Documents found
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3311.More information
Despite increased interest in K–12 online education, student engagement deficits and the resulting student attrition remain widespread issues. The Academic Communities of Engagement (ACE) framework theorizes that two groups support online student engagement: the personal community of support and the course community of support. However, more evidence is needed to understand how members of these communities, especially parents, support students in various contexts. Using insights gleaned from 14 semi-structured interviews of parents with students enrolled in online secondary school, this study adds support to the roles identified in the ACE framework by presenting real examples of parents supporting their online students’ affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. Findings also confirm patterns found in previous research that are not explained using the ACE framework, such as parental advocacy, communication with teachers, and self-teaching. We discuss how a systems approach to conceptualizing the ACE communities allows the framework to more accurately capture parents' perceived experiences within the personal community of support. We also discuss implications for both practitioners and members of students’ support structures.
Keywords: learner engagement, distance education, electronic learning, virtual schools, secondary education, parent role
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3312.More information
It is well known that there are disparities in access to education around the world, with developed countries generally having better educational resources and opportunities compared to developing countries. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been proposed as a way to bridge this gap by providing free or low-cost online education to anyone with an Internet connection. This study aimed to better understand the effects of location, both country and region, on the use of MOOCs, using data from 3.5 million learners who registered for MOOCs offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The data set provided a broad picture of how MOOCs are being used around the globe. The results of the study indicated significant differences in the use of MOOCs among students from different countries and their corresponding economic levels. In order to address these differences and improve access to education through MOOCs, the study suggested several actions that could be taken. These include providing better infrastructure and support for MOOC learners in developing countries, increasing awareness of and access to MOOCs in these regions, and working to improve the quality and relevance of MOOC offerings. Overall, the study highlighted the potential of MOOCs to bridge the educational gap between developed and developing countries, but also emphasized the need for continued efforts to remove barriers and improve access to these resources.
Keywords: massive open online courses, geographic region, country's income level, distance education, online learning
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3313.More information
This communication has for first objective to justify the utility of sociocultural community development (SCCD) par as methodology of socio-educational action in community field, as far as it contributes to the empowerment of the participating and the development of the concerned communities. In this perspective, SCCD represent the perfect mean to avoid or overcome resignation and to promote mechanisms of personal and community overtaking in front of situations of crisis, lack of resources or absence of social and cultural vitality. The authors present some results of a research led in Spain. They observe that SCCD generate a series of apprenticeships which contribute to the empowerment both at the personal and community level. The final goal is to identify indicators and proofs of this empowerment.
Keywords: animación sociocultural, sociocultural community development, animation socioculturelle, individual et community empowerment, pouvoir d’aigr personnel et collectif, empoderamiento personal et comunautaria, indicators, indicadores, indicateurs
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3314.More information
Objective – By collecting and analyzing evidence from three data points, researchers sought to understand how library spaces are used. Researchers have used results for evidence based decision making regarding physical library spaces. Methods – Undergraduate researchers, sociology faculty, and librarians used mixed-methods to triangulate findings. Seating sweeps were used to map patrons’ activities in the library. Student-led focus groups discussed patterns of library use, impressions of facilities, and library features and services. The final step included a campus survey developed from seating sweeps and focus group findings. Results – Seating sweeps showed consistent use of the library's main level Learning Commons and upper level quiet spaces; the library’s multipurpose lower level is under-utilized. Students use the main level of the library for collaborative learning, socializing, reading, and computer use. Students use the upper level for quiet study and group work in study rooms. Focus group findings found library use is task-specific. For example, a student may work with classmates on a project using the main level Learning Commons during the day, and then come back at night to use the quiet floor for test preparation. Survey responses highlighted areas in which the library is deficient. For example, respondents cited crowdedness, noise levels, and temperature concerns. Conclusion – These data offer empirical evidence for library space needs. Some data aligns with previous space studies conducted at this library: access to power outlets, lighting, noise, and an outdated environment. Evidence also supports anecdotal concerns of crowding, graduate students lacking designated study space, and the need for quiet study space away from group study space.
Keywords: space assessment, academic library, research partneships
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3315.More information
Objective – This article aims to assess student achievement of higher-order information literacy learning outcomes from online tutorials as compared to in-person instruction in science and health science courses. Methods – Information literacy instruction via online tutorials or an in-person one-shot session was implemented in multiple sections of a biology (n=100) and a kinesiology course (n=54). After instruction, students in both instructional environments completed an identical library assignment to measure the achievement of higher-order learning outcomes and an anonymous student survey to measure the student experience of instruction. Results – The data collected from library assignments revealed no statistically significant differences between the two instructional groups in total assignment scores or scores on specific questions related to higher-order learning outcomes. Student survey results indicated the student experience is comparable between instruction groups in terms of clarity of instruction, student confidence in completing the course assignment after library instruction, and comfort in asking a librarian for help after instruction. Conclusions – This study demonstrates that it is possible to replace one-shot information literacy instruction sessions with asynchronous online tutorials with no significant reduction in student learning in undergraduate science and health science courses. Replacing in-person instruction with online tutorials will allow librarians at this university to reach a greater number of students and maintain contact with certain courses that are transitioning to completely online environments. While the creation of online tutorials is initially time-intensive, over time implementing online instruction could free up librarian time to allow for the strategic integration of information literacy instruction into other courses. Additional time savings could be realized by incorporating auto-grading into the online tutorials.
Keywords: academic librarianship, teaching and learning, information literacy, online learning objects, online tutorials, library instruction, asynchronous instruction
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3316.More information
Objective – The Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education has generated a significant amount of discussion among academic librarians; however, few have discussed the potential impact on learning when students interact directly with the Framework itself. At the University of Notre Dame, over 1,900 first-year students completed an information literacy assignment in their required first-year experience course. Students read a condensed version of the Framework, then wrote a response discussing how a frame of their choosing was reflected in an assigned reading. The goal of this exploratory study was to determine if the students demonstrated an understanding of the themes and concepts in the Framework based on this assignment. Methods – Topic modeling, a method for discovering topics contained in a corpus of text, was used to explore the themes that emerged in the students’ responses to this assignment and assess the degree to which they connect to frames in the Framework. The model receives no information about the Framework prior to the analysis; it only uses the students’ words to form topics. Results – The responses formed several topics that are recognizable as related to the frames from the Framework, suggesting that students were able to engage effectively and meaningfully with the language of the Framework. Because the topic model does not know anything about the Framework, the fact that the responses formed topics that are recognizable as frames suggests that students internalized the concepts in the Framework well enough to express them in their own writing. Conclusion – This research provides insight regarding the impact that the Framework may have on student understanding of information literacy concepts.
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3317.More information
Objective - This research studied the recent literature of two professions, library and information studies (LIS) and research administration (RA), to map the priorities and concerns of each with regard to research support. Specifically, the research sought to answer these research questions: (1) What are the similarities and differences emerging from the LIS and RA literatures on research support? (2) How do librarians and research administrators understand and engage with each other’s activities through their professional literatures? (3) Do Whitchurch’s (2008a, 2008b, 2015) concepts of bounded-cross-boundary-unbounded professionals and theory of the “third space” provide a useful framework for understanding research support? Methods - The research method was a content analysis of journal articles on research-related topics published in select journals in the LIS (n = 195) and RA (n = 95) fields from 2012-2017. The titles and abstracts of articles to be included were reviewed to guide the creation of thematic coding categories. The coded articles were then analyzed to characterize and compare the topics and concerns addressed by the literature of each profession. Results - Only two (2.2%) RA articles referred to librarians and libraries in their exploration of research support topics, while six (3.1%) LIS articles referred to the research office or research administrators in a meaningful way. Of these six, two focused on undergraduate research programs, two on research data management, and two on scholarly communications. Thematic coding revealed five broad topics that appeared repeatedly in both bodies of literature: research funding, research impact, research methodologies, research infrastructure, and use of research. However, within these broad categories, the focus varied widely between the professions. There were also several topics that received considerable attention in the literature of one field without a major presence in that of the other, including research collaboration in the RA literature, and institutional repositories, research data management, citation analysis or bibliometrics, scholarly communication, and open access in the LIS literature. Conclusion - This content analysis of the LIS and RA literature provided insight into the priorities and concerns of each profession with respect to research support. It found that, even in instances where the professions engaged on the same broad topics, they largely focused on different aspects of issues. The literature of each profession demonstrated little awareness of the activities and concerns of the other. In Whitchurch’s (2008a) taxonomy, librarians and research administrators are largely working as “bounded” professionals, with occasional forays into “cross-boundary” activities (p. 377). There is not yet evidence of “unbounded” professionalism or a move to a “third space” of research support activity involving these professions (Whitchurch, 2015, p. 85). Librarians and research administrators will benefit from a better understanding of the current research support landscape and new modes of working, like the third space, that could prove transformative.
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3318.More information
For the past 30 years, the archaeology department of the Avataq Cultural Institute has been organizing archaeological field schools in keeping with an educational mandate entrusted to the Institute by the elders of Nunavik. Over time, the purpose of the schools has changed, and the fieldwork experience has become a tool to encourage young people to pursue their education. New educational activities have been gradually added to improve youth engagement and success. With the project Sivunitsatinnut ilinniapunga (“For our future, I'm going to school”), we have attempted to go even further. This paper presents the stages of this project and analyzes its impact by looking at this experience from the perspective of the evolution of field schools in Nunavik. We discuss how we can assess the results of this initiative and improve its impact for young people with a view to developing Inuit archaeology and Northern education.
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3319.More information
Exhibiting music in a sound community announces the presence and potential of an ecological rationality. Two or more beings co-present to each other in sound resonate at the same frequency with one another and comprise a sound community. Co-presence in sound is intersubjective and relational, a subject-to-subject resonant and reciprocal way of knowing, rather than a subject-to-object, asymmetrical and manipulative knowledge. In a sound community music is communicative, as natural as breathing, participatory and exchanged freely, strengthening and sustaining individuals and communities. A sound community exhibits a sound economy, just, participatory and egalitarian. Wealth and power are widely distributed and shared, and maintained through the visible hand of democratic management. A sound economy is based in a sound ecology where exchanges are based in honest signals that invite reciprocity and trust. In a sound ecology, sound being and sound knowing lead to sound action, which is cooperative, mutually beneficial, and just.
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3320.More information
Since the 1980s, the epidemic of the HIV/AIDS, because of its acuteness, contributed to social representations and interpretations which include the theme of apocalypse. This paper will discuss this notion in three sets of discourses. Religious movements have reintroduced this idea in a fundamentalist way, but other theological schools criticize this use, proposing other interpretations. In philosophical texts, a more profane meaning is attached tot this concept, while retaining an hyperbolic dimension to signify the catastrophic dimensions of the epidemic, a perspective criticized par some intellectuals who produced counter-discourses more in conformity with an immanent vision of this infection. Medias repetitively use this notion to underscore the sensationalist dimension of the HIV/AIDS, in spite of pharmacological innovations which can erase this type of reference.
Keywords: Apocalypse, VIH/sida, mouvements religieux, textes philosophiques, médias, Apocalypse, HIV/AIDS, Religious movements, Philosophical texts, Medias