Is there an information literacy skills gap to be bridged? An examination of faculty perceptions and activities relating to information literacy in the United States and England.

Surveys of faculty were conducted at two higher education institutions in England and the United States to ascertain their perceptions of information literacy. Faculty were also asked about the extent to which they incorporated information literacy skills into their courses. Similarities were found across the two institutions both in the importance that faculty attached to information skills and what they actually did to incorporate the skills within curricula. The results reflect an information literacy skills gap between what faculty (and librarians) want for their students and the practical reality. Librarians and faculty should work collaboratively together to bridge this gap

Senior Recital, Taylor DaCosta, mezzo-soprano

The presentation of this senior recital will fulfill in part the requirements for the Bachelor of Music degree in Performance. Taylor DaCosta studies voice with Michelle Harman-Gulick and receives vocal coaching from Melanie Kohn Day

Developing students' information and research skills via Blackboard

This paper summarizes work undertaken at De Montfort University (Leicester, UK) to develop students’ information and research skills using the Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment. It outlines how a traditionally delivered and assessed program was reviewed and revised in order to produce a blended learning experience for students. The librarians involved undertook this project with students from the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences during March/April 2005, teaching two groups in parallel--one group using Blackboard and another using the traditional teaching method. Both groups were given a diagnostic evaluation to gauge their confidence levels with both information skills and using Blackboard, and to obtain their perceptions of their experiences. Both groups underwent a formal summative assessment with one group using Blackboard and the control group having a paper-based assignment. The Blackboard sessions were very popular with students and this method of teaching has subsequently been extended to other modules within the university. Students appeared to be more motivated and appreciated the constant availability of the learning materials. This project was the first example within the university of students undertaking a formal online assessment using Blackboard, and the librarians received a Curriculum Development and Innovation Award. The work was subsequently disseminated within the university, where it was well receive

Critical exploration of the language around “the student experience” of higher education in the UK

This thesis explores the language of Higher Education (HE) in the UK, with a particular focus on “the student experience”. Whilst research on the language of HE is plentiful, most of these studies have a discourse-oriented approach, which lacks an engagement with socio-historical and material contexts. The aim of this research is to investigate what the language surrounding “the student experience” reveals and conceals about HE and society. To this end, my thesis unravels the different dimensions of this concept to understand how it is conceptualised across three domains: a diverse group of students from a university in the south of England; the policies and observed practices of this institution; and relevant policies on HE promulgated by the UK government. With these objectives in mind, the research draws on three theoretical constructs – language, (higher) education, and critical exploration – bolstered by the work of Volosinov and Bakhtin, Ambedkar and Gramsci, and Marx and Engels. A key finding of this research is that the notion of “the student experience” encapsulates differing views on the role and purpose of HE. These differing views relate to the social positions of the text creators and reveal the social and economic relations between the addressers and their intended audience. I claim that a normative view of “the student experience” at the institutional and the state spheres is tied to a reluctance to concede that there may be flaws in the established norms and practices of HE. This refusal perpetuates a misconception that there is a singular, homogeneous student experience and fails to acknowledge a diversity of experiences. I contend that these acts of omission and commission suggest dysconscious elitism / racism (King 1991), with the apparently well-meaning and paternalistic interventions targeted at some groups of students stemming from misinformed assumptions about the academic ability of these students. More significantly, I argue that a focus on “the student experience” of diverse groups of students gives an illusion of inclusion, but seems designed instead to trap students into a long-term relationship of debt

El Rey Virtuoso: un ideal político del siglo XIII de la mano de fray Juan Gil de Zamora

El presente estudio analiza la obra de fray Juan Gil de Zamora, destacado intelectual franciscano muy vinculado a la corte de Alfonso X de Castilla, nombrado por éste preceptor de su hijo, el futuro Sancho IV. De forma particular, se estudia el ideal de "rey virtuoso" en Juan Gil, situado en la línea del pensamiento político más avanzado de su época materializado, entre otros, en la obra de santo Tomás de Aquino o Roger Bacon.El presente estudio analiza la obra de fray Juan Gil de Zamora, destacado intelectual franciscano muy vinculado a la corte de Alfonso X de Castilla, nombrado por éste preceptor de su hijo, el futuro Sancho IV. De forma particular, se estudia el ideal de “rey virtuoso” en Juan Gil, situado en la línea del pensamiento político más avanzado de su época materializado, entre otros, en la obra de santo Tomás de Aquino o Roger Bacon.This paper studies the work of Friar Juan Gil de Zamora, a prominent Franciscan intellectual with close connections in the court of Alfonso X of Castile, who appointed him as tutor to his son, the future Sancho IV. Particular attention is paid to the ideal of the ‘virtuous king’ in Juan Gil, who was considered to be in line with the most advanced political thinking of his time, as found in the work of St.Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon

Investigations of the inflammatory pathogenesis of age related macular degeneration and a therapeutic role for Minocycline

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 50 in the western world. The wet form of AMD is associated with choroidal neovascularisation. The pathogenesis of choroidal neovascularisation is complex involving neovascular growth, vascular leakage, hypoxia and inflammation. Evidence suggests that immunological events play a key role in the pathogenesis of AMD. In AMD a chronic low grade inflammatory process may instigate the pathophysiological process culminating in eventual visual loss. Minocycline is a tetracycline derivative with anti-inflammatory in addition to antibiotic effects. This study investigated the effects of minocycline on retinal pigment epithelial cells in culture. Cell viability and apoptosis was studied with flow cytometry. Cells were exposed to glycated albumin and hypoxia as these processes occur during ageing. The effects of minocycline on IL-8 and MCP-1 production from ARPE-19 cells in culture were investigated with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The results showed a potential narrow therapeutic window for minocycline to act on retinal pigment epithelial cells. Cell viability decreased rapidly at minocycline doses above 5μM. Minocycline suppressed the production of inflammatory cytokines IL-8 and MCP-1 in cell culture. A clinical trial was conducted to investigate whether combination therapy aimed at targeting different pathways in the AMD disease process would be effective. This trial was powered to determine adverse events when a quadruple therapy ii of reduced fluence photodynamic therapy (PDT), intravitreal ranibizumab, dexamethasone and oral minocycline were used as treatments. The clinical trial demonstrated that anti-VEGF treatment administered in combination with other agents was not as effective as monthly anti-VEGF monotherapy at sustaining visual improvement. However, the trial did demonstrate that combination therapy could be delivered safely. The results demonstrate that minocycline has a potential therapeutic role for the inflammatory changes in neovascular age related macular degeneration

Romantic Relationships in Mental Illness Young Adult (YA) Novels

In John Green’s 2017 novel Turtles All The Way Down, the protagonist muses, “illness is a story told in the past tense” (85). There is truth to the character’s statement—many illness narratives, both fiction and nonfiction, follow an archetype that positions illness as something that characters can overcome and put behind them, even when the illness is chronic. This project focuses on young adult (YA) novels about mental illness through the lens of romantic relationships and how these relationships disrupt this archetype. This study includes the following six books: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999) It’s Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (2007) Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (2007) Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (2009) My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga (2015) Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (2017) Ultimately, this project examines how YA novels in this sub-genre of YA of mental illness depict teenage life. Many YA novels display intention of providing a message to its readers, and it is essential to consider what kind of messages these books actually relay when it comes to mental illness. Some novels depict romantic feelings and mental illnesses as similar factors in teenagers’ lives. This particular narrative can be dangerous because it normalizes mental illness as either an acceptable aspect of or a result of adolescence. Although online conversations about the Netflix series based on Thirteen Reasons Why suggest that it is popular, it is a novel that succumbs to this kind of messaging. However, many novels resist this narrative in various ways. In some, such as It’s Kind of a Funny Story and My Heart and Other Black Holes, the clinicalization of the illness itself helps to separate it from standard teenage experience. In others, such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Wintergirls, and Turtles All the Way Down, the character’s illness is so impactful that it affects the character’s ability to engage in relationships. The narrative interactions between relationships and mental illness reach a complexity in some novels that has consequence not only for portrayals of mental illness and teenage life, but also for the YA genre, as these novels reflect trends toward more sophisticated topics than those associated with the genre in the past

Reframing a Curative to Preventative Culture

https://digitalcommons.misericordia.edu/research_posters2021/1018/thumbnail.jp