Enhancing professional writing skills of veterinary technology students: linking assessment and clinical practice in a communications course

Veterinary technology is an emerging profession within the veterinary and allied animal health fields in Australia and affords graduates the opportunity to contribute to the small but growing body of literature within this discipline. This study describes the introduction of a contextualised assessment task to develop students’ research capability, competence and confidence in professional writing, and to engage them with the academic publishing process. Students worked in self-selected dyads to author a scientific case report, of publishable standard, based on authentic cases from their clinical practicum. Intrinsic to the task, students attended a series of workshops that explored topics such as critiquing the literature, professional writing styles and oral presentation skills. Assessment was multi-staged with progressive feedback, including peer review, and culminated with students presenting their abstracts at a mock conference. Students reported the task to be an enjoyable and valuable learning experience which improved their competence and confidence in scientific writing; supported by a comparison of previously submitted work. Linking scientific writing skills to clinical practice experiences enhanced learning outcomes and may foster the professionalisation of students within this emerging discipline.     

Impact of a multiyear professional development intervention on science achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students

This study examined the impact of the 3‐year implementation of a professional development intervention on science achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students. Teachers were provided with instructional units and workshops that were designed to improve teaching practices and foster positive beliefs about science and literacy with diverse student groups. The study involved third, fourth, and fifth grade students at six elementary schools in a large urban school district during the 2001 through 2004 school years. Significance tests of mean scores between pre‐ and posttests indicated statistically significant increases each year on all measures of science at all three grade levels. Achievement gaps among demographic subgroups sometimes narrowed among fourth grade students and remained consistent among third and fifth grade students. Item‐by‐item comparisons with NAEP and TIMSS samples indicated overall positive performance by students at the end of each school year. The consistent patterns of positive outcomes indicate the effectiveness of our intervention in producing achievement gains at all three grade levels while also reducing achievement gaps among demographic subgroups at the fourth grade. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 726–747, 2008     

Literacy skills in Maltese–English bilingual children

This research considers aspects of literacy in Maltese–English bilingual children. The study examined the reading and phonological awareness skills in English and Maltese of children whose home language is Maltese and second language English. A sample of 50 typically developing Maltese pupils aged 8 years 0 months to 10 years 5 months was selected. Since commencing school at the age of 5 years, the children have been learning to read in Maltese and also in English. For the purpose of this study, Maltese reading and reading‐related tests were constructed to parallel the UK and US standardised assessments. The novel tests and the standardised tests were administered to all the children. Results showed that Maltese children read better in their first language (Maltese) than in English, the language of instruction. Findings also showed that phonological awareness measures correlated across first and second languages. The results are discussed in terms of L1 and L2 transfer, whereby the transparency of Maltese orthography and English phonological processing skills facilitate performance on phonological tasks in both Maltese and English.     

A Qualitative Examination of the Impact of Culturally Responsive Educational Practices on the Psychological Well-Being of Students of Color

Scholars have shown that educational experiences within the classroom may marginalize students of color which may result in psychological distress. However, the utilization of culturally responsive educational practices (CRE) can create environments in which marginalized students can thrive not only academically, but psychologically. The authors provide a qualitative case study examining the culturally responsive practices of one teacher through a relational cultural theory (RCT) lens. The findings suggest that CRE practices may serve as psychological interventions that are associated with decreased psychological distress and increased psychological well-being amongst students of color. Specifically, students demonstrated behaviors depicting a number of RCT’s five good things, including zest, empowerment, connection, clarity, and self-worth, that improve psychological well-being according to RCT.     

A coaching partnership: resource teachers and classroom teachers teaching collaboratively in regular classrooms

The purpose of this study was to determine how resource teachers (n = 13) and classroom teachers (n = 12) experience a coaching partnership, in which both teachers work in the regular classroom to support students with special educational needs. The focus of the partnerships was to build classroom teacher capacity around inclusionary practices. Classroom teachers and resource teachers completed questionnaires about the partnerships and their impact. Results indicated that both groups of teachers found the partnerships to be valuable. The partnerships were supported by coaching principles, as well as relationship, attitudes, understanding of students, and time spent together. Benefits of the model included increased support for students; increased learning for students; learning of different approaches, for classroom teachers and resource teachers; shared responsibility for students, between classroom and resource teachers; feeling more valued, for resource teachers; and seeing a model of collaboration, for students, teachers and the community.     

Eco‐Webbing: A Teaching Strategy to Facilitate Critical Consciousness and Agency

Eco‐webbing is a teaching strategy that can be used to help counselor educators integrate a social justice focus into their courses. Preliminary data indicated increased critical consciousness and social justice agency as a result of using eco‐webbing with counseling students (N = 17). The authors provide implications for counselor educators and future research.     

Educating,learning, and growing: A review of the teaching role in academic librarianship

Abstract

This literature review aims to answer three questions: (1) Why is teaching important in the role of an academic librarian? (2) What teaching-related initiatives have been used by academic librarians to acquire teaching competencies? (3) How does teaching in academic libraries relate to the community of practice formed by educators across disciplines at a higher education institution? A review of the literature highlights the importance of teaching in academic libraries. Findings suggest that onboarding processes at academic libraries should accommodate the pedagogical and andragogical gaps of new librarians by implementing mentorship programs and providing ongoing feedback. Establishing such protocols would establish a framework for supporting a community of practice with regard to academic librarianship and teaching.     

‘You have to understand words … but not read them’: young children becoming readers in a digital age

Given that many young children now enter their early years in education as competent and frequent users of digital technology, this paper examines how this experience influences children's perceptions of reading. Drawing from research conducted with 12 young children (aged 3–6) this paper reports on the ways in which these children were interacting with screen texts and using them to develop strategies to make sense of a whole variety of symbolic representations, including print. It is argued that the medium of computer technology in particular was seen to encourage young children to develop both understandings about texts and the skills needed to read them. This included specific aspects of print awareness as well as a general confidence in handling print. However, this confidence appeared to diminish as the children encountered ‘schooled’ approaches to print literacy. It is therefore concluded that schools need to find ways in which to capitalise on the use of multimedia in order to promote confidence and skills in young readers today.     

Graduate attribute development and employment outcomes: tracking PhD graduates

The provision of diversified research training is regarded as one of the most significant contributions made by the Australian Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) programme [Howard Partners 2003 Howard Partners. 2003. Evaluation of the cooperative research centres programme, Canberra, ACT: Department of Education, Science and Training.  [Google Scholar], Evaluation of the cooperative research centres programme, Department of Education, Science and Training, Canberra, ACT]. Yet, a systematic evaluation of Australia’s CRC research training programmes and outcomes has not yet been undertaken. This article reports on a pilot questionnaire designed to provide the beginnings of such an evaluation. Participants were science‐based research graduates who were awarded with a PhD within the four‐year period 2000–2003 and had completed the majority of their PhD project either in a university school or in a CRC environment. The questionnaire results provide insights into participants’ perceptions of the graduate attributes they developed prior to and during their PhD studies. It also investigates their perceptions about the relative importance of particular skills in university and industry settings. This article argues that understanding the perceptions and employment experiences of recent research graduates is a vital way of ensuring that PhD programmes are more effectively designed to prepare research graduates for a range of careers. In particular, these results confirm the importance of constant re‐evaluation and improvement of all PhD training programmes.