Eliminating traditional reference services in an academic health sciences library: a case study

Question:

How were traditional librarian reference desk services successfully eliminated at one health sciences library?

Setting:

The analysis was done at an academic health sciences library at a major research university.

Method:

A gap analysis was performed, evaluating changes in the first eleven months through analysis of reference transaction and instructional session data.

Main Results:

Substantial increases were seen in the overall number of specialized reference transactions and those conducted by librarians lasting more than thirty minutes. The number of reference transactions overall increased after implementing the new model. Several new small-scale instructional initiatives began, though perhaps not directly related to the new model.

Conclusion:

Traditional reference desk services were eliminated at one academic health sciences library without negative impact on reference and instructional statistics. Eliminating ties to the confines of the physical library due to staffing reference desk hours removed one significant barrier to a more proactive liaison program.     

‘My success as a teacher amazes me each and every day’ – perspectives of teachers with learning disabilities

The purpose of the article is to study the development of educational policy in Norway in the field of the unitary school system and to analyse whether the development can be seen as a move towards increasing inclusion. The educational policy, when seen over a long time span, has progressively aimed towards the development of a common compulsory school that has embraced increasingly more groups, across social and geographical divides. At the same time, the development has been characterised by discord and tensions, e.g. between standardisation and differentiation, coordination and special arrangements and organisational and pedagogical differentiation. Gradually, it was stressed that as many pupils as possible should be allowed to live and grow up at home and that special education was to be coordinated with the ordinary school as much as possible. Later on, inclusive education has been clearly formulated as a principle of education. It did assume a broadening of responsibility for the ordinary schools in order to develop an educational programme that can accommodate the diverse learning needs of all pupils. It is pointed out that the policy of the unitary school has to deal with a lot of critical dilemmas for moving further towards inclusion.     

Prediction of elementary mathematics grades by cognitive abilities

European Journal of Psychology of Education - In the present study, the relationship between the mathematics grade and the three basic cognitive abilities (inhibition, working memory, and...     

Spatial task solving on tablets: analysing mental and physical rotation processes of 12–13-year olds

Educational technology research and development - Spatial skill assessment and training are promising fields of application for tablets, as touch-based interaction can prime and support mental...     

Prospective primary teachers’ perceptions about the use of mathematics homework

The benefit of homework (HW) has been the subject of ongoing debate among various stakeholders. Within this debate, and in relation to teacher development, prospective teachers’ views of HW have received limited attention. In this study, we survey primary pre-service teachers’ (‘PSTs’) views of HW use (n = 45 teaching grades 2–5; n = 39 teaching grades 6 and 7) in a single discipline (mathematics) at one large Australian university.

The literature suggests students in upper primary and secondary grades will benefit from the use of mathematics HW. Results of the study, in contrast, suggest our PSTs teaching early primary grades planned to give proportionally (but not significantly) more mathematics HW than those teaching later grades. Reasons for this disparity are discussed. We argue there is a need in teacher development to equip PSTs with a better understanding of how classroom and home-based learning work together in the development of mathematical understanding.