Dealing with Pro Se Patrons

ABSTRACT

Special Libraries, Special Challenges is a new column dedicated to exploring the unique public services challenges that arise in libraries that specialize in a particular subject, such as law, medicine, business, and so forth. In each column, the author will discuss public service dilemmas and solutions that arise specifically in given subject libraries, while drawing links to how such issues affect librarianship in general. Special or subject-matter librarians interested in authoring a piece for this column are invited to contact Tammy R. Pettinato at pettinato@law.ucla.edu.     

How Framing Climate Change Influences Citizen Scientists’ Intentions to Do Something About It

How we communicate the dangers of climate change may influence attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Here we test two pairs of positive and negative framing statements with North American citizen scientists interested in gardening and birdwatching. Mentioning dangers for humans did not increase participants’ interest in taking personal action on climate change, but mentioning dangers for birds was highly effective. Highlighting the positive collective impacts of small behavioral changes also increased participants’ interest in taking personal action. These results suggest that while some dire messages are ineffective, those evoking concern for target species of significance to the learners may be as successful as positive messages.     

Researcher Study Thyself: AERA Participants' Speaking Times and Turns by Gender

This research compares speaking times and turns of female and male presenters and audience members at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). In their presentations, males spoke longer than females, but the differences were not statistically significant. They spoke significantly longer than females, however, when posing questions or comments during open discussions, and they made a significantly greater number of responses to these questions and comments. Some chairs were inconsistent in monitoring allotted speaking times. Females' participation was lower in less-structured situations, such as open discussions and co-presented papers, than in settings with greater structure.     

The impact of peer competition and collaboration on gamified learning performance in educational settings: a Meta-analytical study

Education and Information Technologies - This study is a meta-analytical study that examines the effectiveness of gamification in learning performance in educational settings (n = 29;...     

Beginning teachers' perceptions of school human resource practices

Human resource (HR) management is defined as the sum of activities employed by an organization to attract, develop, and retain people with the appropriate knowledge and skills for effectively and efficiently achieving organizational goals. An understanding of the HR practices in schools is important, as the assembly of a team of qualified and committed teachers, directly or indirectly, affects the quality of instruction in general and in particular in Hong Kong, where a high wastage rate of new teachers has been recorded. The literature has emphasized the importance of each HR element in school and yet not much work has been done that attempts to link the various HR elements together, even though the complementarities and interdependencies among these practices have been acknowledged. The present study aims to provide a general picture of the HR practices in schools from the perspective of beginning teachers, using a quantitative methodology. In addition, the link between these practices and the beginning teachers' commitment was also examined. The findings confirm the complexity and diversity of HR practices in Hong Kong schools and suggest that the practices in the areas of Training and Development and Working Conditions warrant special attention as they are linked to the affective commitment of new teachers to schools.     

Bridging Education and Practice With a Competency-Based Learning Contract

ABSTRACT

Field work programs have a substantial responsibility for providing support and gatekeeping functions while ensuring an educational experience that allows students to master the nine holistic, multidimensional social work accreditation competencies. With additional emphasis on field as a “signature pedagogy,” field directors are tasked with finding placements that can support these explicit competencies. Through the utilization of a learning contract that combines the Council on Social Work Education Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards competencies (including component behaviors) students and supervisors can begin to discuss their joint progress on meeting each of these prior to the final evaluation. This process will ensure that students have demonstrated the necessary outcomes to become a generalist social work practitioner.     

ENACTED TYPES OF ALGEBRAIC ACTIVITY IN DIFFERENT CLASSES TAUGHT BY THE SAME TEACHER

The aim of this study was to examine how teachers enact the same written algebra curriculum materials in different classes. The study addresses this issue by comparing the types of algebraic activity (Kieran, 2004) enacted in two 7th grade classes taught by the same teacher, using the same textbook. Data sources include lesson observations and an interview with the teacher. The findings show that students in the two classes were offered somewhat different algebraic experiences. At one school, more emphasis was placed on global/meta-level activities (activities that are not exclusive to algebra and suggest general mathematical processes), whereas at the other school, more emphasis was placed on transformational activities (“rule-based” algebraic activities). Analysis of the sources of the differences related to the ways in which the teacher used and enacted the curriculum materials in the two classes revealed that these were linked to the teacher’s attempts to be attentive to the students in the class and to the nature of the students’ work.     

Forms of assessment and their potential for enhancing learning: conceptual and cultural issues

Assessment has become an important topic of debate and even reform in many Western countries. It is equally important in other regions of the world, although less subject to reform. Yet discussions of assessment across cultural boundaries are not frequent and in a globalizing world this can be problematic. The purposes of this article, therefore, are to review concepts such as ‘formative’ and ‘summative’ assessment and how they have developed over time. A focus of this review will be to identify the implications of different kinds of assessment for student learning, especially in relation to the cultural contexts in which they take place. The article will argue that different forms of assessment can be directed towards different learning purposes, especially where cultural pressures dictate certain kinds of assessment practices. Valorizing one form of assessment over another may well be counterproductive in particular cultural contexts.     

The interrelationship between student learning experience and study behaviour

This study examined the interrelationship between student learning experiences and study behaviour in explaining academic achievement. The participants were 541 final year students from a university in Hong Kong. Students' learning experiences and study behaviour were measured using the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory. Structural equation modelling demonstrated that different learning experience factors have differential influences on student study behaviour. Students' perception of teaching quality and generic skills development were found to be most influential in terms of motivation and attitude towards study, which were most predictive of academic performance. The implications for curriculum design and instructional practice on university student learning are discussed.     

GCAT-SEEKquence: genome consortium for active teaching of undergraduates through increased faculty access to next-generation sequencing data

To transform undergraduate biology education, faculty need to provide opportunities for students to engage in the process of science. The rise of research approaches using next-generation (NextGen) sequencing has been impressive, but incorporation of such approaches into the undergraduate curriculum remains a major challenge. In this paper, we report proceedings of a National Science Foundation-funded workshop held July 11-14, 2011, at Juniata College. The purpose of the workshop was to develop a regional research coordination network for undergraduate biology education (RCN/UBE). The network is collaborating with a genome-sequencing core facility located at Pennsylvania State University (University Park) to enable undergraduate students and faculty at small colleges to access state-of-the-art sequencing technology. We aim to create a database of references, protocols, and raw data related to NextGen sequencing, and to find innovative ways to reduce costs related to sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. It was agreed that our regional network for NextGen sequencing could operate more effectively if it were partnered with the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) as a new arm of that consortium, entitled GCAT-SEEK(quence). This step would also permit the approach to be replicated elsewhere.