This column is a collaborative effort by library media specialists and K-16 educators who write about the motivational strategies that have worked for them in teaching IL skills. Motivational strategies include ways to gain and sustain attention, increase relevance for learning information literacy skills, build confidence in students' developing…

This study is concerned with interactional involvement and identity construction in a university seminar comprised of native and non-native English speaking students. Findings reveal that in their classroom interactions, these two groups of students take on and perceive others to take on identities that have little to do with their language status…

A study carried out in 1998 (reported in the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 2003) of the information systems used by farmers in the Czech Republic to access information and advice was repeated in 2003. The research aim was to assess whether, and how, the systems had changed during these five years. The perceived importance of 10…

In 1991, the University Libraries of Northern Illinois University implemented a revised policy for renewals of library materials. Various system, staff, and patron-related concerns required the access services department to adapt to immediate demands, then to seek longterm solutions. This case study examines the initial impact of the new policy,…

The paper presents findings from research aimed at identifying effective approaches to the recruitment and retention of child care workers, conducted to assist the UK Government's Childcare Strategy. The paper explores the practices and views of child care employers, Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships (EYDCPs) and child care…

A national industrial distribution association approached the authors to develop a case study for its association members. The national association assumed responsibility for identifying educational needs of upper level, mid level, and lower level personnel in the industry. In the previous year, a case study had been developed to educate upper…

Professional sensitivity to cultural issues during augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) design and implementation has gained increasing attention in the professional literature. This article describes four cultural domains in which core values characteristic of Native American tribes are discernable: spirituality, trustworthiness,…

Based in the context of challenges faced by archives when managing digital projects, this article explores options of looking outside the existing expertise of archives staff to find collaborative partners. In teaming up with other departments and organizations, the potential scope of traditional archival digitization projects is expanded beyond…

This article addresses an impasse in debates about online education in university education. One side presents a story of the progressive development of technology as it is applied to the organisation of higher education, leading to pedagogical advances and to the new forms of administration required for the realisation of the technology's full…

Studies indicate that long held gender stereotypes lead females to a decreased self-confidence and interest in the sciences. As a result, only a minority of women pursue coursework and careers in science and technology-based fields. Several gender-based studies in science and technology education indicate that mentoring may hold great promise in…

Active learning and research-oriented activities have been increasingly used in smaller, specialized science courses. Application of this type of scientific teaching to large enrollment introductory courses has been, however, a major challenge. The general microbiology lecture/laboratory course described has been designed to incorporate published…

Concept maps are widely used in education, and have been acclaimed for their excellent results. For efficiently using concept maps in education, computer-based concept mapping systems have been developed. However these computer-based concept mapping systems are limited in their assessment algorithms. The assessment takes only concept nodes as the…

E-rater[R] has been used by the Educational Testing Service for automated essay scoring since 1999. This paper describes a new version of e-rater (V.2) that is different from other automated essay scoring systems in several important respects. The main innovations of e-rater V.2 are a small, intuitive, and meaningful set of features used for…

Researchers have suggested that up to 50 % of the effort in development of information systems is devoted to user interface development (Douglas, Tremaine, Leventhal, Wills, & Manaris, 2002; Myers & Rosson, 1992). Yet little study has been performed on the inclusion of important interface and human-computer interaction topics into a current…

There are more than 700 million current Internet users, but the world population is approximately 6 billion (Trend 2001), indicating that computer technology is used by less than one-eighth of the population. Computers are becoming common tools in schools, often viewed as a democratic panacea despite the costs involved and despite the fact that…