Participation and Presence: Interrogating Active Learning

Active learning forms a common teaching method within information literacy instruction. Commitment to participatory models of teaching and learning requires critical vigilance, however, particularly given changing information environments and broader educational priorities. This theoretical paper interrogates active learning and its prevalence within library instruction. Literature from library and information science (LIS), education, educational technology, and development studies is used to consider active learning in relation to self-protective information behaviors, the performance of learning, nonparticipatory and resistant activity, technological risk, and questions of inclusion. This discussion invites readers to acknowledge the complexity inherent in adopting active learning for contemporary settings

Composing Information Literacy: A Pedagogical Partnership Between Rhet/Comp and Library Faculty

For more than a decade, the Program for Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) at the University of Colorado Boulder has partnered with teaching and learning librarians to design and deliver Information Literacy learning opportunities in first-year and upper-division composition classes. In recent years, this partnership has grown more robust as we have come to recognize that our two fields have much in common and are making similar pedagogical, theoretical, and practical moves. The guiding documents produced in both our fields (the ACRL’s “Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education” and the WPA’s “Framework for Success in Post-Secondary Writing”) highlight the shared concerns and complementary values and educational goals of librarians and rhetoric and composition instructors. Additionally, the dynamic information and media environment in which we and our students live and work requires new kinds of information and digital literacies and thus new literacy curricula. As we began to re-think the PWR’s Information Literacy initiatives, we asked ourselves this question: If we could design a curriculum that no longer treats Information Literacy and Rhetoric and Composition as separate, and that acknowledges the complex information landscapes in which we reside and the multiple modes in which our students compose, what would it look like? For the past year, we have been developing this curriculum. In our presentation, we will provide an overview of this collaborative process, as well as the outcomes and materials developed. We will invite attendees to explore the characteristics of successful pedagogical partnerships dedicated to improving student learning through information literacy initiatives

The quality of secondary Mathematics PGCE courses: a critical perspective on the inspection of initial teacher education

The quality of initial teacher education courses has been the subject of adverse comment and media speculation for some time. During 1996/7, Ofsted began a comprehensive round of inspections of initial teacher education providers using an extensive framework of inspection. This paper reports the results of the first round of inspection of secondary mathematics PGCE providers. Almost three-quarters were judged to be good or better. In examining the inspection reports from a critical perspective, this paper focuses on the level of consistency in the judgements made in the published inspection reports

Sharing an Information Literacy Curriculum: Strategies for Professional Development for Writing Faculty

At the University of Colorado-Boulder, a librarian and a composition and rhetoric instructor have been creating a first-year writing curriculum designed to transform the conventional “academic research paper” and to infuse information literacy (IL) into the writing class throughout the semester. The overarching goal of the curriculum is to offer learning experiences in which students cultivate practices of self-directed exploration and critical reflection as they explore information landscapes, pose research questions, navigate conversations, formulate arguments, and compose and circulate their own texts for a variety of audiences and purposes through various media. In this presentation, we will detail our process for establishing a professional development strategy that introduces local writing faculty to the new curriculum. Our strategy emerges from professional frameworks and recent scholarship that offer threshold concepts and habits of mind as guiding principles for teaching writing and information literacy. We plan to introduce new assignments and lessons while also inviting further creative thinking about learning design based upon current theoretical foundations. We will reach these goals through a variety of delivery mechanisms, including a half-day workshop, a monthly series of drop-in trainings, and online learning content. Additionally, through targeted interest groups, we will gather faculty feedback to shape our curriculum in ways that acknowledge the unique identity and values of our local program. With conference attendees, we will explore strategies for developing teacher trainings that successfully balance theoretical and pedagogical foundations with practical application and implementation in the pursuit of an enhanced information literacy and writing curriculum

Transplanted oysters and resident mud crabs as biomonitors in Spillway Creek

Transplanted oysters and resident mud crabs were used as biomonitoring tools to assess spatial differences in fluoride and metal (aluminium (AI), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn)) concentrations in Spillway Creek. Oysters obtained from an oyster lease from an uncontaminated area were deployed for a three month period at four sites within Spillway Creek and two external control sites. After retrieval, oysters (soft tissue) were analysed for concentrations of fluoride and nine metals. Between site comparisons included oysters from the oyster lease. Mud crabs were collected from the same sites over a two week period immediately prior to oyster retrieval and assessed for the presence of rust spot shell disease. Hepatopancreas (liver) and muscle tissues of mud crabs were also analysed for fluoride and metal concentrations and between site comparisons made. Concentrations of fluoride and metals in oysters and mud crabs were also compared to food guidelines. The mud crab results were also compared to the findings of a previous study 'Fluoride and metals in Spillway Creek Crustacea' (Andersen et al., 2001). Analyses of water metal and fluoride concentrations in Spillway Creek were also undertaken by BSL on one occasion. Despite elevated concentrations of fluoride in water samples closer to the discharge channel there were no between site differences in fluoride accumulations in oysters. Concentrations were, however, elevated in mud crab muscle from mud crabs closer to the discharge channel compared to sites near the mouth of Spillway Creek and the external reference sites, althoug.lJ. the site separation was not statistically significant. A similar trend of fluoride accumulation in mud crab muscle was evident in the previous study. Although mean concentrations in mud crab hepatopancreas tended to be more elevated in the Spillway Creek sites these were not significantly different to reference sites. Concentrations in mud crab muscle were not at such a level as to pose a human health risk from the consumption of mud crab meat. Nickel was elevated in Spillway oysters closer to the discharge suggesting exposure to bioavailable nickel, however a reverse trend of accumulation was evident for copper, zinc and to a lesser extent iron. Lilly Island oysters often had some of the highest metal concentrations, with oysters from the lease area often the lowest. Wild Cattle appeared to be a suitable control site. There also appeared to be an accumulation of selenium in mud crabs closer to the discharge channel. Apart from selenium there appeared to be no site trend for metal accumulations in mud crab tissue, which was similar to the fmdings of the previous study. Metal concentrations in mud crabs or oysters were not outside the boundaries of current food guidelines. There also appeared to be no relationship between water metal concentrations sampled on one occasion and biota metal concentrations. Water concentrations in Spillway Creek are known to be variable and the findings highlight the benefits of biologically monitoring, representing average ambient bioavailable contaminant concentrations over a time period. The differences in fluoride and metal concentrations in oysters and mud crabs in this study are likely to be due to a combination of their accumulation strategies and the nature of the exposure being pulse rather than continuous

Reactions of Di- and Trimethylplatinum(IV) Complexes with N-(Phosphonomethyl)glycine (Glyphosate) and Iminobis(methylenephosphonic acid). Crystal structures of Three Dimethyiplatinum(IV) Complexes with N-(Phosphonomethyl)glycine Coordinated Facially

Reaction of “cis- [Pt(CH)(OD)]” with N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (glyphosate, Himpa) in DO at pD 11 gave a mixture of two isomers of [Pt(CH)(OD)(impa-N,O)] (N and either carboxylate O (O) or phosphonate O (O) trans to methyl). When the pH of a similar solution in HO was decreased to 3.4, and the solution was allowed to stand, crystals of [Pt(CH)(Himpa-.N,O,O,)(HO)]•HO deposited. The crystal structure was determined by X-ray diffraction: space group Pbca; a = 7.937(6), b = 10.484(2), c = 26.795(6) Å; Z = 8; R = 0.030, for 1418 reflections. The isomer was that with N and O trans to the methyl groups. When an alkaline solution (pD 10.5) was allowed to stand, the isomer of [Pt(CH)(OD)(impa-N,O,O)] with N and O trans to methyl formed fac-[PtBr(CH)(HO)] with glyphosate gave isomers of [PtBr(CH)(Himpa-N,O,O)]. At high pH, where coordinate phosphonate was deprotonated, the preferred isomer had N and O trans to methyl, while at low pH, where coordinated phosphonate was protonated, the preferred isomer had N and O trans to methyl. The crystal structure of the silver salt of the latter isomer, Ag[PtBr(CH)(Himpa)], was determined by X-ray diffraction: space group Pna2; a = 8.4009(9), b = 12.790(2), c = 10.467(2) Å; Z = 4; R = 0.022, 928 reflections. The silver ion was bound by bridging bromide and by three O atoms to give an approximately tetrahedral environment about the metal and a two-dimensional network structure. UV irradiation of a DO solution containing the isomers of [PtBr(CH)(impa)] with N trans to methyl gave the thermodynamically most stable isomer, with N trans to bromide and O, O trans to methyl. Acidification and addition of silver ion gave crystals of Ag[PtBr(CH) (Himpa)] [PtBr(CH)(impa)]•1.5HO, whose structure was determined by X-ray diffraction: space group P2/c; a = 13.78(2),b= 14.523(4) Å, c= 14.38(2) Å; β = 118.33(5)°; Z= 4; R = 0.044. The two different anionic complex units form the basis of an extended ribbon structure, linked together through three independent silver ions by triply-bridging bromide ions and oxygen atoms from both carboxylate and phosphonate groups. Iminobis- (methylenephosphonic acid) (Hidmp) with fac-[Pt(CH)(DO)] in DO at pD 5.5 gave a complex with the ligand coordinated tridentate, but broadening of peaks from ligand protons was interpreted in terms of a rapid process in which metal-oxygen bonds were ruptured. [PtBr(CH)(DO)] with Didmp, on long standing at pD 4, gave [PtBr(CH)(Didmp-N,O,O)]. “cis- [Pt(CH)(OD)]” with (methylimino)bis(methylenephosphonate) (midmp) in DO at pD 12.5 gave [Pt(CH)(OD)(midmp-N,O)], but when the solution was acidified, the ligand dissociated. The relative instability of complexes with iminobis(methylenephosphonate) ligands coordinated tridentate may be due to steric interactions between phosphonate oxygen atoms and other ligands bound to the metal

School inspectors, policy implementers, policy shapers: influences and activities

This chapter introduces the idea of school inspectors as implementers of public policy, framing their role within the context of policy implementation and the governance of education. Using a framework for policy implementation developed by Weible and Sabatier (2006), it presents a modified framework for inves-tigating inspectors’ work and practices as policy implementers. In so doing it questions their role as policy shapers and policy coalition workers in the context of the practice of inspection in Finland, Sweden, England, Germany, The German State of Lower Saxony, The Netherlands, The Republic of Ireland and The Austrian province of Styria. In introducing the idea of policy learning it introduces the ways in which policy learning theory has contributed to implementation theory, in order to further reflect on these issues in the final chapter of this book