Facilitating Meta‐learning in Art and Design Education

Art and design programmes are educationally unique in that students themselves play a central role in determining their own learning needs. To be successful in their study, art and design students are required to operate with a high degree of independence and self‐direction. Developing the skills for greater self‐reliance requires students to become aware of their conceptions of the subject of study, and of themselves as learners in a particular learning context. Developing greater self‐awareness as a learner and becoming more independent in one's learning is captured by the concept of meta‐learning. In this article I present an alternative strategy to prevalent diagnostic approaches to assist in developing a student's capacity for meta‐learning in the subject context of art and design. An inquiry cycle was created to provide a structure within which to facilitate generative thinking about learning through engaging with fundamental questions related to the subject of learning (art and design) rather than the learning subject (i.e. the student). This method represents a departure from existing approaches to engaging students in meta‐learning. A pilot study used to trial the effectiveness of this strategy is also presented here. The inquiry map, and the conceptual base upon which it was developed, were found to be useful ways to structure reflective thinking about learning and to assist in developing a student's conception of the subject.     

Is the Medium the Message? Examining Transactions Conducted via Text in Comparison with Traditional Virtual Reference Methods

Texting is a widespread mode of communication and libraries are experimenting with it to interact with users. This article presents the results of a study on virtual reference service. The authors seek to determine whether or not the texting service is filling a different information need than chat and email by examining the level of difficulty and the topic of questions using these different methods of communication. Findings indicate a marked difference between the type and complexity of questions sent via text and traditional forms of virtual reference, and suggest that texting fills a complimentary role in relation to other traditional virtual reference communication channels used within libraries.     

Learning About Other People’s Families

While the call for teacher education students to learn about their students’ family and community lives remains urgent and compelling, educating teachers about the Other is tricky business. In this article I discuss the use of two performed ethnographies, Harriet’s House and Ana’s Shadow, to provide opportunities for teachers to learn about Other people’s families in ways that work against presenting a singular, dominant narrative of the Other’s experiences and positioning Other students as experts. Although the outcomes from educating teachers about Other people’s families are unpredictable and do not always disrupt the prior, potentially harmful, knowledges teachers bring with them to teaching, I argue, along with Kevin Kumashiro, that ongoing labour to stop the repetition of harmful knowledges is important anti-oppressive educational work.     

What happens to the girls? gender,work and learning in Canada's ‘new economy’1

Policies hailing lifelong learning in the so‐called New Economy promote equitable knowledge work and work‐related learning opportunities for all. Gender is hardly mentioned in these discourses; some might assume gender is ‘resolved’ in a new economy emphasizing entrepreneurism, technology, knowledge creation and continuous learning. However a closer look reveals that gendered inequity persists both in access to and experience of these learning opportunities. Indeed, familiar issues of women, work and learning are exacerbated in the changing contexts and designs of work comprising the so‐called New Economy. This is argued in the frame of Canada's most recent policies on work and learning, drawing from contemporary Canadian studies and statistics to underline the point. Current provisions for girls' and women's vocational education in Canada are assessed in light of these issues, focusing on particular learning needs of girls and gendered issues they face in entering the labour market of the New Economy. To move beyond a critical analysis and outline a possible way forward, four directions for change are suggested: more gender‐sensitive career education for girls; sponsored vocational education for women; management education in gendered issues arising in the changing economy; and critical vocational education in both schools and workplaces.     

The relationship between behavior at school entry and services received in third grade

Recent studies report the cumulative prevalence of behavioral disorders among school‐age children to be second only to anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, by the time behavior has been identified as needing special education services, patterns of disruptive and externalizing behavior have often become unremitting. If at‐risk behavior can be reliably identified at school entry, there is potential to intervene early to reduce severity and chronicity of behavior. Thus, with the aid of a nationally representative sample (n = 17,490), this study aimed to ascertain if teacher‐observed disruptive behavior in kindergarten predicted children’s categorical identification for special education and receipt of behavior goals in their individualized education plans in third grade. Results indicated externalizing behaviors and approaches to learning at school entry, predicted identification with emotional disturbance, and other health impairment due to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in third grade. In addition, externalizing behaviors at school entry increased the likelihood of a child receiving an individualized education plan with an appropriate behavior goal. Self‐control was not a significant predictor of any outcome. Finally, the covariates of sex, reading achievement, and race at school entry were significantly associated with a child’s need for behavior‐related services. Implications for early intervention are discussed.     

Differences in feeding ecology predict differences in performance between golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) and Wied’s marmosets (Callithrix kuhli) on spatial and visual memory tasks

Golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) and Wied’s marmosets (Callithrix kuhli) exhibited adaptive differences in performance on several distinct memory tasks. On both an open-field analogue of a radial arm maze and a spatial delayed matching-to-sample task, the marmosets performed better than the tamarins after short (5-min) retention intervals, but only the tamarins continued to perform above chance after long (24- or 48-h) retention intervals. The marmosets also required less training than the tamarins did to learn a color memory task, but again only the tamarins performed above chance when the retention interval was increased to 24 h. The results of these experiments are consistent with predictions based on knowledge of the feeding ecology of these species in the wild and raise the possibility that they possess different visuospatial memory abilities specialized for tracking the spatial and temporal distribution of their principal foods.     

Library Study Behaviors in the Age of Ubiquitous Mobile Devices: An Observational Study in Four Academic Libraries

In this study, researchers observed student study behaviors in the libraries of four post-secondary institutions. In all, 2,773 observations were made. This research replicates and expands an earlier study and addresses its limitations. The results of a logistic regression test indicate whether students had a mobile device readily available and where students chose to study in the library best predicted whether they demonstrated a study, as opposed to a non-study, behavior. Specifically, if students were found in quiet study or computer areas, they were more likely to be performing study behaviors. This research has implications for library stakeholders making decisions about the use of library space. Most importantly, this research demonstrates that library spaces are widely used for diverse purposes.     

The Cook,the Marquis,his Wife,and her Maids: The Use of Dramatic Characters in Peter Greenaway’s Peopling the Palaces as a Way of Interpreting Historic Buildings

Abstract As curators endeavour to offer new opportunities to look again at museum collections and heritage sites, technological interventions such as Peter Greenaway’s Peopling the Palaces (2007–2010) demonstrate a powerful way of giving voice and emotional realism to historic spaces. Peopling the Palaces is a video installation of 500 characters created for the seventeenth‐century Italian Palace, La Venaria Reale. Characters are projected onto the walls, ceilings, and royal bed, bringing back “life” to the historic interiors. In this article I examine the different types of characters created by Greenaway, looking specifically at how their words could help visitors engage with the lived human past of the palace and acquire factual information about day‐to‐day processes. Drawing on such fundamentals of human nature as love, jealousy, and gossip, these character‐led performances suggest ways that dramatic techniques can help to engender imagined and empathetic connections with the past.