The National Diffusion Network: A career education bonus

Bill Guise is Assistant Director, Washington National Diffusion Network Facilitator Office.     

Assessing Multiliteracies and the New Basics

This paper addresses the skills and characteristics required of successful learners, workers and citizens in the knowledge economy. The authors trace the shifting commercial, technological and cultural conditions characteristic of this economy, and highlight the key qualities now required for individual success. Effective learners will increasingly need to be autonomous and self-directed, flexible, collaborative, of open sensibility, broadly knowledgeable, and able to work productively with linguistic and cultural diversity. While still prevalent, it is held that standardised testing and a 'back to basics' approach to curriculum are unable to promote and measure effectively these skills and sensibilities. Instead, a broader and more creative approach to curriculum and assessment is recommended. A 'new basics' is argued for at the level of curriculum, with correlative assessment techniques such as analysis of portfolios, performance, projects and group work.     

What do students gain from games? Dice games vs word problems

Learning the fundamentals of probability and random variables can be a struggle for many students. Games by their nature require active participation and reward mastery, lending naturally to the framework of active learning. In this study, we designed and evaluated the efficacy of a lab activity using a game where strategy hinges on sums of dice to teach about linear combinations of independent random variables. We found that both activities lead to improved understandings of course concepts, but the dice game provided increased student engagement and interest.     

Altered movement patterns but not muscle recruitment in moderately trained triathletes during running after cycling

Previous studies have shown that cycling can directly influence neuromuscular control during subsequent running in some highly trained triathletes, despite these triathletes' years of practice of the cycle-run transition. The aim of this study was to determine whether cycling has the same direct influence on neuromuscular control during running in moderately trained triathletes. Fifteen moderately trained triathletes participated. Kinematics of the pelvis and lower limbs and recruitment of 11 leg and thigh muscles were compared between a control run (no prior exercise) and a 30 min run that was preceded by a 15 min cycle (transition run). Muscle recruitment was different between control and transition runs in only one of 15 triathletes (<7%). Changes in joint position (mean difference of 3°) were evident in five triathletes, which persisted beyond 5 min of running in one triathlete. Our findings suggest that some moderately trained triathletes have difficulty reproducing their pre-cycling movement patterns for running initially after cycling, but cycling appears to have little influence on running muscle recruitment in moderately trained triathletes.     

Uniqueness Matters: Author-Supplied Keywords and LCSH in the Library Catalog

This study concerns the overlap between author-supplied keywords and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) bibliographic records in the library catalog. The article provides a discussion on uniqueness, matching, and complementariness based on a replication of Strader's methodology and rubric from a 2009 article. Findings support most of Strader's conclusions, including the complementary nature of keywords and controlled vocabularies. Both keywords and LCSH provide unique terms that enhance access. Researchers also broke new ground regarding partial matching, particularly within LCSH. The fact that uniqueness matters has implications for the continued use of LCSH, for LCSH maintenance, and for further research.     

Evidence‐based early reading practices within a Response to Intervention system

Many students who experience reading failure are inappropriately placed in special education. A promising response to reducing reading failure and the overidentification of students for special education is Response to Intervention (RTI), a comprehensive early detection and prevention system that allows teachers to identify and support struggling readers early, before they fail. A key component of RTI is the implementation of evidence‐based reading practices within a multitiered framework. School psychologists are increasingly being asked to lead or be members of RTI building teams. As such, they can play an important role in assuring that evidence‐based practices in reading are implemented with integrity. The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for judging the extent to which early reading instruction within a multitier RTI system is evidence based. Key evidence‐based practices related to the content, design, and delivery of early reading instruction are described. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.