What Reference Librarians Should Know about Data Science

Students of reference service can benefit by learning about data science. This column introduces the topic, the needed skills, and sources that support acquiring the related experience.     

Using post‐visit action resources to support family conservation learning following a wildlife tourism experience

Wildlife tourism experiences are often promoted for their ability to enhance visitors’ conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour; yet, studies exploring the long‐term influence of such experiences are rare. This research explores the impact of a wildlife tourism experience and post‐visit support on families’ adoption of conservation practices following their visit. In Stage 1, barriers and benefits associated with six conservation practices were identified and incorporated into the design of post‐visit action resources. Two hundred Australian families visiting Mon Repos turtle rookery in Queensland, Australia, were assigned to either a treatment group (given post‐visit support) or a control group (no support). Three months after their visit, families in the treatment group were significantly more likely to report changes in their conservation knowledge; their attitudes towards protecting wildlife and the natural environment; and the frequency with which they picked up litter. Treatment families also adopted significantly more conservation practices than the control group. Implications for wildlife interpretive practice and visitor management at wildlife tourism sites are discussed.     

Using tourism free‐choice learning experiences to promote environmentally sustainable behaviour: the role of post‐visit ‘action resources’

This paper argues the need for the providers of ecotourism and other free‐choice environmental learning experiences to promote the adoption of environmentally sustainable actions beyond their own sites, when visitors return to their home environments. Previous research indicates that although visitors often leave such experiences with a heightened awareness of conservation issues and intentions to adopt environmentally responsible behaviours, only a minority translate these intentions into real actions. Building on research and theory in relation to visitor experiences in free‐choice learning environments, the paper identifies three different stages in the educational process and proposes a strategy for facilitating the translation of visitors' behavioural intentions into the adoption of sustainable actions through the provision of post‐visit action resources.     

Assessment of Vitamin D status In Patients of Chronic Low Back Pain of Unknown Etiology

Low back pain is very disabling and dispiriting because of the physical impediment it causes and its psychological effects. Innumerable factors have been implicated in its etiology. In spite of improvements in diagnostic modalities, a considerable number of such cases fall in the ambiguous zone of unknown etiology or ‘idiopathic.’Early diagnosis of low back pain will allow effective prevention and treatment to be offered. This study was conducted to assess the contribution of vitamin D levels and other biochemical factors to chronic low back pain in such cases. All patients attending the orthopedics OPD for low back pain in whom a precise anatomical cause could not be localized, were prospectively enrolled in this study. We measured serum levels of glucose, calcium, phosphorus, uric acid, rheumatoid factor, C reactive protein, alkaline phosphatase, total protein, albumin and 25 (OH) D concentrations in 200 cases and 200 control samples. The patients showed significantly lower vitamin D levels compared to controls with p value < 0.0001. The maximum number of low back pain patients were in the age group of 31–50 years (42 %).The average BMI was 23.27 ± 5.17 kg/sq m, 73 % of total patient population were females and 27 % were known case of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Calcium, alkaline phosphatase, was positively correlated with vitamin D and glucose showed a negative correlation with vitamin D in the patient population. The problem of low back pain provides a challenge to health care providers. The problem in developing countries is compounded by ignorance to report for early treatment and occupational compulsions in rural areas and sedentary lifestyle in urban youth. The authors strongly recommend early frequent screening for vitamin D along with glucose, protein, albumin, calcium, phosphorus, CRP as part of general health checkup for non-specific body pain, especially low back pain.     

Impact of simulator-based instruction on diagramming in geometrical optics by introductory physics students

We examine the conceptual development resulting from an instructional experiment with an interactive learning environment in geometrical optics for introductory high school physics. How did teaching-learning processes come to change the ways in which students depicted various everyday optical situations in paper and pencil graphical representations? We view conceptual development as a process resulting in part from increasingly aligning one's practices to a target community by means of participating in a community of practice that uses the target concepts. For formal science learning, this participation requires changes in concepts, epistemological attitude, and in the development and use of representational tools, including diagrams and technical language, as a means of communication. Results of our instructional experiment indicated that students went through major conceptual developments as reflected in the diagrams they constructed and supported by other representational tools and as judged in terms of several perspectives: in identifying the formation of shadows and images, in recognizing the eye as a participating factpr in the optical system, and in changing the types of justifications they provided in their optical reasoning from presuppositional to causal.     

Item-level monitoring,response style stability,and the hard-easy effect

Educational technology research and development - Cognitive and metacognitive processes during learning depend on accurate monitoring, this investigation examines the influence of immediate...     

A computer science and robotics integration model for primary school: evaluation of a large-scale in-service K-4 teacher-training program

Education and Information Technologies - Integrating computer science (CS) into school curricula has become a worldwide preoccupation. Therefore, we present a CS and Robotics integration model and...     

NONINTELLECTUAL LEARNING FACTORS AS DETERMINANTS FOR SUCCESS IN COLLEGE

This article presents the results of two studieshypothesizing that nonintellectual learning dispositionsare as important as intellectual assets in predictingthe success of college students. The first study was conducted with a low-risk francophonepopulation (N = 298) and indicated that the Test ofReactions and Adaptation in College (TRAC:nonintellectual dispositions) predicts the collegesuccess of first-year students above and beyond thatpredicted by the high school rank (academicdispositions) and a French-language measure of aptitude(intellectual dispositions). The latter measure added noadditional variation to the high school rank in predictingsuccess. These results were replicated in a second studyconducted with an American student population who wereacademically at risk (N = 179) and using the Scholastic Aptitude Test as a measure ofintellectual dispositions. Findings are discussed interms of their implications for selection, screening,and intervention for first-year collegestudents.     

Facilitating successful prediction problem solving in biology through application of skill theory

The purpose of this study was to identify cognitive factors associated with differences in prediction problem-solving success among high school biology students, and to determine whether guided practice facilitated successful prediction. The Group Assessment of Logical Thinking was used to evaluate subjects' cognitive operational level, written prediction worksheets and think-aloud interviews were used to measure predictive success and identify problem-solving tendencies. Treatment group subjects received 8 hr of directed prediction practice using interactive computer simulations, whereas the control group practiced prediction without focusing on specific skills, after which all subjects were retested. Predictive reasoning success showed a significant correlation (p < .01) to both formal operational development and five specific cognitive skills: (a) identifying relevant knowledge in long-term memory, (b) using a systematic problem-solving strategy, (c) applying cause-effect reasoning, (d) reviewing solutions for logical inconsistency, and (e) evaluating alternative solutions. Analysis of covariance indicated significantly increased prediction success for treatment group subjects following practice in the five identified skills (p < .01). © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.