Real-Time Analysis of Student Comprehension: An Assessment of Electronic Student Response Technology in an Introductory Earth Science Course

This article describes an evualuation of the effectiveness of electronic student response technologies (SRT). These wireless systems allow students to key in responses with remote control units to questions posed by an instructor in the classroom. Student responses then are displayed in real time, allowing both students and instructors to gauge student comprehension instantaneously. Researchers conducted a multi-faceted assessment of the use of SRT in four sections of a high-enrollment introductory Earth Science course at Penn State University. The assessment included quantitative and qualitative perception data from students enrolled in the course and faculty/administrator visitors to the classroom. Preliminary assessment of the pedagogical merits of SRT in the course suggests that this technology is an effective tool for introductory geoscience education. Educational levels: Graduate or professional, Graduate or professional

The NCAA Library: Our Place in the Amateur Sports Capital of the World

“A library offers more than information. It offers a place to think and ponder, to develop long-term goals and visions by consulting with the greatest minds of the past, to seek perspective in a setting devoted to ideas and discovery. It offers a place to meet, to share and to be alone—but not lonely.” — Virginia M. McCurdy. Regardless of size or type, libraries have always been special places for me. Growing up, going to the local public library once a week with my mother (and how long those weeks seemed then!) was a treat. The library was a magical place where new worlds were discovered each time I opened a book. That branch library and my school libraries saw me through my secondary education. Later in college, the university library became a place not only to learn and research, but a good place to meet new people and occasionally escape a hot summer day in my un-air conditioned dorm room

International Professional Development: Lessons Learned

In 2016 Georgia Southern University Institute for Interdisciplinary STEM Education (i 2 STEM e ) was approached by a collaborative group of educators from India now living in the US. They noticed a need for teachers in India to have access to the Interdisciplinary STEM Education pedagogical techniques through focused professional development. Over the course of the next two years, the partnership developed and in September 2016 the first group of educators in India was given a professional development opportunity around the concepts of Authentic Teaching, including place-based education, problem based learning, and project based learning. This paper will discuss the approach the educators delivering the professional development took, the barriers and successes to implementing professional development in a new cultural setting, and the next steps to be taken. It is hoped that this information will provide future providers of PD, who are working outside their country of residence, with insights and ideas on working with a culturally different and diverse educational setting

Holocene Tufa-Coated Serpulid Mounds From the Dominican Republic: Depositional and Diagenetic History, With Comparison to Modern Serpulid Aggregates From Baffin Bay, Texas

Ronald D. Lewis and Bruce C. Panuska (eds.) Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions: San Salvador, Gerace Research Cente

Creaming and parking in marketised employment services: an Anglo-German comparison

The delivery of public services by nonprofit and for-profit providers alters the nature of services and jobs, often in unintended and undesired ways. We argue that these effects depend on the degree to which the service is ‘marketised’, i.e. whether it is subject to price- based competition by the funder. Using case studies of British and German employment services, this paper scrutinises the link between marketised funding, professional autonomy, and service quality. Of particular concern in employment services is the problem of ‘creaming and parking’, in which providers respond to market incentives by selecting job- ready clients for services and neglecting clients more distant from the labour market. We explore three questions. First, what are the mechanisms through which marketization leads to the emergence of commercial providers where creaming and parking might be expected? Second, what are the mechanisms through which marketization puts pressure on non- commercial providers that might resist pressures to cream and park? Third, what institutions might serve as a buffer for the landscape of service provision facing price-based competition

Are Sports Bettors Looking at Responsible Gambling Messages? An Eye-Tracking Study on Wagering Advertisements

Background and aims: The broadcast of wagering advertisements during televised sports matches has been associated with various adverse outcomes. In order to counter these effects, legislative bodies require wagering operators to include responsible gambling messages in their advertisements; however, the effectiveness of these messages is unclear. This study sought to examine the extent to which responsible gambling messages are looked at, in the wider context of gambling advertisements. Methods: Forty-nine regular sports bettors and 10 non-gamblers viewed a series of sports betting advertisements, while an eye-tracker recorded the number of fixations placed on responsible gambling messages, as well as other text-based wagering content. Results: Responsible gambling messages were, generally, presented in a non-conspicuous manner. Eye-tracking data revealed that significantly fewer fixations were placed on responsible gambling messages, compared to wagering information (p < .001); however, this effect did not differ according to level of gambling risk (p = .169). The number of fixations placed on the different types of responsible gambling messages was found to vary, based on gambling risk (p = .006), as well as, what appears to be, the physical characteristics of these messages. Discussion: Very few fixations were placed on, or near, responsible gambling messages, compared to other wagering information, meaning that, in their current form, they are unlikely to be effective in protecting against gambling harm. Preliminary evidence shows that presenting messages on a high-contrast/block-color background increases the number of fixations on these. Conclusion: Further research is needed to identify ways of increasing the effectiveness of responsible gambling initiatives in the sports betting context

Welfare, work and the conditions of social solidarity: British campaigns to defend healthcare and social security

When the welfare state is under attack from neoliberal reformers, how can trade unionists and other campaigners build solidarity to defend it? Based on 45 qualitative interviews, this article compares campaigns to defend British health services and social security benefits between 2007 and 2016. Building on the macro-insights of comparative welfare-state literature and the more micro-level insights of studies on mobilisation, community unionism and union strategy, it examines the factors that help or hinder the construction of solidarity. This research finds that building solidarity is more difficult when defending targeted benefits than universal ones, not only because of differences in public opinion and political support for services, but also because the labour process associated with targeting benefits, namely the assessing and sanctioning of clients, can generate conflicts among campaigners

Welfare, work, and the conditions of social solidarity: British campaigns to defend healthcare and social security

When the welfare state is under attack from neoliberal reformers, how can trade unionists and other campaigners build solidarity to defend it? Based on 45 qualitative interviews, this article compares campaigns to defend British health services and social security benefits between 2007 and 2016. Building on the macro-insights of comparative welfare-state literature and the more micro-level insights of studies on mobilisation, community unionism, and union strategy, we examine the effects of welfare-state architectures on the building of solidarity. We find that building solidarity is more difficult when defending targeted benefits than universal ones, not only because of differences in public opinion and political support for services, but also because the labour process associated with targeting benefits, namely the assessing and sanctioning of clients, can generate conflicts among campaigners