Google Book Search and Metadata

This article summarizes published documents on metadata provided by Google for books scanned as part of the Google Book Search (GBS) project and provides suggestions for improvement. The faulty, misleading, and confusing metadata in current Google records can pose potentially serious problems for users of GBS. Google admits that it took data, which proved to be inaccurate, from many sources and is attempting to correct errors. Some argue that metadata is not needed with keyword searching; but optical character recognition (OCR) errors, synonym control, and materials in foreign languages make reliable metadata a requirement for academic researchers. The authors recommend that users should be able to submit error reports to Google to correct faulty metadata.     

CDC's Use of Social Media and Humor in a Risk Campaign—“Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse”

This is a multiple methods study that highlights the tension between awareness- and behavioral-based campaign successes, particularly when communicating using social media and pop-culture-referencing humor. To illustrate, it examines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) “zombie apocalypse” all-disaster-preparedness campaign. An interview with a CDC campaign manager, campaign document analysis, and a 2 (information form: social vs. traditional media) × 2 (message strategy: humorous vs. non-humorous) experiment uncovers benefits and pitfalls of using social media and humorous messaging for risk communication. Findings show social media can quickly spread information to new publics for minimal costs; however, experiment participants who received the humorous (i.e., zombie) risk message reported significantly weaker intentions to take protective actions in comparison to those who received the traditional, non-humorous risk message.     

Students' Argumentative Writing Skills in Science and First-Language Education: Commonalities and differences

The ability to build arguments is a crucial skill and a central educational goal in all school subjects including science as it enables students to formulate reasoned opinions and thus to cope with the increasing complexity of knowledge. In the present cross-sectional study, we examined the domain-specificity of argumentative writing in science by comparing it with a rather general type of argumentation as promoted in first-language education and with formal reasoning to gain insight into different forms of argumentation on theoretical and empirical levels. Using a paper-and-pencil test, we analyzed written argumentations and the reasoning abilities of 3,274 Grade-10 students in German secondary schools. Correlation and multiple regression analyses as well as a qualitative analysis of students' answers to a subset of tasks in the domains of science and first-language education were conducted. Results showed moderate relations between argumentation in science, argumentation in first-language education, and reasoning. Half of the variance in argumentation in science was explained by individual differences in argumentation in first-language education and reasoning. Furthermore, the examination of written arguments revealed differences, for example, in students' weighing of pros and cons. We assume that the familiarity of the underlying scientific information may play an essential role in the argumentation process and posit that it needs to be investigated in more detail. Overall, the study indicates that investigating the argumentational abilities of learners in first-language education and reasoning abilities can help to shed light on the domain-specificity of argumentation in science.     

Development of a Learning Progression for the Formation of the Solar System

This study describes the process of defining a hypothetical learning progression (LP) for astronomy around the big idea of Solar System formation. At the most sophisticated level, students can explain how the formation process led to the current Solar System by considering how the planets formed from the collapse of a rotating cloud of gas and dust. Development of this LP was conducted in 2 phases. First, we interviewed middle school, high school, and college students (N?=?44), asking them to describe properties of the current Solar System and to explain how the Solar System was formed. Second, we interviewed 6th-grade students (N?=?24) before and after a 15-week astronomy curriculum designed around the big idea. Our analysis provides evidence for potential levels of sophistication within the hypothetical LP, while also revealing common alternative conceptions or areas of limited understanding that could form barriers to progress if not addressed by instruction. For example, many students' understanding of Solar System phenomena was limited by either alternative ideas about gravity or limited application of momentum in their explanations. Few students approached a scientific-level explanation, but their responses revealed possible stepping stones that could be built upon with appropriate instruction.     

The Infoshare Module: Using Collaborative Asynchronous Training to Improve Web Search Skills

Abstract

This article discusses the design, development, and implementation of a collaborative learning environment for online training ‘Infoshare on the Web’ It was designed to teach participants how to use and/or improve their use of Web search engines to access information on the Web. Participants collaborated in completing group tasks using asynchronous communication provided by Simon Fraser's Virtual‐U, a Web‐based environment that supports distance education, information sharing, and training. The module was delivered in four weeks, and participants found both advantages and limitations in the use of asynchronous environments for training.     

How Simple is the Simple View of Reading?

According to the Simple View of Reading, reading ability can be divided into decoding and language comprehension. In the present study, decoding and comprehension's contribution to reading ability was studied both in children with reading difficulties and in children with typical reading ability. Decoding and comprehension was further divided into sub-components, and the contribution from non-verbal ability and general processing speed was also studied. The results demonstrated that decoding made the largest contribution to reading ability for children with reading difficulties, while language comprehension contributed the most for children with typical reading ability. The contribution of non-verbal ability was not significant, and general processing speed only made a significant contribution to decoding for typical children. The two factors in the Simple View of Reading, decoding and comprehension, together explained less of the variance in reading ability for children with reading difficulties than for children with typical reading ability.