Facilitating change in undergraduate STEM instructional practices: An analytic review of the literature

This article reviews current scholarship about how to promote change in instructional practices used in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. The review is based on 191 conceptual and empirical journal articles published between 1995 and 2008. Four broad categories of change strategies were developed to capture core differences within this body of literature: disseminating curriculum and pedagogy, developing reflective teachers, enacting policy, and developing shared vision. STEM education researchers largely write about change in terms of disseminating curriculum and pedagogy. Faculty development researchers largely write about change in terms of developing reflective teachers. Higher education researchers largely write about change in terms of enacting policy. New work often does not build on prior empirical or theoretical work. Although most articles claim success of the change strategy studied, evidence presented to support these claims is typically not strong. For example, only 21% of articles that studied implementation of a change strategy were categorized as presenting strong evidence to support claims of success or failure of the strategy. These analyses suggest that the state of change strategies and the study of change strategies are weak, and that research communities that study and enact change are largely isolated from one‐another. In spite of the weak state of the literature, some conclusions related to the design of change strategies can be drawn from this review. Two commonly used change strategies are clearly not effective: developing and testing “best practice” curricular materials and then making these materials available to other faculty and “top‐down” policy‐making meant to influence instructional practices. Effective change strategies: are aligned with or seek to change the beliefs of the individuals involved; involve long‐term interventions, lasting at least one semester; require understanding a college or university as a complex system and designing a strategy that is compatible with this system. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 952–984, 2011     

Managing and mobilising talent in Malaysia: issues,challenges and policy implications for Malaysian universities

ABSTRACT

The future of Malaysia as a high-income and competitive nation largely depends on its pool of highly skilled human capital. Hence, the issue of human capital development has taken centre stage in numerous reform agendas of Malaysia. This paper seeks to provide examples of policy initiatives aimed at facilitating the management of highly educated talent in Malaysia. It subsequently considers the role of higher education institutions, particularly the universities, as attractors, educators and retainers of intellectuals, in shaping talent. In conclusion, we argue that more significant underlying shortcomings of talent development are derived from the still transitional nature of the reforms and incomplete structural changes occurring in the national system, and that a change in mindset is the first necessary step towards nurturing and developing a human resource talent pool.     

Opening Up Alternatives to Dominant Ideological Constructions of English Language Teaching in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the impact of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) on the way English language teaching (ELT) is currently understood and practised in Malaysia. It presents a critical discourse analysis of newspaper texts in order to show how CEFR represents a form of Western-imposed globalisation that conflicts with local cultures and values. We argue that the newspapers construct a dominant discourse that promotes a vision of society that accords with CEFR–ELT implementation. Our aim is to contribute to the development of a counter-discourse that challenges the broader world-view underpinning ELT.     

A comparative study of conventional and supercritical fluid extraction methods for the recovery of secondary metabolites from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Syzygium campanulatum</Emphasis> Korth

Syzygium campanulatum Korth is a plant, which is a rich source of secondary metabolites (especially flavanones, chalcone, and triterpenoids). In our present study, three conventional solvent extraction (CSE) techniques and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) techniques were performed to achieve a maximum recovery of two flavanones, chalcone, and two triterpenoids from S. campanulatum leaves. Furthermore, a Box-Behnken design was constructed for the SFE technique using pressure, temperature, and particle size as independent variables, and yields of crude extract, individual and total secondary metabolites as the dependent variables. In the CSE procedure, twenty extracts were produced using ten different solvents and three techniques (maceration, soxhletion, and reflux). An enriched extract of five secondary metabolites was collected using n-hexane:methanol (1:1) soxhletion. Using food-grade ethanol as a modifier, the SFE methods produced a higher recovery (25.5%?84.9%) of selected secondary metabolites as compared to the CSE techniques (0.92%?66.00%).     

Multiple linear regression: Identify potential health care stocks for investments using out-of-sample predictions

College-level statistics courses emphasize the use of the coefficient of determination, R-squared, in evaluating a linear regression model: higher R-squared is better. This often gives students an impression that higher R-squared implies better predictability since textbooks tend to use sample data to support the theory and students rarely have an opportunity to work on real data. In this paper, health care stocks are used as predictors and the result demonstrates that high R-squared does not necessarily mean high predictability and that multiple linear regression can be used in the study of data behavior. In particular, by learning the pattern of the near and far out-of-sample-prediction errors for different time periods throughout a dataset, the near out-of-sample prediction errors can be used to control the prediction errors and identify a subset of predictors that can well reflect the trend of S&P 500.     

Yoga at the Public Library: An Exploratory Survey of Canadian and American Librarians

Results of a 2017 survey of 983 public librarians in the U.S. and Canada show that libraries increasingly provide opportunities for both youth and adults to practice yoga at the library. This article examines how these public library yoga programs work and what impacts they have. Most libraries have limited means to assess the impact of these programs. Nonetheless, over 80% of responding librarians said participation in yoga programs had met or exceeded their expectations, and 60% said yoga programs have brought new users into their libraries. These results suggest that yoga programs in public libraries are having significant effects.     

‘A process where we’re all at the table’: community archives challenging dominant modes of archival practice

Community archives have compelled shifts in dominant archival management practices to reflect community agency and values. To analyse these shifts, we ask: In what ways do community archives and their staff challenge traditional archival modes of practice? Do community archives work within or against dominant frameworks for institutional sustainability? Do community archives challenge or replicate dominant custody practices? Based on semi-structured interviews with 17 founders, staff and volunteers at 12 Southern California community archives, this research examines the diverse models of practice utilised by community archives practitioners that diverge from and challenge standard practices in the field. By addressing these questions, our research uncovers a variety of models of practice employed by communities in Southern California to autonomously create and sustain their archives.     

Serial pattern learning by rats: Transfer of a formally defined stimulus relationship and the significance of nonreinforcement

Two experiments with rats tested independent predictions from cognitive theories of serial pattern learning. The animals learned to anticipate, as measured by running times in a straight alley, different quantities of food pellets organized into formally defined, five-element serial patterns. In Experiment 1, for some animals the patterns were all formally structured according to a monotonic “less than” relationship in which any quantity was always less than its predecessor. For others, no consistent formal rule was applied. Results of a transfer test with a new pattern showed positive transfer if the formal structure of the new pattern was identical to that used initially, but negative transfer if the new pattern was formally different. In Experiment 2, two groups learned the monotonic patterns 18-10-6-3-1 or 18-10-6-3-0 food pellets, while two others learned the nonmonotonic patterns 18-3-6-10-1 or 10-3-6-10-0 food pellets. We asked if the difference in value of the terminal element, 1 or 0 food pellets, would affect the facility with which the patterns were learned. The results showed that learning rate and the qualitative response to the elements of the monotonie and nonmonotonic patterns were independent of the value of the terminal element. Both experiments lend additional support to the utility of using cognitive models of human serial-pattern learning for an analysis of the sequential behavior of nonhuman animals.     

An e-learning environment embedded with sign language videos: research into its usability and the academic performance and learning patterns of deaf students

Educational technology research and development - This research investigates the usability of an e-learning environment that is embedded with sign language videos and deaf students’ related...