Representation of legal knowledge for conceptual retrieval

The law is a near perfect application area for knowledge representation. Legal knowledge representation is needed in conceptual legal information retrieval systems and in legal reasoning systems. We review the knowledge representation aspects of four such systems: Waterman and Peterson's Legal Decisionmaking System, Hafner's Legal Information Retrieval System, McCarty's TAXMAN, and the deBessonet representation of the Louisiana Civil Code (CCLIPS).     

Making Movies Matter or Whatever Happened to the Sabre‐Tooth Curriculum?

This paper argues that media education has developed its own orthodoxies that are preventing it both from addressing the realities of the media as they exist today, and from being taken seriously by policy‐makers. The example of Making Movies Matter, the 1999 report of the Film Education Working Group, shows how a policy‐making ‘window’ can be exploited, not only to make new arguments for media education, but also to construct new frameworks for teaching and learning. The report had also provided the British Film Institute with a new agenda for UK‐wide activities designed to develop education about the moving image media. A version of this paper was originally presented at the Summit 2000 conference in Toronto, Canada, in May 2000.     

Integrated Care in College Health: A Case Study

This case study describes 1 international student's treatment experience with an integrated health program on a college campus. This program uses a multidisciplinary, mind‐body approach, which incorporates individual counseling, primary care, psychiatric consultation, a mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy class, and a meditation group.     

The Relationship Between Preservice Early Childhood Teachers’ Cultural Values and their Perceptions of Scientists’ Cultural Values

This paper describes research that compares preservice early childhood teachers’ cultural values and the values they believe are held by scientists. Using the Schwartz Values Inventory (SVI) (Schwartz (1992) Adv Exp Soc Psychol 25:331–351) preservice early childhood teachers cultural values were assessed, followed by an assessment of the values they believed were held by scientists. Schwartz postulated that cultural values could be aggregated into 11 domains (universalism, benevolence, tradition, self-direction, stimulation, hedonism, achievement, power, conformity, spirituality, and security). Paired T-tests indicated significant differences between preservice early childhood teachers’ cultural values from those they believed scientists held on the domains of power, achievement, stimulation, benevolence, conformity, and security. The discussion explores the meaning of these results and provides implications for early childhood science teacher education.     

Group work in healthcare students’ education: what do we think we are doing?

Group learning activities (GLAs) are integral components of graduate and undergraduate programmes across disciplines. Students’ multidimensional perception of GLAs and preferred learning style influences learning outcomes. Educators need to be aware of the potential for negative learning experiences associated with group activities and provide structured support and feedback to students. Routinely gathered student feedback, revealing unanticipated themes related to group assignments, provided the impetus for the authors to examine the issue in greater depth. This discussion paper will explore the critical elements of successful group learning by comparing themes emerging from analysis of these student preferences related to group learning against evidence from the literature. Student learning style, goals and past experiences with GLAs are critical determinants of the final learning outcome. To decrease negative experiences in GLAs, we recommend: use of group work in formative rather than summative projects; building student confidence by providing a step‐wise introduction to GLAs with open discussion of the positive and negative consequences of conflict; and the use of effective role modelling.     

Promoting academic writing/referencing skills: Outcome of an undergraduate e-learning pilot project

Future health care professionals will require self‐directed learning skills. e‐Learning is a tool to assist in this process and therefore there is a need to develop the capacity and readiness to utilise e‐learning within educational programmes. The aim of this study was to determine if extra‐curricular online referencing and anti‐plagiarism lectures would be utilised and would ultimately improve 1st‐year undergraduate health sciences students’ performance in written assessments. A series of six online archived multimedia lectures (asynchronous) were offered. Adult learning theory principles guided the resource design. Pre‐ and post‐testing of knowledge, attitudes and computer skills was carried out. In‐person tutorials and online email support were also offered. Less than 36% (self‐report) of students accessed the online resources. The poor uptake revealed in this study is consistent with a number of other studies. These findings indicate the need for more careful scrutiny of the learning theory applied in e‐learning design. Prochaska's transtheoretical model is suggested as a framework with strong potential for e‐learning initiatives.