Mobility and Achievement

The purpose of the study was to determine whether a subject weighted (SW) multiple-choice test taking procedure would result in higher and more reliable scores than the conventional (C) multiple-choice test taking procedure in general and at different levels of risk taking. A 25-item statistics test was administered twice to 122 graduate students. The differences between means and the differences between reliabilities for the SW and C scores in general and at different levels of risk taking were not statistically significant, p < .05. Some additional information on the SW procedure was also reported. The implications for the practitioner are that the SW multiple-choice test taking procedure has not provided sufficient evidence to warrant its use at this time.     

Science Letters:Detection of Catabacter hongkongensis in polluted European water samples

The Catabacteriaceae is a new bacterial family with a unique member: Catabacter hongkongensis is a strictly anaerobic, non-sporulating, Gram-positive coccobacillus that is phylogenetically related to some clostridial clusters. Little is known of its epidemiology and environmental distribution, but the inclusion of its 16S rRNA gene sequence in GenBank has allowed it to be detected qualitatively. As a first approach for prospective surveys, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure to identify C. hongkongensis has been developed. The presence of Catabacteriaceae in 29 water bodies subjected to possible human or animal impact has been investigated. Four of them were positive. The results confirm that highly polluted water can contain C. hongkongensis.     

A framework for scientific knowledge generation

This paper investigates the notional development of various approaches claiming to add value in knowledge generation during the 20th century, with the aim to identify what it is that enhances productiveness in knowledge generation. Observing that knowledge generation is a complex phenomenon, an approach is used for the investigation that was developed specifically to study un-deterministic complex systems. A list of salient features for scientific knowledge generation is presented as a result. In addition to these features, various problem types are identified from literature. These two are then integrated to provide a proposed framework for scientific knowledge generation, which is trans-disciplinary and useful for scientific problem-solving in a pluralist reality. A case study illustrates the implementation of this framework.     

The impact of community college attendance on baccalaureate attainment

Community colleges are seen as contradictory institutions. Supporters contend that community colleges increase baccalaureate attainment by providing access to higher education for students who would otherwise not attend college, while critics argue that these institutions decrease baccalaureate attainment for students who would otherwise attend a 4-year institution. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study, this article advances the literature on the impact of community colleges on baccalaureate attainment by estimating new models that allow controlling for pathways of enrollment while using different measures of educational expectations and correcting for college choice. Findings suggest that community colleges significantly reduce the probability of attaining a bachelor’s degree, as compared to 4-year institutions, an effect that remains after having taken into account non-traditional enrollment pathways, educational expectations, and self-selection into 2-year and 4-year institutions.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the November 2004 Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.     

Science Letters: Quantification of Helicobacter pylori levels in soil samples from public playgrounds in Spain

Helicobacter pylori are ubiquitous Gram-negative bacteria with a high estimated level of infection in the world populations, but a majority of the infected persons are asymptomatic. This pathogen has been classified by the World Health Organization as a class I carcinogen and recognized as the causal agent of most peptic ulcers and chronic gastritis that might lead to stomach cancer. Although not all the transmission pathways of these bacteria into humans have been properly identified, enough data have sugg...     

Virtual Reference: Chat with Us!

Virtual chat services represent an exciting way to provide patrons of medical libraries with instant reference help in an academic environment. The purpose of this article is to examine the implementation, marketing process, use, and development of a virtual reference service initiated at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and its three-campus libraries. In addition, this paper will discuss practical recommendations for the future improvement of the service.     

When inclusion excludes: a counter narrative of open online education

Open education aspires to democratize education, promote inclusion and effect change through social justice. These aspirations are difficult to realize in open, online environments, which enable multiple, and often conflicting, perspectives. This paper proposes a counter-narrative that surfaces certain operational norms of the internet and foregrounds their exclusionary nature. We offer an illustrative inventory of some social media interactional patterns to examine communication used in open online education communities. This examination leads us to conclude that language online is subject to a dialectical tension that both includes and excludes. We conclude that a different language is needed in open online educational environments; one that embraces exclusionary structures and strategic ambiguity, as well as the aspirations to further democratize education via digital means.