Exploring Developmental Appropriateness of Multitouch Tables in Prekindergarten: A Video Analysis

This study explored how developmentally appropriate practices influenced the affordances of a multitouch surface in an early childhood classroom. Children, ages 4 to 5 years old, were videotaped while engaged in a storymaking application on a multitouch table. As a result of the study, we found that some challenges with the functionality undermined children's autonomous control. The researchers observed numerous instances of issues with control of the medium, including height of the table, sensitivity to multiple types of touch, and limited instructions and prompts. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

The effect of context on student engagement in engineering

The self-belief, motivation, tendency to procrastinate and learning styles of engineering students are discussed. It is proposed that engineering has developed an idiom and a learning approach that favours the dominant client, i.e. men, while simultaneously undermining the self-efficacy and motivation of women. Thematic coherence and teaching within a context that is familiar to students have been shown previously to be effective approaches for engaging students and are extended here to utilise the common experiences of all students to initiate the learning cycle. These approaches are combined with a template for teaching that uses the 5Es (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate) in order to render the fundamentals of engineering more accessible to all students. This methodology can be introduced by individual instructors, who will be rewarded by students who are more engaged, more motivated and more likely to give a higher rating to the instructor and the course.     

End-user bibliographic instruction: A new approach to retrieving knowledge

The opportunity for library users to design and execute their own database searches through direct access to computerized data sources is known as end-user searching. Due to the proliferation of microcomputers and changes in software design, the phenomenon is gaining widespread support among libraries across the country. This paper describes three methods of education and training-course-integrated, classroombased and self-service. The role of the librarian is identified in each.She also serves as the Coordinator of End-User Instruction for the library.     

Student Peer Teaching: An Innovative Approach to Instruction in Science and Engineering Education

This paper reports the results of a pilot-study in a senior paper science and engineering class, of an innovative instructional method designed to foster student problem-solving and in-depth learning of material, namely, student peer teaching. We review related literature focusing on active learning methods in science and engineering education, describe the method of student peer teaching used in this pilot-study, present the evaluation method and results, and discuss implications for further development of this method of instruction. Results suggest that students were able to effectively teach significant curricular content. In addition, the method of student peer teaching served important purposes in helping students develop in-depth understanding and expertise in the issues related to their teaching session, as well as teaching and presentation skills which will be useful in their professional practice. However, students expressed concern that, while achieving in-depth learning of the content of their teaching session, they tended to focus on the content area of their teaching session at the expense of other content areas and may not have learned as well from other students as from the Professor. We recommend a modified structure for student peer teaching which incorporates cooperative learning methods; increased Professor involvement in class sessions, in the role of the mentor; and modifications in performance evaluation methods to ensure ongoing student monitoring of progress and self-assessment. The method of student peer teaching, in science and engineering education, combined with cooperative learning methods, is viewed as a major extension of cooperative learning methods, used in the service of preparation for professional careers.     

Self-Regulation May Not Be Enough: A Rejoinder to Horns-Marsh

This qualitative research study traces the motivations for teaching of 13 teacher candidates enrolled in an urban-based alternative certification program. After using a push–pull factor analysis, the data suggest that most participants left their previous careers due to financial shortcomings or work instability. As a result, these participants were also less attracted to teaching based on altruistic reasons when compared to those whose major motivation to teach occurred as part of a quest for personal fulfillment.     

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY PRACTICE MODEL FOR INDEPENDENT PRACTITIONERS WHO WORK WITH OLDER ADULTS IN THE COMMUNITY

This article presents a framework for the integration of community services for older adults. A model for multidisciplinary practice is introduced to teach students and professionals how independent practitioners can integrate their community practices. Practitioners from disciplines such as medicine, nursing, social work, psychiatry, psychology, finance, law, and religion can develop collaborative community practices to more effectively serve older adults. A generic multidisciplinary instrument for use with this model was developed for assessment and referral purposes. Collaboration has been the mark of professional behavior in institutional settings. This article applies these principles to the community practice setting. Reform efforts are necessary to advance from the current ways of thinking to more effective community practice strategies. Community efforts have not followed the lead of professional efforts in institutional settings in the development of collaborative, interdisciplinary planning for older adults. Educators can use this model to teach students and practitioners a new nontraditional method for community practice. It is imperative in this time of challenge in the field of gerontology that practitioners examine new ideas and adopt new models in their teaching and professional practices.     

Deconstructing Engineering Education Programmes: The DEEP Project to reform the mechanical engineering curriculum

The goal of the Deconstructing Engineering Education Programmes project is to revise the mechanical engineering undergraduate curriculum to make the discipline more able to attract and retain a diverse community of students. The project seeks to reduce and reorder the prerequisite structure linking courses to offer greater flexibility for students. This paper describes the methods used to study the prerequisites and the resulting proposed curriculum revision. The process involved dissecting each course into topics at roughly the level of a line in a syllabus, editing the list of topics, associating prerequisites and successors to each topic and then using a genetic algorithm to produce clusters of topics. The new curriculum, which consists of 12 clusters, each of which could be a full year course, is quite different from the traditional curriculum.     

Do you hear voices? Problems in assessment of mental status in deaf persons with severe language deprivation

When mental health clinicians perform mental status examinations, they examine the language patterns of patients because abnormal language patterns, sometimes referred to as language dysfluency, may indicate a thought disorder. Performing such examinations with deaf patients is a far more complex task, especially with traditionally underserved deaf people who have severe language deficits in their best language or communication modality. Many deaf patients suffer language deprivation due to late and inadequate exposure to ASL. They are also language dysfluent, but the language dysfluency is usually not due to mental illness. Others are language dysfluent due to brain disorders such as aphasia. This paper examines difficulties in performing a mental status examination with deaf patients. Issues involved in evaluating for hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking are reviewed. Guidelines are drawn for differential diagnosis of language dysfluency related to thought disorder vs. language dysfluency related to language deprivation.     

The validity of the commercially-available,low-cost,wrist-worn Movband accelerometer during treadmill exercise and free-living physical activity

Low-cost physical activity monitors may provide a more accurate measure of physical activity than subjective methods (e.g., self-report) while being less costly than research-grade accelerometers. The present study assessed the validity of a low-cost monitor (Movband 2) to estimate physical activity behavior/intensity. Participants (N = 23, n = 16 female, BMI = 22.9 ± 4.0 kg/m², age = 21.9 ± 1.6 years) completed four, five-minute treadmill stages (2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 MPH) while wearing both the Movband and the previously-validated Actigraph monitor. Oxygen consumption (VO₂) was recorded during each stage (Laboratory assessment). A subset (n = 15, n = 10 female, BMI = 22.2 ± 3.2 kg/m², age = 21.5 ± 0.8 years) of these participants then wore the two accelerometers for three days (Free-living assessment). During the Laboratory assessment there were strong, significant (r = 0.94, p ≤ 0.001) relationships between Movband and Actigraph counts and VO₂. During Free-living assessment there was also a strong, significant (r = 0.97, p < 0.001) correlation between Movband and Actigraph counts. The low-cost, Movband accelerometer appears to provide a valid assessment of physical activity behavior/intensity.