Female academics’ research capacities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq: socio-cultural issues,personal factors and institutional practices

In October 2010, an interdisciplinary group of female academics from a university in the Kurdistan region of Iraq initiated a collaborative research project with a UK university to investigate opportunities and challenges for female academics' research leadership in universities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The project aimed to develop female academics' research capacities using action learning and research principles, in order to focus on issues of concern to practitioners, seek understanding, reflect on activities and enhance them through needs identification–solution–reflection cycles and collaboratively seek solutions. The research uncovered socially constructed barriers to advancement shaped by socio-cultural issues and institutional practices, found exemplars of successful female academics and strengthened participants' research leadership capacities. We conclude that the expansion of female academics' capacities should be prioritised in the Kurdistan region of Iraq to harness their contributions to nation-building and economic development, goals that are explicitly emphasised in higher education policy statements.     

Integration of physical health and sensory processing assessment for children with autism spectrum disorder in schools

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often undergo various assessments and evaluations as part of the diagnostic process, identification and classification for special education eligibility, and continued progress monitoring for skill growth. Such evaluations may include cognitive, social and emotional, behavioral, and speech evaluations, among other skill and ability assessments. One other area for assessment that clinicians may consider examining when working on evaluations for individuals with ASD includes the integration of assessments capturing physical and sensory needs. Physical health identifiers that may be included in such evaluations cover physical exercise, sleep, diet and food sensitivities, and elimination. Additionally, sensory evaluations may consider auditory, olfactory, taste, tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptive sensory abilities and needs. This practitioner-focused chapter includes a brief review of each of the aforementioned physical and sensory abilities and their connection to ASD. Further, implications for practitioners in their assessment of ASD are explored with practical tips and recommendations for providers to use for their future assessments for ASD.     

Examining the influences of epistemic beliefs and knowledge representations on cognitive processing and conceptual change when learning physics

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of epistemic beliefs and knowledge representations in cognitive and metacognitive processing when learning about physics concepts through text. Specifically, we manipulated the representation of physics concepts in texts about Newtonian mechanics and explored how these texts interacted with individuals’ epistemic beliefs to facilitate or constrain learning. Results revealed that when individuals’ epistemic beliefs were consistent with the knowledge representations in their assigned texts, they performed better on various measures of learning (use of processing strategies, text recall, and changes in misconceptions) than when their epistemic beliefs were inconsistent with the knowledge representations. These results have implications for how researchers conceptualize epistemic beliefs and support contemporary views regarding the context sensitivity of individuals’ epistemic beliefs.     

Every Step You Change: A Process of Change and Ongoing Management

ABSTRACT

Established services have the benefit of experienced and knowledgeable staff, confirmed money streams, designated space and resources, and recognized links to users and stakeholders. So when change needs to happen, it requires a great deal of patience, skill, and an unwavering belief in a better future. After more than 30 years operating in a large academic institution, a distance education (DE) library service needed change. Services needed to be added, resources needed to be improved, and overall processes needed to be streamlined and upgraded. This article will reveal the dramatic changes that occurred over the span of 6 months to change this service from an office literally drowning in paper with a “this-is-the-way-we've-always-done-things” orientation to a new paperless service with a Web-based request, monitoring, and statistical tracking system. Screen shots demonstrate how staff track requests and keep separate records for library and distance education departmental reporting purposes.     

Framing the Work of Art: Spirituality and Career Discourse in the Nonprofit Arts Sector

Based on qualitative data from participant interviews, this study explores how nonprofit arts managers construct the notion of career, and more specifically, how they frame the nature of their work and career choices. Findings revealed that participants employed a spiritual framework of calling, service, sacrifice, and personal rewards to socially construct, understand, and legitimate their nonprofit careers. These framing devices provided the language for participants to make sense of their career decisions and to define their career successes in terms of their own values instead of traditional measures of extrinsic rewards. As contemporary workers place increasing importance on meaningful work, spiritually centered discourse has implications for career theory and organizational practices in both for-profit and nonprofit sectors.