Integrating Information Literacy and Evidence-Based Medicine Content within a New School of Medicine Curriculum: Process and Outcome

This column describes a process for integrating information literacy (IL) and evidence-based medicine (EBM) content within a new school of medicine curriculum. The project was a collaborative effort among health sciences librarians, curriculum deans, directors, and faculty. The health sciences librarians became members of the curriculum committees, developed a successful proposal for IL and EBM content within the curriculum, and were invited to become course instructors for Analytics in Medicine. As course instructors, the librarians worked with the other faculty instructors to design and deliver active learning class sessions based on a flipped classroom approach using a proprietary Information Mastery curriculum. Results of this collaboration may add to the knowledge base of attitudes and skills needed to practice as full faculty partners in curricular design and instruction.     

Developing Young Thinkers: An intervention aimed to enhance children's thinking skills

It is increasingly popular to ‘teach’ thinking skills in schools. A diverse variety of programmes exist to support practitioners in this task, and some research has been gathered on the effectiveness of individual approaches. However, the difficulties when assessing the development of thinking skills are widely documented. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of teaching thinking skills explicitly to 11/12-year olds by infusing thinking skills into the curriculum (i.e., teaching thinking skills simultaneously with subject content). There were three intervention conditions: collaborative, individual and control. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated with a combination of standardised and study-specific pre- and post-tests. Results demonstrated statistically significant gains for both the individual and collaborative learning conditions in a range of thinking skills. The greatest increase in performance was seen in the collaborative learning condition. Educational implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

The Effects of Writing Workshop on Abilities of First Grade Students to Become Confident and Independent Writers

Writing Workshop is an interactive approach to teaching writing as students learn and practice the importance of rehearsal, drafting/revising, and editing their pieces of writing (Calkins, 1986; Graves, 1983). This study implemented a mixed methodology design incorporating qualitative and quantitative analysis (Mills, 2007) by administering a pre survey to each child before he/she began the Writing Workshop and a post survey after the intervention; systematic observational research as a checklist (Glanz, 2003) to record observed practices of students during peer revising conferences; portfolios to assess student writing and graded via a rubric; and lastly interview of students regarding confidence and ability in writing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the writing processes of drafting/revising and editing to support first grade students to become independent writers.     

Assessing the impact of information services in a regionalized health-care organization

Objectives: Assessment of the usage of medical library services before and after the implementation of several new services, as well as assessment of the clinical impact of the information provided by the medical library. Methods: A sample of employees, residents and physicians were surveyed using a stratified, random selection process in two surveys 4 years apart. The response rate for the first survey was 52% and the response rate for the second survey was 35.2%. Results: Differences in usage included increased overall use of the librarians and library services, decreased use of the Internet as a source of information, and direct and indirect impacts upon patient care. Information needs of respondents also increased to where 65% of employees and 94% of physicians require information at least once a week. Patient management was the main reason for needing information. The top two specific uses were to find out about a condition and determine a treatment plan. Conclusions: These findings parallel some of the findings of other researchers, and contradict the findings of others. Possible explanations for these findings and implications for future research are discussed.     

Measuring the value and impact of health library and information services: past reflections, future possibilities

Objectives: To summarize the context, history and results of research studies conducted on the value and impact of health library and information services by the author since 1975 and to use this as a basis for examining ongoing developments related to evaluation research. To provide a comprehensive bibliography of library value and impact studies. Methods: Literature review and background based on personal involvement in the studies under discussion. Results: The author's studies demonstrate an ongoing evolution of value and impact studies since the mid‐1970s. In health sciences libraries, the approach taken to measuring value and impact has been strongly influenced by the type of research being conducted in the health sciences field as a whole. As a result, health sciences library researchers have become early adopters of methods that incorporate outcome and impact measures and rigorous research designs, and the concept of evidence‐based library and information practice. The paper recommends that a range of research approaches from various disciplines be used to guide future evaluation research. Conclusions: Value and impact studies will continue to be important resources for evidence‐based practice as health information professionals deal with evolving user needs and new ways of delivering information to a variety of audiences.     

Context Effects on Students’ Gains in Reading Comprehension in Reading First Schools in Michigan

Reading First, Part B of Title 1 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, provides support for states with approved programs to improve the reading achievement of early elementary students in high poverty, chronically low achieving schools. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which the Reading First program in the state of Michigan is making progress in meeting this goal after five years of implementation. The study design makes use of the reading comprehension achievement test results for cohorts of students who entered the program in different years and who took the test two or three times while attending a Reading First school in Michigan between 2002 and 2006. The results indicate that overall the students showed significant gains in reading comprehension; further, students with three years in Reading First tended to score higher than those with two years in Reading First. However, students whose socio-demographic characteristics place them at an educational disadvantage (e.g., eligibility for subsidized lunch) made relatively modest gains in reading comprehension. In addition, any negative effects attributable to such student characteristics are compounded when the student body in the school is composed of a large percentage of students with the same characteristic. These results suggest that while a successful program overall, Reading First is not comprehensive enough to counteract the socio-demographic problems of extremely high poverty schools.