Quantifying the information needs of doctors in the UK using clinical librarians

Background and objectives: The main objective of this paper is to determine the frequency of doctors’ clinical information needs using Clinical Librarians as data collectors, focusing on the UK acute sector. Additionally, the frequency of questions followed‐up by Clinical Librarians was determined. The information needs of doctors have been investigated in other countries, particularly the USA, but not in the UK. Clinical Librarians have not been utilized as data collectors in any previous studies. Method: Clinical Librarians counted clinical questions posed by doctors in clinical settings. Results: The Clinical Librarians counted 286 questions from 655 doctors discussing 1210 patient cases. This represents approximately one question for every four patients. Conclusion: Clinical Librarians can collect data to identify the number of information needs doctors have, but this was more successful when the Clinical Librarian was experienced and an established part of the clinical team.     

Will Undergraduate Students Play Games to Learn How to Conduct Library Research?

This exploratory study examines whether undergraduate students will play games to learn how to conduct library research. Results indicate that students will play games that are an integral component of the course curriculum and enable them to accomplish overall course goals at the same time they learn about library research.     

Story writing skills of adults with a history language-impairment

The purpose of this study was to investigate the story writing skills of adults with a history of oral language impairment. It was hypothesized that writing text would pose difficulty for adults with a history of language impairment (LI), and that this difficulty would manifest itself as reduced grammatical complexity and increased errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation. The story writing of 10 adults with a history of LI was compared to a group of 51 unimpaired individuals. Participants were asked to write the story of Cinderella. Stories were analysed for length, grammatical complexity and accuracy of grammar, punctuation and spelling. Data were analysed to determine group trends as well as individual profiles. As a group, the adults with LI showed no difference from the comparison group in the length of their stories as measured by total number of words. The LI group did, however, show reduced grammatical complexity in their writing, as measured by mean length of t-unit. The LI group made more errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation than the comparison group. Individual analyses indicated substantial variability within the LI group. It is concluded that LI in childhood is associated with writing difficulties in adulthood.     

Classroom Provocateurs and Ethical Classroom Practice

This article is based upon a larger study that considered three high school literature units in the US. Through a close analysis of one classroom discussion between a teacher and a provocative 8th grade student named Fish, I argue that it is not only ethically responsible to position the Fishes of this world as laudable, but that doing so is beneficial for critically focused English classes as a whole. Further, I argue that my reading of Fish as a provocateur can be productively transferred to other student‐provocateurs in our English classrooms who vex the smooth doing‐of‐school in different ways than Fish did.     

Implementing a play‐based and developmentally appropriate curriculum in Northern Ireland primary schools: what lessons have we learned?

In the United Kingdom tensions have existed for many years between the pedagogical traditions of pre‐school, which tend to adopt developmentally oriented practices, and the more formal or subject‐oriented curriculum framework of primary school. These tensions have been particularly acute in the context of Northern Ireland, which has the earliest school starting age throughout Europe. In response to international research evidence and practice, a play‐based and developmentally appropriate curriculum, known as the Enriched Curriculum (EC), was introduced as a pilot in Year 1 and 2 classes in over 100 primary schools in Northern Ireland between 2000 and 2002 and continued until the Foundation Stage became statutory for all primary schools in 2007. This paper outlines four key lessons that have been learned from the first four years of the evaluation of this experience. These include the value and the meaning of a play‐based curriculum; the importance of teachers’ confidence and knowledge; teaching reading in a play‐based curriculum; and easing transitions in a play‐based curriculum.     

A preliminary exploration of uppercase letter-name knowledge among students with significant cognitive disabilities

There are several factors known to impact the alphabet knowledge of young children without disabilities. The impact of these factors on the alphabet knowledge of students with significant cognitive disabilities is unknown. The purpose of this preliminary investigation was to explore the impact of three factors that might influence uppercase alphabet knowledge among students with significant cognitive disabilities: own name, letter order in the alphabet string, and letter frequency. Archival data documenting identification of each of the 26 uppercase letters of the alphabet for 131 8- to 21-year-old students were analyzed using a multilevel logistic regression model. While the use of extant data has limitations, results indicated that own-name advantage gave students a 10% greater likelihood of knowing the first letter of their own first name/nickname than any other alphabet letter. Letter-order analysis showed there were differences between letters found earlier in the alphabet string versus those that were found later in the alphabet string; however, the results were not statistically significant. Letter-frequency analysis did not reveal a significant impact of frequency on letter name knowledge in this sample. The findings provide preliminary evidence that at least some of the factors that influence alphabet knowledge in young children without disabilities also impact students with significant cognitive disabilities and point to the need for more research in this area.     

Making Accounting Tutorials Enjoyable

This paper emanates from a case study which focussed on 15 Managerial Accounting and Financial Management (MAFM) students’ enjoyment of learning MAFM in an 18-week Writing Intensive Tutorial (WIT) programme. Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) was used for the research design and as a data analysis tool. Following IQA protocols participants articulate their experiences of the programme and develop emergent categories of meaning, or affinities, and the relationship between the affinities. Of the nine affinities that were confirmed as describing students’ experiences of learning in the WIT programme, this paper reports on the students’ experiences of one of these affinities, enjoyment. Participants said that they found the WIT programme enjoyable which made learning fun. MAFM tutorials were no longer perceived as dull and boring, but rather exciting and enjoyable. The awareness that higher education can be a fun learning environment impacted positively on students’ experiences of learning MAFM.     

Inquiry-Oriented Instruction: A Conceptualization of the Instructional Principles

Research has highlighted that inquiry-based learning (IBL) instruction leads to many positive student outcomes in undergraduate mathematics. Although this research points to the value of IBL instruction, the practices of IBL instructors are not well-understood. Here, we offer a characterization of a particular form of IBL instruction: inquiry-oriented instruction. This characterization draws on K-16 research literature in order to explicate the instructional principles central to inquiry-oriented instruction. As a result, this conceptualization of inquiry-oriented instruction makes connections across research communities and provides a characterization that is not limited to undergraduate, secondary, or elementary mathematics education.     

Protecting the Great Barrier Reef: analysing the impact of a conservation documentary and post-viewing strategies on long-term conservation behaviour

Nature-based tourism experiences have the potential to change the environmental knowledge, attitudes and behavior of visitors; but such experiences may be beyond the physical and/or financial reach of many people. To influence the conservation behavior of populations world-wide, a more accessible yet equally effective strategy is required. Using an experimental design, this study explored whether a conservation documentary about Australian marine environments, together with post-viewing support materials, prompted the adoption of conservation behaviours. Questionnaires revealed environmental knowledge, attitudes and behavioural intentions rose immediately after viewing the documentary. Ten weeks later, these levels were maintained or decreased slightly for those who received post-viewing support (Facebook, help sheet or both), but decreased markedly in the control group. Results are similar to those reported in wildlife tourism studies. Implications for the use of documentaries in place of nature experiences are discussed.