Teaching Single-Case Evaluation to Graduate Social Work Students: A Replication

A course teaching graduate social work students to use an evidence-based model and to evaluate their own practice was replicated and evaluated. Students conducted a project in which they reviewed published research to achieve a clinical goal, applied quantitative measures for ongoing assessment, implemented evidence-based interventions, and evaluated effects of their interventions with single-case designs. More than half of the students conducted self-improvement projects monitored with self-report measures, with widely varied goals and interventions. Approximately 48% of the projects showed statistically significant improvements, and an additional 10% showed statistically nonsignificant gains, suggesting the benefits of this instructional format.     

When Form Follows Fantasy: Lessons for Learning Scientists From Modernist Architecture and Urban Planning

Research in the learning sciences is often motivated by the goal of shaping a better future through design. Architects and urban planners share this goal, and the history of their more ambitious designs provides clear examples of how attempts to build the future can turn out. After discussing similarities and differences between design in the learning sciences and design on the scale of buildings and cities, I examine three visionary projects from the modernist era in architecture and urban planning. Each project sought to bring about a radically different and more desirable future, using the most innovative technology and the best ideas of its time. Lessons for learning scientists are drawn from these projects, and suggestions are offered about how architecture scholars can serve as models for learning scientists in how they conceive and study their own efforts to shape a better future.     

A Romance in Spring 2011 Meeting in Beijing Arts Festival Concluded with Great Success

From April 27 to May 27, the 2011 Meeting in Beijing Arts Festival, an annual arts gala for world artists, was held in Beijing, the capital city of China.     

Computer-assisted user access to science information in an academic institute

Questions about the creation and functioning of a computer-assisted information system (CAIS) that includes an integrated databank on scientific research in geology are examined. The system serves the staff of scientific organizations with the use of multi-aspect request processing. Using the example of the CAIS for the scientific research of the Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the RAS (IGEM RAS), the basics of the interaction of the system infrastructure components, their composition, methodological principles of formation and functioning of a unified information communication system are presented. In particular, the CAIS carries out the spatial integration of documentographic and factographic heterogeneous data according to geographic information system technology. The composition, structure, and functions of the specialized linguistic support of the system are described. The methodological fundamentals for the solution of the task of ore deposit prediction in the CAIS are used as an example.     

A profile of mathematics instruction time in Irish second level schools

Similar to counties such as the UK and Netherlands, second level schools in Ireland are free to decide how to allocate instruction time between curriculum subjects. This results in variations between the quantum of time allocated to teaching mathematics in different schools and between different class groups within the same school. This quantitative study builds a profile for both lower second level (Junior Cycle) and upper second level (Senior Cycle) mathematics instruction time in Ireland. The results of the study highlight that although the proportion of time is on par with the OECD average, there are many issues of concern regarding instruction time in Ireland. These include the short length of the school year, experimentation with new teaching approaches, the high number of subjects studied, variations between individual school and class group allocations and the number of classes that do not take place.     

It’s not fair! Students and staff views on the equity of the procedures and outcomes of students’ choice of assessment methods

Giving students a choice of assessment methods is one approach to developing an inclusive curriculum. However, both staff and students raise concerns about its fairness, often described as its equity. This study investigates their perceptions of the fairness of the procedures and outcomes of this approach to assessment, in nine modules in a University setting. Using a tool validated as part of the study, students’ views on procedural fairness were gathered (n?=?370 students). In addition, seven module co-ordinators were interviewed. A seven-step approach to the design of the approach was used. The results demonstrated that students were satisfied that their assessment choices were fair in levels of support, feedback, information and, to a lesser extent, student workload and examples of assessment methods. In exploring fairness of the outcomes, the students’ grades were not significantly different between the two sets of choices. However, based on staff interviews, the overall grades were higher than previous cohorts and higher than average for current student cohorts in the institution. The discussion highlights some of the complex issues surrounding fairness (equity) using assessment choice and, in addition, the paper refers to some practical tools for its implementation.