Integrating Technology in Teaching and Teacher Education: Implications for Policy and Curriculum Reform

This paper discusses technology integration in teaching and teacher education. Emphasis is placed on policy and curriculum reform as they relate to the use of information technologies for teacher education. Particular reference is made to the situation in Cyprus public schools. It is argued that for successful technology integration, there needs to be a shift in pedagogical approaches and reform of teacher education programmes. Concluding, suggestions are provided on how information technologies can best be integrated in pre-service teacher education and in-service teacher professional development. Intégration des technologies dans l’enseignement et la formation des enseignants : quelles implications

politiques, quel impact sur la réforme curriculaire? Dans cet article nous analyserons comment s'intègrent les technologies dans l'enseignement et la formation des enseignants et mettrons l'accent sur les conséquences de cette intégration sur les aspects politiques et sur la réforme des curricula avec une attention particulière À la situation des écoles publiques chypriotes. Nous défendons l'idée que l'intégration des TIC doit s'accompagner d'un changement profond dans nos faÇons d'enseigner et de concevoir les programmes de formation des enseignants. Enfin, le texte suggère quelques idées concernant l'intégration des TIC dans la formation initiale et continue des enseignants. Integration von Technologie im Unterricht und in der Lehrerausbildung : Auswirkung auf die Schulpolitik

und die Lehrplanreform. In diesem Artikel behandeln wir die Integration von neuen Technologien im Unterricht und in der Lehrerausbildung, und heben deren Auswirkungen auf die Schulpolitik und die Lehrplanreform hervor. Wir nehmen insbesondere Bezug auf die Situation der öffentlichen Schulen auf Zypern. Eine signifikante Aenderung unserer pädagogischen Denkweise und eine Reform der Lehrerausbildung ist Voraussetzung für die erfolgreiche Integration der neuen Technologien. Abschliessend möchten wir Vorschläge vorbringen, wie Informationstechnologien in der Ausbildung und Fortbildung von Lehrkräften am besten integriert werden können.     

Using MeSH to search for alternatives to the use of animals in research

Searching for alternatives to using animals in research is not a standard service currently offered by most medical research libraries. The goal of this article is to demystify this type of expert search for medical librarians and to do so using a language they know well, that of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus. An attempt is made in this paper to discuss possible search strategies and to include examples of recommended approaches to searching-all in the context of the 3Rs of alternatives: Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction.     

Library support for problem-based learning: an algorithmic approach

Academic health sciences libraries can take various approaches to support the problem-based learning component of the curriculum. This article presents one such approach taken to integrate information navigation skills into the small group discussion part of the Pathophysiology course in the second year of the Dental school curriculum. Along with presenting general resources for the course, the Library Toolkit introduced an algorithmic approach to finding answers to sample clinical case questions. While elements of Evidence-Based Practice were introduced, the emphasis was on teaching students to navigate relevant resources and apply various database search techniques to find answers to the clinical problems presented.     

Dysthymic Symptoms,Hostility and Scholastic Achievement in a Group of High‐school Students

In order to investigate the possible relationship between dysthymic symptoms, hostility levels and scholastic achievement, the self‐rating scales, DSSI/sAD (Delusions Symptoms States Inventory/states of Anxiety and Depression) and HDHQ (Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire), were given to a group of 754 high‐school students (grades 10‐12: 387 males, 367 females) two weeks before the June examinations. Negative relationships between dysthymic symptoms and school performance were detected in both males and females. Hostility subscales were also found to be negatively related to performance, especially the extrapunitive ones. All findings were more prominent in the females.     

Narrative Fiction and Expository Nonfiction Differentially Predict Verbal Ability

Although reading is known to be an important contributor to language abilities, it is not yet well established whether different text genres are uniquely associated with verbal abilities. We examined how exposure to narrative fiction and expository nonfiction predict language ability among university students. Exposure was measured both with self-report and with recognition tests of print exposure. Verbal ability was measured in the form of synonym knowledge, analogies, sentence completion, and reading comprehension in 4 different studies. Across all studies, narrative fiction was a better predictor of verbal abilities relative to expository nonfiction. When examining unique associations, controlling for demographic variables and the other genre, fiction remained a robust predictor, whereas nonfiction became a null or weak negative predictor. In light of this evidence, it appears that what we read plays an important role in how reading contributes to language development.     

Tracking changes in pre-service EFL teacher beliefs in Greece: A longitudinal study

This article reports on a longitudinal study that aims to investigate pre-service EFL teacher beliefs about learning and teaching in Greece. The study attempts to track possible changes in those beliefs during a 3-year teacher education program and explores the impact of teaching practice, in particular, on student teachers’ beliefs. The results indicate that while there is a gradual and sometimes significant development in student teachers’ beliefs during the program, student teachers’ engagement in the teaching practice seems to have a low impact on the development of their beliefs. Those findings are interpreted with reference to the structure and context of the specific teacher education program and can be useful for the design and development of EFL teacher education programs.     

Royalties for Artists versus Royalties for Authors and Composers

Legislation creating or reinforcing resale royalties for visual artists retains substantial political popularity – particularly in the European Union – despite the often skeptical attitude toward those rights in the economics literature. In this essay, we probe more deeply the affirmative arguments that can be made for a resale royalty right, in either a mandatory or a discretionary form. We also compare the rationale for visual artists' resale royalties with the potential rationales for the now-well-established systems of royalty rights for authors and composers. This comparison has particular interest both because some of the principal arguments made against visual artists' resale royalties also apply to authors' royalties, and because the economic rationale for compensating authors with royalties has itself not been well explored. We also discuss briefly the related subject of display rights for visual artists. We conclude with some general implications for policy.