The American science pipeline: sustaining innovation in a time of economic crisis

Significant limitations have emerged in America's science training pipeline, including inaccessibility, inflexibility, financial limitations, and lack of diversity. We present three effective programs that collectively address these challenges. The programs are grounded in rigorous science and integrate through diverse disciplines across undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students, and resonate with the broader community. We discuss these models in the context of current economic constraints on higher education and the urgent need for our institutions to recruit and retain diverse student populations and sustain the successful American record in scientific education and innovation.     

Global News VILLAGE: A case study explication of targeted tutorial development

The Global News VILLAGE (Virtual Information Literacy Learning and Growing Environment) is an online tutorial developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to help undergraduates learn how to use the library to find current information about global events and issues. Supporting the interdisciplinary Global Studies curriculum, the tutorial invites the learner to think critically about the products and practices of journalism. Through an introduction to concepts central to media literacy and information literacy, learners are provided with frameworks for understanding some of the political and economic factors that shape the news and are guided through the process of dissecting news stories to understand the perspective from which the stories frame events and issues.     

Talking the Talk: Library Classroom Communication and International Students

Language is a primary barrier for international students in library instruction classes. This article reviews the literature on classroom communication from both the second language acquisition and library fields, and suggests ways in which second language acquisition research can be applied to communication with international students in library classrooms.     

A Case Study of “Planetary Landscapes: Sculpting the Solar System”

This article presents a case study of the design, development and evaluation of a science museum exhibition called Planetary Landscapes: Sculpting the Solar System. The exhibition was created by Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, California, in collaboration with the artist Ned Kahn. (A slightly smaller version has been traveling to science museums around the country, and has been sent to the Middle East and Asia.) This exhibition affords a chance to explore the work of a gifted artist as he seeks to merge art and science and create beautiful inquiry‐based exhibits. The story also relates how a museum design team and an evaluation team sought to support the exhibition design in ways that would augment and not interfere with the expertise of the artist.     

“Oh my god! You have become so Americanized”: Paradoxes of adaptation and strategic ambiguity among female immigrant faculty

Guided by De La Garza and Ono’s differential adaptation theory, we examine discourses from immigrant women faculty in the U.S. academy. We utilize thematic analysis to analyze interviews with 26 self-identified immigrant faculty members. Our analysis reveals three interrelating themes: negotiating foreign-female body politics, navigating paradoxes of adaptation, and deploying strategic ambiguity. We theorize the notion of “micro/macro-adaptation” describing mundane and cumulative adaptations that cultural “strangers” make, negotiate, and/or are expected to enact, which paradoxically can function to further disorient, alienate, or marginalize them.     

Attitudes about death in the nursing home: a research note

An increasing percentage of the U.S. population dies in nursing homes. Despite the increased attention given to the topic of death, most nursing homes practice a covert approach. A total of 86 residents and staff members from 2 nursing homes support this finding; yet many expressed an interest in modifying the policy. A majority believed that others should be told about the death of a resident. Respondents reported the interview process to be satisfying.     

Interdisciplinary Collaboration Supporting Social-Emotional Learning in Rural School Systems

In this article we illustrate the roles of school psychologists, administrators, social workers, teachers, and parents in school reform by describing the adoption, initial implementation, and formative evaluation of an evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) program within several rural Midwestern school districts in a geographically large county. As part of a countywide initiative aimed at improving children's mental health services, an interdisciplinary team collaborated to select and implement a universal school-based curriculum addressing SEL objectives. Professionals in the county's special education cooperative lead the reform effort, general education teachers deliver the curriculum, and school psychologists and school social workers have served as trainers and consultants to educators and building administrators. An ecological model of organizational consultation informs these efforts. We illustrate this model by describing its application to the collaborative school-based initiative addressing SEL objectives. We also discuss implications for future consultation research, training, and practice.