Medical libraries, bioinformatics, and networked information: a coming convergence?

Libraries will be changed by technological and social developments that are fueled by information technology, bioinformatics, and networked information. Libraries in highly focused settings such as the health sciences are at a pivotal point in their development as the synthesis of historically diverse and independent information sources transforms health care institutions. Boundaries are breaking down between published literature and research data, between research databases and clinical patient data, and between consumer health information and professional literature. This paper focuses on the dynamics that are occurring with networked information sources and the roles that libraries will need to play in the world of medical informatics in the early twenty-first century.     

Teachers' and Black students' views on the incorporation of African American children's literature in an after-school book club: collaborative and culturally based learning

It has been suggested that culturally relevant literature can be beneficial to elementary school students' learning. Yet, less research has focused on African American students' perspectives of that literature, including aspects of that engagement that may benefit their learning. Therefore, the main goal centred on US elementary school students' perspectives of African American children's literature in an after-school book club. There were 15 second- and third-grade African American students from a low-income area who participated in the 6-week book club. The book club sessions were recorded, student artefacts were collected and a focus group was held with students. Following the book club, there were two classroom teachers interviewed along with an after-school teacher facilitator. Based on the analysis, four themes were found. These focused on increased reading motivation, the role of cultural and personal associations with literature for comprehending, engagement in communal learning and improved access to culturally relevant texts. The results extend previous research on the importance of social collaboration and culturally relevant books to promote motivation and reading comprehension among learners and highlight the value of collaborative and culturally based learning for Black children in the American context.     

Exploring the position of curriculum studies across the continuum of teacher education in Ireland

Curriculum, while often narrowly defined, is a contested space that stimulates continuing international debate, yet the importance of curriculum studies is frequently overlooked across the continuum of teacher education. Within the Irish context a technicist interpretation of curriculum studies, focusing primarily of subject knowledge and development, has historically been adopted. More recent Teaching Council of Ireland policy documents have espoused a broader macro understanding of curriculum studies as a foundation discipline within initial teacher education. However, concerns have been raised regarding student teachers’ ability to fully engage with such material so early in their professional development. With the recently embraced continuum of teacher education in Ireland, this paper examines how curriculum studies is currently defined by Irish policy and problematises how it is addressed in practice. The paper proceeds to explore emerging opportunities to expand this area of study across the continuum. A case for the place of curriculum studies as central to the advancement of the profession through the promotion of teachers as change agents is presented.     

Document retrieval using a serial bit string search

An experimental best match retrieval system is described based on the serial file organisation. Documents and queries are characterised by fixed length bit strings and the time-consuming character-by-character term match is preceeded by a bit string search to eliminate large numbers of documents which cannot possibly satisfy the query. Two methods, one fully automatic and one partially manual in character, are described for the generation of such bit string characterisations. Retrieval experiments with a large document test collection show that the two-level search can increase substantially the efficiency of serial searching while maintaining retrieval effectiveness, and that a single-level search based only upon the bit strings results in only a small decrease in effectiveness in some cases.     

Studies in assessment

Conclusion The pilot studies, and that includes the more recent 1986 study which involved 22 schools, have done much to convince teachers and educators in this State that the ‘practical’ mode in biology can be assessed satisfactorily using the processes described. The performance data, the teachers responses and the test/re-test procedures tend to confirm the reliability, validity and usability of the practical examination, in spite of inital doubts by many teachers in that regard. How the results of the practical examination are used remains to be decided. They could be used alone or in conjunction with marks obtained from continuous assessment of practical work done over the year. They could be used directly or as a moderating instrument only. In view of the recent decision by the subject committee to allocate a considerable percentage of the overall mark to practical work, specifically (25%), it seems highly likely that the results may well be used directly. The strategies employed in this study may well be appropriate to physics, chemistry and geology, though the choice of criteria to be tested, the form of the Practical Test Assessment Inventory and the marking scheme may need to be substantially modified for those particluar subjects.     

The dilemma of international counselor education: Attending to cultural and professional fits and misfits

Efforts at international counselor educationare potentially problematic because of oftenunexamined differences between host and donor.These differences can include culture itself aswell as the related constructs of worldview andinformation processing styles. The interactionbetween this `cultural nexus' and the`professional nexus' of theoretical models,therapeutic schools, and particular professionsprovides the topography that must be negotiatedby educators attempting to cross nationalboundaries. The international counseloreducator who wishes to avoid doing harm in thelocal development of the mental healthprofessions must at a minimum take into accountthe potential sources of difference betweenhost and donor implied in such cultural andprofessional distinctions.     

Exploring problem conceptualization and performance in STEM problem solving contexts

Problem solving abilities are critical components of contemporary Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Research in the area of problem solving has uncovered much about the representation, processes and heuristic approaches to problem solving. However, critics claim this overemphasis on the process of solving problems has led to a dearth in understanding of the earlier stages such as problem conceptualization. This paper aims to address some of these concerns by exploring the area of problem conceptualization and the underlying cognitive mechanisms that may play a supporting role in reasoning success. Participants (N?=?12) were prescribed a series of convergent problem-solving tasks representative of those used for developmental purposes in STEM education. During the problem-solving episodes, cognitive data were gathered by means of an electroencephalographic headset and used to investigate students’ cognitive approaches to conceptualizing the tasks. In addition, interpretive qualitative data in the form of post-task interviews and problem solutions were collected and analyzed. Overall findings indicated a significant reliance on memory during the conceptualization of the convergent problem-solving tasks. In addition, visuospatial cognitive processes were found to support the conceptualization of convergent problem-solving tasks. Visuospatial cognitive processes facilitated students during the conceptualization of convergent problems by allowing access to differential semantic content in long-term memory.