通识教育与跨专业学习

通识教育是一个历史的概念,内容丰富而模糊。本文勾勒了通识教育在德国的历史演变过程,重点对通识教育的内涵进行了区分与分析,指出"关键技能"和"学术工作技能"是通识教育的核心,并重点讨论了培养学生这两种能力的相关条件。     

Soil Erosion Study through Simulation: An Educational Tool

Abstract

The need for education and understanding about the continuing soil erosion problem is acute. Most segments of the population have little knowledge of the critical impacts erosion can have on the environment. The use of the Soil Conservation Service model for erosion determination, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), is a good perceptual tool to show the impacts of human and natural action on the land. Micro-DYNAMO, a special-purpose computer simulation language, was programmed to simulate the USLE under several different environmental and farming practice scenarios. This type of simulation will never duplicate nature but will allow natural processes to be evaluated and this information to be used for rational decision making and understanding.     

Data-driven approaches to education governance and their implications

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability -     

Outreach impact study: the case of the Greater Midwest Region

Objectives:

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact that funding from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), Greater Midwest Region (GMR), has on member institutions'' ability to conduct outreach on behalf of NN/LM.

Methods:

The study employed both content analysis and survey methodologies. The final reports from select GMR-funded outreach projects (n = 20) were analyzed based on a set of evaluation criteria. Project principal investigators (n = 13) were then surveyed using the same evaluation criteria.

Results:

Results indicated that outreach projects supported by GMR funding improved access to biomedical information for professionals and the general public. Barriers to conducting outreach projects included time constraints or commitments, staffing, scheduling and absenteeism, inadequate space, and issues associated with technology (e.g., hardware and software, Internet connectivity and firewall issues, and creation and use of new technologies).

Conclusions:

The majority of project principal investigators indicated that their attempts to conduct outreach were successful. Moreover, most noted that outreach had a positive impact on professionals as well as the general public. In general, it seems that negative outcomes, as with most barriers to conducting outreach, can be mitigated by more thorough planning.

Highlights

• The provision of funding from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), Greater Midwest Region (GMR), had a positive impact on an institution''s ability to conduct outreach.
• The provision of GMR funding to conduct health information outreach yielded positive outcomes.

Implications

• Regional offices should make efforts to accurately capture and record the impact that funding has on member institutions'' ability to conduct outreach.
• Many barriers to conducting outreach can be mitigated by more thorough planning.

The mission of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) is to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by providing all US health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and improving the public''s access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health [1]. The National Library of Medicine''s (NLM''s) vision statement emphasizes the elimination of health disparities. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NLM both attempt to understand and eliminate health disparities between minority and majority populations [2]. One of NLM''s goals in trying to achieve elimination of health disparities is to improve access to affordable and easy-to-use health-related information [3]. It is thought that such a dissemination of knowledge will help solve health disparities [4]. Ultimately, NLM believes that improved access to health information will result in higher quality health care. This effort is served through research and community outreach. NLM supports some outreach directly through the NLM Division of Specialized Information Services (SIS), Office of Health Information Program Development (OHIPD), and extramural programs. In addition, NN/LM, which NLM administers, provides and supports outreach as part of NLM''s overall mission [5]. NN/LM places a primary emphasis on rural, minority, and other underserved populations [6].NLM was interested in evaluating NN/LM programs, and one of the key programs of the Greater Midwest Region (GMR) is its funding to support outreach in the region. NLM was also interested in promoting awareness among library school students about NLM and NN/LM and about the value of libraries doing outreach to underserved populations with the community. In September 2009, NN/LM GMR announced the availability of funds for a subcontract to a library school located in the region to assist with evaluating network programs. The GMR operates under a contract from NLM, providing network services to approximately 1,100 libraries and information centers in a 10-state region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin). One of 8 regions in the NN/LM, the GMR conducts much of its outreach by offering subcontracts and awards to network members.Funding was offered to engage a group of students, under faculty guidance, to plan and implement a study that would determine the impact that GMR funding has on the ability of network members to perform outreach on behalf of NN/LM. The study was intended to be conducted in two phases: a planning phase, in which students were to develop an impact study proposal, and an implementation phase, in which students were to implement the study outlined in the proposal. The desired outcomes of the impact study included:

• What did the institutions accomplish with the NN/LM funding?
• What outcomes did the institutions report from their NN/LM-funded outreach projects?
• What changes have been made in their institutional programs as a result of the funding they received?
• What lessons did the institutions learn through implementation of their NN/LM-funded outreach projects
• What changes would the institutions recommend to NN/LM about their funding programs?

The School of Library and Information Science (LIS) at the University of Kentucky received an outreach impact study award from NN/LM GMR in the fall of 2009 for its project, “Learning By Doing: Engaging LIS Students in an Outreach Impact Study.” Project funds were used to provide scholarships to support student participation.     

Reinventing the Library's Message Through the Alignment of Research and Instruction

This article is about the Walker Management Library staff and services at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management and its primary audience, the graduate business school community. In the spirit of continuous improvement, new goals were set to increase the library's impact on the school and the end product, the graduate business school students. To do so, the library staff retooled specific practices on how we provided reference and instruction services. Through planning and experimentation, the library staff consciously redefined our message, methods of delivery, and did so in ways that other libraries can duplicate.