Use of Computer Modeling of Site-Directed Mutagenesis of a Selected Enzyme: A Class Activity for an Introductory Biochemistry Course

For an introductory undergraduate biochemistry class, we developed an interactive, out of classroom, team project that would allow students to gain a better understanding of protein structure and function. This project involved the use of the molecular visualization program RasMol and computer simulated site-directed mutagenesis of selected amino acids of the enzyme, Uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase. Survey data from students after completion of the project indicated that they had developed a more complete understanding of protein three-dimensional structure leading to functionality.     

Rhetoric and reality: using ICT to enhance pupil learning—Harry Potter and the Warley Woods Mystery—Case study 2

How can we use ICT to enhance the quality of pupil learning? The case study below deliberately embedded ICT within the context of an existing scheme of work to develop 11–12 year olds’ understanding of the skills and processes of historical investigation. It also mapped onto the existing teaching styles of the teachers involved, and reflected their orientation—beliefs and values. The role for the ICT was to present the pupils with a problem that would intrigue, excite and motivate them. Accordingly, we asked them to act in role as assistants to Harry and Hermione in investigating the strange death of Sam Woodhouse in 1822. The pupils carried out the investigation using a hyperlinked set of clues. They had undertaken two identical kinds of investigation earlier in the year. One was a murder mystery, the other the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower in 1483. For both these mysteries the clues were on cards. Comparisons of the results of the ICT mystery with those of the earlier two investigations suggest that the hyperlink version was equally effective in terms of developing understanding, with some clear advantages in developing pupils’ overall understanding of the problem and ability to make links between disparate clues and pieces of information.     

Unwanted and illegal sexual experiences in childhood and adolescence

Three hundred forty-two anonymous surveys regarding unwanted sexual experiences (USE) were filled out in three clinic sites: a pediatric sexual abuse clinic, family practice clinic, and family planning clinic. In the latter two clinics, 40% of females and 16% of males had at least one unwanted sexual experience prior to turning 18 years old. Only 91% of the sexual abuse clinic patients indicated their experience was unwanted. In addition, 27% of the subjects had wanted sexual experiences that were illegal and underreported: These experiences involved a partner at least 4 years older or younger. While feelings of victimization were most common, self-blame and naivete about the abuse were also frequently reported, especially in those who had an USE with a peer. Ambivalence, self-blame, and peer pressure were associated with a lower tendency to disclose one's USE. Although unwanted and illegal sexual experiences were less common in Hispanic females, feelings of self-blame and ambivalence regarding their USE were more frequent in comparison with White females. These findings have important investigative and therapeutic implications for professionals who encounter victims of sexual abuse.     

Auditory perceptual processing in reading disabled children

One hundred and three children attending Learning Assistance Centres due to reading difficulties and one hundred and three matched, average readers were administered a battery of auditory perceptual processing tasks. The battery was composed of auditory analysis and synthesis, auditory sequential memory, auditory discrimination, and phonemic segmentation tasks. A principal components analysis yielded four factors. These were determined to be advanced phonological awareness, sequential memory, discrimination, and simple phonological awareness. Discriminant analyses, using the factor scores, indicated that three of the four factors were able to discriminate between the able and disabled readers. Most notable among these was advanced phonological awareness. Auditory discrimination could not discriminate between the groups. The results suggest that there may not be one underlying phonological ability implicated in successful reading acquisition. Furthermore, it is clear that two levels of phonological awareness exist and that screening and diagnostic instruments should address both in order to have predictive validity.     

'Not Without Dust and Heat': The Moral Bases of the 'New' Academic Professionalism

This paper challenges the view that academic professionalism resides in the professional 'autonomy' of the academic, the 'self-regulation' of academics as an occupational group, and the differential 'status' of academic workers. This still influential (though residual) notion of academic professionalism, it is argued, leads to institutional stasis. What is required is greater reflexivity by academics in respect of their underlying professional values. In particular the piece challenges the academic community (of which the author is a member) to re-think academic freedom – the bedrock of professional identity within that community – in terms of increased inclusivity: 'freedom for all' rather than 'freedom for academics' The paper touches on issues relating to practice and organisational structure, but focuses primarily on the need for academics to shift the moral bases of their claim to professionalism. In so doing, it also challenges the post-Dearing consensus that the debate on academic professionalism can be adequately conducted in terms of 'standards' and 'outcomes'. A prime purpose of the paper is to promote debate and discussion by setting a different kind of agenda (a moral agenda) and by couching that agenda within a different kind of discourse (one that invites and admits moral speculation).     

A New Marketing Paradigm for Electronic Commerce

The World Wide Web possesses unique characteristics that distinguish it in important ways from traditional commercial communications environments. Because the Web presents a fundamentally different environment for marketing activities than traditional media, conventional marketing activities are becoming transformed, as they are often difficult to implement in their present form. In this article, we discuss the idea that these changes portend an evolution in the 'marketing concept' and argue that in order for marketing efforts to be successful in this new medium, a new business paradigm is required. In this new approach, the marketing function must be reconstructed to facilitate electronic commerce in the emerging electronic society underlying the Web.     

How is radial arm maze behavior in rats related to locomotor search tactics?

Norway rats have been shown to depend on short-term spatial memory to find food on a radial arm maze (RAM), but what locomotor search tactics are involved in using this memory effectively? Four experiments distinguished tactics of distance minimizing, central-place search, trail following, thigmotactic search, and random search by using different configurations of a RAM placed flat on the floor of an arena. These search tactics make similar predictions on an elevated RAM but predict different outcomes on a floor RAM because the rats are free to approach the food from any direction. After initial trials dominated by exploration, rats traveled along arms to food, even when the resultant distance was up to three times the minimum distance. With no food present, rats also traveled along arms; with no arms up to present, they traveled along walls to food. It appears that both maze arms and arena walls engage mechanisms related to trail following in rats.     

In pursuit of the effective neighborhood information system: User-friendliness and training

The goal of this research is to address the effectiveness of Neighborhood Information Systems (NIS) as an Information Technology (IT) tool in assisting community development. NISs are hybrid applications of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and web technologies that provide demographic, social, and economic information to community stakeholders. Government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community organizations engage in decision-making process for community development, and NISs are designed to help information-sharing and effective and participatory decision-makings for community development stakeholders.     

Change in beliefs after first-year of teaching: The case of Turkish national curriculum context

The impact of national curriculum context on mathematics related beliefs of 12 beginning middle grades mathematics teachers was investigated after the teacher education program and first-year teaching through interviews and a combination of three belief frameworks. National curriculum requirements, lack of effective mentoring programs, and preservice tutoring experiences were detected as the major factors impacting beliefs. Participants simultaneously had teacher-centered and student-centered beliefs, causing inconsistency in beliefs and practices. While participants’ preservice and first-year experiences contrasted, they developed contextual beliefs to deal with the difficulties. Reflections on teacher education and beginning teacher support policies in national curriculum contexts were discussed.     

Educational leadership and social activism: a call for action

The purpose of this article is to argue for a social activist stance in educational leadership that fundamentally addresses social change and human emancipation. This call for social activism is framed within neoliberal, neoconservative, and authoritarian populist discourses in the USA, which to social justice educators and leaders had devastating effects on education. Empirical data from an activist high school principal, activist university professor, and activist priest reflects their development of political clarity, political capacity, political collaboration, and an ethic of risk. It is suggested that the work of socially active educational leaders needs to be broadened to include such things as public policy advocacy, networking, organising, community development, and scholarship. Finally, the article concludes with a variety of ways educational leaders can demonstrate their social, moral, and political activism as they challenge the status quo, fight for social justice, and come to understand the politicised notion of leadership.