children learning to write are sensitive to morphological information, and that it serves as a resource that they draw upon as they acquire writing skills. In Chinese as well, sensitivity to morphological and orthographic information had been found to predict children’s ability to read characters. The present study investigated whether raising children’s awareness of the morphemic and orthographic structure of Chinese words would lead to beneficial results in their learning to write Chinese. An experimental group of 144 first graders from two primary schools in Beijing, China were given instruction designed to increase their knowledge of the orthographic and morphological structure of Chinese words. After two semesters, the experimental group’s ability to copy Chinese characters and to write them from memory were both found to be significantly better than a control group. Theoretical implications are discussed, including how writing benefits from the types of linguistic knowledge that underlie lexical storage and retrieval in reading and speech. Educational implications are also discussed, such as how drawing children’s attention to the morphemic components of Chinese words and the systematic features of Chinese orthography provides them with multiple sources of information they may utilize in learning to write.     

Modelling the determinants of school leaders' perceptions of beginning teachers' efficacy

The school and especially the school leader's perceptions of a teacher's efficacy have influence on aspects of teaching ratings and performance, and this may facilitate or hinder beginning teacher success. This study examines the school leaders' perceptions of their beginning teachers' efficacy. The study's scope of teacher efficacy is multidimensional to include the beginning teachers' Teaching Competencies, sense of Professionalism, and Professional Identity. Of interest is the interconnectedness of these variables that contribute to the school leaders' perception. A total of 256 school leaders responded to a survey on beginning teachers' efficacy. A hypothesized model was tested. According to the analysis, while Teaching Competencies and Professional Identity did not have a significant direct impact, they each did have a significant indirect effect on perceived efficacy.     

Research Methods

ESSENTIALS OF BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH by Robert Rosenthal and Ralph Rosnow (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984—price not given)

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH by Jerome Kirk and Marc L. Miller (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1986—$10.95/6.00)

QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS by Matthew B. Miles and A. Michael Hubermann (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1984—price not given)

HOW TO CONDUCT SURVEYS by Arline Fink and Jacqueline Kosecoff (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1985—$12.00, paper)     

Factors affecting citation rates in environmental science

Analysis of 131 publications during 2006–2007 by staff of the School of Environmental Science and Management at Southern Cross University reveals that the journal impact factor, article length and type (i.e., article or review), and journal self-citations affect the citations accrued to 2012. Authors seeking to be well cited should aim to write comprehensive and substantial review articles, and submit them to journals with a high impact factor which has previously carried articles on the topic. Nonetheless, strategic placement of articles is complementary to, and no substitute for careful crafting of good quality research. Evidence remains equivocal regarding the contribution of an author's prior publication success (h-index) and of open-access journals.