Reading disability in boys and girls: No evidence for a differential genetic etiology

In order to test the hypothesis that genetic influences are moreimportant as a cause of reading disability in girls than in boys,composite reading performance data from identical and fraternal twinpairs were analyzed using both concordance and multiple regressionmethods. The sample included 206 identical (99 male, 107 female), 159same-sex fraternal (90 male, 69 female), and 117 opposite-sex fraternaltwin pairs, in which at least one member of each pair had readingdifficulties. Although the difference between the concordance rates forreading disabilities in female identical and same-sex fraternal twinpairs was somewhat greater (65% for identical twins vs.32% for fraternal twins) than the difference in concordance ratesfor boys (68% vs. 39%), loglinear analysis of thesecategorical data revealed that the interaction between sex, zygosity,and concordance was not significant (p > 0.70). Moreover,the heritability of reading disability(h ² _g) estimated from regression analysisof the reading performance data in males was nearly identical to that infemales (h ² _g = 0.58 and 0.59,respectively; p > 0.90). Thus, results of this studyprovide little or no evidence for the hypothesis of greater geneticinfluence on reading difficulties in girls than in boys.     

ICTs in the Rush Hour of Life

In the Netherlands, many women have entered the labor market in the last two decades. This development - among other social changes - has resulted in substantial shifts in the time that Dutch people spend on paid labor and "caring tasks" on the one hand and leisure activities on the other hand. This task combination has caused serious time pressure and coordination problems among dual-income families with children. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to label this stage of life as the "rush hour of life". In this article the findings of a small-scale qualitative case study among these "busy" households are presented. The objective of this study is to describe and analyze patterns of acceptance and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially telecommunication technologies, in the context of the everyday life of these households. The question is raised whether ICTs can be a solution to time pressure and coordination problems. Theoretically, the research is rooted in a user-oriented perspective toward technological innovation, developed in the United Kingdom by Silverstone, Haddon, and others, which understands the incorporation of ICTs into the everyday life of households as a "domestication process". A paradoxical conclusion of this study is that ICTs are not explicitly perceived as solutions to the communication and coordination problems these households experience in everyday life, although they are being used for solving these problems. This ambiguity seems characteristic for the acceptance of ICTs in everyday life. The domestication concept is a useful concept to describe these ambivalent and paradoxical processes of (non)acceptance and use.     

Forward view: advancing health library and knowledge services in England

This article is the fourth in a series on New Directions. The National Health Service is under pressure, challenged to meet the needs of an ageing population, whilst striving to improve standards and ensure decision making is underpinned by evidence. Health Education England is steering a new course for NHS library and knowledge services in England to ensure access to knowledge and evidence for all decision makers. Knowledge for Healthcare calls for service transformation, role redesign, greater coordination and collaboration. To meet user expectations, health libraries must achieve sustainable, affordable access to digital content. Traditional tasks will progressively become mechanised. Alongside supporting learners, NHS librarians and knowledge specialists will take a greater role as knowledge brokers, delivering business critical services. They will support the NHS workforce to signpost patients and the public to high‐quality information. There is a need for greater efficiency and effectiveness through greater co‐operation and service mergers. Evaluation of service quality will focus more on outcomes, less on counting. These changes require an agile workforce, fit for the future. There is a bright future in which librarians’ expertise is used to mobilise evidence, manage and share knowledge, support patients, carers and families, optimise technology and social media and provide a keystone for improved patient care and safety.     

A Peircean Socio-Semiotic Analysis of Science Students’ Creative Reasoning as/Through Digital Simulations

Research in Science Education - In science education, there is a now established focus on fostering students’ meaning making through/as multimodal representations as part of their induction...     

Imprinting in older ducklings: Some tests of a reinforcement model

Ducklings (Anas Platyrhynchos domesticus) older than the so-called critical period (Days 1 and 2 posthatch) were exposed to an imprinting stimulus after various experimental histories. The first study found that in previously isolated 10-day-old subjects the stimulus exhibited the same capacity to reinforce an operant response and to generate a burst-like pattern of responding as in ducklings imprinted to it on Day 1. In Experiment 2, an imprinting stimulas exhibited reinforcing capacities in 5 to 10-day-old ducklings that had previously been imprinted to a different stimulus. Most of these ducklings came to prefer the second imprinting stimulus over the first. Experiment 3 revealed that in 5-day-old ducklings with a prior history of imprinting to a different stimulus, the otherwise neutral features of a new imprinting stimulus acquired the same kind of persistent control over distress vocalization that they acquire in younger, naive subjects. In all these studies, the only difference between imprinting in older vs. younger subjects was that in older subjects a novel imprinting stimulus initially evoked fear reactions rather than filial behavior. These findings contradict the traditional view of imprinting as an irreversible process that occurs only during a brief critical period, but are entirely consistent with a reinforcement model of imprinting.     

Textbooks on the move: Transforming a textbook collection

Recently, The City College of New York (CCNY) libraries engaged in a collaborative project to transfer the bibliographic holdings for textbook course reserves to a new module when their integrated library systems, the Ex Libris Aleph Integrated Library System, underwent a system upgrade. In this article, the Chief of Circulation and the Chief of Cataloging share and analyze the various steps and challenges undertaken to complete this project, which took place over the span of three semesters. This article will serve to assist those who work in circulation and cataloging to aid in the planning of a large collaborative library-wide project.     

Differentiation and its Problems: the views of primary teachers and curriculum support staff in Northern Ireland

This paper identifies a range of problems associated with putting differentiation into practice. The opinions of head teachers, subject co‐ordinators, and teachers were sought, as well as those of the curriculum support staff in the Education and Library Boards on the extent to which these problems affected primary schools in Northern Ireland, and case‐studies illuminated these views. The results showed that the curriculum support staff regarded most problems in differentiation in a more serious light than the schools themselves did, but there was agreement on the acute lack of time to deliver a differentiated curriculum, on the shortage of human resources and on the difficulties with new assessment methods.     

Taking Action on Usability Testing Findings: Simmons College Library Case Study

Simmons College Library conducted in-person and remote usability testing to observe how students retrieve full text when using Library Search, its discovery service system powered by EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS). Testing was conducted as a collaborative study with a consultant associated with EBSCO Information Services User Research Group. This testing found that students expect direct access to full text, have an unfavorable impression of Interlibrary Loan (ILL), and are unsure, based on terminology, which links provide direct access to full text. Steps taken by the library in response to the findings include local customization of EDS, improvements to ILL messaging, updates to user education regarding full text formats and terminology, and requests to EBSCO to update terminology to support users’ direct access to full text. Study findings also validated decisions the library made during the initial set up of its discovery service system.     

‘Reflective co-education’ or male-oriented physical education? Teachers' views about activities in co-educational PE classes at German secondary schools

As much as the principle of co-education may appear to make sense in physical education (PE) lessons, trends in its development have emerged over the past years, especially in secondary schools, which were certainly not intended by the pedagogical programme of ‘reflective co-education’, which stands for respect for equality and difference in co-educational PE classes. Although this programme has been anchored in the curricula of various federal states in Germany for around 15 years, the prevailing practice even today, and documented in many empirical studies, is that so-called ‘male-oriented’ activities (e.g. games) predominate in PE classes while ‘female-oriented’ activities (e.g. dance, aerobics, gymnastics or health-related exercises) are scarcely ever taught. The purpose of this contribution is to examine (1) the extent to which male (as well as female) PE teachers actually make such a one-sided selection of activities; (2) the reasons they give for this practice and the way they perceive and judge it; and (3) how they communicate this selection to each other and to their pupils. Seventy-one PE teachers (of both sexes) were asked about these questions in problem-centred interviews. The main result of the study is that both male and female PE teachers almost exclusively do ‘male-oriented’ activities (like games and other competitive activities) in mixed-gender classes, although they give different reasons for doing so. By contrast, so-called ‘female activities’ are avoided. The observable implications are that PE lessons have increasingly become dominated by male patterns of physical activity and that a hierarchy is constructed between so-called ‘male activities’ and ‘female activities’ in PE. As a result, a key objective of ‘reflective co-education’ has not been achieved. Female PE teachers suffer considerably under these conditions. It can be observed that many of them are either planning to reduce their hours in, or even give up, teaching PE (or have already done so).