Student perceptions of information literacy skills and curriculum before and after completing a research assignment

Library instruction often involves one-shot sessions where librarians interact with students for a short period of time and are then left wondering what the students thought of the session and if students perceive the session as helpful for their course work. Using two surveys to gather data, this study compared student perceptions of a redesigned library curriculum and of their own information literacy skills immediately after attending a library workshop and six weeks later after completing a research paper. The findings indicate that the library workshop is meeting student needs and has a lasting effect. Additionally, the researchers found that students were better able to articulate gaps in their own knowledge after having the opportunity to apply their skills to a research assignment. The researchers recommend that librarians using surveys to inform one-shot curricular changes gather data after students have applied the skills and knowledge gained in the instruction session.     

Peabody bimonthly booknotes

Behind the Iron Curtain. Joseph S. Roucek and Kenneth V. Lottich. (Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, 1964. Pp. 631. $8.95.)

Year‐Round Education. Clarence A. Schoenfield and Neil Schmitz. (Madison, Wisconsin: Dembar Educational Research Services, 1964. Pp. 111. $3.00, paper.)

The University of Kentucky: The Maturing Years. Charles Gano Talbert. (Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press, 1965. Pp. 208. $5.00.)

Montessori for Parents. Dorothy Canfield Fisher. (Cambridge, Mass.: Robert Bentley, Inc., 1965. Pp. 240. $5.95.)

The Montessori Manual for Teachers and Parents. Dorothy Canfield Fisher. (Cambridge, Mass.: Robert Bentley, Inc., 1965. Pp. 126. $5.00.)

The Montessori Elementary Material. Maria Montessori. (Cambridge, Mass.: Robert Bentley, Inc., 1964. Pp. 464. $8.50.)

The Montessori Method. Maria Montessori. (Cambridge, Mass.: Robert Bentley, Inc., 1964. Pp. 377. $6.50.)

Spontaneous Activity in Education. Maria Montessori. (Cambridge, Mass.: Robert Bentley, Inc., 1964. Pp. 355. $6.50.)

The Concepts of Over‐and‐Underachievement. Robert L. Thorndike. (New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1963. Pp. 79. $3.25.)

Handbook of Research on Teaching. N. S. Gage, editor. (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1963. Pp. 1218. $15.00.)     

How infants use vision for grasping objects

The role of vision was examined as infants prepared to grasp horizontally and vertically oriented rods. Hand orientation was measured prior to contact to determine if infants differentially oriented their hands relative to the object's orientation. Infants reached for rods under different lighting conditions. Three experiments are reported in which (1) sight of the hand was removed (N = 12), (2) sight of the object was removed near the end of the reach (N = 40, including 10 adults), and (3) sight of the object was removed prior to reach onset (N = 9). Infants differentially oriented their hand to a similar extent regardless of lighting condition and similar to control conditions in which they could see the rod and hand throughout the reach. In preparation for reaching, infants may use the current sight of the object's orientation, or the memory of it, to orient the hand for grasping; sight of the hand had no effect on hand orientation.     

Bases of competence: an instrument for self and institutional assessment

The Bases of Competence model provides a general framework for learner‐centred skill development and programme‐focused outcomes assessment. Based on previous research, the Bases of Competence model describes 17 skills and four base competencies important to graduates to achieve high performance in the workplace. Taking this work from research to relevant educational application as a tool for student self‐assessment and institutional outcomes assessment is the focus of this paper. Results from a multi‐year, multi‐course assessment initiative indicate that students rate themselves stronger in the foundation base competencies of Communicating and Managing Self, and weaker in more complex competencies of Managing People and Tasks and Mobilising Innovation and Change. Comparisons of skill confidence within each base competence as well as between year, student level, gender and beginning versus end of semester are presented as well. These results are discussed and suggestions made for programme design.     

Developmental changes in auditory temporal perception

Infants, preschoolers, and adults were tested to determine the shortest time interval at which they would respond to the precedence effect--an auditory phenomenon produced by presenting the same sound through 2 loudspeakers with the input to 1 loudspeaker delayed relative to the other. The delayed sound is not localized at its source until time delays between onsets are lengthened beyond a critical limit, or threshold. Thresholds for the precedence effect were defined as the delay interval below which listeners respond only to the leading loudspeaker and above which they respond to both loudspeakers. Threshold estimates were determined for adults and preschoolers with an ascending and descending series, followed by a method of constant stimuli series. Infants were trained to respond to the delayed sound using a visually reinforced headturning procedure. For clicks, preschoolers' and adults' thresholds were around 12 msec, while 6-month-olds stopped responding to the delayed sound around 25 msec. A similar developmental difference in threshold was expressed between preschoolers and adults for a more complex sound, with younger subjects hearing the precedence effect over a longer time delay.     

THE IMPACT OF HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ON THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS

Anchored in national longitudinal data analyzed through hierarchical linear and non-linear modeling, this study found that African-American students have a similar probability of obtaining a BA degree whether they attended a historically Black college or university (HBCU) or a historically White college or university (HWCU). Among African-Americans, females are more likely to obtain a baccalaureate degree than males. Especially given that HBCUs are significantly underfunded relative to HWCUs, the findings of this study lend support to the proposition that HBCUs contribute significantly to higher education in this country and merit strong support from both the public and private sectors. This paper was presented at the American Education Research Association Conference in April 2005.     

Methodological individualism,educational administration,and leadership

There are two major categories of explanation for organisational performance: structural and individual. With the shift away from systems-theoretic accounts that occurred in the 1980s, structural explanations have been replaced increasingly by the individualism of leadership and leader-centric explanations, especially when it comes to schools. In this paper, we argue that leader-centric accounts involve a commitment to methodological individualism and that there are four serious problems with this view. First, it is logically difficult to describe individual actions without recourse to structures. Second, methodological individualism fosters a centralised mindset inviting the attribution of leadership where none may exist. Third, evidence for distributed cognition compromises leader-centrism. And fourth, administrative tasks themselves are often highly structured. In response to these problems, we urge a more balanced approach to organisational functioning, one that involves both structures and individuals.     

Answer Changing on Multiple-Choice Test Items Among Eighth-Grade Readers

This study was done to examine the effect of answer changing on multiple-choice test performance among good and poor readers in the eighth grade. Although the gains of poor readers were higher than those of good readers, all subjects profited significantly from changing their answers on items. For all subjects, when a single response was changed, there was a two-to-one chance that the new response would raise rather than lower the final score. Gains from answer changing on test items were slightly higher for poor readers as a group than were those for good readers. However, the result was determined not to be significant. More important, this hypothesis is strengthened by the fact that all subjects profited from answer changing. Therefore, the results were interpreted as lending support to the notion that answer-changing response among young examinees should be encouraged if there is a reasonable doubt about their “first impression.”