Technology and science education: Starting points,research programs,and trends

Over the past 25 years, information and communication technologies have had a convoluted but ultimately advantageous impact on science teaching and learning. To highlight the past, present, and future of technology in science education, this paper explores the trajectories in five areas: science texts and lectures; science discussions and collaboration; data collection and representation; science visualization; and science simulation and modeling. These trajectories reflect two overall trends in technological advance. First, designers have tailored general tools to specific disciplines, offering users features specific to the topic or task. For example, developers target visualization tools to molecules, crystals, earth structures, or chemical reactions. Second, new technologies generally support user customization, enabling individuals to personalize their modeling tool, Internet portal, or discussion board. In science education, designers have tailored instructional resources based on advances in understanding of the learner. More recently, designers have created ways for teachers and students to customize learning tools to specific courses, geological formations, interests, or learning preferences.     

Advancing intercultural competency: Canadian engineering employers’ experiences with immigrant engineers

This paper explores Canadian engineering employers’ perceptions of and experiences with internationally educated engineers (recent immigrants to Canada) employed in their organisations for varying lengths of time. Qualitative data were collected from employers using focus group methodology. Findings reflected employers’ observations of culturally different behaviours and characteristics in their internationally educated employees, employers’ reactions to cultural differences ranging from negative attributions to tolerance, and the implementation of largely ad hoc intra-organisational strategies for managing cultural differences in employer–employee relationships. Findings exposed the lack of corporate intercultural competency in the Canadian engineering profession. Equity and gatekeeping implications are discussed.     

Nursing Students' Intentions to Work in Dementia Care: Influence of Age,Ageism, and Perceived Barriers

Given a projected threefold increase in people living with dementia globally by 2050 (World Health Organization, 2012 World Health Organization (WHO) . ( 2012 ). Dementia: A public health priority . Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/75263/1/9789241564458_eng.pdf  [Google Scholar]), attracting nurses to work in this area will be critical to meet demand. This study examined the role of age, positive ageism, negative ageism, and aged-care placement completion in predicting nursing students' intentions to work in dementia care. Perceived barriers to working in dementia care were also explored through a thematic analysis. Participants were 135 undergraduate nursing students from one regional Australian university (ages ranging from 18 to 55years) who completed an online survey. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis revealed that age (p = .001) and positive ageism (p < .001) were associated with greater intentions to work in aged-care. A thematic analysis of perceived barriers to working in dementia care showed five themes consisting of 11 subthemes: profession (conditions, culture, diversity, interest); personal demands (emotional, physical); patient contact (communication, safety); experience (previous, lack); and no barriers. Younger students (<25 years of age) were more likely to nominate emotional demands as potential barriers, whereas older students were more likely to cite work conditions. Patient communication and interest in other areas of nursing were identified as barriers across age groups. The findings from this study suggest that educational providers could target students with specific characteristics associated with greater work intentions in dementia care, such as age and positive ageism. Perceived barriers to working in dementia care indicate possible areas of improvement that may attract more students to this field of practice.     

Education for Interdisciplinary Community Collaboration and Development: The Components of a Core Curriculum by Community Practitioners

Social workers are actively engaging in the practice of interdisciplinary community collaboration (ICC) with the goal of bringing diverse groups together to improve the conditions of communities and enhance the quality of life of population groups. Yet, collaborations are challenging and require great skill and commitment. The pedagogy and the content of curricula have become a more prominent part of teaching to macro practice students and practitioners the art of effectively convening and moving collaborative efforts forward. This article adds to the literature on the content and methods of teaching students and novice practitioners the competencies embedded in ICC. It provides empirical data from six focus groups of experienced community practitioners (social workers and others) in New York City who identified components of a core curriculum for this work. Eight months later, these 33 community practitioners were asked to reprioritize the topics and concepts that they had collectively identified at the earlier time. Skills such as the ability to share power, manage differences, include the constituency and diplomacy are among those discussed. Core curriculum themes, the pedagogy and process, and the attributes and values necessary for training an ICC practitioner are presented.     

Using initial,derived, and terminal credibility to help students understand how they are perceived by others

Courses: Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communication, Organizational Communication, Introduction to Communication Studies, Business Communication

Objectives: The goal for this activity is not only to provide students with an understanding of their initial, derived, and terminal credibility when relating a personal, edifying story but also to understand how they are initially perceived by their fellow students.