The Perspectives of Women and Their Health-Care Providers Regarding Using an ECA to Support Mode of Birth Decisions

This study used focus groups to assess the feasibility and acceptability of adapting an Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA) to support decision-making about mode of birth after previous cesarean. Twelve women with previous cesareans, and eight prenatal providers at an academic, tertiary-care medical center, viewed a prototype ECA and were asked to share feedback on the potential role in helping women prepare for decision-making. Both groups felt that although it was somewhat “robot-like,” the ECA could provide easy access to information for patients and could augment the visit with providers. Future work is needed to improve ECA visual appeal and clarify the role and timing for utilization of decision aids using ECA technology to enhance the shared decision-making process.     

Qualities of classroom observation systems

ABSTRACT

Observation systems are increasingly used around the world for a variety of purposes; 2 critical purposes are to understand and to improve teaching. As observation systems differ considerably, individuals must decide what observation system to use. But the field does not have a common specification of an observation system, nor does it have systematic ways of thinking about how observation systems are similar and different. Given this reality and the renewed global interest in observation systems, this article first defines the observation system concept and then presents a framework through which to understand, categorize, and compare observation systems. We apply the framework to 4 well-known observation systems that vary in important ways. The article concludes with a discussion of the results of the application of the framework and some important implications of those findings.     

From Distance Education to Online Learning: Practical Approaches to Information Literacy Instruction and Collaborative Learning in Online Environments

The increasingly ubiquitous nature of online learning has necessarily changed pedagogical approaches in the 21st century. This article will present an overview of the evolution of distance learning with a particular emphasis on current models and emerging methods of instruction for online learners. The authors detail how various learning management systems and tools as well as online learning objects can be used as mechanisms for creating a platform for student investment and ownership in the learning process. Additional discussion will focus on how these methods and approaches can enhance teaching, training, and peer collaboration within the library workplace.     

Diagnostic Utility of the Bannatyne WISC‐III Pattern

Regrouping Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children‐Third Edition (WISC‐III) subtests into Bannatyne's spatial, conceptual, and sequential patterns has been thought by many to identify children with learning disabilities (LD). This study investigated the prevalence and diagnostic utility of WISC‐III Bannatyne patterns by comparing 1,302 children with LD to 2,158 children in the WISC‐III normative sample. Further analysis was conducted on a subsample of students with specific reading disabilities. Results indicated that the presence of the Bannatyne WISC‐III pattern would not lead to decisions that are useful in differentiating children with LD from children without LD. For example, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, measured by the area under the curve (AUC), indicated that the Bannatyne WISC‐III pattern exhibited low diagnostic utility (AUC = 0.54–0.55). Due to its inaccuracy, use of the Bannatyne WISC‐III pattern is not recommended.     

Expressing community through freedom market and visual connections

ABSTRACT

Building on a long-term university/community research partnership, this article examines how different ways of conceptualizing, interpreting, and producing murals impacted how an urban community saw itself. Using a participatory action research design, university researchers worked alongside community researchers to ethnographically document the transformation. Findings indicate that the mural project constructed pathways for building relationships and community in ways that made neighborhood transformation possible. The mural project embodied this transformative goal by providing a space where people gathered with shared attention to talk and to envision how their lives and their community could be different.     

Revealing and Telling: the socialisation of attention in learning to read and write

Becoming literate involves the socialisation of attention. ‘Revealing’ and ‘telling’ are two modes of assistance to such socialisation. Revealing, as exemplified in one programme, Reading Recovery, can be especially helpful for young learners. But for older students, conflicts between primary and secondary socialisation can be addressed better by more explicit telling. For that purpose, questions about the most useful metalanguage become important.