Looking Far And Looking Near: Student Insights On History,Language, And Power

ABSTRACT

Three community college students participated in a collaborative student/professor research project to experiment with new ideas in teaching. Under the direction of the instructor, the students studied the South African riots in Soweto, 1976, and how issues of language and power were connected to this event. This investigative process began with video information to introduce students to the key issues, and was then followed by student research and discussion. The students, who were particularly motivated to understand the conflict by relating it to their own linguistic circumstances, worked individually and together to find articles and video sources to support their personal interests and ideas. By reflecting on their experiences and perceptions about language and communication, students were able to become engaged in an unfamiliar historical topic, discover relevant academic information, evaluate sources, and formulate insightful responses.     

An Evaluation of Latent Growth Models for Propensity Score Matched Groups

Because random assignment is not possible in observational studies, estimates of treatment effects might be biased due to selection on observable and unobservable variables. To strengthen causal inference in longitudinal observational studies of multiple treatments, we present 4 latent growth models for propensity score matched groups, and evaluate their performance with a Monte Carlo simulation study. We found that the 4 models performed similarly with respect to model fit, bias of parameter estimates, Type I error, and power to test the treatment effect. To demonstrate a multigroup latent growth model with dummy treatment indicators, we estimated the effect of students changing schools during elementary school years on their reading and mathematics achievement, using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort.     

Using multiple methods to investigate eleven-year-olds’ experiences of preparing for a high-stakes public examination in Trinidad and Tobago

This study was designed to uncover and evaluate unintended and indirect consequences of using the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) in Trinidad and Tobago for high-stakes selection and placement. A major argument is that the test-taker is central to consequences, both intended and unintended. Data were obtained from eleven-year-olds preparing and taking the examination using multiple qualitative methods, which privilege agency and personal and social consciousness. Methods capturing the test-takers’ experience included diaries, focus groups, drawings, photovoice, and photo-elicitation. The findings were summarised by a theory of action and reported in integrated themes. Test preparation was mostly drill and practice. Both test preparation and test-taking were emotion-eliciting events requiring significant investment in positive social relationships to buffer negative impact. The costs and impact of early high-stakes examinations in Trinidad and Tobago might be higher than anticipated.     

Students' perceptions on the influence of institutional evaluation on universities

There are many studies about the experiences of higher education students, but few analyse their representations of the governance and the management of their institutions. Our study will describe, analyse and compare students' representations of institutional evaluation at three institutions in Portugal and Brazil. Our results, based on an open questionnaire which sought to collect students' views on institutional evaluation, show that students' views are neither homogeneous nor do they simply reproduce the dominant external perspectives on the subject. A significant amount of students thought that evaluation is a legitimate exercise, resulting from a political decision, which is useful to improve the quality of universities and the relationship between students and academic staff. Some students also recognize that evaluation will lead to institutional comparisons, functioning as a mechanism of control, regulation, monitoring, and possibly of standardization. It is also noted to be ‘an impossibility’, since it can never comprehend the existing diversity of institutional performance.     

‘Question Moments’: A Rolling Programme of Question Opportunities in Classroom Science

This naturalistic study integrates specific ‘question moments’ into lesson plans to increase pupils’ classroom interactions. A range of tools explored students’ ideas by providing students with opportunities to ask and write questions. Their oral and written outcomes provide data on individual and group misunderstandings. Changes to the schedule of lessons were introduced to explore these questions and address disparities. Flexible lesson planning over 14 lessons across a 4-week period of high school chemistry accommodated students’ contributions and increased student participation, promoted inquiring and individualised teaching, with each teaching strategy feeding forward into the next.     

Dynamic Transition Patterns in Acculturation Among Hispanic Adolescents

Acculturation consists of multiple domains (i.e., cultural practices, identifications, and values). However, less is known about how acculturation processes influence each other across multiple domains of acculturation. This study was designed to investigate transition patterns of acculturative processes within and across domains in a sample of 302 recent-immigrant Hispanic adolescents, M_age (SD) = 14.51 years (0.88) at baseline; male = 53%). Adolescents were assessed six times over a 3-year period. Latent profile analyses identified two profiles (high [or increasing] vs. low) for each domain at each timepoint. We found largely stable transition patterns in each domain over six timepoints. Importantly, sequential associations among profiles in acculturation domains were also detected. Implication for acculturation theory and research are discussed.     

The Health Information Literacy Research Project

Objectives:

This research studied hospital administrators'' and hospital-based health care providers'' (collectively, the target group) perceived value of consumer health information resources and of librarians'' roles in promoting health information literacy in their institutions.

Methods:

A web-based needs survey was developed and administered to hospital administrators and health care providers. Multiple health information literacy curricula were developed. One was pilot-tested by nine hospital libraries in the United States and Canada. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to evaluate the curriculum and its impact on the target group.

Results:

A majority of survey respondents believed that providing consumer health information resources was critically important to fulfilling their institutions'' missions and that their hospitals could improve health information literacy by increasing awareness of its impact on patient care and by training staff to become more knowledgeable about health literacy barriers. The study showed that a librarian-taught health information literacy curriculum did raise awareness about the issue among the target group and increased both the use of National Library of Medicine consumer health resources and referrals to librarians for health information literacy support.

Conclusions:

It is hoped that many hospital administrators and health care providers will take the health information literacy curricula and recognize that librarians can educate about the topic and that providers will use related consumer health services and resources.

Highlights

• Health care providers responded positively to a health information literacy curriculum offered by librarians and to related resources and services, namely MedlinePlus and the information referral system known as Information Rx.
• Participation in a curriculum increased health care providers'' knowledge of health information literacy, awareness of available consumer health information, and referral of patients to the library for additional assistance.
• Librarian involvement in health information literacy increased the profession''s visibility and perceived value.

Implications

• Consumer health information services and resources offered by librarians can improve the health information literacy skills of health care providers and their patients.
• Training by librarians can increase knowledge of the importance of health information literacy and usage of MedlinePlus and Information Rxs.
• Hospital-based administrators and health care providers can be champions in support of health information literacy and consumer health information services offered by libraries.

     

The impact of leadership and stakeholders on the success/failure of e-government service: Using the case study of e-stamping service in Hong Kong

Using e-stamping service in Hong Kong as a case study, this paper examines the impact of leadership and stakeholders on the success or failure of e-government service in Hong Kong. Multiple methods are used for data collection: documents and archival record research, direct observation, and interviews. Results show that both leadership and stakeholders have an impact on the success of e-stamping service.