ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Engineering Content within Technology Education Programs
Author: Fantz, Todd D.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Technology Education,Engineering Education,Content Analysis,College Programs,Higher Education,Comparative Analysis

In order to effectively teach engineering, technology teachers need to be taught engineering content, concepts, and related pedagogy. Some researchers posit that technology education programs may not have enough content to prepare technology teachers to teach engineering design. Certain technology teacher education programs have responded by changing the programs' name to include engineering. However, a change of name does not necessarily indicate a change of content or pedagogy offered by the institutions. This study was done to determine the differences in engineering content offered by technology education licensing programs. In particular, the study compared programs that acknowledged engineering content in their program by adding the term engineering to the program's title to programs that did not. In addition, this study looked at the differences between technology education programs housed in colleges of engineering versus programs housed in colleges of education, technology, business, fine arts, etc. It was found that programs with engineering in the title did not significantly differ in their engineering content from programs without a change in name. This could indicate that some programs have adopted the term engineering into their title without increasing the engineering content of their program. (Contains 7 tables.)
Are We Missing Opportunities to Encourage Interest in STEM Fields?
Author: Hall, Cathy
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Careers,Majors (Students),Career Choice,Student Interests,Labor Market,Engineering Education,School Personnel,High School Students,STEM Education,Science Education,Mathematics Education,Career Development,Occupational Aspiration,Knowledge Level,Parents,Influences,Student Attitudes,College Students,Questionnaires,Teachers,Counselors,Attitude Measures

The disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have experienced problems in producing adequate numbers of graduates to meet workforce needs in these fields. Although entrance into the STEM fields has grown, this growth is not keeping pace with the overall needs of the labor market. Better understanding of the important influences in career considerations is crucial to help guide interventions aimed at improving career access in the STEM fields. The purpose of the study was to ascertain what factors were influential in developing an interest in career options among high school students. The study further sought to determine the knowledge of school personnel and parents about STEM careers, since they are often cited as key influences in students' choice of major. Last, the study sought input from current college students completing an engineering program on when they had made a decision to pursue their current major and the factors that influenced their choice. The top four influences on career choice reported by students were personal interest, parents, earning potential, and teachers in that order. These results are consistent with other studies that have indicated student interest, parents, and teachers played significant roles in the development of career interests by students. While parents and teachers represented strong influences on consideration of potential careers, their knowledge of STEM occupations was found to be limited. The authors suggest that students need to have knowledge about careers to ascertain if they are personally interested in a field. Without the support and encouragement of parents and teachers to explore options in STEM fields, many students may never even consider these fields. (Contains 4 tables.)
Experts vs. Novices: Differences in How Mental Representations Are Used in Engineering Design
Author: Dixon, Raymond A.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Expertise,Novices,Engineering,Professional Personnel,College Students,Design,Cognitive Structures,Logical Thinking,Heuristics,Differences,Protocol Analysis

This study investigated the mental representations of student and professional engineers while they solved an engineering design problem. The intent was to gain a deeper insight into the differences that exist in the cognitive processes of engineering students and professional engineers as they use mental representations (i.e., propositions, metaphors, and analogies) to solve the engineering design problem. A comparative case study of engineering students and practicing engineers was conducted. A purposeful, maximum variation sampling process was used. Maximum variation sampling, a special type of purposeful sampling, entails the &quot;selecting of cases that illustrate the range of variation in the phenomena to be studied&quot;. The results of this study paint a picture of how four professional engineers differ from six engineering students in their use of mental representations on a conceptual engineering design task. Three major conclusions are drawn from the findings: (1) The use of mental representations, such as propositions, analogies, and metaphors, in the different mental spaces is important in engineering design; (2) Different from novices, experts rarely employed propositions or analogies in their problem space; and (3) Expert engineering designers differ from novice engineering designers on their use of within-domain analogies, between-domain analogies, heuristics, and formulas. (Contains 8 figures and 1 table.)
Teachers' Link to Electronic Resources in the Library Media Center: A Local Study of Awareness, Knowledge, and Influence
Author: Williams, Teresa D.
Date: 2004-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Libraries,Databases,Internet,Library Services,Learning Resources Centers,Teachers,High School Students,Case Studies,Surveys,Librarians,Assignments

High school students often use online databases and the Internet in the school library media center (SLMC) to complete teachers' assignments. This case study used a survey to assess teachers' awareness of electronic resources, and to determine whether their directions influence student use of these resources in the SLMC. Participants were teachers from an Indiana high school. Findings revealed that teachers encourage student Internet use in the SLMC, but most do not direct students to use databases. Teachers consider information from electronic databases to be more reliable and focused, but they say the Internet is faster, easier to use, and has a greater scope of information. Findings, conclusions, and recommendations reported should not be generalized beyond the local environment for this exploratory study. (Contains 7 tables and 2 online resources.)
Preparation of School Library Media Specialists in the United States
Author: Shannon, Donna
Date: 2004-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Library Education,Distance Education,School Libraries,State Departments of Education,Professional Associations,Media Specialists,Recruitment,Surveys,Library Associations,Library Services,School Districts,Internship Programs,Educational Opportunities

Recruiting and preparing the next generation of school library media specialists (SLMSs) is a growing concern nationwide. School library media preparation programs are critical to meeting the current shortage of SLMSs in the United States. To determine the status of professional preparation programs for SLMSs, surveys were sent to forty-eight American Library Association (ALA)-accredited library education programs and 155 programs that prepare SLMSs but are not accredited by the ALA. Specifics related to the percentages of students and faculty in this specialization, the full- and part-time status of students, and the numbers of students enrolled were addressed in this survey. The survey further sought to determine the status of distance education opportunities, the internship as part of the school-media curriculum, and recruitment efforts of school library media preparation programs, school districts, state departments of education, and professional organizations. (Contains 11 tables.)
The Ideal Candidate for School Library Media Specialist: Views from School Administrators, Library School Faculty, and MLS Students
Author: Roys, Nadine K.
Date: 2004-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Information Science Education,Library Schools,School Libraries,Professional Associations,Library Science,Media Specialists,Administrators,College Faculty,Librarians,Masters Degrees,Library Education,Library Role,Surveys

Preferred characteristics in applicants for school library media specialist (SLMS) positions are studied in this article from three perspectives, that of the library school faculty, the library school student, and the school administrator. Surveys were sent to public high school administrators in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho; faculties of American Library Association (ALA)-accredited master of library science (MLS) programs; and students enrolled in ALA-accredited programs. Using a five-point scale, participants rated twenty-six qualities organized into five general groupings: education, experience, recommendations, involvement, and compatibilities. Faculty (n=27), students (n=142), and administrators (n=26) agreed that the most valued SLMS job candidate would have the ability to work well with others and possess excellent managerial and technical skills. Differences in the three groups' perspectives suggest a lack of common perception of the role of the SLMS among school administrators, MLS students, and library and information science faculty and a need to align visions with national guidelines for the role of school library media programs in the educational mission of the school. (Contains 1 table.)
Thinking beyond the Disjunctive Opposition of Information Literacy Assessment in Theory and Practice
Author: Newell, Terrance S.
Date: 2004-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Computer Simulation,Ethnography,Role Perception,School Libraries,Media Specialists,Information Literacy,Learning Resources Centers,Theory Practice Relationship,Academic Achievement,Librarians,Library Science,Alternative Assessment,Educational Environment

School library literature has illuminated several structural barriers (such as lack of time and role perception conflict) that impede many school library media specialists (SLMSs) from fulfilling their student assessment role in practice, and specialists have identified technology as a mediating artifact that could aide in an expansion of that role. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to interrogate a middle school's information literacy assessment system for internal disturbances (tensions and contradictions) between system elements that restrict the SLMS's ability to assess information literacy; and (2) to design a technology-based instrument that addresses these system disturbances and enables SLMSs to expand their assessment roles. The researcher used rapid design ethnography coupled with an activity theory (AT)-based analysis to produce an indepth description of the assessment system disturbances. A technology-based assessment instrument was then designed and developed to address the system disturbances. The ethnographic methods and AT analysis informed the design and development of a Virtual Reality Information Literacy Learning and Assessment Space (VILLAS). VILLAS addresses the four primary assessment disturbances illuminated in recent library literature in addition to the site-specific disturbances identified in this study, and it has the potential to decrease the distance between the librarian's assessment roles as envisioned in theory and as realized in practice. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)
Toward a Theory of Collaboration for Teachers and Librarians
Author: Montiel-Overall, Patricia
Date: 2005-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Libraries,Librarian Teacher Cooperation,Definitions,Trust (Psychology),Sharing Behavior,Problem Solving,Integrated Curriculum

Collaboration is a ubiquitous term that has been defined in numerous ways across diverse fields. This paper draws on information from these diverse fields to begin to develop a theory of collaboration within library science for teachers and library media specialists. In order to fully understand the meaning of collaboration and the relationship between collaboration and student academic achievement, an explanatory theory is needed. Toward the development of such a theory, a definition of collaboration for teachers and library media specialists is proposed. It defines collaboration as a process in which two or more individuals work together to integrate information in order to enhance student learning. The author argues that various notions of working together have been confused with collaboration and proposes four models to distinguish collaboration from other joint efforts such as coordination and cooperation. The models evolve from the literature and from the taxonomy for library media specialists and teachers developed by Loertscher (1982, 1988, 2000). The models are descriptive of the range of joint efforts involved in working relationships that can lead to fully developed collaboration. Numerous attributes--such as collegiality, respect, and trust--needed for collaboration to be effective are discussed. These attributes contribute collaborative activities, such as shared thinking, shared planning, and shared creation of integrated instruction. Two enablers and inhibitors, time and administrative support, are identified from the literature and discussed in relation to collaboration. (Contains 7 figures.)
A Crosscultural Inquiry into the Levels of Implementation of Accelerated Reader and Its Effect on Motivation and Extent of Reading: Perspectives from Scotland and England
Author: Everhart, Nancy
Date: 2005-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Reading Programs,Program Implementation,Student Motivation,Reading Motivation,Reading Attitudes,Gender Differences,Observation,Structured Interviews,Focus Groups,Student Surveys,Elementary School Students,Secondary School Students,Elementary School Teachers,Secondary School Teachers,School Libraries,Librarians,Leadership Role

In this study of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program, qualitative and quantitative analyses of the relationship between the implementation of AR and student motivation and extent of reading are drawn from data collected in three schools in Scotland and England. These schools represent low (Scotland, n=53), middle (Scotland, n=40), and high (England, n=55) levels of implementation of AR. Observation, structured interviews with students and teachers, videotaped student focus groups, a student survey on self-reported reading, examination of AR artifacts, and administration of the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire are used to gather data. Major findings reveal that: motivational style interacts with gender in relation to the competitive and social aspects of the AR program; the level of program implementation does not correlate with extent of reading; and management aspects of the program are not effectively utilized. Results suggest that school library media specialists can take a leadership role in implementing the program effectively. (Contains 4 tables.)
Education Reform in Minnesota: Profile of Learning and the Instructional Role of the School Library Media Specialist
Author: Kelsey, Marie E.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Change,School Libraries,Librarians,Role,Library Services,High Schools,Librarian Attitudes,Surveys,Interviews

Between 1998 and 2003, a Minnesota educational reform movement named the Profile of Learning (POL) generated high levels of school library media center use in high schools and contributed to the fulfillment of the instructional role of the school library media specialist (SLMS) as described in &quot;Information Power&quot;. POL consisted of graduation standards with accompanying projects assigned to students to meet those standards. Projects were process-oriented, requiring research, reading, reflection, and synthesis of ideas. School library media center resources and services were increasingly in demand during this era. To learn more about how school library media centers and SLMSs were affected during this reform movement, the researcher sent a survey to 174 high school SLMSs. After the survey results were tallied, twelve interviews were held with selected SLMSs. Although teachers had a negative opinion of the POL era, SLMSs felt energized, important, and effective in their increasing roles of collaboration and instruction in student education during this time. The researcher also contrasted survey and interview findings with past research on the SLMS role. POL was rescinded by the Minnesota legislature before the affects of increased collaboration and resource-based learning could be assessed. The following study examines the roles and attitudes of SLMSs during the POL era, with an emphasis on the increased instructional role.
Flexible Scheduling: Implementing an Innovation
Author: McGregor, Joy
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Flexible Scheduling,School Libraries,Librarians,Elementary School Teachers,Principals,Elementary Schools,Interviews,Educational Innovation,Administrator Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Librarian Attitudes

Teachers, school library media specialists (SLMSs), and principals in six elementary schools were interviewed to explore the ways in which schools have successfully implemented flexible scheduling in their libraries. Overall findings and conclusions of the study are linked with Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory and compared with Shannon's 1996 study of flexible scheduling implementation in two Library Power schools. The voices of the principals, teachers, and SLMSs are heard. Patterns and themes are discussed in terms of assertions that can be made about commonalities among the approaches taken by the six schools. The individual schools' stories are provided in the appendix, "Stories of Successful Implementation of Flexible Scheduling," demonstrating what worked in each of the different situations. While generalization is not appropriate with a qualitative study such as this, it is important to consider what the conclusions might mean in other situations. Flexible scheduling was found to merely be a tool that facilitated curriculum-related programmatic features in these schools. Implementation and continuation required education and vigilance to ensure that everyone involved understood the potential and took advantage of the possibilities. (Contains 1 table.)
A Critical Investigation of Students' and Teachers' Views of the Use of Information Literacy Skills in School Assignments
Author: Herring, James E.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Information Literacy,Assignments,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,High School Students,Secondary School Students,Scaffolding (Teaching Technique),Instructional Materials,Self Esteem,Brainstorming,Concept Mapping,Books,Web Sites,Notetaking,Preferences,Information Sources,Librarian Attitudes,School Libraries

This study examines the views of students and teachers in a United Kingdom high school on the students' use of information literacy skills. The students were provided with a scaffold in the form of the PLUS information literacy model. The study demonstrates that there exists a range of understanding amongst students about the value of information literacy skills such as brainstorming, concept mapping, reading for information and understanding, note taking and writing an assignment. It also demonstrates that students have a range of views on what they perceive to be the value of learning and applying information literacy skills, and that these views range from the superficial to a deeper level. The study provides some insight into students' feelings about confidence in their ability to produce good work and also their feelings about the efficacy of some of the suggested strategies given to them by the teachers and the school librarian. The results show that most students viewed the existence of a scaffold--the PLUS model booklet in this case--as being beneficial to them. The evidence from students demonstrates that students have a preference for electronic sources of information over printed sources. Teachers' views supported the use of a scaffold and teachers saw the PLUS model as being of benefit to most students. Potential implications for library media specialists and teachers and suggestions for future research are included. (Contains 6 figures.)
A Study of a Three-Dimensional Action Research Training Model for School Library Programs
Author: Gordon, Carol
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Action Research,Educational Research,Research Projects,School Libraries,Librarians,Library Instruction,Training,Researchers,Mentors,Research Design,Librarian Attitudes,Role,Librarian Teacher Cooperation

This is a detailed review of an in-depth action research training model and an investigation of how that model, supported through virtual and personal guidance from an academic researcher, served to impact the instructional practice of a small sample of school library media specialists (SLMSs). The researcher operates in the third dimension, simultaneously collecting data and mentoring SLMSs who function in the first dimension as designers and implementers of authentic learning tasks (ALTs) and assessments, and in the second dimension as Practitioner Researchers (PRs) who develop and implement their own action research projects. As the Mentor Researcher (MR) guides SLMSs through formulating research questions, outlining proposals, constructing theoretical frameworks, collecting and analyzing data, and presenting findings, she explores how the elements of the three-dimensional model are working. The researcher collects data from e-mail transactions and telephone conversations, as well as from interviews and meetings during on-site visits. Content analysis of the PR's documentation of their teaching units and journals provided data for triangulation. Findings indicate that the three-dimensional model of action research can elevate the quality of action research to that of formal academic research. PRs engage in formal research that models methods for students and collaborating teachers. Interactions between SLMSs and teachers reveal underlying tensions of collaboration. The action research had a positive effect on the practice of SLMSs who developed ownership and confidence in the collaboration process as well as perception of themselves as leaders. (Contains 7 tables and 17 figures.)
How Much Is Learning Measurement Worth? Assessment Costs in Low-Income Countries
Author: Wagner, Daniel A.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Low Income,Educational Objectives,Outcomes of Education,Educational Change,Cost Effectiveness,Costs,Foreign Countries,Data Collection,Educational Improvement,National Competency Tests,Achievement Tests,High Stakes Tests,Expenditure per Student,Testing Programs,Student Evaluation

Timely and credible data on student learning has become a global issue in the ongoing effort to improve educational outcomes. With the potential to serve as a powerful diagnostic tool to gauge the overall health and well-being of an educational system, educational assessments have received increasing attention among specialists and the media. Though the stakes are high, relatively little is known about the cost-benefit ratio of various assessments compared to other educational expenditures. This paper presents an overview of four major types of assessments--national, regional, international and hybrid--and the costs that each has incurred within 13 distinct contexts, especially in low-income countries. The findings highlight broad variation in the total cost of assessment and the cost-per-learner. This underscores the importance of implementation strategies that appropriately consider scale, timeliness, and cost-efficiency as critical considerations for any assessment. (Contains 15 notes and 2 tables.)