RSS made easy: a basic guide for librarians

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) uses extensive markup language (XML) to constantly scan the content of Web sites for updates, which will then be delivered to subscribers' desktops or mobile devices through an RSS feed. RSS helps professionals stay current while reducing workloads. Librarians need to get familiar with RSS to educate their users, to stay current in information technology, and to generate and disseminate selected information to target user groups. doi:10.1300/J115v26n01_04.     

It Takes a Team

In this column, the editor of The Journal of Perinatal Education (JPE) compares the need for careful planning, preparation, and coordinated teamwork in preparing for a safe, healthy birth with similar needs necessary for putting together each issue of JPE. The editor also describes the contents of this issue, which offer a broad range of resources, research, and inspiration for childbirth educators in their efforts to promote, support, and protect natural, safe, and healthy birth.     

Informing research (practices) through pedagogical theory: focus groups with adolescents

The focus of this article is how pedagogical theory and applied linguistic research informed the development of a multifaceted methodology designed to elicit middle school students’ perspectives on bilingualism and their language identities within the context of a one-way French Immersion programme in New Brunswick, Canada. The theoretical context of our research is language socialization theory which emphasizes how learners actively construct new identities for themselves, consciously or unconsciously, as they acquire and use language. This language socialization is embedded in particular socio-political and historical contexts, bringing fluidity to the meanings of bilingualism and to identity. Our discussion is about our methodological journey, how we drew upon the broader principles of constructivist learning, and specifically Universal Design for learning and Multiple Intelligences, within focus group research to access these perspectives and identities. Our methodology involved multiple opportunities to present, express and engage in the construction of knowledge, and to engage students in identifying and expressing meaning related to their identities and perspectives as learners of French. Our research demonstrated that, by drawing on pedagogical theory, focus groups can be transformative for participants, and they provide ways to circumvent challenges in conducting qualitative research with adolescents.     

Do creativity self-beliefs predict literacy achievement and motivation?

Previous work has suggested that creativity self-beliefs show only small relations with academic achievement and may only be related to intrinsic, not extrinsic motivation. We set out to re-examine these relationships accounting for the multifaceted and process embedded nature of creativity self-beliefs and the full domain range of extrinsic motivation. One hundred and twenty-two secondary school pupils completed self-report measures of creativity self-beliefs and motivation and were administered as test of fluid intelligence. Creativity self-beliefs were positively related to teacher assessed literacy attainment, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and also inversely related to amotivation. Creativity self-beliefs accounted for a significant additional proportion of variance in both literacy achievement and in motivational measures, beyond that already accounted for by fluid intelligence. These findings suggest that it is important to attend to the multifaceted nature of creative self-beliefs and the full domain range of extrinsic motivation.     

A Commitment to Excellence

In this column, the editor of The Journal of Perinatal Education describes two international credentialing programs, the Magnet Recognition Program and the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Both require an ongoing commitment to excellence. The editor also describes the contents of this issue, which offer a broad range of resources, research, and inspiration for childbirth educators in their efforts to promote, support, and protect natural, safe, and healthy birth. Open in a separate windowWendy C. BudinEditor     

Writing-to-learn in undergraduate science education: a community-based, conceptually driven approach

Despite substantial evidence that writing can be an effective tool to promote student learning and engagement, writing-to-learn (WTL) practices are still not widely implemented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, particularly at research universities. Two major deterrents to progress are the lack of a community of science faculty committed to undertaking and applying the necessary pedagogical research, and the absence of a conceptual framework to systematically guide study designs and integrate findings. To address these issues, we undertook an initiative, supported by the National Science Foundation and sponsored by the Reinvention Center, to build a community of WTL/STEM educators who would undertake a heuristic review of the literature and formulate a conceptual framework. In addition to generating a searchable database of empirically validated and promising WTL practices, our work lays the foundation for multi-university empirical studies of the effectiveness of WTL practices in advancing student learning and engagement.     

Meaning Making with Multiple Representations: a Case Study of a Preservice Teacher Creating a Digital Explanation

Research in Science Education - The construction of dynamic multimedia products requires the selection and integration of a range of semiotic resources. As an assessment task for preservice...     

When Does Tool Use Become Distinctively Human? Hammering in Young Children

This study examines the development of hammering within an ontogenetic and evolutionary framework using motion‐capture technology. Twenty‐four right‐handed toddlers (19–35 months) wore reflective markers while hammering a peg into a peg‐board. The study focuses on the motor characteristics that make tool use uniquely human: wrist involvement, lateralization, and handle use. Older children showed more distally controlled movements, characterized by relatively more reliance on the wrist, but only when hammering with their right hand. Greater age, use of the right hand, and more wrist involvement were associated with higher accuracy; handle use did not systematically change with age. Collectively, the results provide new insights about the emergence of hammering in young children and when hammering begins to manifest distinctively human characteristics.     

Building and sustaining communities that prevent mental disorders: Lessons from the field of special education

Quietly, at least beyond the awareness of many psychologists, a relatively new technology based on school‐wide behavior management strategies has emerged in special education to answer the call to build healthy communities. The success of these strategies in changing the practices of school systems and creating positive school climates may offer insights for school psychologists interested in preventing mental disorders and promoting health on a broader scale. Spreading the influence of school‐wide behavior supports to ensure that all schools provide the nurturing environment needed to promote academic and life success for all children is an important and immediate goal. Beyond the school, the challenge will be to implement and evaluate the impact of positive behavior supports in other connected communities. The present article reviews the history and present state of school‐wide behavior supports and prevention research, limitations of current practice, and opportunities for integrating school‐wide programs with psychological science and practice. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 313–329, 2006.     

Accountability through Systematic Record‐Keeping in a Residential Setting

In 1981, the New Zealand Department of Education and SUPPORT jointly opened Glenburn Centre, which operates residential, school and home programs for assisting families whose young children present severe behaviour problems at home and at school. Time‐out is the most restrictive procedure employed at Glenburn and its use is limited to certain classes of severely disruptive behaviour under specific conditions. As the “bottom line” procedure, for ethical reasons its use is carefully monitored and systematically recorded. Examination of Time‐out data cumulated over two and a half years 1) has showed positive effects coincidental with major changes in program development; 2) unusual shifts in data have pointed to the need for extra attention to staff training at particular times; and 3) the data have proved useful in providing feedback to staff and in evaluating program development. The data demonstrate the value for institutional management and ethical accountability of keeping systematic records of an institution's use of its “bottom line” procedure.