The Roles of Engagement at The Ohio State University Libraries: Thoughts from an Early Adopter

Changes in information and technology continue to test how librarians interact with and support patrons. Now, engaged librarians have the opportunity to immerse themselves in their user’s workflows and become partners in the research enterprise. Engagement represents a model of librarianship in which librarians are challenged to move from the traditional collection-centered model to an engaged-focused one. It requires new roles and tasks, as well as a deeper understanding of the academic setting. This article discusses working in a large research institution and articulates the engagement model.     

The possibilities of exploring nontraditional datasets with young children

Today's world is characterized by the extensive production of data in different scenarios that everyday citizens need to understand for their informed participation in society. With the increase in the availability of data in a society defined by the industrious production of data, the educational system needs to think of possibilities to bring young children closer to the world of data science. This paper presents a nontraditional data exploration experience with an 8-year-old participant helped by a data visualization tool. A task-based interview was conducted while the participant explored a carbon dioxide emission dataset. This paper studied how the participant interrogates the data, draws inferences and exhibits dispositions. At the end, some reflections are presented when introducing the exploration of nontraditional data in teaching.     

Relations Among the Home Language and Literacy Environment and Children’s Language Abilities: A Study of Head Start Dual Language Learners and Their Mothers

Research Findings: This study explored the relations between Spanish–English dual language learner (DLL) children’s home language and literacy experiences and their expressive vocabulary and oral comprehension abilities in Spanish and in English. Data from Spanish–English mothers of 93 preschool-age Head Start children who resided in central Pennsylvania were analyzed. Children completed the Picture Vocabulary and Oral Comprehension subtests of the Batería III Woodcock–Muñoz and the Woodcock–Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Results revealed that the language spoken by mothers and children and the frequency of mother–child reading at home influenced children’s Spanish language abilities. In addition, the frequency with which children told a story was positively related to children’s performance on English oral language measures. Practice or Policy: The findings suggest that language and literacy experiences at home have a differential impact on DLLs’ language abilities in their 2 languages. Specific components of the home environment that benefit and support DLL children’s language abilities are discussed.     

Useful interactive teaching tool for learning: clickers in higher education†

Many university lecturers are encouraged to implement innovative teaching tools and methodologies such as clickers in order to create an interactive learning environment and improve student learning, but its performance must be evaluated. The aim of this paper is to test empirically the impact of the use of clickers on students' learning processes. The teaching experience applied to the subject of Financial Accounting is specifically described. The total sample size is 77 students from a Business Administration and Economics Degree, taught in English and in Spanish. The analysis, using multivariate techniques, of the questionnaire responses, students' grades and a reflexive experience of the lecturer conclude that learning with clickers is effective. There is a positive relationship between grades and intrinsic motivation through clickers. Consequently, the students' marks are related to its intrinsic motivation, feedback to understanding, students' discussion and its negative aspects but not gender nor age.     

Adding automatic evaluation to interactive virtual labs

Automatic evaluation is a challenging field that has been addressed by the academic community in order to reduce the assessment workload. In this work we present a new element for the authoring tool Easy Java Simulations (EJS). This element, which is named automatic evaluation element (AEE), provides automatic evaluation to virtual and remote laboratories built with EJS by using the server application Goodle grading management system (GMS). The integration of both tools entitles a professor to create interactive virtual and remote laboratories and automatically evaluate the work of their students. As a test bed two case studies are presented; a non-linear controller design virtual laboratory used in an advanced control master course and a servomechanism virtual laboratory used in an undergraduate basic control course.     

Private Supplementary Tutoring in the Czech Republic

The study contributes to the literature on private supplementary tutoring by shedding light on this phenomenon in the Czech Republic. The aim of the paper is to identify the reasons for seeking out private supplementary tutoring and to assess the factors underlying its demand. In the representative sample of 1,265 senior upper-secondary school students from two distinct regions of the Czech Republic, 37% acknowledged participation in private tutoring lessons (provided by individuals) and 10% reported enrollment in preparatory courses for university admission (organized by institutions) during their upper-secondary studies. It seems that both enrollment in different educational tracks and specific school subjects are associated with different reasons for taking private tutoring lessons. The results of binary logistic regression suggest that the mother’s educational attainment, family income, students’ academic performance, residence in the capital city, and female gender are significant predictors of students’ enrollment and participation in the explored private tutoring activities. These findings confirm the strong influence of family background on educational attainment identified in previous Czech social-stratification research. In a wider European context, the patterns of private supplementary tutoring resemble those in neighboring countries.     

Difficulties and reasonable adjustments carried out by Spanish faculty members to include students with disabilities

This study focuses on the experience of 20 Spanish faculty members who teach students with disabilities. We conducted semi‐structured individual and group interviews, and analysed the data using an inductive system of categories and codes. The results of this work describe the difficulties that faculty members encountered when including students with disabilities, and how they attended, through reasonable adjustments, to the educational needs of their students. Their testimonies produced a profile of professionals who recognise their own shortcomings while valuing the actions that they have undertaken in order to meet the needs of their students. From their perspective, these actions were more closely linked to their own willingness and the students’ efforts than to the training they had received on disability. In this sense, the present study shows that universities must provide more meaningful training in the field of disability and make firm institutional commitments to supporting their faculty members.     

Innovative moments and narrative change in career counselling: a case study

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - This case study of an undecided university student has two aims: to assess the effect of life design career counselling on...     

Learning design and learning analytics in mobile and ubiquitous learning: A systematic review

Mobile and Ubiquitous Learning (m/u-learning) are finding an increasing adoption in education. They are often distinguished by hybrid learning environments that encompass elements of formal and informal learning, in activities that happen in distributed settings (indoors and outdoors), across physical and virtual spaces. Despite their purported benefits, these environments imply additional complexity in the design, monitoring and evaluation of learning activities. The research literature on learning design (LD) and learning analytics (LA) has started to deal with these issues. This paper presents a systematic literature review of LD and LA, in m/u-learning. Apart from providing an overview of the current research in the field, this review elicits elements of common ground between both communities, as shown by the similar learning contexts and complementary research contributions, and based on the research gaps, proposes to: address m/u-learning beyond higher education settings, reinforce the connection between physical and virtual learning spaces, and more systematically align LD and LA processes.