Critical Thinking in Reading: A Whole Language Approach

The importance of good instruction in reading education has long been recognized. What constitutes good instruction and what materials should be used have been the focus of much debate, however, over the years. Two relatively new movements in education have recently added fuel to that debate, namely the movements in critical thinking and whole language. The fundamental purpose of the thinking skills movement is the development of higher level thinking in students. In the area of reading this means that students should be challenged by questions and problems in literature which cause them to go beyond a literal understanding. They should be taught to interpret and evaluate all types of literature. To facilitate critical thinking, advocates for the movement suggest that educators provide opportunities for students to problem solve in pairs or small groups. They encourage a non-judgmental classroom atmosphere which allows students freedom of thought. Some educators utilize a list of relevant thinking skills and teach thinking strategies and methods directly using these skills as a backdrop. The whole language movement focuses on the reading of whole, non-abridged literature and an integration of all the language arts: reading, writing, spelling, speaking and listening. It emphasizes reading for meaning and provides strategies which can enhance under-standing. It also focuses on getting the individual student to see the importance and pleasure of reading. This thesis provides a description of the critical thinking and whole language movements, with emphasis on how each has contributed to reading instruction. The writer discusses the overlap between the two movements, noting many similarities in purpose and methodology. The writer discusses the overlap between the two movements. noting many similarities in purpose and methodology. The conclusion is that the movements are fundamentally compatible, and therefore educators should use concepts and practices from both movements to form their own foundation for reading instruction. A sample lesson is provided in the appendix

ORGANIZATIONAL ADAPTATION THROUGH DIFFUSION AND SOCIAL NETWORKS: A STUDY OF FAMILY CONSUMER SCIENCES EXTENSION AGENTS

This study examines the interconnectedness of social networks of the early adopter Family and Consumer Science Extension Agents (FCS Agents) of the Mental Healthiness and Aging Initiative (MHAI) pilot conducted in eleven (11) eastern Kentucky counties between October 2007 and April 2009 and compares the social network connections of the FCS Agents in the other six Extension Districts in Kentucky. This research used whole-network survey analysis applying the social network approach, a conceptual model for explaining the communication of new ideas and information within an organizational network. Organizational networks are important structural elements of organizational systems and key to understanding diffusion of new programs within institutional organizations, such as the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. Previous diffusion studies by Extension scholars have concentrated on the classic diffusion model of agricultural technology innovations with individual farmer adopters. Adoption of new programs and ideas is the process by which individuals in a social system decide to use the communicated new idea, program, and/or technology. This conceptual model describes the stages of diffusion through the attributes of the clientele adopters. The social network conceptual model describes diffusion through communication channels. Identified opinion leaders are matched with those who nominate them or closely identify with them in a diffusion network perspective to accelerate the diffusion process through an optimal pairing of network member with influencers. Data were collected from the FCS Extension Agent network in an online survey “FCS Health Information Communication Network Survey” from July 1, 2011 – July 30, 2011. Participants were asked to rate each of their co-workers in their own district, and in each of the other six districts, on how often they go to each person directly for health education information. Hypothesis testing supports the use of opinion leaders, bridges and communication structures within the social network structure of FCS agents for diffusing health programming within the Cooperative Extension Service

The Proficiency Illusion

Examines the tests states use to measure academic progress under the No Child Left Behind Act. Explores whether expectations for proficiency in reading and mathematics are consistent between states

Borderlands: an Exploration of Contemplation in Creative Practice

Borderlands is an experimental audio performance by Monty Adkins (composition) and Deborah Templeton (text) and features the cello playing of William Mace. The work explores liminal states and the borders of consciousness. The text is performed by Templeton, and was recorded and mixed by Adkins at various points throughout the sound component of the work with the cello1 . Borderlands was originally created for Totum One, an interactive installation designed by the British company, IOU2 , and premiered at the Junction in Goole (UK) in September 2014. A large white inflatable space, created by the artist, Lisa Gort, housed examples of IOU’s current experimentation in 360° sound and virtual world technology. Borderlands was the heart of the installation: the audience was invited to recline on white deck chairs and listen to the audi

Borderlands

An audio performance, co-created by Monty Adkins (music) and Deborah Middleton (text and voice) and presented by IOU Theatre in the audio-visual laboratory, 'Totum-One'. Middleton's work is presented under the pen-name, Deborah Templeton

HOUSE: Building energy efficiency understanding through an enabled boundary object

We report the results of an empirical study on an enabled application’s ability to act as a boundary object and build understanding of energy efficiency solutions. Combining digital and tangible technology with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, we have created an interactive, digitally enabled device and application called HOUSE (Home User and Stakeholder Environment). The HOUSE tool and application have been designed and developed to support interaction and collaboration in the exploration of domestic energy efficiency solutions. HOUSE allows users to associate information with physical representations, and to explore this information through manipulation of enabled objects. The interactive application consists of a 24:1 scale representation of an archetypal UK home and thirteen model energy efficiency interventions integrated with a digital application. Each energy efficiency intervention is enabled with RFID tagging and detection, to allow participants to physically interact with the HOUSE application. The app detects when a model energy efficiency intervention is placed in the model HOUSE. Participants then receive real-time feedback on their energy efficiency selection and the implication of their retrofit decisions. We explore the role of HOUSE acting as a boundary object, in facilitating the transfer of knowledge across domains. The application was evaluated in academic non-expert and industry (expert) stakeholder workshops. Results showed there is a self-reported increase in collaboration and consensus amongst non-experts (Group A) using the HOUSE interactive application. There is also a self-reported difference in the decision-making process surrounding retrofit selection for experts (Group D) using the HOUSE interactive application. Moreover, there is evidence from experts to conclude that the HOUSE can assist in transmitting findings in meaningful ways to non-experts in the field

Towards a design for frugal: review of implications for product design

Since 2010 the concept of frugal innovation has increasingly attracted the attention of both researchers and industry. Frugal innovation holds much promise in the rapidly changing global economy. It has been suggested that this approach needs to be understood by product designers in order to integrate it into product development and bring frugal products into the market place. This research aims to review the current literature on frugal innovation and identify characteristics and methodologies for designing frugal products that has been proposed until now. Our review has analysed 28 journal articles. The results have found 10 design principles and 2 design methodologies that have been developed to achieve frugal products. More research has to be carried out to relate these methods with product development theories and understand the impact for product design practice

Catalysts for Community Health (C4CH)

Poster about the Catalysts for Community Health (C4CH) program, which was presented at the Medical Library Association 2020 Conference and Exhibits. "Catalysts for Community Health (C4CH) is an interdisciplinary community health information curriculum that creates a network of practice throughout the MidContinental Region focused on meeting health information needs for low-income and rural communities. Students will create information and curricular resources to be widely distributed to the LIS education community and libraries, develop health information outreach and programming skills, and lead community health information networks."Jenny Bossaller and Denice Adkins (School of Information Science & Learning Technologies, University of Missouri, Columbia), Chris Pryor and Deb Ward (MU Libraries, University of Missouri, Columbia

Human imprinted retrogenes exhibit non-canonical imprint chromatin signatures and reside in non-imprinted host genes

Imprinted retrotransposed genes share a common genomic organization including a promoter-associated differentially methylated region (DMR) and a position within the intron of a multi-exonic ‘host’ gene. In the mouse, at least one transcript of the host gene is also subject to genomic imprinting. Human retrogene orthologues are imprinted and we reveal that human host genes are not imprinted. This coincides with genomic rearrangements that occurred during primate evolution, which increase the separation between the retrogene DMRs and the host genes. To address the mechanisms governing imprinted retrogene expression, histone modifications were assayed at the DMRs. For the mouse retrogenes, the active mark H3K4me2 was associated with the unmethylated paternal allele, while the methylated maternal allele was enriched in repressive marks including H3K9me3 and H4K20me3. Two human retrogenes showed monoallelic enrichment of active, but not of repressive marks suggesting a partial uncoupling of the relationship between DNA methylation and repressive histone methylation, possibly due to the smaller size and lower CpG density of these DMRs. Finally, we show that the genes immediately flanking the host genes in mouse and human are biallelically expressed in a range of tissues, suggesting that these loci are distinct from large imprinted clusters