ACOGQUEST: the model phase of the IAIMS project of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

In 1990, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) became the first national organization to receive a model phase Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) grant from the National Library of Medicine. The goal of the ACOG model phase project is to develop and test a prototype for an integrated system that will meet the needs of ACOG and NAACOG members in patient care, research, education, and administrative information. The model phase goal will be accomplished primarily through ACOGQUEST, an integrated approach to providing accurate, current, quality-filtered information to ACOG and NAACOG members in a variety of formats. Another method of information dissemination now being tested is a heuristic-based patient management database, which will include a concise, interactive display of ACOG-reviewed information that can be incorporated into patient records.     

Problematical aspects of expatriate educational research with and in developing countries

Discussions of the problems of expatriate educational research with and in developing countries are at the core of this paper. How should a research project be set up? Who should initiate it and finance it? How does it fit into an overall development strategy? These and other questions are analysed sensitively and with understanding. The paper also examines how research questions should be formulated and how the research should be designed. Inevitably there are hidden objectives which do not appear explicit in the early stages. There are yet others which should be made explicit. Problems also arise over collecting and disseminating data, especially when the time comes to publish a report. So often political and other considerations influence the final report. Ultimately, however, the success or failure and the value or otherwise of any research depends on an intricate web of relationships, at the heart of which must be mutual trust.     

The underarm throw for accuracy in children

Forty boys and girls of two age groups (mean ages 52 and 70 months, respectively) performed 35 trials on a throwing task demanding accuracy. As might be expected, the older children were significantly more accurate than the younger ones but there were no sex differences. Film analysis of the throws showed that, although both age groups attempted to employ the adult strategy of varying velocity while keeping ball-release angle constant, the younger group was less successful in the latter aspect. The manner in which consistent release angles were arrived at by the older group was through the use of a movement pattern in which the elbow angle did not change during the forward swing. Such a movement pattern appeared less frequently in the younger age group. The results of this study provide support for a mode of research identifying functionally relevant kinematic variables that can subsequently be shown to follow from distinctive execution categories. In such a way, changes in outcome measures with increasing age and/or skill level can be functionally understood and identified.     

A Method for Studying Climate-related Changes in the Condition of Decorated Wooden Panels

Museum objects are often highly complex and composed of materials with varying properties, some of which may have changed as a result of ageing and/or conservation treatments. Research into defining sustainable environmental conditions by balancing energy cost and risk to these vulnerable objects has mainly focused on experiments in laboratories with new, single materials or on computer modelling, but only to a limited extent on actual objects. This paper presents a method to collect empirical data from a large group of decorated wooden panels in order to investigate the effects of humidity fluctuations on these objects and relate them to their material properties and construction. Wooden panels were chosen as they are regarded to be particularly sensitive to fluctuations in relative humidity. The fluctuations may cause the wood to shrink and swell and can result in open glue joints, cracks, and deformation of the panels as well as losses and cracks in the decorative layers. Empirical data are scarcely available as yet but are essential to study relationships between material properties, type of construction, damage, and as input and validation for modelling and experimental studies. The method, referred to as the Rijksmuseum Study, was performed on a group of 300 objects from the furniture and paintings collections of the Rijksmuseum.     

Ebooks Versus Print Books: Format Preferences in an Academic Library

When a scholarly monograph is made available in both print and electronic formats, which format will users prefer? This study analyzed monograph usage data from three university presses in the University of Toronto Libraries' collections, comparing print and ebook usage patterns of identical titles. The goal was to examine format preferences and determine whether there are differences in usage across subject disciplines or publishers. The study showed that although in many cases users preferred one format over another, they used books in both formats. If a subject was popular, usage tended to be high for both formats, and if unpopular, low for both formats. The data also indicated that there were some noticeable differences in ebook usage for particular subjects, and the authors concluded that format does matter and therefore it is desirable for libraries to provide both formats if possible. The study also highlighted how critical metadata are in promoting the use of electronic resources. If there were no ebook metadata within the library catalog, the ebook usage was low. This analysis adds to a growing body of literature in user preferences on book formats that can assist libraries in making better-informed decisions in collection building.     

Pre-service Teachers' Preferred Strategies for Solving Arithmetic and Algebra Word Problems

In this study we investigate the arithmetic andalgebra word problem-solving skills andstrategies of future primary and secondaryschool teachers in Flanders (Belgium).Moreover, we describe the evolution of theseskills and strategies from the beginning to theend of their teacher education. The resultsshow that future secondary school mathematicsteachers preferred the use of algebra, evenwhen an arithmetic solution was morestraightforward. The solutions of futureprimary school teachers were more diverse: onesubgroup tended to apply exclusively arithmeticmethods (which led to failures on the mostdifficult word problems), whereas anothersubgroup was more adaptive in its strategychoices. Finally, student teachers evolved intheir problem-solving skills during theirteacher education, but not in their strategypreferences. The research findings indicatethat, in the education of pre-service primaryand secondary school teachers, there is a needfor an explicit treatment of pupils' transitionfrom arithmetical to algebraic thinking.     

Opening up towards children’s languages: enhancing teachers’ tolerant practices towards multilingualism

Mainstream teachers struggle with linguistic diversity, often leading to restricting multilingualism. Scientific research, however, recommends including pupils’ home languages in school. Various qualitative studies have evaluated implementations in schools and indicated possibilities for improving teachers’ attitudes towards multilingualism. This paper evaluates an experimental implementation targeting an increase in tolerance towards multilingualism. The implementation was facilitated by external school coaches and consisted of 3 experimental tools affecting the school. Data originated from 62 Flemish primary schools (of which half were experimental schools) that participated in 3 survey waves (2012 and 2014; 763 teachers completed both waves). We used multilevel regression. We concluded that the implementation leads to higher rates of tolerance. The fulfilment of the basic conditions needed for a successful change was important, and the linguistic diversity of the pupil population and the investment by external school coaches did not affect the tolerant practices of teachers towards multilingualism.     

Personality characteristics of engineers

The objective of the current study was to investigate the personality characteristics of a group of engineers with a variety of years of experience. It was executed to remedy shortcomings of the literature concerning this issue and to produce suggestions for a postgraduate training programme for engineers. A total of103 engineers were tested with the five-factor personality inventory (FFPI), a ‘big five’ personality test of Dutch origin. The engineers were shown to score lower on the factor agreeableness, and higher on the factors extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and autonomy than a national comparison group. The older the engineers, the more conscientious and autonomous they were. In addition, engineers with lower degrees were more conscientious than engineers with higher degrees. A practical implication of the findings for the postgraduate training of engineers is that more attention should be paid to the development of interpersonal skills.