An intellectual utility for science and technology: The national research and education network

This article will provide a brief overview of the primary computer network structures serving the U.S. academic research community. Plans for transforming the Internet into a National Research and Education Network are moving forward under the leadership of the National Science Foundation and the Federal Research Internet Coordinating Committee. The article outlines the scope of computational and information resources likely to be available to users through the national network, and highlights the role envisioned for the network in facilitating effective remote interaction by researchers with colleagues, scientific instruments, and data. When fully implemented, the national network can serve both as a powerful utility that extends the capabilities of scholars, scientists, and engineers, and as a testbed for an electronic information infrastructure available to every home, office and factory in the United States in the 21st century.     

A usability study of users' perceptions toward a multimedia computer‐assisted learning tool for neuroanatomy

This usability study evaluated users' perceptions of a multimedia prototype for a new e‐learning tool: Anatomy of the Central Nervous System: A Multimedia Course. Usability testing is a collection of formative evaluation methods that inform the developmental design of e‐learning tools to maximize user acceptance, satisfaction, and adoption. Sixty‐two study participants piloted the prototype and completed a usability questionnaire designed to measure two usability properties: program need and program applicability. Statistical analyses were used to test the hypothesis that the multimedia prototype was well designed and highly usable, it was perceived as: (1) highly needed across a spectrum of educational contexts, (2) highly applicable in supporting the pedagogical processes of teaching and learning neuroanatomy, and (3) was highly usable by all types of users. Three independent variables represented user differences: level of expertise (faculty vs. student), age, and gender. Analysis of the results supports the research hypotheses that the prototype was designed well for different types of users in various educational contexts and for supporting the pedagogy of neuroanatomy. In addition, the results suggest that the multimedia program will be most useful as a neuroanatomy review tool for health‐professions students preparing for licensing or board exams. This study demonstrates the importance of integrating quality properties of usability with principles of human learning during the instructional design process for multimedia products. Anat Sci Ed 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.     

A Hierarchical Biology Concept Framework: A Tool for Course Design

A typical undergraduate biology curriculum covers a very large number of concepts and details. We describe the development of a Biology Concept Framework (BCF) as a possible way to organize this material to enhance teaching and learning. Our BCF is hierarchical, places details in context, nests related concepts, and articulates concepts that are inherently obvious to experts but often difficult for novices to grasp. Our BCF is also cross-referenced, highlighting interconnections between concepts. We have found our BCF to be a versatile tool for design, evaluation, and revision of course goals and materials. There has been a call for creating Biology Concept Inventories, multiple-choice exams that test important biology concepts, analogous to those in physics, astronomy, and chemistry. We argue that the community of researchers and educators must first reach consensus about not only what concepts are important to test, but also how the concepts should be organized and how that organization might influence teaching and learning. We think that our BCF can serve as a catalyst for community-wide discussion on organizing the vast number of concepts in biology, as a model for others to formulate their own BCFs and as a contribution toward the creation of a comprehensive BCF.     

Legal implications of divorce and custody battles for day care administrators

The moment is tense ... and somewhat confusing. I am in my office with a small group of five-year-olds reading a story when Mrs. Wilson arrives. She is young, pretty, and looking very serious. “Billy says that his father visited here today!”     

Examining Rater Effects on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System

The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta et al., 2008) is a popular measure of teacher–child interactions. Despite its prominence, CLASS scores have fairly weak relations with various child outcomes (e.g., Zaslow et al., 2010). One potential reason for these findings could be systematic differences in observer severity. As such, the purpose of this study was to explore the scope and impact of rater effects on CLASS scores with a sample of 77 teachers who were rated by 13 observers. Results indicated significant rater effects across all three CLASS domains. Adjusting for these effects, however, did not improve relations between CLASS scores and child outcomes. Implications for the CLASS and related assessments are discussed.     

Evolution of an academic–public library partnership

A partnership to improve access to health information via an urban public library system was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2011. A multiyear project was outlined that included an information needs assessment, a training class for public library staff, information kiosks at library branches for delivering printed consumer health materials, and a series of health-related programming. The partnership evolved to include social service and community organizations to carry out project goals and establish a sustainable program that met the health and wellness interests of the community.     

The Development of Distributive Justice Orientations: Contextual Influences on Children''s Resource Allocations

Previous research on the development of distributive justice decisions, by centering largely on situations in which rewards for work productivity are to be allocated, has shed little light on the child's developing ability to select the justice norm most appropriate to the situation. Children 5, 9, and 13 years of age were asked to allocate resources and judge the fairness of alternative decision rules in situations to which either equity, equality, or need norms were especially applicable. As predicted, young children were insensitive to contextual information, generally preferring to allocate resources equally, whereas older children tailored their decisions appropriately to the situation. The fact that developmental trends differed from situation to situation points to the importance of adopting a contextual perspective on the development of distributive justice orientations.