Real-world Skills Research Articles

Competitions and gamification in cybersecurity education and workforce development and evaluation of real world skills

Gamification and competitions play a substantial role in the cybersecurity field. Contests are held at many cybersecurity professional conferences, and some employers are using various types of gam...

Examining the Characteristics of Digital Learning Games Designed by In-service Teachers

In order to better understand teachers' perspectives on the design and development of digital game-based learning environments, this study examined the characteristics of digital learning games designed by teachers. In addition, this study explored how game design and peer critique activities influenced their perceptions of digital game-based learning environments and learning through game design. Qualitative data were collected from fifty game design documents and participant responses to reflection questions. The analysis of game design documents showed that the majority of the participants designed immersive game-based learning environments where players are required to use higher order thinking and real-world skills as well as academic content to complete missions or solve problems. The results of this study provide important implications for teacher professional development as well as for educational game development.

Rebooting Empathy for the Digital Generation Lawyer

There is a growing preference in today’s technology-saturated society for online interaction via email, text messages, social networks, and instant messaging, rather than real-world interaction through face-to-face or telephonic conversations. For today’s young people—the Digital Generation—this is more than a mere preference; it is a way of life. Research indicates that the movement toward virtual communication comes with negative consequences, such as poor real-world communication skills and underdeveloped social skills. Most significantly, research suggests that the Digital Generation are less empathic than elder generations are. Some researchers speculate that the rising prominence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in everyday life may have contributed to the Digital Generation’s decreased empathy. Today’s young ICT devotees are tomorrow’s future legal professionals. And when the Digital Generation enter legal practice they will find it entails far more than just reading cases and spotting issues. They will be called upon to counsel, to advocate, to persuade, and to adjudicate. To succeed in legal practice the Digital Generation will need strong empathic abilities. There are clear negative implications for the legal profession’s future if successful legal practice requires particular interpersonal skills but ICT usage is preventing the Digital Generation from developing these skills. This article analyzes social science literature regarding declining empathy, the Digital Generation, and technology. It establishes the importance of empathy in legal practice and examines prior suggestions for improving the legal profession’s historically fraught relationship with empathy. It then proposes new strategies to reverse this empathy decline so the Digital Generation may become successful legal practitioners despite—or perhaps even because of—their use of ICTs.

Qualitative process evaluation of an Australian alcohol media literacy study: recommendations for designing culturally responsive school-based programs

BackgroundAlcohol media literacy programs seek to mitigate the potentially harmful effects of alcohol advertising on children’s drinking intentions and behaviours through equipping them with skills to challenge media messages. In order for such programs to be effective, the teaching and learning experiences must be tailored to their specific cultural context. Media in the Spotlight is an alcohol media literacy program aimed at 9 to 12 year old Australian children. This study evaluates the process and implementation of the program, outlining the factors that facilitated and inhibited implementation. From this evaluation, a pedagogical framework has been developed for health professionals implementing culturally responsive programs in school settings.MethodsProcess measures included: semi-structured interviews with teachers before and after the program was implemented (n = 11 interviews), program evaluation questionnaires completed by children (n = 166), lesson observations completed by teachers (n = 35 observations), and reflective journal entries completed by the researcher (n = 44 entries). A thematic analysis approach was used to analyse all of the data sets using NVivo. Inductive coding was used, whereby the findings were derived from the research objectives and multiple readings and interpretations of the data.ResultsFive key pedagogical considerations were identified that facilitated implementation. These were: connecting to the students’ life worlds to achieve cultural significance; empowering students with real-world skills to ensure relevance; ensuring programs are well structured with strong connections to the school curriculum; creating developmentally appropriate activities while providing a range of assessment opportunities; and including hands-on and interactive activities to promote student engagement. Three potential inhibitors to implementing the alcohol media literacy program in upper-elementary school classrooms were identified. These included topic sensitivities, classroom management challenges, and fitting new programs into already busy school schedules.ConclusionOverall, the program content and individual lessons were well received by the teachers and students. The lessons learned from the development, implementation and evaluation of this program can provide health professionals with key pedagogical strategies for designing culturally responsive educational programs. Culturally responsive programs are critical for ensuring interventions are effective for their specific context.

STUDENT CENTERED LEARNING IN ENGLISH ALIVE LEARNING THROUGH COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH

Student Centered Learning ‘SCL’ approach has major pedagogical benefits to identify and know how the responsibility of SCL puts on learners, for their own learning by using variety of English language actively as medium of instruction to class subjects. It involves students in more decision-making processes, and learns English by doing to class subjects learning. They are 90% doing participating and the real thing during class while students practicing English for real-world skills. Learning becomes more active, it becomes more memorable: because it is personalized, and relevant to the students’ own lives and experiences, it brings English ‘alive’, and makes it relevant to the real world. In the process of learning, the more actively involved students are in their own learning, the more they are likely to remember what they learn. By using communicative approach, English again becomes more ‘real’ and part of the students’ lives.

AUDIO CLIPS IN DEVELOPING LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILLS IN MALAYSIAN PRIMARY ESL CLASSROOMS

Listening skill has been an under-emphasised skill in many English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms until recent decades. To keep up with the global advancement of technology, many studies on listening skills have integrated use of technology. In Malaysia, listening skills are also often neglected due to the highly examination-oriented education system. Since communication and technology competence are important 21st century skills, learners should be exposed to listening skills using no less than multimedia, especially when technology is inaccessible in rural parts of the country. This paper aims to examine the perceptions of teachers and pupils in using audio clips to develop listening comprehension skills in a rural primary school in Sarawak, East Malaysia, where digital facilities and internet connection are lacking in many parts of the state. Focus group interviews were conducted with two teachers and three ESL pupils after six weekly listening activities using audio clips based on the textbooks. Findings indicated that the teachers found audio clips to be useful and convenient, while pupils exhibited more interest and concentration during lessons. All respondents believed that audio clips could encourage the development of listening comprehension skills. Finally, it is recommended that audio clips could be expanded into a listening module that slowly moves towards authentic listening to equip learners with real-world skills and experiences.

Comic books in the American college classroom: a study of student critical thinking

American college literature classes often have objectives and outcomes to address needed real-world skills, such as critical thinking, but the methods to teach and measure these skills has been considered outdated. Comic books, as a type of multimodal literature, are perceived to connect to real-world reading and writing better than traditional ‘text-only’ literature; furthermore, comic books are gaining educational merit as their use in the classroom has increased in the twenty-first century. Using a mixed-method embedded design, this study explored how comic books engage critical thinking in a group (N = 17) of American college literature students and how this critical thinking compared to critical thinking engagement in traditional (no images) literature. The study suggests that comic books engage student critical thinking at levels equal to or greater than traditional (no images) literature.

Intensive Simulation Training in Lower Limb Arterial Duplex Scanning Leads to Skills Transfer in Real-World Scenario

To train novices to perform an abbreviated duplex lower limb ultrasound scan using simulation training and assess real-world skills transference. Novices undertook 3 days of simulation training. Their progress was assessed using the Duplex Ultrasound Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (DUOSATS) for simulation and Cumulative Imaging Score (CIS). A final assessment day was held to assess DUOSATS for simulation and real patient scanning, CIS, cumulative diagnostic accuracy, and sections A and B of the Society of Vascular Technology examination. MSc students in vascular ultrasound were also assessed for comparison. A total of 17 novices and 7 MSc students with 3-month training participated. Novices improved DUOSATS for simulation scores between days 1, 3, and 4: 18 (17-19) vs 27 (25-28) vs 30 (28-32), (median [interquartile range], p < 0.001). Novices improved in CIS between days 1 and 3: 10 (10-13) vs 21 (19-21), p < 0.001, with a decline on day 4: 15.3 (11.3-18.3), p < 0.001. On the final assessment day, there were no significant differences between novices and MSc students in: DUOSATS for simulation scores (30 [28-32] vs 31 [6-31.5], p = 0.85); DUOSATS for patient assessment (31 [28.7-33.7] vs 26.7 [24.5-35.7], p = 0.41); CIS (15.3 [11.3-18.7] vs 20.7 [12.3-22.2], p = 0.2), respectively. However, novices performed better in section B of the Society of Vascular Technology examination compared with MSc students (72.9% vs 54.3%, p < 0.001). Novices also demonstrated a higher diagnostic accuracy when compared with MSc students (65.7% of arterial segments correctly assessed vs 47.6%, respectively [p = 0.044]). Intensive simulation of 3-day training achieved real patient-based assessments that were comparable to MSc students who were 3 months into their traditional training program.

STEM Education Fiscal Year 2015: An Analysis of Educational Investments and Expectations

In his Fiscal Year 2015 budget, President Obama proposed a strengthened investment in education with particular emphasis on STEM. With a $600.1 million budget, the President proposed several initiatives directed primarily at pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 (P–12) education. These initiatives will target the improvement of teaching and learning in P–12. Also, the postsecondary sector will target the improvement of undergraduate STEM education and increase minority participation in STEM. Anticipated returns on these investments include more and better prepared, connected, and informed STEM teachers; accelerated introduction of proven, evidence-based STEM pedagogies; increased youth engagement in STEM in traditional and informal settings; increased participation in STEM from traditionally underrepresented groups; and increased retention of students in STEM. With the President’s strong motivation toward providing students with relevant learning experiences that teach real-world skills, integrative STEM education is proposed as the vehicle to achieve the articulated goals. It is anticipated that STEM will become a foundational component of every student’s educational experience across the country, which will ultimately lead to a broader STEM-literate populous and a more robust STEM workforce. STEM education is touted as a critical area of education that will determine the future global positioning of the United States. This governmental and monetary support is encouraging, but we question whether STEM is a genuine priority considering that the STEM education budget represents less than 1% of the U.S. Department of Education’s budget and only 0.015% of the country’s overall budget. Is the funding in line with the purported importance, and will it be sufficient to achieve the articulated goals and expected returns on investment?

E&amp;P Notes (December 2015)

E&amp;P Notes Study Finds Surface Spills a Higher Risk to Groundwater Than Fracturing Trent Jacobs, JPT Senior Technology Writer Researchers at Yale University who analyzed groundwater wells in the Marcellus Shale area have determined that hydraulic fracturing is highly unlikely to be a direct source of contamination. The 3-year study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also found that well casing failures and produced water containment ponds did not impact the groundwater samples taken during the study. The researchers concluded that the samples that tested positive for some of the same organic chemical compounds used in drilling and completion operations, but not in dangerous concentrations, resulted from accidental spills on the surface. Statistics Point to Water Injection as Cause of Earthquakes, But Understanding Why Remains a Geological Puzzle Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor A surge in earthquakes tightly clustered in southern Kansas that followed the large increase in produced water injections prompted the state to cut the daily limits on disposal wells in that area to see if that will help solve the problem. Based on 3 months of reduced injections through mid-September, “the results were encouraging,” said Shelby Peterie, a research geophysicist at the Kansas Geological Survey. Her presentation at the Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ annual meeting in New Orleans in October showed there has been a reduction in the intensity of the earthquakes reported, but not the number of them. From Air to Sea: Introducing Crew Resource Management to the Offshore Industry Trent Jacobs, JPT Senior Technology Writer Despite a number of recent and high-profile jetliner crashes, commercial aviation has entered into a new era of safety. Seven of the past 10 years have seen the fewest fatal accidents in the industry’s nearly 7-decade history and this year is on track to be the safest yet. Aside from the significant improvements made in aircraft reliability, much of the progress has been attributed to the communication and operational training program known as crew resource management (CRM). The basic principle of CRM is to encourage key personnel to speak up when they detect problems or notice mistakes while maintaining the hierarchy of authority. Air Gun Inventor Creates A Lower Pressure Option Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor More than 50 years after inventing the air gun, Stephen Chelminski is working on a new version of the industry standard designed to be more in tune with the current needs of the industry and its regulators. While the components used would be familiar to anyone who has worked with an air gun, it has a fatter shape and produces sounds in a lower range. If it were a horn, it would be a tuba and a standard air gun would be a trumpet. The goal is to reduce the energy emitted to produce the lower frequency range that is useful for seismic, while decreasing the emission of frequencies said to cause trouble for marine life. “Something like 3% to 6% of the energy from an air gun is turned into useful energy for seismic. The rest is wasted,” said Chelminski, chief executive officer of Chelminski Research, during an interview at the recent Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ (SEG) annual meeting in New Orleans. Drilling Competition Offers Real-World Skills Challenge Stephen Rassenfoss, JPT Emerging Technology Senior Editor Vimlesh Bavadiya is leading a team of engineering students at the University of Oklahoma (OU) to repeat its victory in SPE’s Drillbotics competition next year. The competition to build the best automated drilling machine was created to provide engineering students with a dose of real-world experience, where teamwork is required to attack a complex challenge when time and money are limited, the rules change, and in the end, things break. “It was a very difficult path. But it was very good,” Bavadiya said, summing up the experience of the five-member team that won the first ever Drillbotics competition, which was created by the SPE Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section.

UniPollWatch

The 2014 UniPollWatch project brought together the journalism schools of four Victorian universities to cover the 2014 state election. The project was a unique experiment in political journalism education and provided valuable lessons about experiential learning, cross-campus cooperation and industry engagement. It also created a potential model for large reporting projects, involving journalism programmes at many universities working together to cover topics for the public’s benefit, while enabling students to gain real-world skills. The campuses were each designated eight key, mostly marginal, electorates and were encouraged to provide electorate and candidate profiles, as well as other news and information. The reports were compiled on one website, housed off campus and not identified as being associated with any one university. The project partnered with The Age newspaper and a number of student reports were co-published in the newspaper. The results of the project can be seen at www.unipollwatch.org.au . This article places UniPollWatch in the context of other large-scale student reporting projects in Australia and elsewhere and discusses how the project was structured and how it fostered authentic, real-world learning. It also addresses key challenges and discusses the major pedagogical and journalistic lessons gained from this groundbreaking project.

A universal intercalated undergraduate management program: attraction or deterrent?

Dear editor We read the article by Singh et al1 with great interest and agree with the broad stroke sentiments expressed in the letter. However, we would like to debate the conflation of a qualification with applicable real-world skills and the assumption that this creates cost efficiency in the National Health Service (NHS). The author uses anecdotal personal experience to make the case for the compulsory delivery of an intercalated BSc (iBSc) in Management. He uses the following points: 1) the NHS leadership drive, 2) the problem of productivity and cost efficiency in hospitals, and 3) the WHO definition of health as human right to build a slippery slope argument for the merits of the iBSc in creating cost efficiency. A compulsory iBSc in Management may not directly translate to creating cost efficiency in the NHS. Such a degree program may provide insight into management theories to manage local teams and provide conceptual models of best practice, but is unlikely to equip medical students with the realities of rationing in the NHS and the ethical dilemmas faced during local commissioning. In addition, there are obstacles to a universal iBSc in Management at both an organizational level and a physician level. At an organizational level, 27% (n=9) of all UK Medical schools (n=33) offer an intercalated degree in Management to external students, which in itself pose a logistical hindrance and require rearrangement of existing university resources and creation of new degree programs. In contrast, at a physician level, the benefits of an iBSc are unlikely to be realized after medical degree qualification but require individual innovation and dedication. A junior doctor, for example, has limited resources of time and experience to implement a management project and thus would require much investment from a supporting team. A management qualification detracts from the skills demonstrated in clinical management such as negotiation, communication, charisma, and political astuteness that cannot be expected to evolve from a 1-year iBSc. In addition, one could argue that such qualities cannot be taught. A secondary benefit to a universal intercalated degree program could be improved academic performance,2,3 but such a program would force a debt upon students already within an expensive undergraduate Medicine degree. Tuition fees for English-domiciled undergraduate Medicine degree are £9000 per year; the average cost of living expenses are £5,299 per year.4 The average debt for an English medical student after 5-year study is £17,351.4 Each medical student costs the tax payer £250,0005 not including an iBSc. With issues surrounding widening participation, we feel such debt would act as a deterrent for prospective medical students.6,7 Furthermore, impressing a universal management iBSc may push students away from their “natural” interests that they may wish to pursue through an intercalated degree. This is of detriment to the future of academic medicine as a whole and is not cost effective for the taxpayer. There are many avenues for postgraduate management opportunities within local hospital initiatives and programs delivered by the NHS Leadership Academy. The 5-year forward view8 promotes the concept of clinical leadership, pledging investment into the NHS Leadership Academy in aligning its work with other major leadership bodies. Furthermore, the report9 by the Institute of Education praises the Darzi Clinical Leadership Fellows, describing their substantial impact as a social movement in changing the culture of NHS management. Such fellowship opportunities can help develop the skills of motivated individuals after they have spent time within the health care system, into which they seek to implement improvement. Despite this, we accept that there are limited undergraduate opportunities for management; however, we believe that a universal iBSc management program is not a feasible short-or long-term solution. Six-to-eight week elective placements rotating around Public Health departments, Clinical Commissioning Groups, or shadowing the hospital chief executive may be beneficial to expose those interested medical students to the practical aspects of health management. Transferable skills can be learned holding positions of responsibility in a student society. An alternative possibility is the integration of a Leadership and Management module into our already congested undergraduate medical degrees. Foundation Program10 recognized undergraduate management programs in addition to publications and previous degrees are likely to attract the next generation.11 However, we emphasize that no theory-based degree will replace the key skills of communication and partnership working, skills that will benefit the NHS in the long term, not just balance the books.

This Means War: Using an Advertising War Room Simulation to] Teach Social Media Skills

The need for hands-on learning in advertising education has been expressed for decades. With the increasing push toward live tweeting by brands, more attention needs to be given in advertising classrooms to opportunities for students to practice online engagement. In this study, a class “war room” simulation offered an experiential learning opportunity and gave students a taste of how brands and their advertising agencies are handling Twitter and other social media channels during major live events like the Super Bowl. This hands-on exercise could give professors another tool to help reduce the gap between academic knowledge and real-world skills. Through a post-event discussion and survey, students said they learned the importance of teamwork, client relationships and quick thinking. They were able to practice live tweeting on a client's behalf, interacting with followers and working under pressure.

The Value of the Follow-Through Derives from Motor Learning Depending on Future Actions

SummaryIn ball sports, we are taught to follow through, despite the inability of events after contact or release to influence the outcome [1, 2]. Here we show that the specific motor memory active at any given moment critically depends on the movement that will be made in the near future. We demonstrate that associating a different follow-through movement with two motor skills that normally interfere [3–7] allows them to be learned simultaneously, suggesting that distinct future actions activate separate motor memories. This implies that when learning a skill, a variable follow-through would activate multiple motor memories across practice, whereas a consistent follow-through would activate a single motor memory, resulting in faster learning. We confirm this prediction and show that such follow-through effects influence adaptation over time periods associated with real-world skill learning. Overall, our results indicate that movements made in the immediate future influence the current active motor memory. This suggests that there is a critical time period both before [8] and after the current movement that determines motor memory activation and controls learning.

Development of and Feedback on a Fully Automated Virtual Reality System for Online Training in Weight Management Skills

Virtual reality (VR) technology can provide a safe environment for observing, learning, and practicing use of behavioral weight management skills, which could be particularly useful in enhancing minimal contact online weight management programs. The Experience Success (ES) project developed a system for creating and deploying VR scenarios for online weight management skills training. Virtual environments populated with virtual actors allow users to experiment with implementing behavioral skills via a PC-based point and click interface. A culturally sensitive virtual coach guides the experience, including planning for real-world skill use. Thirty-seven overweight/obese women provided feedback on a test scenario focused on social eating situations. They reported that the scenario gave them greater skills, confidence, and commitment for controlling eating in social situations.

The size and shape of the attentional “spotlight” varies with differences in sports expertise.

Focused attention enhances processing of some aspects of the world at the expense of unattended items. Although focused attention has been studied for decades, few studies have measured individual and group differences in how people distribute attention. In three studies, we explored differences in the breadth and distribution of attention as a function of athletic expertise. Study 1 found 25% greater attention breadth in expert athletes than in novices. Study 2 found that the distribution of focused attention for experts varied as a function of the type of athletic expertise: Experts in sports that demand greater horizontal distribution of attention (e.g., soccer) showed greater horizontal breadth of attention than did those whose sports demand more vertical attention (e.g., volleyball), and vice versa. Study 3 used a slightly modified design to replicate the results of Studies 1 and 2. Overall, the findings reveal a systematic association between the measured "shape" of focused attention in a laboratory task and expertise in a real-world skill.

Feasibility and preliminary effects of a virtual environment for adults with type 2 diabetes: pilot study.

BackgroundInnovative interventions that empower patients in diabetes self-management (DSM) are needed to provide accessible, sustainable, cost-effective patient education and support that surpass current noninteractive interventions. Skills acquired in digital virtual environments (VEs) affect behaviors in the physical world. Some VEs are programmed as real-time three-dimensional representations of various settings via the Internet. For this research, a theoretically grounded VE that facilitates DSM was developed and pilot tested. It offered weekly synchronous DSM education classes, group meetings, and social networking in a community in which participants practiced real world skills such as grocery shopping, exercising, and dining out, allowing for interactive knowledge application. The VE was available 24/7 on the Internet, minimizing access barriers.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of participation in a VE for DSM education and support.MethodsThis study utilized a single group, pre-mid-post measure design. At 0, 3, and 6 months, we assessed participants’ perceived VE usability and usefulness, self-efficacy, diabetes self-management behaviors, perceived social support, and diabetes knowledge using validated survey measures; and we recorded metabolic indicators (HbA1c, BP, BMI). Process data were continuously collected in the VE (log-ins, voice recordings, locations visited, objects interacted with, and movement). Data analysis included descriptive statistics, t tests to evaluate changes in mediators and outcomes over time, and depiction of utilization and movement data.ResultsWe enrolled 20 participants (13/20, 65% white, 7/20, 35% black), with an age range of 39-72 years (mean age, 54 years) and diabetes duration from 3 months to 25 years. At baseline, 95% (18/19) and 79% (15/19) of participants rated usefulness and ease of use as high on validated surveys with no significant changes at 3 or 6 months. Participants logged into the site a mean of 2.5 hours/week over the course of 6 months. High DSM class attendance was reflected by the largest percentage of time spent in the classroom (48.6%). Self-efficacy, social support, and foot care showed significant improvement (P<.05). There were improvement trends in clinical outcomes that were clinically meaningful but did not reach statistical significance given the small sample size.ConclusionsBecause relatively little is known about usability, acceptability, and efficacy of health interventions in VEs, this study constitutes an important, innovative first step in exploring the potential of VEs for facilitating DSM. The preliminary data suggest that VEs provide a feasible and useful platform for patients and educators that affects self-management and related mediators. Flexible access to both synchronous and asynchronous diabetes education, skill building activities, and support from a home computer remove barriers to attending clinic-based meetings. This program has potential for improving DSM in an easily disseminated alternative model.

Specificity of Learning a Sport Skill to the Visual Condition of Acquisition

ABSTRACT The authors’ main purpose was to determine whether learning of a real-world sport skill (basketball free throws) is specific to the sources of afferent visual information available during practice. Twenty-eight male high school students (inexperienced in the experimental task) were randomly assigned to a full vision or target only vision group. Participants trained under full vision or target only condition for 15 sessions. Following training, in immediate tests, they were examined under full vision and then under target only conditions. Ten days later, in delayed tests, they performed the task under full vision and then under target only conditions. Results showed both groups performed the task similarly across the experimental period. Interestingly, it was found that immediate and delayed retention performance is specific to the training visual context. The groups’ performances dropped significantly when we tested them at a visual condition that differed from what they had experienced while learning the task. Performance of the task seemed to have integrated with the visual information available during the task acquisition. These findings provide evidence for the specificity of practice hypothesis in the field of motor learning and control.

Past or Portal? Enhancing Undergraduate Learning through Special Collections and Archives ed. by Eleanor Mitchell, Peggy Seiden, and Suzy Taraba (review)

Reviewed by: Past or Portal? Enhancing Undergraduate Learning through Special Collections and Archives ed. by Eleanor Mitchell, Peggy Seiden, and Suzy Taraba Anne Bahde Past or Portal? Enhancing Undergraduate Learning through Special Collections and Archives, ed. Eleanor Mitchell, Peggy Seiden, and Suzy Taraba. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2012. 320p. $60 (ISBN 978-083898610-3). Instruction in special collections and archives environments has been gaining attention in recent years, evidenced by a steady increase in the literature on instructional case studies using primary source materials, as well as increased activity within the ALA Connect community called Special Collections Teaching Strategies, and the Reference, Access, and Outreach Section of the Society of American Archivists. Despite this increased attention, the literature on instruction with original materials remains relatively limited, and compared to information literacy literature, only modestly offers best practices for pedagogy or programmatic models. With the publication of Past or Portal? Enhancing Undergraduate Learning through Special Collections and Archives, editors Eleanor Mitchell, Peggy Seiden, and Suzy Taraba have improved this environment dramatically, essentially doubling the literature on instruction in special collections and archives with this fantastically useful collection of case studies. The book includes nearly fifty case studies exploring the direct use of special collections and archives materials in undergraduate education. The work is divided into four complementary sections, which effectively categorize each contribution. Section one, The Artifact, presents case studies that focus on teaching the materiality of unique materials, either in single class sessions or full courses. With just one or two exceptions, the contributions in this section emphasize rare books or manuscripts, including two interesting projects integrating the book arts into undergraduate class sessions. Notable in this section is Michael Paulus’ essay, “What is Primary: Teaching Archival Epistemology and the Sources Continuum.” This continuum is an intriguing concept that “provides a framework for exploring and conceptualizing the primacy of sources,” and will be of enduring use to librarians, archivists, and historians teaching the complex issues that primary sources can raise. (p. 77) Section two, The Pedagogy, focuses on creative pedagogical methods for unique and original materials, in class sessions, course modules, or full courses. Several case studies in this section present inventive techniques for engaging disciplines that can be more challenging to attract and involve with special collections materials, such as creative writing, biochemistry, [End Page 423] microbiology, psychology, and music. One particularly compelling project from New York University asked computer science students to build an integrated digital archive site featuring a catalogue of digitized primary sources as well as a narrative exhibit element. A fine example of strong pedagogical collaboration between humanities teaching faculty, special collections librarians, and archivists, this adaptable project can yield both an original product for students’ capstone portfolio and a digital resource for the library. Section three, The Program, is a shorter section that includes wide-ranging, multidisciplinary programmatic models for integrating primary source-based curriculum at the institutional level; for example, book history programs (Oberlin College and University of Wyoming), and an undergraduate curriculum program based on the holdings of a digital library (University of California). An especially innovative contribution from Sarah Horowitz and Jamie Nelson at Augustana College describes a faculty stipend program to encourage use of primary source materials across the curriculum, an effort which has drastically increased both instruction sessions and student use of collections. The final section, The Work, demonstrates the integration of students into the fundamental description, access, or outreach work of special collections or archives departments. Examples of student-curated exhibitions, blogs, and even collections are featured in this section, along with ideas for student-led processing and digitization projects. The case study on undergraduate research partnerships at Lafayette College, described by Diane Shaw, showcases the remarkable range of internal projects accomplished by Lafayette’s Excel Scholars, academically talented students who gain real-world skills and knowledge through a program of experiential learning in the special collections department. Through this program, the department makes a meaningful contribution to the teaching and learning mission of the university, and generates products that improve access to holdings and enrich outreach efforts. The only negative aspect to the book is its organization scheme within the table of contents. Here...

UF CPET: Professional Development for Secondary Science Teachers

The University of Florida Center for Precollegiate Education and Training (UF CPET) promotes the use of university resources for the preparation and enhancement of STEM teaching in secondary schools. UF CPET offers an array of teacher professional development programs, the two largest being the NIH SEPA‐funded Biomedical Explorations: Bench to Bedside and the HHMI‐funded ICORE: Emerging Pathogens.These innovative programs integrate experiences from a summer institute into classroom action. During the institute, an experimental sequence in basic and applied science illustrates scientific content, pedagogical methods, and conceptual/technological interrelationships. Teachers work with science and education researchers to develop lessons and laboratory exercises that convey these content‐based principles in the context of career choices. During the school year, research proposals, resources, formal presentations, review of classroom outcomes and incentives for ongoing professional development provide continuing support to incorporate scientific processes, real‐world skills and enthusiasm for bioscience careers into classrooms. Continued support from UF CPET encourages science teachers’ personal enrichment and professional advancement in biotechnology education and empowers them as agents of change in their classrooms and communities.Sources of research support include UF, NIH, and HHMI.