Developing information architecture through records management classification techniques

Purpose – This work aims to draw attention to information retrieval philosophies and techniques allied to the records management profession, advocating a wider professional consideration of a functional approach to information management, in this instance in the development of information architecture. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws from a hypothesis originally presented by the author that advocated a viewpoint whereby the application of records management techniques, traditionally applied to develop business classification schemes, was offered as an additional solution to organising information resources and services (within a university intranet), where earlier approaches, notably subject- and administrative-based arrangements, were found to be lacking. The hypothesis was tested via work-based action learning and is presented here as an extended case study. The paper also draws on evidence submitted to the Joint Information Systems Committee in support of the Abertay University's application for consideration for the JISC award for innovation in records and information management. Findings – The original hypothesis has been tested in the workplace. Information retrieval techniques, allied to records management (functional classification), were the main influence in the development of pre- and post-coordinate information retrieval systems to support a wider information architecture, where the subject approach was found to be lacking. Their use within the workplace has since been extended. Originality/value – The paper advocates that the development of information retrieval as a discipline should include a wider consideration of functional classification, as this alternative to the subject approach is largely ignored in mainstream IR works

Allocating Resources and Creating Incentives to Improve Teaching and Learning

Offers insights from scholarly literature, related theory, and practical activities to inform the efforts of policymakers, researchers and practitioners to allocate resources and create incentives that result in powerful, equitable learning for all

IMPACT: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning. Volume 9, Issue 1, Winter 2020

Explicitly established to foreground interdisciplinary teaching and learning, Impact also welcomes evidence and discussion of experiential learning. Often the two – interdisciplinary teaching and experiential learning – co-exist. Yet even when they do not, both practices model how to think in myriad ways and to notice how knowledge is constructed. As our winter 2019 issue makes clear, interdisciplinary teaching and learning and experiential learning often begin with questions. Why does it matter that students grapple directly with archival material? What happens when undergraduates practice psychology by training dogs? Do students understand financial literacy? This issue also asks questions about students’ reading habits and faculty expectations of them as readers

Learning in an age of digital networks

The final years of the twentieth century and early years of the twenty first century have been marked by the rapid rise of digital and networked technologies. Some have even called it a paradigm shift and suggested that it will lead to a dramatic change in the way young people learn (Tapscott and Williams, 2010). As with all commentary on new technologies we should beware of being carried away with the excitement of the new. There is a recurrent innovation cycle beginning with over excitement followed by disappointment and once the reaction has set in against the new it is followed by a move away to yet another new technology, often before a proper assessment and evaluation of the previous cycle can take place. Equally we must be careful not to ignore the profound changes that are taking place and how they may affect universities and learning in society more generally. A recent description by a UK based think tank Demos characterized the kind of university that is emerging from the engagement with new digital and networked technologies as the 'edgeless university' (Bradwell, 2009). The term edgeless is borrowed from work on the city that suggests edgeless cities have the function of cities without being organized in their classic form. In the same way the Demos pamphlet suggests that the university retains an identifiable function but the functions of the university are no longer confined to a single institution nor are they confined to higher education institutions more broadly. Over a decade ago Brown and Duguid (2000) identified the core functions of universities as the capacity to grant degrees, to accredit students and to provide the warrant that guaranteed the credentials obtained by the students from the university. They also suggested that the introduction of what were then new technologies would lead to an increased focus on these core functions. The core role remains in the edgeless university but the boundaries to these may alter. This article tries to provide a way of thinking about new technologies that manages to balance these two conflicting needs. It identifies some current ways of thinking about the changes taking place in universities that are related to digital and networked technologies and to assess their impact. It then goes on to suggest the kinds of choices we may have to make in relation to new technologies at a variety of levels, the personal, the institutional and in terms of society in general. The edgeless university is associated with broad technological change but whether such change is inevitable is still an issue that needs to be discussed

Home Education: Globalization Otherwise?

Home Education seems to be a successful way to educate. Academic results and socialization processes in home education are promising. Already home education is global, home educators everywhere educate their children themselves without schools. They develop new forms of local and international co-operation. Is home education an impulse to a renewing of modern education? Is home education globalization otherwise?home education, globalization, educational politics, pedagogy

Teachers Social Feedback on Test Performance of Primary School Pupils

This study investigated the effect of teachers’ social feedback on test performance of pupils. The study adopted the between-subject experimental design. Social feedback perception scale (SFPS) was designed and employed to measure the effect of teacher’s social feedback on the participants. Participants age ranges between 7 and 10 years (average age = 8.17 years). There were eight male and ten female pupils randomly selected from a private primary school in Ota, Ogun State. The odd-even number separation method was employed to place the participants into either the experimental or control groups. Two hypotheses were formulated for the study. The study found a significant effect of teachers social feedback on students’ perception (U = 33.500, N1 = 9, N2 = 9, p< 0.05, one-tailed) and a significant difference in perception of teachers social feedback among pupils based on gender (U = 27.571, N1 = 8, N2 = 10, p< 0.05, one-tailed). Both hypotheses were accepted. Consequent upon these findings, teachers are encouraged to use social feedback as it has a positive effect on pupil’s test performanc