Striving 2.0: Faculty Collaboration and Advocacy as Strategies for Overcoming Post-Striving Organizational Priorities

Innovative Higher Education - A case study at a large, public research university was conducted to understand how post-striving environments, defined by those universities that achieved very high...     

Can anatomists teach living anatomy using ultrasound as a teaching tool?

The utilization of bedside ultrasound by an increasing number of medical specialties has created the need for more ultrasound exposure and teaching in medical school. Although there is a widespread support for more vertical integration of ultrasound teaching throughout the undergraduate curriculum, little is known about whether the quality of ultrasound teaching differs if performed by anatomists or clinicians. The purpose of this study is to compare medical students' evaluation of ultrasound anatomy teaching by clinicians and anatomists. Hands‐on interactive ultrasound sessions were scheduled as part of the gross anatomy course following principles of adult learning and instructional design. Seven teachers (three anatomists and four clinicians) taught in each session. Before each session, anatomists were trained in ultrasound by clinicians. Students were divided into groups, rotated teachers between sessions, and completed evaluations. Results indicated students perceived the two groups as comparable for all factors except for knowledge organization and the helpfulness of ultrasound for understanding anatomy (P < 0.001). However, results from unpaired samples t‐tests demonstrated a nonstatistically significant difference between the groups within each session for both questions. Moreover, students' test performance for both groups was similar. This study demonstrated that anatomists can teach living anatomy using ultrasound with minimal training as well as clinicians, and encourage the teaching of living anatomy by anatomists in human anatomy courses using ultrasound. Repeating this study at a multicenter level is currently being considered to further validate our conclusion. Anat Sci Educ 7: 340–349. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Enhancing thinking skills in early childhood

A case study approach was adopted to investigate two thinking skills programmes for a maximum variation sample of five- to six-year-olds in four schools, in two local authorities (LAs), in England and Wales, using multiple methods. School staff interviewed felt that thinking skills programmes enhanced critical thinking skills and improved use of language, attentive listening, social cooperation, confidence and independence. Welsh staff indicated that the programmes had a whole-school impact, reflecting national policy, intensive training, coaching and monitoring and leading to transfer to other lessons, such as mathematics. Without a national curriculum mandate, the English thinking-skills practice was vulnerable to disruption and lack of continuity. Observation showed that teachers' delivery varied in open questioning and challenge, group work and pupil talk. Pupils' verbal reasoning and numerical attainments showed modest evidence of change and development. Conditions supporting change and sustainability included: national policy with thinking skills at its core; high-quality professional development and a whole-school approach; coaching with systematic observation and feedback. This promoted changes in leadership, trust and collaboration, structures of interaction between policy and LA, head teacher, teachers and children.     

Building a Social Compact for Preserving E-Journals

In the shift of scholarly publishing from the print environment to online, the preservation of the scholarly record has become more complex, difficult, and uncertain. Current efforts are not adequate. Core criteria and certification processes have been developed for digital preservation repositories. Broad library support is crucial to the sustainability of third-party preservation archives. Publisher participation in third-party archives has grown, but coverage is incomplete and uneven, leaving some categories of materials well-covered and others vulnerable. Preservation programs need to coordinate their efforts and view themselves as collaborators rather than competitors. The task of preserving the digital scholarly record cannot fall to libraries alone—it requires a social compact among all involved parties.     

Voluntary use of online study questions as a function of previous minimal use requirements and learner aptitude

This study investigates voluntary use of online study questions, the relationship of study question use to examination performance, and the relationship of aptitude to study question use following an initial phase during which students either received course points for passing mastery quizzes or for completing a designated number of study questions. The results indicate a) students who first received points for completing study questions later made greater voluntary use of study questions, b) less able readers made less voluntary use of study questions than more able readers, and c) less able readers performed better on course examinations when awarded course points for completing a required number of study questions rather than quizzes.     

Analyzing service-learning reflections through Fink's taxonomy

Reflection is an increasingly essential component of experience-based learning in higher education to encourage students to draw connections between theoretical and practical knowledge and experiences. This qualitative study examines the reflections of undergraduate students in a service-learning course for secondary English teacher candidates. The authors use Fink's taxonomy of significant learning as a lens through which to examine the learning within and critical natures of students’ reflections. Findings from this study suggest that to consider and extend students’ academic content knowledge and to move students toward new and critical understandings of their service work, reflections should direct students toward more explicit considerations of academic course content over a period of time. To help students write critical reflections that achieve both academic and personal growth learning goals, the authors recommend explicitly teaching the reflective mode, introducing students to Fink's taxonomy, and instructing students to include course content in their reflections.     

Morality,religious writings,and entrepreneurship education: An integrative proposal using the example of Christian narratives

Success and failure in entrepreneurship affects not only entrepreneurs but also many participants in their entrepreneurial relationships. Studies have led us to consider the social and moral dimensions within entrepreneurship education. Doubts arise, however, when one asks how moral principles can be included in entrepreneurship education in order to produce more socially responsible graduates. In the current debate, the role that religions may play in providing moral teachings for entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly important, and religious narratives as educational tools are growing in significance. In this article we present an integrative proposal using as an example Christian narratives taken from the Epistle of St James.     

Schooling The Citizens Of Tomorrow: The Challenges For Teaching And Learning Across The Global North/south Divide

Drawing on examples from a range of contexts, this article explores some of the challenges for schooling in the 2lst century from the vantage points of both resource rich and developing countries, suggesting that schools on each side of the global North/South divide have much to learn from each other. It offers an inclusive framework for schooling for the 21st century, identifying the foundations which need to be put in place to establish that framework, as well as the options along the way. The core challenges are seen as how to prepare our young people – the citizens of tomorrow – for an increasingly uncertain and technologically orientated world; how to equip them to assess the relevance of a vast array of facts and information and discriminate between competing ideologies; and how to encourage them to relate to each other in a fragmented, although globalised, world.