1,720,955 research outputs found
Development of the Elementary Teachers’ Commitment to Outdoor Education Survey: A Mixed Methods Study
Full text linkAs the Green Schoolyards Movement continues to grow throughout North America, outdoor education (OE) is gaining more attention in the formal K-12 curriculum (Dyment, 2005; Sterrett & Imig, 2015). Rooted in the pedagogies of place-based and experiential learning, outdoor instruction provides social, psychological, physical, and academic benefits for students, and fosters their sense of connection to the natural environment (Dubel & Sobel, 2008; Robertson, 2017). In particular, outdoor learning opportunities have been shown to promote greater gains in students’ scientific content knowledge (Carrier et al., 2014; Cronin-Jones, 2000; Dirks & Orvis, 2005; Kenney et al., 2003). Outdoor instruction involves students in hands-on investigations and authentic data collection, promoting their development of important scientific skills (Robertson, 2017). Although many teachers have been able to engage students in outdoor science instruction successfully (e.g., Eick, 2012; May, 2000), other teachers struggle to overcome a myriad of barriers (Ayotte-Beaudet et al., 2017; Carrier et al., 2014; Dyment, 2005; Marchant et al., 2019). Understanding teachers’ pedagogical decisions related to outdoor instruction requires an understanding of the many factors that influence those decisions. Operationalizing Shuman and Ham’s (1997) Model of Commitment to Environmental Education in tandem with Magnusson et al.’s (1999) model of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in science education, the purpose of this exploratory sequential mixed methods study was to develop and pilot a survey that could identify these influential factors, particularly in relation to teachers’ life experiences, attitudes and beliefs toward outdoor education, self-efficacy, subjective norms, and PCK. Further, this study sought to identify the topics and teaching strategies teachers most commonly use during outdoor science instruction. The study consisted of three phases: (1) a qualitative phase in which eight elementary teachers participated in semi-structured interviews, which were then analyzed using iterative coding; (2) development of a survey instrument addressing each of the theoretical constructs utilizing key findings from the qualitative analysis, as well as existing instruments in environmental education (EE), and reviewed by nine experts in STEM education research, elementary education, and EE; and (3) a quantitative pilot study of the developed survey in which 26 completed responses were received from elementary teachers throughout Kentucky. Nearly all participants reported using outdoor activities to teach science, but their levels of implementation varied greatly. Most responding teachers used OE to teach life science topics, as well as Earth-space science topics, but some also addressed physical science concepts. Teachers were motivated to implement OE by their personal experiences in the outdoors, their enjoyment of time in nature, and the benefits their students gain from being outside. Most reported high self-efficacy and felt supported by their administrators to implement OE, but often did not have help implementing outdoor lessons or maintaining outdoor spaces. Greater support for OE efforts was needed by most participants, including collegial support, help with maintenance, and help with administrative tasks. Differences in teachers’ implementation and levels of preparation (i.e., training specific to OE) also highlighted a need for OE training opportunities, both for pre-service and in-service teachers, that demonstrate how OE can be meaningfully integrated into the curriculum, as well as how the schoolgrounds can be utilized for OE beyond gardening. Insights gained from this study provide a more thorough understanding of the state of outdoor elementary science instruction in Kentucky, and will ultimately help inform development of curriculum materials, professional development trainings, and pre-service teacher programs
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Facultative adjustment of pre-fledging mass recession by nestling Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica)
Full text linkIn species that are susceptible to mass-dependent flight costs, particularly seabirds and aerial insectivores, mass recession is a crucial aspect of the nestling period, ensuring fledglings will have an appropriate wing loading. My objectives were to determine if mass recession by Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) nestlings is intrinsically controlled or facultatively adjusted by nestlings, and if mass recession is driven by changes in parental behavior (i.e., reduced provisioning rates) or nestling behavior (i.e., reduced solicitation of feedings). Nestling swifts (N = 69) were divided into three groups: controls, half-weighted, or weighted. Half-weighted and weighted nestlings had 0.6-0.7-g or 1.2-1.3-g lead weights, respectively, glued to the tips of the body feathers in the middle of the back during the period from 16 to 24 days post-hatching. Weighted nestlings lost more mass than both controls (t48 = 2.4, P = 0.009) and half-weighted nestlings (t40 = 1.8, P = 0.04). Control nestlings had a higher average wing loading than both half-weighted (t44 = 1.9, P = 0.03) and weighted nestlings (t48 = 1.9, P = 0.03). Video recordings of nests showed that provisioning rates of adult swifts did not vary throughout the nestling period. The percentage of time nestlings spent begging increased slightly with age, approaching significance (F6, 128 = 2.0, P = 0.07). Changes in body mass among nestlings allowed those in each treatment to converge toward a similar wing loading value, which is likely optimal for flight efficiency. The mechanism(s) involved in this process remain unclear because parental provisioning rates were similar throughout the latter part of nestling period (days 12-26 post-hatching) whereas percent begging time by nestlings tended to increase with nestling age. Because I was not able to distinguish individual nestlings, weighted nestlings may have solicited less food from adults than control nestlings, allowing them to lose more mass. Additionally, weighted nestlings may have been more active, exercising more and thus losing more mass than controls. Finally, because of their greater mass (i.e., more tissue), weighted nestlings may have also lost more water due to tissue maturation
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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