Traditional tales and imaginary contexts in primary design and technology: a case study.

Working with contexts is a key component to design and technology activity and education. The most recent iteration of the national curriculum programme of study for design and technology, in England, sets out that children between the ages of 5 and 7 ?should work in a range of relevant contexts? (DfE, 2013: 193); suggested contexts including ?home and school, gardens and playgrounds, the local community, industry and the wider environment?. Whilst these are real world and familiar contexts, fictional contexts also provide opportunities for developing ?creative spaces? in which to speculate and discuss. This intrinsic case study explores the work of two primary teachers? development of a design and technology activity, where traditional tales provide the context. Children explore design problems and opportunities through the eyes of the Billy Goats Gruff, as they seek assistance to cross the river. Data was gathered through semistructured interviews and document analysis of children?s design work. The case study reveals how multidisciplinary and imaginative approaches to teaching and learning in the primary classroom simulate and nurture design thinking, dialogue and critique

Data Management Education from the Perspective of Science Educators

In order to better understand the current state of data management education in multiple fields of science, this study surveyed scientists, including information scientists, about their data management education practices, including at what levels they are teaching data management, which topics they covering, and what barriers they experience in teaching these topics. We found that a handful of scientists are teaching data management in undergraduate, graduate, and other types of courses, as well as outside of classroom settings. Commonly taught data management topics included quality control, protecting data, and management planning. However, few instructors felt they were covering data management topics thoroughly, and respondents cited barriers such as lack of time, lack of necessary expertise, and lack of information for teaching data management. We offer some potential explanations for the existing state of data management education and suggest areas for further research

Role Playing Next Generation 9-1-1: Sensemaking with Social Media in Public-Safety Answering Points

For over a decade, research has suggested that social media can enhance the situational awareness of emergency responders during a crisis. Rarely, however, do studies examine the sensemaking processes of emergency responders by which situational awareness is achieved. We examine sensemaking in a Public-Safety Answering Point (PSAP) through role plays with 9-1-1 telecommunicators that imagine how social media analysts can contribute to sensemaking processes among 9-1-1 call takers, dispatchers, and emergency responders. These role plays suggest social media can address information gaps that emerge when 9-1-1 callers fail to provide critical information and vice versa, suggesting social media enhances situational awareness only when integrated into sensemaking processes that synthesize information across multiple, incomplete, but complementary data sources. This synthesis, however, requires cooperative information gathering and sharing among call takers, dispatchers, and social media analysts that PSAPs can coordinate using common interpretive frameworks and common information spaces