Research in the Real World: Improving Adult Learners Web Search and Evaluation Skills through Motivational Design and Problem-Based Learning

How can we better engage adult learners during information literacy sessions? How do we increase students’ perception of the relevance and importance of information literacy skills for academic work and life in the real world? To explore these questions, the ARCS Model of Motivational Design and Problem-Based Learning were used to develop activities for a library instruction workshop. Community college students completed a pre-test and post-test assessment to measure change in skill level, perceived confidence, and perceived relevance of the research workshop. Results show learners’ skill levels, perceived confidence, and perceived relevance increased significantly. Based on the results, suggestions are made for incorporating Motivational Design and Problem-Based Learning into information literacy sessions to increase student engagement

Exploring motivation: Integrating the ARCS model with instruction

This paper provides an overview of Keller\u27s attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction model of motivational design and reveals that there are several areas librarians may investigate to improve the profession\u27s understanding of students\u27 motivation in developing their information literacy abilities

Evaluating the reliability and validity of secondary reporting to measure gender-based violence in conflict and disaster

Alastair Ager - ORCID 0000-0002-9474-3563 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9474-3563Replaced AM with VoR 2020-08-10Background Accurately identifying the magnitude of gender-based violence (GBV) in humanitarian settings is hindered by logistical and methodological complexities. The ‘Neighborhood Method’, an adapted household survey that uses primary and secondary reporting to assess the prevalence of GBV in humanitarian settings, reduces the length of time and cost associated with traditional surveys. Primary female adult respondents disclose incidents of physical violence, intimate and non-intimate partner rape for themselves, other females in their homes (standard reporting) and other women and children in their social networks (secondary reporting). This study examines the reliability and validity of this inclusion of secondary reporting to determine the comparability of the Neighborhood Method to a traditional survey approach.Methods Drawing on data from 1,180 women reporting on 3,744 females in respondent households and 15,086 in neighboring households across four humanitarian settings (Ethiopia/ Somalia, Liberia, Sri Lanka, and Uganda), reliability of secondary reporting was measured through intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Cohen’s kappas. Validity was assessed using two-sample z-tests for differences between standard versus secondary reporting.Results Prevalence estimates comparing a respondent’s household with a neighboring household show closer agreement (ICC: 0.999-0.986) than self-reports vs. secondary reporting on a female counterpoint in a neighboring home (ICC: 0.939-0.98). Kappa statistics analyzing the reliability of two separate neighbors reporting on a third neighbor showed moderate agreement beyond chance alone (κ = 0.45 for physical violence and 0.48 for rape). Prevalence rates corresponded between standard and secondary reports (i.e. showed no statistical difference) in 18 out of 24 compared populations.Conclusions For prevalence of GBV, secondary reporting about neighbors can serve as a useful adjunct to standard survey methodology. Findings offer important initial insights into the consistency and accuracy of secondary reporting as a tool for field epidemiologists in humanitarian settings.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-020-00301-014pubpu

Instruction and Outreach for Transfer Students: A Colorado Case Study

Studies of transfer student success abound in higher education, yet few studies examine the role that academic libraries play in students’ transitions. This study explores the academic library services offered to transfer students in Colorado through a survey of librarians. What are barriers to offering these services? How do library professionals perceive instruction and outreach to transfer students? Results show differences between attitudes and practice, even within the same institution, and suggest opportunities for future collaboration among two-year and four-year academic libraries in Colorado. The article discusses these findings in the context of findings from New York and Ohio studies, suggesting that academic libraries need greater awareness of, and services for, transfer students

An AP-1/clathrin coat plays a novel and essential role in forming the Weibel-Palade bodies of endothelial cells

Clathrin provides an external scaffold to form small 50–100-nm transport vesicles. In contrast, formation of much larger dense-cored secretory granules is driven by selective aggregation of internal cargo at the trans-Golgi network; the only known role of clathrin in dense-cored secretory granules formation is to remove missorted proteins by small, coated vesicles during maturation of these spherical organelles. The formation of Weibel-Palade bodies (WPBs) is also cargo driven, but these are cigar-shaped organelles up to 5 μm long. We hypothesized that a cytoplasmic coat might be required to make these very different structures, and we found that new and forming WPBs are extensively, sometimes completely, coated. Overexpression of an AP-180 truncation mutant that prevents clathrin coat formation or reduced AP-1 expression by small interfering RNA both block WPB formation. We propose that, in contrast to other secretory granules, cargo aggregation alone is not sufficient to form immature WPBs and that an external scaffold that contains AP-1 and clathrin is essential

Genomic insights into the rapid emergence and evolution of MDR in Staphylococcus pseudintermedius.

OBJECTIVES: MDR methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) strains have emerged rapidly as major canine pathogens and present serious treatment issues and concerns to public health due to their, albeit low, zoonotic potential. A further understanding of the genetics of resistance arising from a broadly susceptible background of S. pseudintermedius is needed. METHODS: We sequenced the genomes of 12 S. pseudintermedius isolates of varied STs and resistance phenotypes. RESULTS: Nine distinct clonal lineages had acquired either staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) mec elements and/or Tn5405-like elements carrying up to five resistance genes [aphA3, sat, aadE, erm(B), dfrG] to generate MRSP, MDR methicillin-susceptible S. pseudintermedius and MDR MRSP populations. The most successful and clinically problematic MDR MRSP clones, ST68 SCCmecV(T) and ST71 SCCmecII-III, have further accumulated mutations in gyrA and grlA conferring resistance to fluoroquinolones. The carriage of additional mobile genetic elements (MGEs) was highly variable, suggesting that horizontal gene transfer is frequent in S. pseudintermedius populations. CONCLUSIONS: Importantly, the data suggest that MDR MRSP evolved rapidly by the acquisition of a very limited number of MGEs and mutations, and that the use of many classes of antimicrobials may co-select for the spread and emergence of MDR and XDR strains. Antimicrobial stewardship will need to be comprehensive, encompassing human medicine and veterinary disciplines to successfully preserve antimicrobial efficacy