An Academic Librarian's Search for Meaning: A Survey of Lifelong Learning in Library Literature

Lifelong learning is not a new term; many colleges and universities in the United States have lifelong learning programs or departments, such as the Lifelong Learning College at the University of Indianapolis, or an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. At one Midwestern University, lifelong learning is part of the University mission statement, which spurred the creation of a new position in the Library—Lifelong Learning Librarian. Discussions with the Dean of the Library and colleagues, however, indicated that there was no consensus on campus as to what lifelong learning means for the University's students. The author conducted an analysis of 228 citations from a library literature database and a content analysis of 137 PDFs from that set in order to discover how library professionals use the term lifelong learning in published literature. Results indicate two potential paths for developing the new librarian position on campus.     

Educating Multiples in the Classroom: Together or Separate?

The drastic increase in the birthrate of twins and multiples makes the education of these children an important issue for parents and educators. Many educators and parents disagree on whether it is better for these children to be educated in the same classroom or apart. After conducting research, one can analyze the feelings of parents and educators on the education of twins and multiples. In addition to research, additional interviews were also analyzed to assess the feelings of twins and multiples on being educated together or apart from one’s siblings. The children interviewed offered the most insight into the implications involved in separating twins and multiples in the classroom versus keeping them in the same classroom. While both separation and keeping children together has its pros and cons, one can conclude that the children involved should have the most say in their own education. Twins and multiples themselves may be the best source of information when rendering a decision about whether or not to educate them in the same classroom.     

The National Survey of Student Engagement: A university-level analysis

The National Survey of Student Engagement has been administered to freshmen and seniors at colleges and universities across the USA and Canada, since the spring of 2000, to gather information about the nature and the quality of their education. After each administration, participating schools are provided with an institutional report, including results for five benchmarks of effective educational practice. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of these benchmark scores at a particular university. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the benchmarks are not valid indicators of students’ perceptions at this school. Discussion regarding uses of national data collections for individual institutions is provided.

     

Neurodevelopmental Effects of Early Deprivation in Postinstitutionalized Children

The neurodevelopmental sequelae of early deprivation were examined by testing ( N  =   132) 8- and 9-year-old children who had endured prolonged versus brief institutionalized rearing or rearing in the natal family. Behavioral tasks included measures that permit inferences about underlying neural circuitry. Children raised in institutionalized settings showed neuropsychological deficits on tests of visual memory and attention, as well as visually mediated learning and inhibitory control. Yet, these children performed at developmentally appropriate levels on similar tests where auditory processing was also involved and on tests assessing executive processes such as rule acquisition and planning. These findings suggest that specific aspects of brain-behavioral circuitry may be particularly vulnerable to postnatal experience.     

Multimedia learning and individual differences: Mediating the effects of working memory capacity with segmentation

Research in multimedia learning lacks an emphasis on individual difference variables, such as working memory capacity (WMC). The effects of WMC and the segmentation of multimedia instruction were examined by assessing the recall and application of low (n=66) and high (n=67) working memory capacity students randomly assigned to either a segmented instruction (SI) or non-segmented instruction (NSI) version of a multimedia tutorial on historical inquiry. WMC was found to have a significant, positive effect on participants' recall and application scores; however, the use of segmentation mediated the effects of WMC to allow learners with lower WMC to recall and apply equal to those with higher WMC.     

Little room for capacitation: rethinking Bourdieu on pedagogy as symbolic violence

In Bourdieu’s early work on education, he declares that ‘All pedagogic action (PA) is objectively symbolic violence insofar as it is the imposition of a cultural arbitrary by an arbitrary power’. This article rethinks Bourdieu’s proposition. It questions whether all PA is symbolic violence and the very notion of a cultural arbitrary upon which this view is based. For Bourdieu, culture is framed narrowly in terms of class, and pedagogy a mechanism by which it is reproduced. As such, it functions as a form of violence having much in common with Foucault’s notion of discipline. Unlike Foucault, however, who also acknowledges the enabling potential of power as a technology of the self, Bourdieu has no such equivalent. His concept of PA leaves little room for capacitation wherein, rather than a cultural arbitrary, certain skills can be seen to have an inherent use value equipping individuals with capacities that are a means for social transformation.     

Effect of a Mindful Breathing Intervention on Community College Students’ Writing Apprehension and Writing Performance

Mindful breathing has been linked to changes in physiology, but we took the practice further by examining whether a mindfulness breathing intervention, a three-minute breathing exercise marked by focused attention on the sensations of breath, affected writing anxiety, and writing performance measures. In addition, we examined mindful breathing as an intervention for community college students—some of the most at risk and underprepared students in higher education in the United States. We compared Daly Miller Writing Apprehension surveys and narrative writing samples from 277 students enrolled in a freshman composition course at a southeastern community college, half of the class sections were randomly assigned to practice a mindful-breathing technique at the beginning of class sessions. Students in the class sections that practiced mindful-breathing group experienced a statistically significant decrease in writing apprehension and mechanical error scores from pre- to post-test when compared to students in the comparison class sections.     

Family Feedback and Programmatic Decision-Making: Responsiveness of Early Childhood Administrators

Although early childhood programs are encouraged to facilitate meaningful home-school collaboration, use of family feedback to inform programmatic decisions may be underutilized in practice. In a birth-five childcare program in the Northeastern United States, families rated level of satisfaction with and shared open-ended comments on eight aspects of the program anticipated to be observed at arrival/dismissal (e.g., class environment, teacher–teacher interactions, teacher–child interactions, teacher–family interactions) in an anonymous end-of-year survey (70% response rate). Program administrators then participated in a 90-min focus group to discuss aggregated findings. Content analysis revealed noteworthy insights regarding initial reactions and proposed recommendations. The program director noted which proposed changes were implemented several months later. Results and implications are discussed, including the importance of birth-five professionals seeking anonymous feedback from families, allotting dedicated time to reflect on and address concerns, and notifying families of specifically how their input is being used to inform programmatic improvements.     

The effects of protease supplementation on skeletal muscle function and DOMS following downhill running

Protease supplementation has been shown to attenuate soft tissue injury resulting from intense exercise. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of protease supplementation on muscle soreness and contractile performance after downhill running. Ten matched pairs of male participants ran at a -10% grade for 30 min at 80% of their predicted maximal heart rate. The participants consumed two protease tablets (325 mg pancreatic enzymes, 75 mg trypsin, 50 mg papain, 50 mg bromelain, 10 mg amylase, 10 mg lipase, 10 mg lysozyme, 2 mg chymotrypisn) or a placebo four times a day beginning 1 day before exercise and lasting a total of 4 days. The participants were evaluated for perceived muscle soreness of the front and back of the dominant leg, pressure pain threshold by dolorimetry of the anterior medial, anterior lateral, posterior medial and posterior lateral quadrants of the thigh, and knee extension/flexion torque and power. The experimental group demonstrated superior recovery of contractile function and diminished effects of delayed-onset muscle soreness after downhill running when compared with the placebo group. Our results indicate that protease supplementation may attenuate muscle soreness after downhill running. Protease supplementation may also facilitate muscle healing and allow for faster restoration of contractile function after intense exercise.     

Alternative journal impact factors in open access publishing

Very little research has been conducted to investigate new journal impact factors that have emerged to rank open access (OA) journals as an alternative to the Journal Citation Reports and SCImago Journal & Country Rank. The few existing studies have found these metrics misleading. Our study examined the criteria used by these impact factors to see whether they are fake metrics or represent early efforts for developing new standards to advance journal evaluations. We analysed as many available alternative impact factors as possible and discovered that their methodologies were either unreproducible or based on unreliable or opaque criteria. We hope this study will help shed light on the ecosystem of OA publishing and identify both possibly unprofessional behaviours and potential improvements in bibliometric algorithms.