Recent developments in Palestinian higher education and the CEEPAT programme

Conclusions Palestinian teachers at the pre-collegiate level who participate in the CEEPAT programme will, it is hoped, learn to place new emphasis on enhancement of their students' analytical skills and discourage an identification of knowledge with memorisation. For their part, Palestinian professors who have been trained to teach in the programme will presumably constitute a growing reservoir of talent which may be expected to raise the quality of Palestinian university education. Plans are now under way to give all Palestinians teaching under the auspices of CEEPAT an opportunity to attend an annual, three-week winter seminar in Gaza and/or a summer seminar in the United States, both of which will focus on issues of pedagogy and methodology. Such professors can be expected to pass on their new understanding of teaching via discussion to their colleagues and to their university students, thereby spreading an important pedagogical method to other segments of the Palestinian... community. 7 CEEPAT clearly has the potential to make a significant contribution to the elevation of educational standards in Palestine at a time of major historical change.In Palestine, higher education of quality is obviously a very serious business. It is understood that it underlies any possibility of individual betterment, economic development, or the evolution of an independent Palestinian state. If ever the Israeli occupation is completely terminated and the present financial crisis of the universities is solved, Palestinian university and post-baccalaureate training may reasonably be expected to become fully competitive on an international scale.     

Analysis of the use of reference services in an academic health sciences library

In 1991, the Reference and Information Services staff of the Alfred Taubman Medical Library at the University of Michigan gathered data on the use of the reference desk, including the frequency and types of assistance requested by different user groups throughout the year. Recommendations based on the results of this study led to improved service as well as more efficient use of staff resources.     

White lies: a racial history of the (post)truth

In the aftermath of the 2016 election of President Trump, a veritable cottage industry of opinion pieces, blogs, and articles emerged overnight, most of which seemed to agree that only the post-truth could explain how a racist, misogynistic, neo-nationalist member of the economic elite could win a presidential election. This article, in contrast, is inspired by Barbara Christian’s injunction that we question why a given statement, concept, or theory is now acceptable when before it was not. Operating in this spirit, we critique post-truth critics for neglecting the material tradition of ideological criticism in favor of epistemological explanations for understanding post-truth literature; we then offer two case studies—American drug policy and housing policy—to illustrate the racial amnesia required for claiming that only now do we live in a post-truth era.     

Unconscious and unnoticed professional practice within an outstanding school for children and young people with complex learning difficulties and disabilities

This article describes a three‐year project undertaken at Pear Tree School for children and young people with severe and multiple and profound learning difficulties. Lesley Sullivan, the school's head teacher, believed that much of the value within the work of this outstanding school went unidentified by existing approaches to planning, monitoring and evaluation. Richard Crombie, educational psychologist, was engaged to work on the project. Also involved were Kate Walker and Rebecca Warnock, deputy head teachers, as well as the whole staff, children and some parents. The project takes as its starting point that essential, but very often unnoticed and unconscious, professional practice is rooted in implicit processes learnt experientially. We set ourselves the task of finding meaningful frameworks for identifying and developing that practice. This meant close observation within and outside school coupled with feeding back to staff, and their subsequent engagement with and use of explanatory frameworks.     

Nonscience majors learning science: A theoretical model of motivation

A theoretical model of nonscience majors' motivation to learn science was tested by surveying 369 students in a large‐enrollment college science course that satisfies a core curriculum requirement. Based on a social‐cognitive framework, motivation to learn science was conceptualized as having both cognitive and affective influences that foster science achievement. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the hypothesized relationships among the variables. The students' motivation, as measured by the Science Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ), had a strong direct influence on their achievement, as measured by their science grade point average. The students' motivation was influenced by their belief in the relevance of science to their careers. This belief was slightly stronger in women than men. Essays by the students and interviews with them provided insight into their motivation. The model suggests that instructors should strategically connect science concepts to the careers of nonscience majors through such means as case studies to increase motivation and achievement. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1088–1107, 2007     

Reporting child abuse: pediatricians' experiences with the child protection system

OBJECTIVE: To explore pediatricians' reluctance to adhere to a legal mandate to report suspected child abuse and to compare their perspectives with those described in other jurisdictions in studies informed by different theories and employing diverse methodologies. METHOD: An anonymous survey questionnaire was distributed to all pediatricians with admitting privileges to B.C. Children's Hospital which has a specialized Child Protection Services Unit. Physicians were asked about their own prior reporting experience and the influence of that experience upon future reporting decisions. They were also asked why they think other physicians might be reluctant to report (N = 26). RESULTS: While respondents were generally positive about their experience in filing a report to Child Protective Services, they were less positive about the dearth of feedback they received and they were undecided as to whether there was a positive outcome to their report. Their perceptions of the reasons colleagues might fail to report emphasized dissatisfaction with CPS, concern with loss of relationship with the child's parents, and a desire to avoid court proceedings. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians' noncompliance or at least dissatisfaction with their child abuse reporting mandate is an international problem that can not be addressed by institutional protocols alone. Confusions about the limitations on confidentiality and information sharing might be better addressed through more shared training and opportunities for collaboration than by legal mandates and institutional protocols alone. Organizational theory and exchange theory might inform future research about the conditions under which collaboration is enhanced in the service of protecting children.