Changing Information Requirements for Local Company Projects

Students in their senior-level capstone strategic management class at an Association of Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-accredited business school analyzed issues facing local companies for their project, rather than studying Fortune 500 companies. Although area small and mid-sized enterprises benefitted from the analysis and students gained valuable experience through the “consulting” project, business reference librarians had to adapt their library orientation for locating business information and identifying resources for the local companies, most of which were privately held. Integrating the library orientation and assistance into the closed loop assessment is discussed. Suggestions for replicating the project as well as areas for future research are included.     

Action Learning Circles: action learning in theory and practice

ABSTRACT

This paper is a commentary on how action learning circles can be effectively used (to offer experiential and emancipatory learning for students. The focus is on the preparation of students for health care education, and its value in the context of professional client‐based teaching and learning. The concept of action learning is described, and its role in promoting learning from practice explored using student and teacher evaluation evidence. An outline of the use of action learning circles in practice and the subsequent learning is analysed using evaluation data to inform our discussion, which gives the perspective of both learner and teacher.     

Does visual redundancy inhibit older persons’ information processing in learning?

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the redundancy effect on older and younger persons’ cognitive performance in a caregiver video training. Participants (N = 92) were recruited from one research-intensive university and three senior centers in a midsize city in the western United States. The mixed within- and between-subjects design was used. Participants watched the caregiving video with caption followed by a video without caption or vice versa depending on the condition. The results showed that older persons benefited from the redundancy learning whereas younger persons suffered from the redundancy learning. Implications of the findings are discussed with suggestions for future research.     

A cultural-historical reading of “Culturally Sensitive Schooling”: thinking beyond a constructivist view of science learning

“Culturally-Sensitive Schooling” as proposed by Brayboy and Castagno offers an important way of thinking about the relations between formal and informal science learning and between Western and Indigenous science. The constructivist framework adopted by Brayboy and Castagno in their discussions is consistent with the theoretical approach traditionally used by many researchers and scholars interested in science learning. In this article I explore the basic concepts introduced in their paper, but use a different theoretical lens for explicating concept formation. Through a cultural-historical reading of “Culturally Sensitive Schooling,” different insights can be gained about the relations between everyday informal learning and schooled learning in science. I argue that dialectical logic is more productive for re-theorising science teaching and learning in culturally diverse communities.

Understanding children’s motives when using iPads in Saudi classrooms: is it for play or for learning?

ABSTRACT

Even though studies of the accessibility of digital technologies in educational contexts have become progressively more extensive, understanding children’s motive for play or for learning is essential for identifying the way they relate to touch technology. This research paper seeks to understand the relation between the motive for play and the motive for learning when iPads are introduced into a grade one class in the Saudi Arabian education setting, where there is no custom for the use of digital technologies (five children, age range 5.5 (6 years old; n=80 hours of video observations; n=12 hours of children and class teacher interviews). The teacher put in place a new learning configuration involving the iPads, and by studying how the children interpret this new situation it is possible to see what factors influence the development of their motive for play to their motive for learning. The findings are important for the Saudi context, but also for early years teachers generally because it gives insights into how digital tools can act as a vehicle through which learning can be enhanced.     

Foresight via Hindsight: Prospects and Lessons for Inclusion in Singapore

This article presents a critical appraisal of the prospects for inclusion of students with disabilities within the mainstream school system in Singapore. Features of the dual system of mainstream and special education are discussed with specific reference to the gaps found between and within both systems that militate against inclusion becoming part of the mainstream educational landscape. The lessons learned through reviewing the other articles included in this special issue on several Asia-Pacific countries that have embraced inclusive education in their educational policies and initiatives inform possible future efforts and directions in promoting inclusion in Singapore.     

Childbirth educators, doulas, nurses, and women respond to the six care practices for normal birth

This collection of commentaries by childbirth educators, doulas, a labor and delivery nurse, and a woman preparing for the birth of her second baby provide an overall response to all six of Lamaze International's care practice papers that promote normal birth: Labor Begins on Its Own; Freedom of Movement throughout Labor; Continuous Labor Support; No Routine Interventions; Non-Supine (e.g., Upright or Side-Lying) Positions for Birth; and No Separation of Mother and Baby with Unlimited Opportunity for Breastfeeding. Strategies for using the position papers to facilitate learning in childbirth classes and for helping expectant parents access and understand research are presented. The commentaries describe the value of the position papers as a catalyst for professional growth, a foundation for creating change, a way to encourage reflection among professionals and women planning for the births of their babies, and an inspiration for everyone who advocates normal birth.     

Diversions and diversity: Does the personalisation agenda offer real opportunities for taking children’s home literacies seriously?

This paper argues that the current commitment to personalised learning opens up real opportunities for changing the language and practice of literacy teaching as it currently operates in England. We argue that there is a need to seize the opportunities currently on offer, to educate teachers differently and to develop classroom practice and pedagogies that acknowledge the complexities of children's lives and literacies. We draw on evidence from a year-long ethnographic research study, conducted between 2006–2007, of fourteen children and their families. The children attended the same inner city primary school in an area of urban regeneration characterised by high levels of economic deprivation, high crime and many social problems. The resulting evidence suggests that personalising learning becomes a reality when teachers are given space and time to develop their understanding of the uses and meaning of literacy in the communities they serve.