Editorial

The first article in this issue raises some fascinating issues that relate to my own background in research into student learning and experience of courses in conventional higher education. Richardson, Long and Woodley have administered the Academic Engagement Form', used widely in colleges in the USA, and the 'Course Experience Questionnaire', used widely in universities in Australia, to distance learning students. John Richardson and various colleagues have previously shown that these questionnaires, separately, work as well in distance learning contexts as they do in conventional contexts: that is, they identify the same factors as components of students' experience, and the same factors relating to overall perceptions of quality of experience, as in conventional contexts. Of the many findings reported in the study reported in this issue of Open Learning, two stand out for me. First, academic engagement is shown to play a key role in students' perceptions of academic quality: engaged students perceive their course to be of higher quality. This does not tell us if students who are happy with their courses become more engaged or if those who are engaged become happier with their courses, however, merely that they are related. 'Engagement' here encompasses both social and academic engagement as defined in Tinto's model of student retention. Second, students' overall perceptions of academic quality are mediated by their perceptions of their tutors. The authors conclude: '... the attitudes and behaviours of tutors are crucial to students' perceptions of the academic quality of courses in distance education'. In conventional contexts the item on the Course Experience Questionnaire that relates most closely to student performance concerns the quality of teacher feedback, not teaching, and this is easy to understand in a distance context. The methodology of this paper (relying on factor analysis of questionnaires and multivariate analysis of the relationship between questionnaire scale scores and background variables such as age, gender, educational qualifications, workload and hearing status) may be relatively unfamiliar to readers of Open Learning. What is perhaps more familiar is that such an analysis adds to similar conclusions about the centrality of the tutorial role in ODL students' learning from very different kinds of study (such as of the relationship between tutorial attendance and student performance). There is a growing body of evidence that the same variables are involved in student perceptions of courses and of academic quality in distance learning contexts as in conventional contexts.     

SCI、ISTP、EI检索系统比较研究

对SCI、ISTP、EI三大检索系统的检索途径、检索算符、检索字段和检索结果等用户最常使用的4个部分进行了比较分析。     

UpToDate versus DynaMed: a cross-sectional study comparing the speed and accuracy of two point-of-care information tools

Objective:To compare the accuracy, time to answer, user confidence, and user satisfaction between UpToDate and DynaMed (formerly DynaMed Plus), which are two popular point-of-care information tools.Methods:A crossover study was conducted with medical residents in obstetrics and gynecology and family medicine at the University of Toronto in order to compare the speed and accuracy with which they retrieved answers to clinical questions using UpToDate and DynaMed. Experiments took place between February 2017 and December 2019. Following a short tutorial on how to use each tool and completion of a background survey, participants attempted to find answers to two clinical questions in each tool. Time to answer each question, the chosen answer, confidence score, and satisfaction score were recorded for each clinical question.Results:A total of 57 residents took part in the experiment, including 32 from family medicine and 25 from obstetrics and gynecology. Accuracy in clinical answers was equal between UpToDate (average 1.35 out of 2) and DynaMed (average 1.36 out of 2). However, time to answer was 2.5 minutes faster in UpToDate compared to DynaMed. Participants were also more confident and satisfied with their answers in UpToDate compared to DynaMed.Conclusions:Despite a preference for UpToDate and a higher confidence in responses, the accuracy of clinical answers in UpToDate was equal to those in DynaMed. Previous exposure to UpToDate likely played a major role in participants'' preferences. More research in this area is recommended.     

数控车床的试切对刀方法

工件坐标系的设定及对刀是数控机床加工中重要而关键的环节,对刀精度的高低直接影响零件的加工质量。基于数控机床的加工原理,通过对几个关键概念的具体分析,重点提出了数控车床中的试切对刀法,并对试切法对刀引起的误差进行了探讨,对提高对刀精度有一定的指导意义。     

试论当代情报学的基本学科立场

情报学的基本立场问题,是情报学的基本属性与情报学观的问题。以情报学的实然历史、情报学的应然指向和情报实践需要为依据,研究得出当代情报学应该具有工具性、实践性、超越性三种特性。这三种特性是一个有机的整体,并且会随着时间和实践的发展不断地自我更新。     

螺旋轴车削工艺方法

介绍了螺旋轴车削过程中采用的工艺方法,该方法可有效地抑制螺旋轴螺纹车削时的弯曲变形,保证了加工精度及螺旋轴的合格品率。     

多媒体课件设计中工具选择与素材采集方法研究

结合多媒体课件开发实际 ,对课件开发工具的特点和选择 ,素材的分类和采集方法作了较全面的论述     

基于Internet环境的毕业设计初探

毕业设计(论文)是完成专业培养目标的一个重要教学环节。构建基于Internet环境的毕业设计模式,其目的主要是为学生提供丰富的毕业设计资源,为毕业设计小组成员之间、指导教师与学生之间提供实时和非实时的交互工具,充分利用Internet工具为学生的毕业设计工作服务。     

基于政策工具视角的孵化器政策研究——以武汉市为例

针对武汉市孵化器政策有效性问题,从基本政策工具和孵化器建设全过程两个角度构建二维分析模型,并对2006—2015年之间的政策文本进行量化处理,分析武汉市孵化器政策运用的过溢、不足和缺失,并提出以下对策和建议,(1)强化需求型政策工具的引导作用;(2)重视孵化器发展阶段的核心内容建设;(3)营造良好的孵化环境。     

Impact of Web 2.0 on national libraries

Web 2.0 has had an impact on library web sites making them more interactive with users, giving rise to the term Library 2.0. What is meant by Web 2.0 tools is generally understood but the degree of implementation of these tools in libraries is largely unknown. This study reports on the implementation of these tools in national libraries all over the world in order to give an objective measure of the impact of Web 2.0 on library web sites.