A Systematic Review of Remote Laboratory Work in Science Education with the Support of Visualizing its Structure through the <Emphasis Type="Italic">HistCite</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">CiteSpace</Emphasis> Software

Laboratory work, particularly the latest remote laboratories (RLs), has been assumed to have a general positive effect on science education because practical work can provide diverse learning experiences and enhance thinking skills suitable for the 21^st century. However, there has not been a synthesis of the science education research to support this assumption. The objective of this study is to systematically review the growth of educational research on laboratory work, particularly in RLs, utilizing a series of review processes with innovative software for visualizing structural relationships. The combined use and support of HistCite and CiteSpace software enabled the visualization of the citation structure and history of articles. The findings revealed that RLs were a state-of-the-art subset of laboratory work and a new way of conducting laboratory work that has gained fairly wide research attention in engineering education over the past two decades. Thus, this innovative literature review process has established a solid background for future research and development efforts on RLs in science education dealing with scientific and engineering practices.     

Modeling black student academic performance in higher education

Recent research has noted differences in the predictive efficacy of educational attainment models produced for whites as opposed to blacks; and called for more resolution in the findings on blacks in advance of further comparative analyses. The National Study of Black College Students (NSBCS) is employed to develop a model that distinguishes between high- and low-performing black undergraduates attending public, four-year institutions. In the NSBCS sample (N=695), discriminant function analysis identifies several institutional and student characteristics which are related to black students' educational outcomes. Specifically, students with both high occupational aspirations and high academic performances tend to be male, attend comparatively larger schools, and, to a lesser degree, be relatively well-adjusted upperclassmen. When academic performance is the sole issue, it is positively correlated with institutional quality, but the advantage belongs to black females. Contrary to the suggestions of previous research, black community sentiment did not have relationships with educational outcomes to the extent expected. These results suggest that future models of black educational attainment marry traditional Wisconsin-type measures with institutional and student attributes.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1983 meetings of the American Sociological Association, Detroit, Mich.     

Using educational technology to develop early literacy skills in Sub-Saharan Africa

The research explores the impact of interactive, multimedia literacy software (ABRA) on the reading skills of early elementary students in Kenya. Twelve grade two English teachers and their students from six schools were randomly divided in half: an experimental group (N?=?180) where ABRA was part of their English Language instruction and a control group (N?=?174) where regular instruction was used. After the pre-test student data were collected, a three-day initial training and planning session were held for the experimental teachers on how to use ABRA to teach literacy. Every week each experimental class was bussed to a computer lab with full access to ABRA for one 90-min lesson. Teacher support included the alignment of ABRA lesson plans with the Kenyan English Language norms, weekly web conferences with the trainer, as well as technical and pedagogical help from staff at the lab site. After the 13-week intervention, significant and substantial gains in reading comprehension were found for ABRA students as measured by GRADE, a standardized test of literacy. In addition, ABRA students outperformed their peers in control classes on the core end-of-year subject exams including English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.     

The hiring of academic administrators since the 1972Higher Education Guidelines

With the announcement of the 1972Higher Education Guidelines, colleges and universities were mandated to expand recruitment activities beyond the usual network approach. The intent of theGuidelines was to broaden the search process with the ultimate goal of placing more candidates from underrepresented populations. The purpose of this study was to determine if any change occurred in hiring practices and, particularly, if any change occurred in the hiring of candidates from underrepresented populations for select academic administrative positions in four-year colleges and universities as advertised in theChronicle of Higher Education during the period from 1972 to 1976. It was found that changes in recruitment had taken place but that changes in hiring appeared not to have occurred.     

A Mothers Thoughts on Bullying,Failure and One Special Needs Child

In Hong Kong the secondary school curriculum has long been criticized for its heavy emphasis on academic performance and examination-oriented approaches to subject learning. As a consequence, pupils in Hong Kong only possess knowledge and skills that could carry them through examinations. They lack qualities and dispositions as well as related skills and understandings which will help them to make sense of this complicated society. It is noted that time has come for a reflection of the secondary curriculum and this article argues for the introduction of Personal and Social Education in secondary schools in Hong Kong which can bring relevance, breath, and balance to the curriculum from three aspects – aims of education, change in society, and nature of work.     

Broadband for public libraries: Importance,issues, and research needs

U.S. public libraries provide free public internet services to the communities that they serve, but require robust, high-speed broadband internet connections to continue meeting public demands. The 2008–2009 Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study (PLFTAS) illustrates challenges that public libraries encounter in achieving broadband connectivity and equipment upgrades, and maintaining acceptable levels of services as they meet continually increasing internet-enabled service demands. This article: 1) analyzes the ability of public libraries to serve as a community-based public internet access point in the context of limited funding and access to telecommunications services and equipment; 2) discusses key policy issues that affect the provision of public library internet-enabled services through broadband; 3) provides recommendations for policy makers to include libraries as part of a larger national-level telecommunications policy; and 4) identifies a number of topics and issues that need further investigation and research in this shifting policy environment.     

The calculation of new and improved WISC-III subtest reliability,uniqueness, and general factor characteristic information through the use of data smoothing procedures

Assessment practitioners are often encouraged to adopt an “intelligent” approach to the interpretation of intelligence tests. A fundamental assumption of the “intelligent testing” philosophy is that psychometric test information (e.g., subtest g loadings) should be considered during the interpretive process. The relevant psychometric information is provided in the form of sample-based estimates. Unfortunately, the accuracy of these estimates, and the subsequent qualitative classification of intelligence subtests (e.g., good, fair, poor), are influenced to an unknown degree by sampling error. The current study demonstrated how data smoothing procedures, procedures commonly used in the development of continuous test norms, can be used to provide better estimates of the reliability, uniqueness, and general factor characteristics for the WISC-III subtests. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Populating a Knowledge Base with Local Knowledge for Florida's Ask a Librarian Reference Consortium

This article discusses the potential weakness of location-based questions for chat reference consortia and the actions taken to overcome this weakness by Florida's Ask a Librarian Reference Service. Ask a Librarian is a statewide chat reference consortium where users are able to pose questions to any librarian from 115 participating agencies. In turn, any agency's librarian is able to respond to questions from any user. This article discusses findings from three focus groups with librarians who staff the service. In addition, the article includes a discussion of the efforts to overcome the weakness by both populating and encouraging use of the service's knowledge base.     

Examining the impact of the ABRACADABRA (ABRA) web-based literacy program on primary school students in Hong Kong

The current paper examined the effects of A Balanced Reading Approach for Children Always Designed to Achieve Best Results for All (ABRA), a web-based literacy programme developed by the the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP) at Concordia University, on primary school children in Hong Kong. The participants were 249 Primary 1 students from two low social economic status schools in Hong Kong and the two schools were well-matched on many demographic characteristics. All participating students were pre-tested in the fall and post-tested in the following spring. After adjusting for pretest differences, the treatment school scored significantly higher than the controls on three of the six outcome measures at post-tests: phoneme-grapheme correspondence (ES = +0.22, p < 0.05), phoneme segmentation (ES = +0.46, p < 0.00), and nonsense word fluency (ES = +0.22, p < 0.06). Both treatment and control students scored similarly on word reading, listening comprehension, and initial sound fluency. The outcomes of the study provides some promising evidence of the effects of ABRA on Chinese primary students in Hong Kong, especially on the enhancement of phonological skills, thus leading to early success in the formative years of learning English as a Second Language (ESL). Practical implications are discussed.