A clause-relational approach to English texts: A study of some predictive lexical items in written discourse

This paper re-examines the linguistic basis for the distinction between two kinds of word: open-system words and closed-system words. Specifically, it looks at a class of traditionally open-system words — lexical items like nouns, verbs and adjectives — and suggests that they can function as exponents of a clause relation, and as such can have a predictive effect on the organisation of written discourse. This class of words is contrasted with two other, established, means of text organisation, the subordinators and the sentence connectors. Four criteria are presented to support the delimitation of this class. Finally, the implications of this class of words are considered for a linguistic theory of reference.     

Coordinating a Large,Amalgamated REU Program with Multiple Funding Sources

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the challenges of organizing a large REU program amalgamated from multiple funding sources, including diverse participants, mentors, and research projects. We detail the program’s structure, activities, and recruitment, and we hope to demonstrate that the organization of this REU is not only beneficial to its participants, but that these ideas can be adapted to the benefit of participants at other REU sites, regardless of the size or structure of the site.     

Attitudes to computer-assisted learning amongst business and management students

Computer‐assisted learning (CAL) is becoming ever more important as a method of teaching and facilitating learning in an increasingly overburdened higher education sector in the UK. A number of authors have made pleas for more evaluation and research in the area of CAL. This study set out to evaluate the attitudes to CAL amongst over 300 business and management undergraduates using a questionnaire survey. The survey revealed a positive disposition towards CAL irrespective of age, gender or educational background. In addition respondents were asked to compare the features of CAL with those of other more traditional methods of teaching and learning. Two factors were identified, labelled CAL ‘instructional’ features and CAL ‘tutorial’ features. The instructional features of CAL were rated more highly than its tutorial features. Respondents rated CAL as better than traditional methods in terms of its instructional features and about the same as traditional methods in terms of its tutorial features. Younger respondents rated the instructional features of CAL more highly than did the older respondents. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for the use of CAL in an expanding system of mass higher education.     

Do single-gender classrooms in coeducational settings address boys' underachievement? An Australian study

This paper reports a research project developed in partnership with the Principal and Leadership Team of an Australian secondary school. It monitored a school-based initiative designed to address the underachievement of male students. Students in Year 9 selected single-gender or coeducational classes in mathematics and English during the second half of a school year. Student scores in standardized tests and school-based assessment in these subjects were obtained before and after the establishment of the initiative. Results indicate no significant difference in mathematics achievement that can be attributed to gender or class composition. However, scores in school-based English improved for students in single-gender classes. Improvement for girls in single-gender classes was greater than that for boys in single-gender classes.     

Building a gold standard to construct search filters: a case study with biomarkers for oral cancer

Objective:

To support clinical researchers, librarians and informationists may need search filters for particular tasks. Development of filters typically depends on a “gold standard” dataset. This paper describes generalizable methods for creating a gold standard to support future filter development and evaluation using oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) as a case study. OSCC is the most common malignancy affecting the oral cavity. Investigation of biomarkers with potential prognostic utility is an active area of research in OSCC. The methods discussed here should be useful for designing quality search filters in similar domains.

Methods:

The authors searched MEDLINE for prognostic studies of OSCC, developed annotation guidelines for screeners, ran three calibration trials before annotating the remaining body of citations, and measured inter-annotator agreement (IAA).

Results:

We retrieved 1,818 citations. After calibration, we screened the remaining citations (n = 1,767; 97.2%); IAA was substantial (kappa = 0.76). The dataset has 497 (27.3%) citations representing OSCC studies of potential prognostic biomarkers.

Conclusions:

The gold standard dataset is likely to be high quality and useful for future development and evaluation of filters for OSCC studies of potential prognostic biomarkers.

Implications:

The methodology we used is generalizable to other domains requiring a reference standard to evaluate the performance of search filters. A gold standard is essential because the labels regarding relevance enable computation of diagnostic metrics, such as sensitivity and specificity. Librarians and informationists with data analysis skills could contribute to developing gold standard datasets and subsequent filters tuned for their patrons'' domains of interest.     

The Modern American Yeshivah

I attended the World Gathering of Holocaust Survivors (June 15-18, 1981) as a Jew and as an educator. Fortunately, my year of arrival in the United States of America from Poland was 1928.