Librarian integration in a four-year medical school curriculum: a timeline

The Taubman Health Sciences Library (THL) is integrated in all four years of the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) curriculum. Information resources are introduced at strategic points throughout the curriculum so that students receive training at times when they are most likely to need the resource. Most of the core instruction sessions are taught in teams that consist of librarians and UMMS faculty, which provides unique learning opportunities for students. This article describes each THL instruction activity in the four-year undergraduate UMMS curriculum and provides commentary on the overall effectiveness of this integrated approach to instruction.     

TAKING A “SIMPLE VIEW” OF THE DYNAMIC INDICATORS OF BASIC EARLY LITERACY SKILLS AS A PREDICTOR OF MULTIPLE MEASURES OF THIRD‐GRADE READING COMPREHENSION

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity evidence of first‐grade Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) scores for predicting third‐grade reading comprehension scores. We used the “simple view” of reading as the theoretical foundation for examining the extent to which DIBELS subtest scores predict comprehension through both word recognition and language comprehension. Scores from the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) subtest, a measure of word recognition speed and accuracy, strongly and significantly predicted multiple measures of reading comprehension. No other DIBELS subtest score explained additional variance beyond DIBELS ORF. Although experimental DIBELS Word Use Fluency (WUF) was significantly correlated with a language comprehension measure and measures of reading comprehension, WUF scores did not predict reading comprehension beyond ORF scores. Alternatively, first‐grade Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores did predict additional, significant variance in reading comprehension, beyond DIBELS ORF.     

Identifying Indicators of Behavior Change: Insights From Wildfire Education Programs

Environmental educators are challenged to document behavior changes, because change rarely depends solely on outcomes of education programs, but on many factors. An analysis of 15 communities in the United States that have increased their preparedness for wildfire allowed us to explore how education programs encouraged individual and community change. Agency-sponsored adult educational programs helped communities change their philosophy about firefighting, pass ordinances that restrict individual property rights, and empower residents to reduce their wildfire risk. This article explores several outcomes of these programs and offers suggested indicators of change that might be useful for education program evaluation.     

Diversity and Power in Public Speaking Textbooks

The frequency of gender and ethnic groups in positions of power represented in photographs in the top 10 public speaking textbooks were investigated. Men are pictured in power positions more often than are women. In photos displaying multiple ethnicities, with or without Caucasians, people of other ethnicities were more likely to be shown in positions of power than were Caucasians. This discrepant finding is particularly interesting in light of the consistent finding on gender.     

Working Through Political Entertainment: How Negative Emotion and Narrative Engagement Encourage Political Discussion Intent in Young Americans

This study examines how a political entertainment film (Man of the Year) can impact an individual's political discussion intent after the same political topic is made salient in a subsequent news story. In addition, a process of communication influence is assessed when the roles of negative emotion and narrative engagement are considered as potential mediators of the relationship between political entertainment film viewing and political discussion intent. Seven hypotheses serve as the foundation for this experimental study, and structural equation modeling was used to test these hypotheses. Results reveal there was no direct influence of political entertainment film viewing on political discussion intent, but there was an indirect effect through negative emotion. Furthermore, narrative engagement emerged as a predictor of political discussion intent and a mediator of the association between negative emotion and political discussion intent.     

Measuring Teacher Attitudes Toward Instructional Technology: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the TAC and TAT

In this article the authors present a confirmatory factor analysis of the Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Computers (TAC) and the Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Information Technology (TAT) scales by Christensen and Knezek (1996, 1998) using large samples from three states. The TAC was reduced from 98 items and nine factors to 35 items and eight factors, while maintaining superior psychometric properties. The TAT was reduced from 50 items and five factors to 20 items measuring five factors, similarly maintaining excellent psychometric properties. The authors also developed a combined short form of both instruments using 42 items to measure 11 factors for use in situations where parsimony is critical.     

The technical adequacy of curriculum-based writing measures with English learners

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of Curriculum-Based Measures in writing for English learners. Participants were 36 high school English learners with moderate to high levels of English language proficiency. Predictor variables were type of writing prompt (picture, narrative, and expository), time (3, 5, and 7 min), and scoring procedure (words written, words spelled correctly, correct word sequences, correct minus incorrect word sequences). Criterion variables were teacher ratings of writing performance and student performance on the Test of Written Language-III, the writing subtest of the Test of Emerging Academic English, and the Minnesota state writing test. Results supported the validity and reliability of a 5 to 7-min writing sample written in response to a narrative or picture prompt and scored for percent of correct word sequences, correct minus incorrect word sequences, or words written plus correct minus incorrect word sequences.     

Cinematic Jujitsu: Resisting White Hegemony through the American Dream in Spike Lee's Malcolm X

Spike Lee's film Malcolm X (1992) presented Malcolm X's life story using the narrative framework of the American Dream myth central to liberal ideology. Working from Gramsci's notion of common sense in the process of hegemony, I explain how Lee appealed to this mythic structure underlying American popular culture to give a platform to Malcolm X's controversial ideas. By adopting a common sense narrative to tell Malcolm X's life story, this movie functioned as a form of cinematic jujitsu that invited critical consciousness about the contradictions between liberal ideology and the life experiences of racially excluded groups. Other formal devices in Lee's film incorporated Malcolm X's rhetoric within the common sense of mainstream politics and connected Malcolm X to more contemporary racial struggles. This analysis suggests that common sense framings of controversial figures may provide a limited space to challenge institutionalized forms of racism within popular culture.     

Effect of attending to a ball during a side-cut maneuver on lower extremity biomechanics in male and female athletes

Many sports associated with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury require athletes attend to a ball during participation. We investigated effects of attending to a ball on lower extremity mechanics during a side-cut maneuver and if these effects are consistent for males and females. Sagittal and frontal plane hip and knee kinematics and joint moments were measured during side-cut maneuvers in 19 male and 19 female National Collegiate Athletic Association division III basketball players. Participants also experienced two side-cut conditions that required attention to a ball. Our results did not indicate that the effect of attention varies with gender. However, during side-cut conditions while attending to a ball, internal knee adductor moment was 20% greater (p = 0.03) and peak knee flexion angle was 4° larger (p < 0.01). Females demonstrated 5° less hip flexion (p = 0.046), 12° less knee flexion (p < 0.01), and 4° more knee abduction (p = 0.026) at initial contact during all side-cut conditions than males. Attention to a ball may affect lower extremity mechanics relevant to ACL injury. The validity of laboratory studies of lower extremity mechanics for sports that include attention to a ball may be increased if participants are required to attend to a ball during the task.