Range Of Courses Research Articles

A Nation at Risk at 25

THE SPRING when I graduated from high school brought fundamental change in the way Americans think about public education. In April of 1983, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform was unveiled. Terrel Bell, President Reagan's secretary of education, had been appointed to shut down the brand-new U.S. Department of Education, something he had little taste for. He felt he needed what he later called a Sputnik-like occurrence. (1) Instead of closing the doors and moving programs to other federal departments, he empaneled the National Commission on Excellence in Education to study available research and data on public school students and make recommendations to the President. When that report, A Nation at Risk, appeared, it did not do what President Reagan had hoped in terms of opening the door to prayer in school and school choice, but its fiery rhetoric did catch the attention of the national press, where it provoked national discussion about the quality and purpose of public education. The debate that began with A Nation at Risk can be organized into the four categories it defined as problematic: content, expectations, time, and teaching. Although leadership and fiscal support were not among the primary categories listed, the National Commission made number of recommendations on those fronts as well. Some argue that A Nation at Risk began an ongoing effort to eliminate the arts and vocational education from the curriculum, but the document itself actually calls for students to participate in range of courses. While John Slaughter, former director of the National Science Foundation, is quoted as worrying about the growing chasm betweena small scientific and technological elite and everybody else, the report notes that other experts were worried that schools may emphasize such rudiments as reading and computation at the expense of other essential skills such as comprehension, analysis, solving problems, and drawing conclusions. Still others are concerned that an over-emphasis on technical and occupational skills will leave little time for studying the arts and humanities that so enrich daily life, help maintain civility, and develop sense of community. Knowledge of the humanities, they maintain, must be harnessed to science and technology if the latter are to remain creative and humane, just as the humanities need to be informed by science and technology if they are to remain relevant to the human condition. (2) The Commission recommended four years of English, three years of mathematics, three years of science, three years of social studies, and one-half school year of computer science for high school students. While this may seem like strict regimen, it is important to remember that it represents fewer than 14 credits out of typical 21 that students take for high school graduation. That would seem to leave some room for foreign language, music, and physical education. The Commission also recommended that students toward proficiency in foreign language starting in the elementary grades. While this recommendation is nowhere near being realized, it did mark first step in articulating our nation's need for multicultural understanding if we are to remain competitive in the global economy. STANDARDS AND EXPECTATIONS In their discussion of standards and expectations, the commissioners expressed concern over the intellectual, moral, and spiritual health of the American people. They understood that high level of shared education is required if our republic is to continue in any meaningful way. But they observed that, with the pervasive tendency toward minimum standards and expectations, that ideal would be difficult to attain. They called for more rigorous standards at all levels of schooling, and they made the now seemingly ubiquitous recommendations that four-year colleges raise admissions standards and that standardized tests of achievement be implemented at major transition points from one level of schooling to another and particularly from high school to college or work (p. …

Preface

Preface W. Boyd Rayward and John Unsworth Click for larger view View full resolution F. W. Lancaster. ©2007 McCandless Photography It is with great pleasure that we offer this Festschrift to Wilf Lancaster—renowned teacher, researcher, writer, and editor—on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday. With a varied background of experience in industry, libraries, and research and development companies in the United Kingdom and the United States in what was then the emerging field of computer-based information retrieval, Wilf joined the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science as an associate professor in 1970. Among his early responsibilities was managing a new biomedical librarianship program at the school to which he brought the experience of his several years as an information systems specialist at the National Library of Medicine. At the NLM, in the mid-1960s he had conducted pioneering work on evaluating the recently introduced medical information retrieval system, MEDLARS (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System), which was one of the first great national (later worldwide) information retrieval systems. The rigor of his research design for this project and the insightfulness of his analyses of the data that were produced represent an approach to information systems research that won enormous admiration at the time and has rarely been equaled since. At the University of Illinois he was rapidly promoted to full professor and served on the faculty until his retirement in 1992. During these years he displayed a prodigious intellectual energy. Books, articles, reviews, and reports simply poured from his pen (or cascaded from his keyboard). At the University of Illinois he introduced new approaches to education for information science expressed in a range of courses that were designed to prepare his students for a new kind of professional world that was in the making and to developments in which he was especially attuned. Here too he supervised a great many doctoral students, among them always a [End Page 721] number from other countries, who over the years grew into a formidable Lancaster cohort. He regularly organized and edited the proceedings of a number of the school’s Clinics on Library Applications of Data Processing, a series of extremely influential and usually annual meetings on a range of specialist subjects for which the school was responsible. Beyond school walls, he was the featured speaker at numerous conferences, professional meetings, and schools of library and information science throughout the United States and overseas. Indeed, it was as though no important meeting here or abroad was complete without his presence. International agencies invited him to evaluate their information retrieval systems. He was asked to consult on the development or revision of library and information science curricula and educational programs nationally and internationally. His many books on information systems evaluation, indexing and abstracting, vocabulary control and information retrieval systems, several now in updated editions in which he has involved a number of his doctoral students, have been translated into an extraordinary range of languages. They have influenced and will continue to influence generations of students, library managers, systems developers and information science researchers. Wilf’s prominence is probably unique in the field of library and information science, and over the years it has helped to build the reputations of the enterprises with which he is identified, not least that of Library Trends itself, and that of the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science, which has been counted among the best programs in the country for many years. In 1986 Wilf undertook the editorship of Library Trends and served in that position for twenty years until his retirement from it in 2006. These years of editing Library Trends constitute a major component of both Wilf’s contribution to the developing field of Library and Information Science and of his legacy. From the topics addressed in the journal during his editorship, one can construct a time line of major developments in all aspects of the field. Each issue, edited by its own expert, is directed at special sub-communities of practice within the broader field. But what are the areas that warrant the kind of scrutiny an issue of Library Trends reflects? Who might...

A review of the methods of delivering HE programmes in an FE college and an evaluation of the impact this will have on learning outcomes and student progression

Recent government policy has focused on creating a culture of lifetime learning and increasing participation in higher education, thus encouraging higher education institutions to expand the range of courses they offer. Widening access initiatives support this and encourage non‐traditional students to enrol on higher education courses. One of the aims of collaboration between further education (FE) and higher education (HE) is to support this initiative by offering potential higher education students the option of studying at a further education establishment. The FE college is usually geographically nearer the student, is not as intimidating as a traditional university environment and tends to create less of a financial burden. Thus HE courses offered in an FE college have advantages that tend to attract non‐traditional students. It can be argued that students studying for HE programmes in an FE college need more support. It is the aim of this article to assess how this support might best be given. Traditionally, HE in FE is delivered in a fragmented way, with most of the course work being integrated into the FE delivery system often using part‐time lecturers who deliver on a sessional basis. This research focuses on an FE college in South Wales. In this college all HE delivery is concentrated on one campus with two full‐time course directors whose remit is concentrated solely on HE. This gives the students continuity in terms of academic support and pastoral care. Also this concept of a ‘one‐stop shop’ approach means that students are able to seek help with student loans, benefits, hardship funds, letters for council tax, student bank accounts, childcare provision, employment and workplace issues. This package is combined with appropriate academic support, and student feedback indicates that this is a system that works effectively in delivering HE programmes in an FE environment.

Qualified or training: are you prepared?

Performance through People (PTP) is a training organization that delivers a range of courses from administration and management, and the dental nursing qualification, which is an alternative to the National Exam for dental nurses.

Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership

This technical note explains how group membership affects who a person thinks she or he is and how that person behaves in organizations. Hofstede's model of levels of identity is introduced and a simple description of Social Identity Theory is laid out. The note is a helpful tool for discussions about group differences because it argues that identification as a group member is not inconsistent with also being a unique individual. It was written for use in a course on interpersonal behavior and can be useful in a range of courses on organizational behavior.

Student project cases: a learner-centred team activity broadly integrated across the undergraduate medical curriculum

Background: Student Project Cases (SPCs) in the Monash University medical curriculum comprise a teamwork activity that emphasises interdisciplinary learning. SPCs provide a learning program contextualized within the broader medical curriculum, in which students research and present a medical disease. SPCs were introduced into the medical curriculum to integrate more active learning by creating a learning environment which: actively engages students in the learning process and encourages deep approaches to learning, promotes self-directed learning, develops the ability to work in teams, builds information gathering and processing skills, and develops presentation skills.Methods: The design of the SPCs requires students to: make decisions regarding the overall organisation of their group and presentations, communicate and work as members of small groups, research, identify, critically analyse, synthesize and integrate information, and prepare and communicate via written and oral presentations. To ensure effective and consistent assessment practices, an extensive series of simple and effective proformas were developed, including components of peer, self and staff assessment. Assessors utilise objective observations of student performance or achievement; numerical marks are independently based on specific descriptors aligned with learning objectives. The effectiveness of SPCs was evaluated through questionnaires, focus groups and informal feedback, involving both students and staff.Conclusion: The assessment proformas were successful learning aids for the students and allowed staff to critique student performance in a non-subjective manner. The SPCs are a successful active learning program which engages students and encourages deep learning and could readily be adapted by a diverse range of courses. The SPCs also develop graduate attributes of life-long learning skills including: capacity for inquiry and research, critical thought and analysis, problem solving, teamwork and written and oral communication. Additional benefits encompass enhanced student appreciation of learning and assessment as well as development of confidence in addressing new or complex tasks.

Opportunities and barriers to successful learning transfer: impact of critical care skills training

This paper is a report of a study to assess the impact on nursing practice of critical care skills training for ward-based nurses. Following a government review in the UK of adult critical care provision, new ways of working were advocated to ensure that critical care services depended on the needs of the patient, not their location in the hospital. A re-conceptualization beyond service provision in high dependency units and intensive care units was required in order to deliver an integrated service. This has ramifications for training requirements. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore perceived learning and learning transfer from a range of courses. The data were collected from course attendees (n = 47) and line-managers (n = 19) across two sites between 2005 and 2006. Learning was closely associated with the clinical application of new skills and knowledge. Commonly, course attendees and line-managers quoted increased knowledge and confidence, better assessment skills and improved interprofessional working. Time with competency assessors, availability of expanding roles, and supernumerary time were key factors for successful learning transfer. Barriers were financial pressures on hospitals, lack of perceived relevance of the course to staff or nursing practice, and lack of time to practice skills or work with clinical skills facilitators. Course design should be a collaborative activity between education providers and commissioners to ensure the impact of training on practice. Relevance of material, time to practise skills and new learning, and organizational, rather than merely individual, support are essential for successful training interventions.

Psychology in China and the Chinese Psychological Society

Psychology in China and the Chinese Psychological Society

Is Prognosis in the Individual, the Environment, the Disease, or What?

Is Prognosis in the Individual, the Environment, the Disease, or What?

Public libraries and adult learners

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a discussion of three “grey” areas which emerged from a study on adult learning provision both within and outside public libraries in England – formal and informal learning, promotion and attracting learners, and evaluation and feedback.Design/methodology/approachThe paper utilises a literature review, interviews with the regional agencies of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), and interviews with a purposive select sample of public library services in England.FindingsThe public libraries sampled demonstrated their expertise in reaching out to a range of different social groups and their willingness to work with a variety of partners to provide the wide range of courses and services needed. Good reciprocal partnership relationships have been established. The need for more sophisticated market research and promotion is identified. Evaluation and feedback are subject to various interpretations and form an area surrounded by difficulties.Research limitations/implicationsThe study undertaken for the MLA is the first phase of a project on public libraries and adult learners.Practical implicationsExamples of reciprocal arrangements and their implications are provided. The impact on library staff roles of the grey area between informal and formal learning is identified with different expectations for staff by different library authorities. The variety of methods used to promote adult learning services could be more sophisticated and specifically targeted in some communities. Highlights the conflict between obtaining robust feedback and the effect this may have on tentative learners by changing a relaxed informal atmosphere.Originality/valueThe paper draws on a study undertaken for the MLA that selectively reviews adult learning provision within and outside public libraries in England and identifies key strengths in public libraries for adult learners.

Assessing learning needs for breastfeeding: setting the scene.

Breastfeeding has a major contribution to make to public health, yet the UK, like many other developed countries, has low rates of breastfeeding. A contributing factor is that practitioners are ill-prepared to support breastfeeding women. There is a mismatch between the care professionals provide and the support women desire. A national breastfeeding learning needs assessment (LNA) was carried out in England to provide a comprehensive picture of professional and practitioner learning needs and existing training opportunities and resources. The LNA comprised five elements, and sought the views of service users through consumer organizations and voluntary breastfeeding supporters. Two elements of the LNA are reported here. A search of RDLearning, a web-based national resource, provided details of existing accredited courses in the UK for practitioners. Ten short courses provided by higher education institutions were identified, along with a range of courses offered by voluntary and other organizations, such as the National Childbirth Trust and UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative. Second, an e-mail survey of 28 key stakeholder organizations was undertaken, with a response rate of 68% (n = 18). All but one acknowledged that their members could benefit from further breastfeeding knowledge and expertise and were supportive of a national breastfeeding education initiative. The most popular forms of education provision were workshops and seminars, online and written information. The topic considered most important for all practitioners was the health outcomes of breastfeeding. Other contributions which stakeholder organizations felt they could make were the provision of information resources and setting up specialist interest groups.

Impact of Personality on Academic Performance of MBA Students: Qualitative Versus Quantitative Courses*

ABSTRACTThe traditional core Masters in Business Administration (MBA) curriculum consists of a broad range of courses that can be considered as a whole, or divided into qualitative and quantitative courses. Regression models were developed with “QualGPA” and “QuantGPA” as response variables, and gender, pre‐MBA academic indicators, and personality factors (measured by the RightPath6® profile) as the explanatory variables. Results may provide pedagogical insight for faculty teaching increasingly diverse MBA classes. Additionally, there are recruitment implications for those hiring MBA graduates, as well as implications for MBA students in decisions regarding MBA concentrations and subsequent career choices. While gender alone was not a significant variable in any model, gender–personality interactions were significant. Across both course categories, performance tended to be higher for students who were more “Detached” than “Compassionate,” with the exception of females in quantitative courses. Additionally, “Extraversion” and “Reactiveness” significantly enhanced performance among males in qualitative courses, and “Conscientiousness” had a strong positive performance effect among females in quantitative courses.

Changing Courses: A Study of the Responsiveness of Schools to the National Qualifications Framework

The purpose of this article is to present some findings from an investigation of the ways schools are adapting to the potential flexibility of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) for designing teaching and learning programmes or different pathways for students. Two studies were conducted. The preliminary investigation was based on information collected from 15 secondary schools about changes in course provision, courses students are taking, influences on course provision, and how students’ needs are being met. The second study was based on responses to an online survey about ways that schools are adapting their courses to provide different qualifications pathways for students. Overall, schools are working to create more flexible courses and a wider range of courses for students. Implications for further research are discussed.

E-Government and public affairs education

This article examines three fundamental questions with respect to the place of e-govrement in graduate education for carrers in public service. First, where does e-government fit in the curriculum of graduate programs in public policy and administration? Second, might we expect the answer to this question to vary depending on the institutional home and type of public affairs degree? Third, should we expect programs to offer a required course on e-government or should we aim to integrate material on e-government throughout the curriculum? These questions are approached through standards developed for public affairs education in the United States, but they are examined in the context of international variations in governance, technology and education.The article first traces the development of e-government across the globe, summarizing important issues and considertation that government must answer as they pursue e-government initiatives. It then reviews standards that have been developed for public affairs education in the U.S. and turns to the question of how to incorporate e-govrnment in the curriculum.E-government involves much more than technological and information management questions. Thus, it has implications for the entire public affairs curriculum. It is unlikely that a single course can successfully covers technical, managerial, and policy dimenstions of e-government. For most programs, it will be more productive to explore e-government across a range of courses in the existing curriculum. The apporach that is taken is likely to be affected by institutional settings, resources, and faculty competencies. It is also likely to be shaped by the broader social, economic, and political environments in which programs operate. Although the stage of e-government development in the country is likely to make a difference, althogy we can also hope that our training will also shape e-government's development.

Des Jardins, Women And The Historical Enterprise In America - Gender, Race, And The Politics Of Memory, 1800-1945

Julie Des Jardins' text is a rich resource for a range of courses, including historiography, women's history, African-American history, and social and cultural history courses. Des Jardins, an Assistant Professor of History at City University of New York, Baruch College, has written an excellent account of how history has been told in the United States, paying special attention to the "politics of memory"- how the social location of those telling history has shaped their results. Between the late nineteenth century and World War II, the growing professionalization of the study of history within academic institutions resulted in the privileging of political, economic, and military history written by men and based upon a "scientific" inquiry into official legal and governmental documents.

Computer games and CS education

Computer and video games have grown to be a major industry but, until recently, have largely been ignored by academia. The last couple of years, however, have seen the emergence of new academic programs, conferences, and journals dedicated to games studies. This panel discusses a variety of ways, and whys, for introducing games into computer science curricula. Panelists discuss their experiences in designing a broad range of courses including a games course for women, a software development course that uses games as projects, an introductory games programming course in Java, and an advanced graphics course that focuses on games.

High School Students Learning University Level Computer Science on the Web – a Case Study of the DASK-Model

Background Today's society requires citizens to have a greater knowledge of information technology. Strategy programs at a national level define the skills needed in an information society and encourage people to learn these skills (Ministry of Education, 2004). In order for everybody to have the opportunity to learn the basics of the new technology, computer science (CS) should be included in general education. The Finnish Educational System In the Finnish educational system, high schools (HSs) are referred to as upper secondary schools. The principal objective of these schools is to provide aged 16-19 with general, all-round education preparing them for further studies and life in general. According to Ben-Ari (2004), a science can be taught at lower levels when it matures. CS has traditionally been taught mainly at university level, but Ben-Ari argues that the time has come for it to be introduced at lower levels of education as well. For instance, in the USA (Merritt et al., 1993) and in Israel (Gal-Ezer, Beeri, Harel, & Yehudai, 1995), CS curricula for HSs were developed in the 1990s. In Finland, the situation seems to be going in the opposite direction: CS is not part of the HS core curriculum (National Board of Education, 2003). CS has thus a completely different position than other sciences, such as mathematics and physics, which are compulsory at secondary level. Considering (1) the objective of HSs, (2) Ben-Ari's vision and (3) Finland being one of the leading nations in the field of information technology, it can be seen as something of a paradox that CS is not included in the core curriculum of HSs; institutions that should provide all-round learning are not obliged to provide their with tuition in perhaps one of the most important subject areas today. Implications of the Lack of CS in High Schools When there are no formal requirements for instruction in CS, many HSs are not likely to expand the range of courses to include genuine CS courses; in the worst case, they will arrange no CS-related courses at all. If CS-related courses are taught at all, they are largely practical, aimed at teaching the how to use the computer and various software packages. The essential skills needed by all citizens in everyday life, such as algorithmic and logical thinking skills, are not developed when simply using the computer as a tool. Moreover, misconceptions of CS as focusing on computer hardware are reinforced when instruction is concentrated on purely technical and practical aspects. This has implications both for the general public and for future computer scientists; in particular, female may be intimidated by the stereotypical, nevertheless common, view of CS represented by a young male hacker sitting in front of his computer drinking soft drinks and eating pizza (Martin, 2004). These misconceptions may also result in enrolling in CS courses on the misconception that they will be of a practical nature, being unaware of the distinction between computer literacy and During ITiCSE 2003 (Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education--an international conference for researchers and practitioners in the field of CS education), a working group convened around the topic Preparing for university study in CS. Among other things, it analyzed the performance of CS in different countries during their first years at university (Alexander et al., 2003). One conclusion was that do not know what to expect when enrolling for studies in CS: students who join a degree programme on the basis of experience in using PCs and games consoles are likely to face something of a culture shock (p.144). Furthermore, researchers have studied factors predicting success in university CS, and many of them have found that pre-university CS courses increase the chance of succeeding at university level (Alexander et al. …

The potential and barriers to the use of geographical information systems for marketing applications in higher educational institutions

PurposeTo highlight the potential (as well as perceived barriers) to the wider use of GIS in educational marketing.Design/methodology/approachFive case studies were conducted in order to identify the GIS capabilities that would be required by a typical educational institution. Using the knowledge gained from these case studies, a prototype “admissions GIS” based around a proprietary GIS package was developed.FindingsSpatial approaches based around GIS should provide numerous benefits in educational marketing concerning, for example, the mapping and analysis of participation rates in relation to a variety of recruitment campaigns and widening participation strategies, in detecting changes in enrolment patterns and in the profiling of local areas in order to develop a range of courses designed to appeal to the customer segments therein.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper has identified important barriers that will need to be overcome before such tools become more widely used in the higher education sector. The study has also highlighted concerns regarding the accuracy of particular data sets that became evident as the data were analysed. The findings from GIS‐based investigations could provide an important starting‐point for more qualitatively based follow‐up studies that may help explain the revealed patterns.Practical implicationsWidening access, student profiling, local area profiling and the availability of increasing amounts of geographically‐referenced data are all increasing the use of GIS, whose capabilities in mapping and geodemographics have led many to see it as an aid to student recruitment and retention in an increasingly crowded and competitive marketplaceOriginality/valueThere have been relatively few published studies of the potential of GIS, in conjunction with university administrative records and geodemographic techniques, in educational marketing. This study adds to this body of literature to demonstrate the current state of play and the perceived barriers to wider implementation and will be of particular relevance to those involved in marketing courses in higher education establishments.

Online Health Psychology: Do Students Need it, Use it, like it and Want it?

Health psychology is taught across a range of courses throughout higher education institutions in the UK. This study aimed firstly to produce online teaching material in health psychology, ensuring that students from a range of courses and levels can access appropriate material. The second aim, which is the focus of this report, was to explore students' views on the material, their performance with the material and to explore any student group differences. Results suggested that some students taught through the online medium performed at a higher level in examinations than those taught through ‘traditional lectures’, and performance was correlated with usage of the material for psychology students. Furthermore, students appeared to enjoy the material although there was some reluctance to develop an independent learning style. There was also a noted difference between different student groups in terms of their views on the material and the rewards derived from it. It was apparent that material has to be developed that can both engage and motivate learners, thereby further developing independent learning, and that this may have to be tailored dependent on a number of student factors.

Global environmental planning at the Technical University of Catalonia

In 1996 the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) adopted an Environment Plan which incorporated classical technical education, promoting multidisciplinary environmental research, and improving the environmental performance of university life as a whole. This paper outlines the first environment plan (1996‐2001). It discusses its encouraging results and consequences, and describes how it was the main motivation for the design of a second environment plan for the period (2002‐2005). The paper pays special attention to the curriculum greening experience of UPC: six years ago the university decided to start greening its entire range of courses, over a wide range of technical and scientific areas. The paper explains the most relevant projects, and attempts to evaluate their effectiveness in improving the environmental performance of the university.