Documents found
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3091.More information
Objective – This study examines differences in university students’ library use and satisfaction (e.g., in-person library visits, online and print resource use, space satisfaction, and library website use) between 2016 and 2018 based on local survey data. It also discusses how these findings provided guidance for future planning and action. Methods – The academic university library developed the surveys for undergraduate and graduate students and distributed them in Spring 2016 and 2018. Both student surveys focused on examining students’ needs relative to library resources and services, although the 2018 student survey also attempted to quantify students’ library visits and their use of library resources. While the surveys were not identical, the four questions that appeared in both surveys (i.e., library visits, resource use, library space satisfaction, and library website use) were recoded, rescaled, and analyzed to measure the differences in both surveys. Results – The survey results reveal that students’ library visits and use of library resources in 2018 were higher than in 2016. In particular, undergraduate students’ use of library resources in 2016 were lower than those in 2018, whereas graduate students’ use of library resources remained similar in both years. Another key finding indicates that the mean score of students’ library quiet study space satisfaction in 2018 was higher than in 2016. However, when compared to the 2016 survey, there was a decrease in students’ ease of library website use in the 2018 survey. Conclusion – Assessing students’ behavior and satisfaction associated with their use of library physical spaces, resources, and services should be conducted on an ongoing basis. Over time, the survey findings can be used as evidence based data to communicate patterns of users’ behavior and satisfaction with various stakeholders, identify areas for improvement or engagement, and demonstrate the library’s impact. Survey results can also inform further strategic and assessment planning.
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3092.More information
Scholarship on disaster response and recovery has focused on local communities as crucial in developing and implementing timely, effective, and sustainable supports. Drawing from interviews with refugee leaders conducted during the spring and summer of 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study examines crisis response activities of refugee-led grassroots groups, specifically within Bhutanese and Congolese refugee communities in a midwestern metropolitan area in the US resettlement context. Empirical findings illustrate how refugee-led groups provided case management, outreach, programming, and advocacy efforts to respond to the pandemic. These findings align with literature about community-based and strengths-based approaches to addressing challenges stemming from the pandemic. They also point to local embeddedness and flexibility as organizational characteristics that may have helped facilitate crisis response, thereby warranting reconsideration and re-envisioning of the role of refugee-led grassroots groups in crisis response.
Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, crisis response, practice with refugees
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3093.More information
In this article, I describe a series of Five Core Competencies that gifted education specialists should consider integrating into their teaching to respond to the many changes that are taking place in technology, work, and career preparation. Although the focus of this theory is on high- level jobs usually pursued by college graduates and advanced degree students, this work also has relevance for the general-education community because future employment at all levels will require various degrees of proficiency in the Core Competencies discussed below. Students who will pursue college degrees and professional level jobs will need to attain advanced levels of these skills, have the opportunity to explore a wide range of skills, and be able to learn them more rapidly. Students should be placed in learning situations that require the adaptability that is the theme of this article so that they will learn to apply the skills in ways that will lead to success in job-transformational situations. Leadership and advanced-level positions require high levels of both performance and flexibility in the competencies that will be discussed below. The Catch-A-Wave Theory of Adaptability will be introduced with the presentation of background information and a rationale for the theory. The theory itself along with the five Core Competencies included in the theory will follow and then be supplemented with a section that provides strategies and resources for developing those competencies.
Keywords: Thinking skills, Research and investigative skills, Creativity, Talent development, Technology
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3094.More information
Our research explores how linked data sources and non-library metadata can support open-ended discovery of library resources. We also consider which experimental methods are best suited to the improvement of library catalog systems. We provide an overview of the questions driving our discovery experiments with linked data, a summary of some of our usability findings, as well as our design and implementation approach. In addition, we situate the discussion of our work within the larger framework of library cataloging and curation practices.
Keywords: linked data, linked open data, discovery, usability, user experience, cataloging, metadata
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3095.More information
This case study investigated the writing instruction practices of teachers (grades 6 and 7) of students with deafness and hearing loss. The researchers focused on what classroom practices and strategies teachers employed with students, what teachers’ perspectives were about best-practices for writing instruction, students’ perspectives about writing, and scores from their end-of-unit writing samples. The authors completed qualitative interviews and classroom observations with teachers (N=2) and students (N=6; three per class observed) about writing instruction for students with deafness and hearing loss. The data resulted in four themes: the need for teacher modeling, guided practice, and developing students’ independence; students’ challenges with writing (e.g., from ASL to English prose); the need for more resources (e.g., professional development about writing); and how assessment helps define students’ strengths and weaknesses.
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3096.More information
In Saskatchewan, school divisions have been largely tasked with creating classroom-based assessment policy as, until very recently, the province lacked a current, Ministry-produced guiding document. Using an inductive and qualitative approach to summative content analysis, informed by a policy analysis framework, this project focused on school division administrative policies (n=26) to ascertain their alignment with contemporary assessment principles. Three principles—standards-based assessment, reliability and validity, and fairness and equity—and seven sub-principles—ongoing/continuous, transparent, (involves) stakeholders, (excludes) extraneous/arbitrary factors, triangulation, differentiation, and inclusion—served as the focus of analysis, with particular attention given to how clearly and consistently principles were addressed.
Keywords: provincial, contemporary assessment principles, administrative policies, policy analysis
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3097.More information
Little research has been carried out on young people transitioning out of care in Canada. The objective of this paper was to describe and comment on the services provided to youth leaving care systems in Canada, with a focus on the four provinces with the largest populations (Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta). The Quebec government offers only one limited-access transition program, which has just been extended to age 25. Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta offer several transition programs, which include financial, education, and life skills components. In British Columbia, these offer support up to age 29. The 6 remaining provinces and the 3 territories offer support to a maximum age that ranges from 21 to 26. Most offer a general financial allowance, and some offer additional supports that can include a housing allowance, tuition waivers, and job training. British Columbia and Ontario offer the most supports, including medical assistance, tuition waivers, and mental health supports. Research is needed to find out which supports are most beneficial, and under which circumstances.
Keywords: foster youth, transition out of care, transition programs, youth care leavers, Canada, transition to adulthood
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3098.More information
Although the Perussuomalaiset (True Finns or Finns Party) has its roots in populism under Timo Soini, this article argues that the party has transitioned to reactionary conservatism under Jussi Halla-aho. This change in leadership displayed a shift in party ideology: one that used to be more focused on the Eurosceptic economic narrative to one fixated on multiculturalism and anti-immigration. The shift in ideology and party rhetoric can be traced from party documents, use of blogging from both Soini and Halla-aho, and growing electorate support for the Perussuomalaiset during the 2010s. The article concludes with a discussion of how reactionary conservatism could be applied to other far right-wing parties in the Nordic region, while highlighting that the rise of reactionary conservate parties can pose notable challenges to democratic norms and political stability.
Keywords: populism, reactionary conservatism, True Finns, Euroscepticism
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3099.More information
Elitism has been an issue in Canadian French immersion since its inception. This study examines how two racially diverse Ontarian school boards and Ontario French immersion policy, curricula, and other related documents construct and support an elite student within the immersion program. The elite student who emerged from immersion documents is a White, middle-class, English, established resident, mirroring the current demographics of the program. A middle-class bias emerged within the documents due to an assumed wealth, and lack of financial assistance, transportation and promotional materials. The program locations themselves favoured the middle-class. The curricula demonstrated a Eurocentric focus and colonial lens. In the documents of this study, it was assumed that parents had functional knowledge of English and French. Program entry-points favoured established residents over newcomers. Given its evident elitism, there has been a shift toward inclusion, particularly for students with special education needs and English language learners. However, this inclusion has yet to be critically enacted.
Keywords: French immersion, critical policy analysis, French as a second language, race, special education, English language learners, socioeconomic status
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3100.More information
Fake news, while problematic in its own way, is not an anomaly and though intimately connected to the Trump administration, did not begin, nor end, with his administration. Fake news is part of a larger environment of racism in the structure of the news, where stories of People of Color are often skewed in a negative way, positive contributions from People of Color are ignored, and where journalists of color may be sidelined. However, there is a dearth of news literacy curricula that centralizes the stories of People of Color. This is particularly problematic given the ways in which news perpetuates racism. This study utilizes critical media literacy coupled with critical race theory to develop culturally responsive news literacy curricula that centralizes stories about bodies of color as a way to make more comprehensive sense of our news and information media.
Keywords: Critical media literacy, Critical news literacy, Critical race theory, Culturally relevant pedagogy, Media literacy, White supremacy