Naomi's Birth

A first-time mother, who is also a nurse, tells the story of her drug-free birth at a free-standing birth center.     

Prevalence of overweight among deaf children

The study examined the prevalence of overweight cases in a sample of 151 deaf children aged 6-11 years. Participants were deaf students attending six elementary schools, both regular and special, in four states. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated using height and weight, plotted on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) U.S. BMI-for-age growth charts, then compared to national values for same age and gender (CDC, 2006a, 2006b; National Center for Health Statistics, 2005). The results indicated that the prevalence of overweight deaf children aged 6-11 years was above the national percentage for same age and gender. A larger percentage of boys was overweight (24.7%) than girls (20.4%). After age 8 years, girls showed a consistent decrease in BMI with increasing age, a trend not demonstrated by boys. As a group, deaf children demonstrate a higher prevalence of overweight than national averages.     

Accessibility at JSTOR: From box‐checking to a more inclusive and sustainable future

Key points

• Testing for accessibility after extensive changes to a website and addressing them as technical debt is unsustainable in the long term.
• To stay modern and efficient, providers of digital content to academic institutions should build accessibility into development.
• For JSTOR, working with participating institutions to understand their concerns was essential to reaching WCAG 2.0 AA conformance.
• With Artstor recently joining ITHAKA, we face the challenge of making a visual archive accessible.

     

From the podium to the boardroom: Encouraging gender parity in scholarly publishing

• Despite their nearly three-fifths industry majority, women trail men in key leadership positions, occupying about one-third of CEO positions, and one-fifth of Board chairs.
• Speaking at industry conferences is key to professional development and to consideration for senior leadership positions.
• An analysis of seven major scholarly publishing conferences held in 2015 showed an average gender split of 63% male to 37% female speakers, with nearly two-thirds of all keynote addresses given by men.
• To correct for this disparity, the authors propose three distinct challenges, to include a potential accreditation for conferences that prioritise diversity.

     

Creating a consumer health outreach program for Western New York senior citizens: continuing a library school project

The Internet has made accessing information a simple task. Each day millions of Americans log on to the Web in search of information on a variety of subjects. One of the most sought after type of information is medical information. Individuals are taking a more proactive role in their personal health care and the health care of their friends and families. Attempting to locate and evaluate quality health care information can pose a variety of problems for the consumer. Academic libraries have an opportunity to play a crucial role in facilitating the consumer's access to quality, reliable health information by developing and implementing consumer health outreach programs designed to address search problems and information interpretation difficulties. The benefits for both the community and the library are numerous when a consumer health information outreach program is successfully employed. This article will chronicle the creation of a Consumer Health Outreach program, entitled "WNY Consumer Health," intended for senior citizens in Western New York. This program was designed to satisfy the requirements of a graduate special project for the completion of the authors' MLS degree.     

An Exploratory Study of Part-Time Minorities: Finding Home as a Minority Member

This study examines an atypical population of immigrants in Taiwan who immigrated in search of home, self-discovery, and career opportunities. Many of these immigrants sit at the nexus of privilege and othering with their ability to pass as Caucasian. Through the participatory method Photovoice and semi-structured interviews, I investigate the fluid nature of identity processes, the extent that acculturation hinges on predetermined factors, and the benefits and costs of biculturalism, which include cultural fusion and liminality. Additionally, I investigate the impact of context on acculturation strategies and the experience of transformation.     

Doing a science project: Gender differences during childhood

By adolescence, men's participation and achievement in science exceeds women's. This article reports a case study that examined the beginnings of this gender differentiation during a naturally occurring academic activity that was designed to support and guide young children's interest in doing science. Data were collected during 2 successive years of a science fair for children in Grades 1–6 of a progressive private school. A total of 268 projects were characterized in terms of achievement and area of science. Parents provided information about the way children selected and created projects. In both years and in all grade levels, boys tended to choose to work in the physical sciences, and girls in the biological and social sciences. Peer collaborations were exclusively same sex. Achievement and parental involvement were not gender related. Factors are discussed that might lead to an early divergence of boys' and girls' interests in science within a context that promotes its exploration. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 845–857, 1998.     

Effects of degree of segmentation and learner disposition on multimedia learning

The construction of asynchronous learning environments often involves the creation of self‐paced multimedia instructional episodes that provide the learner with control over the pacing of instruction (segmentation); however, does the amount of segmentation impact learning? This study explored the effects of the degree of segmentation on recall and application of new knowledge and the nature of learner dispositions toward segmentation. Undergraduate students (n = 212) were randomly assigned to engage in a 9‐minute multimedia tutorial (ie, instructionally designed video‐based presentation) addressing historical inquiry that was divided into 1, 7, 14 or 28 segments (degree of segmentation) where students had control over when each segment began via a “Continue” button. Students' dispositions toward the segmentation—helped learning, made learning easier, made learning confusing, was annoying or seemed appropriate—were also measured. Results indicated that increased segmentation facilitated recall and application; however, learners perceived a high degree of segmentation (28 segments) more negatively. Overall, these results indicate that increased segmentation within a multimedia instructional environment has a positive influence on recall and application, regardless of the learner's disposition toward the segmentation.     

Preparing Doctoral-Level Consultants for Systems Change: Implementing and Supervising Multitiered Practices in Early Childhood Education

Implementing changes that support a preventative approach in early childhood education (ECE) requires the collaboration of skilled professionals. The present case study describes a change effort to implement multitiered systems of support (MTSS) in early childhood settings that included collaboration of agency personnel, school psychology program faculty and trainees, and ECE faculty. It describes a competency-based training initiative that provides applied experiences in consultation, supervision, and change facilitation for systems change efforts. The implementation of a systems-level approach for promoting positive behavior at three ECE agencies is described, with resulting teacher and child outcomes. Implications for future consultation research, training, and practice are discussed in relation to a consultation training model that provides competency-based field experiences to support change in ECE.