Epistemological resources for thought experimentation in science learning

Thought Experiments (TEs) are reasoning processes that are based on 'results' of an experiment carried out in thought. What is the validity of an experiment- that has not been actually executed- for knowledge about the physical world? What are the features that make it distinctive and how do we integrate it into learning environments to support such thought processes? This study suggests that a thought experiment draws on three epistemological resources: conceptual-logical inferences, visual imagery and bodily-motor experience. We start by stating how students' TEs are related to recent research on learning science and then proceed to describe the nature of TEs. The central part of the paper deals with cognitive theories and empirical examples of visual imagery and bodily imagery. It also deals with how these enable implicit knowledge about the world to be retrieved. Students may have, but are not aware of, such knowledge for it is hidden when learning is only based on formal representations. We show that imagination is structured, goal-oriented, based on prior experiential imagery and internally coherent. Students can, for example, mentally rotate objects at constant velocity. Students can 'zoom in and out' to inspect imaginary situations, transfer objects, predict paths of imaginary moving objects and imagine the impact of forces on mechanical systems. We show that the TEs are powerful because of these capabilities. We further claim that these are not exploited by school learning environments and offer a first step towards understanding imagery in science learning.     

Retired Teachers Reflect on Learning from Experience

An attempt to clarify how learning from experience takes place and the role memory plays in the process was carried out in the frame of a study of retired teachers' accounts of their teaching, focusing on their views on the transformation of experience into professional wisdom. Forty-three retired teachers participated in the study and were asked to talk about their professional memories. The stimulus question was: 'What can you tell me about recollected events of your teaching practice?'. Further data was collected through lengthy and repeated interviews with 15 teachers. In the interviews, retired teachers were asked what the role of experience was in the development of their professional knowledge. They focused on the necessary conditions for learning from experience, as well as on the process itself. Among the necessary conditions for learning from experience, teachers in the present study mentioned time, maturity, and interaction with others. The following characteristics of the learning process were identified: the importance of narratives; the emotional aspects of learning from experience; and the role of disequilibrium and reframing. Teachers' recollections concerning their practice and insights about learning from experience represent cases of practice that can be analyzed and discussed in pre-service and in-service courses. They serve to create a sense of professional identity and continuity.     

Book review

This paper reports an evaluation of an innovative university–school partnership in which teacher practitioners work as university lecturers in a regional Australian pre‐service teacher education programme. The philosophy of this programme encompasses authentic partnerships between universities, schools and other industry employers. The study was motivated by an interest inunderstanding the experiences and outcomes for the teacher practitioners and in documenting their experiences. Staff members who are currently on contract as university lecturers as well as teachers who have completed secondments and returned to school settings are surveyed. This paper focuses on suggestions to improve the partnership and discusses future directions for the partnership.     

Conceptual Construction of Fields Through Tactile Interface

This paper examines the role of tactile perception in conceptual construction of forces and fields. The learning environment includes a simulation of a force field. The force applied by the field on an object is transferred to the learner's hand through a tactile interface designed as a trackball. The learner experiences varying resistance from the trackball when moving an object on the screen. The forces are actually “felt”, exerted on the screen-object as if the learner's hand is immersed in the “field.” We hypothesize that a tactile interface acts as an agent aimed at recruiting the body non-propositional knowledge, for construction of formal physics knowledge on fields of forces. Twelve subjects were asked to explore the structure of several invisible fields through tactile interface, then to design a series of situations that generate current and that energetically trap a particle in a particular area. The results of the study show that s tudents with no background in physics constructed a graphical representation of a field force of a single and double center of forces similar to the formal physics representation, though they had no conceptual background (i.e., vectors, field lines). Based on the tactile information, they constructed a representation of force as a vector, of force lines, equal-force lines (potential lines for particular cases), potential well (“trap”) and motion of a charged particle in a field of forces. We show that computer tactile interface acts as a trigger for access to non-propositional knowledge employed in everyday bodily activity, but not in formal learning. The computer environment turns into a virtual environment, carrying the features of perception within “reality”, providing opportunities for conceptual construction.     

Embracing New Policies,Technologies, and Community Partnerships: A Case Study of the City of Houston's Bureau of Air Quality Control

As the City of Houston's Bureau of Air Quality Control embraced new policies, technologies, and rhetorical strategies, they simultaneously moved through Lukensmeyer and Torres's “four levels of public involvement,” which include the information, consultation, engagement, and collaboration levels (Lukensmeyer & Torres, 2006 Lukensmeyer, C. J., & Torres, L. H. (2006). Public deliberation: A manager's guide to citizen engagement. IBM Center for the Business of Government Collaboration Series. Retrieved November 2007 from http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/LukensmeyerReport.pdf  [Google Scholar]). Because of the technical and scientific nature of air quality inspections, increasing public involvement, especially the involvement of those in a predominantly African American and a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, has been a challenge. This article describes the Bureau's journey through the information level, where the Bureau opens public access and participation in the investigation and reporting process; the consultation level, where Bureau staff go door-to-door in poor and minority neighborhoods collecting citizen feedback regarding perceived environmental hazards; the engagement level, where the Bureau conducts monthly environmental meetings with neighborhood residents; and the collaboration level, where citizens are taught to collect evidence of environmental violations.     

Interlibrary Loan—Reference Collaboration: Filling Hard-to-Find Faculty Requests

We have implemented a successful in-house outsourcing program between University of Oregon Library departments. Collaboration between interlibrary loan staff and subject specialists appropriates ILLiad e-mail routing capabilities to enable subject specialists to join the workflow in processing difficult ILL requests. The goals of the program are to fill more requests, fill requests more quickly, give subject specialists the opportunity to learn more about their faculty members’ research needs, and to create a stepping stone to a purchase-on-demand program.     

A study of emotional labor in librarianship

Librarianship, like many occupations, requires emotional labor, which is an awareness of job requirements for emotional expression and the strategies used to express those emotions. Research on emotional labor suggests that performing emotional labor results in both positive and negative effects on individual outcomes, such as job satisfaction and job burnout. Since affective events are prevalent in library work and evidence suggests positive outcomes from emotional labor can be fostered, the ways emotional labor is performed in libraries should be studied. This research explores the key components of emotional labor: perceptions of display rules and the emotion regulation strategies of surface and deep acting. Data were collected from a sample of American librarians in 46 states from public, academic, special, and K–12 libraries who completed a survey. Bi-variate and multi-variate correlations, as well as ANOVAs, were used to test relationships among emotional labor constructs, job satisfaction, and job burnout. Results show evidence of significant associations with emotional labor among library employees in both the perception of display rules, as well as in surface and deep acting. Perception of display rules showed mixed results with job burnout and job satisfaction. Surface acting was found to be associated consistently with job burnout and decreased job satisfaction, while deep acting strategies were less strongly associated with negative outcomes. Findings suggest that library managers should clearly communicate display rule expectations to employees and work to build staff support to help meet those expectations. Library employees should be aware of occasions when they use surface acting and work to develop stronger deep acting techniques. The study contributes to an understanding of the influence of emotion management in the library workplace.     

Deleterious effects of obesity on physical fitness in pre-pubertal children

The prevalence of obesity in children has increased dramatically during the past decades in Europe and understanding physical fitness and its components in children is critical to design and implement effective interventions. The objective of the present study was to analyse the association between physical fitness (aerobic, speed, agility, power, flexibility and balance) and body mass index (BMI) in pre-pubertal children. A total of 2411 healthy schoolchildren (7–11 years) participated in this study. Anthropometric characteristics and body composition were assessed by skinfold thickness. Physical fitness was measured by nine physical fitness tests: endurance running, 20 m running speed, agility, handgrip strength, standing long jump and squat jump, sit and reach, medicine ball forward throw and static balance. No relevant differences were observed between boys and girls regarding anthropometric characteristics, body composition and physical fitness. However, overweight and obese children showed significantly lower physical fitness levels in endurance running, speed and agility (mean: +18.8, +5.5 and +14.5% of time to complete tasks, respectively), lower limb power normalised to body mass (?23.3%) and balance tests (number of falls: +165.5%) than their normal weight counterparts. On the other hand, obesity did not affect handgrip, throwing and flexibility. In conclusion, increased BMI was associated with lower performance capabilities limiting proper motor skill development, which directly affects the ability of children to take on sports skills. Actions undertaken to promote children's wellness and fitness should be prioritised and introduced early in life with the aim of enhancing physical fitness as well as preventing overweight and obesity.