Teaching efficacy beliefs of national board certified physical educators

The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards offers a voluntary advanced certification for K-12 teachers. The majority of teachers who pursue this professional development program live in the USA, although there are National Board Certified teachers across the globe. This study examined National Board Certified Physical Education Teachers’ (NBCPETs) teaching efficacy beliefs. In total, 334 NBCPET participants completed a demographic questionnaire and survey that included the Teacher Efficacy Scale. From that group, 65 were randomly selected and interviewed. Participants described perceptions of their abilities to influence learning and perceptions of how their teaching effectiveness compared to non-board certified physical educators. Teacher Efficacy Scale scores of respondents revealed strong Personal Teaching Efficacy (PTE), and their PTE scores were higher than their General Teaching Efficacy scores. Most NBCPETs expressed confidence in their abilities to influence student learning. Emerging themes related to their perceptions about their own teaching success were as follows: differentiated instruction, persistence, connection with and care for students, and work in a content area conducive to influencing students. While comparing their own teaching effectiveness with non-NBCPETs, most participants articulated a propensity to reflect on practice, a deeper understanding of and commitment to teaching effectiveness, and greater motivation to excel.     

Know your RO from your AE? Learning styles in practice

In this article, Kolb's cycle of learning is put forward as a useful theory to consult when planning information literacy or other teaching sessions. The learning cycle is contextualised and Kolb's and other theories are briefly explored. The author then considers how learning style theories can be utilised when planning teaching and learning activities. The use of planning tools is advocated and ideas for sessions are suggested. HS.     

A Matter of Regionalism: Remembering Brandon Teena and Willa Cather at the Nebraska History Museum

In 2010–2011, the Nebraska History Museum featured two temporary exhibits: “We the People: the Nebraskan Viewpoint” and “Willa Cather: A Matter of Appearances.” We argue the public memories of Brandon Teena and Willa Cather contained in the exhibits are distanced from regional politics when articulated alongside the nostalgic regionalist rhetoric of the Nebraska History Museum. Specifically, both exhibits not only discipline the memory of trans* performance within problematic material and symbolic contexts, but also place these memories within a rhetoric of regional optimism that has critical consequences for restricting counter-public formation. In performing this reading, the essay argues that critical regionalism has the potential to offer a nuanced perspective on the geopolitical dimensions of memory places by exploring understandings of the relationship between “local” and “national” commemoration at these sites.     

Human relations: A challenge to the teacher of speech

This essay illustrates some of the day‐to‐day tasks that an ombudsman performs and notes the centrality of speech communication to their resolution.     

DIF Testing With an Empirical-Histogram Approximation of the Latent Density for Each Group

This research introduces, illustrates, and tests a variation of IRT-LR-DIF, called EH-DIF-2, in which the latent density for each group is estimated simultaneously with the item parameters as an empirical histogram (EH). IRT-LR-DIF is used to evaluate the degree to which items have different measurement properties for one group of people versus another, irrespective of mean differences on the construct. Usually, the latent distribution is presumed normal for both groups, but results are biased if this assumption is violated. Simulations show that if the latent densities are nonnormal, Type I error and estimates of the item parameters and focal-group mean and SD are more accurate using EH-DIF-2 than standard methods. Free software for carrying out EH-DIF-2 is available on request.     

International relations and the spread of information worldwide

The world is too small to function within borders. Librarians have recognized the need for mutual respect and co-operation between nations, and the importance of their role in achieving this end. IFLA represents the interests of librarianship and has established various core programs that address common concerns. Aspects of international co-operation include the needs for preservation of materials, resource sharing through international networks, international telecommunications, librarian exchanges and materials exchanges. Obstacles to technology, finances and cultural differences must be overcome. Developed nations must assume an open and helpful attitude toward sharing technology with underdeveloped nations so that they can begin to thrive, standards of living improve, and economic markets open. Librarians can effect major changes in the way information is transmitted across borders, thereby shaping information policy and the resulting world order.     

The Effect of Instructor's Use of Audio E-mail Messages on Student Participation in and Perceptions of Online Learning: A preliminary case study

The researchers, in the context of LEAD 713, a graduate-level online course at Regent University, consider whether the systematic use of instructor-initiated audio e-mails (as a supplement to regular textual forms of communication) will increase students' participation in group discussion and result in more favorable student perceptions of student/faculty relationships and quality of group discussion, a greater sense or feeling of online community, and a higher degree of satisfaction with the overall learning experience. The results as a whole appear to challenge the researchers' initial assumptions. Benefits of audio e-mails are discussed and future research designs are suggested.     

A comparative study on real lab and simulation lab in communication engineering from students’ perspectives

Over the years, rapid development in computer technology has engendered simulation-based laboratory (lab) in addition to the traditional hands-on (physical) lab. Many higher education institutions adopt simulation lab, replacing some existing physical lab experiments. The creation of new systems for conducting engineering lab activities has raised concerns among educators on the merits and shortcomings of both physical and simulation labs; at the same time, many arguments have been raised on the differences of both labs. Investigating the effectiveness of both labs is complicated, as there are multiple factors that should be considered. In view of this challenge, a study on students’ perspectives on their experience related to key aspects on engineering laboratory exercise was conducted. In this study, the Visual Auditory Read and Kinetic model was utilised to measure the students’ cognitive styles. The investigation was done through a survey among participants from Multimedia University, Malaysia. The findings revealed that there are significant differences for most of the aspects in physical and simulation labs.