Guest Editor's Introduction: Analyzing Tools: Perspectives on the Role of Designed Artifacts in Mathematics Learning

Concentrating the attention on one aspect makes it leap into the foreground and occupy the square, just as, with certain drawings, you have only to close your eyes and when you open them the perspective has changed. (Calvino, 1983, p. 7)     

Using Movies to Illustrate Ethical Dilemmas in Undergraduate Criminal Justice Classes

Ethics education in criminal justice programs has increased in popularity, but instructors sometimes struggle to teach ethics in such a way that students retain what they have learned and apply ethical principles in the criminal justice field upon graduation. The current research highlights that there are several benefits of presenting ethical dilemmas to students through popular movies such as Mississippi Burning and Road to Perdition. Compared to the control group (Section A) that was taught in a traditional lecture format, students who were required to identify ethical dilemmas in movies (Section B) were more likely to understand the complexities of such situations, to rate unethical behavior properly, and to see how ethical principles could be applied to their everyday lives.     

Promoting Critical Thinking Skills in Online Information Literacy Instruction Using a Constructivist Approach

ABSTRACT

A constructivist approach to teaching and learning holds that the learner, through interaction and experience with an object or process, creates knowledge. Instruction based upon constructivist theory places the student at the center of the learning environment, while the instructor serves as a guide or facilitator. In direct contrast, traditional learning places the learning in a more passive role, simply mirroring or reproducing knowledge that was provided by the instructor. Constructivist theory has enjoyed a certain level of popularity in higher education as emphasis has shifted from a pedagogical framework to a more andragogical (i.e., adult and learner-centered rather than instructor-lead) one. Emphasis upon teaching critical thinking skills seems a natural fit with a constructivist-based approach to learning. Critical thinking involves the conceptualization, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and ultimate application of information so that the learner may reach conclusions or form independent judgments based upon what the learner has experienced combined with previous knowledge. The teaching of critical thinking skills using a constructivist-based approach in the field of online library instruction would be an effective means of reaching the large percentage of learners who do not participate in traditional face-to-face bibliographic instruction sessions. This is further supported by the Association of College and Research Libraries' Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education. This article will provide theoretical and philosophical arguments for constructivist-based approaches to teaching critical thinking skills online using online technologies.     

Understanding How Families Use Magnifiers During Nature Center Walks

This analysis uses a sociocultural learning theory and parent–child interaction framework to understand families’ interactions with one type of scientific tool, the magnifier, during nature walks offered by a nature center. Families were video recorded to observe how they organized their activities where they used magnifiers to explore in the outdoors. Findings include that families used magnifiers for scientific inquiry as well as for playful exploration. Using the concept of guided facilitation where families develop roles to support their joint endeavor, three roles to support family thinking were found to be: (a) tool suggester, (b) teacher, and (c) exploration ender. Some families struggled to use magnifiers and often, parents and older siblings provided support for younger children in using magnifying lenses. Implications to informal science learning theory are drawn and suggestions for future family learning research are offered: (a) inclusion of sociocultural and situated perspectives as theories to study informal learning in outdoor spaces, (b) further study on the role of siblings in family interactions, (c) design-based research is needed to encourage family role-taking when engaging in science practices, and (d) new conceptualizations on how to design informal programs that support science learning while leaving space for visitors’ personal agendas and interests that can guide the families’ activities.     

Training and Qualification of Workers in Week‐Day Religious Education

The objective teaching of religion in the schools is just beginning to be considered seriously. Following John R. Whitney's report in the March‐April issue, Dr. Gerard's article keeps the topic before us     

Comparison of Community College Students’ Sexual Health Dimensions

ABSTRACT

Sexually active college students in the United States have alarming rates of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Varying degrees of sexual health knowledge and attitudes among college students are an outcome of sexuality education in the K-12 school systems with abstinence-only or comprehensive focus. Community college students (n = 737) aged 18–24 years, 57% from a college in an abstinence-only sex education state and 43% from a college in a comprehensive sex education state, both in the Mid-Atlantic region, took the Sexual Health Survey in October 2016, which measures sexual health knowledge and attitudes. Gender and ethnicity differences, as well as other sources of sexuality information were evaluated. Students from the comprehensive sex education state, New Jersey had higher sexual health knowledge and attitude scores than the students from the abstinence-only sex education state, Pennsylvania. Male students in New Jersey scored significantly higher in sexual health knowledge compared to male students in Pennsylvania, while female students in New Jersey had higher sexual health knowledge scores compared to the male students. Analysis of ethnicity revealed the New Jersey college sample had healthier sexual attitudes as compared to the Pennsylvania college sample, with notable distinction among Black students. The Internet, friends, and personal experiences were chosen by 75% of all students across both colleges as the top reported sources of sexuality information. In addition to advocating for comprehensive sex education, recommendations are made for sexual health initiatives in community colleges to provide sexual health instruction and support.     

Evaluating psychometric properties of common autism educational identification measures through a culturally and linguistically responsive lens

Little information regarding the psychometric properties of the most commonly used autism identification measures used in school settings with traditionally racially and ethnically minoritized (REM) groups is available. This analysis of autism identification measures is particularly important due to the demographic increase in the United States among most REM populations in recent decades. In addition, most REM groups are inequitably identified for autism and these measures may contribute to disproportionate identification based on problematic psychometric factors. This study systematically compiles the recommended psychometric properties pertaining to validity and reliability of the common autism identification measures among REM groups that are traditionally underrepresented (i.e., Black and Latinx populations) for autism identification. Conclusions suggest that several of the most common autism identification measures lack sufficient psychometric analyses to evaluate appropriate utilization with REM populations, specifically those who are Black and Latinx. The findings from this study may inform school psychologists' utilization and knowledge of limitations of these measures, as well as assisting with the determination of the appropriateness of these measures for use with REM populations.     

Caught inside the black box: Criminalization,opaque technology,and the New York subway MetroCard

Abstract

This article investigates how an account of hidden, internal properties of an everyday technology became a framework to interpret human action as a serious crime. Using a case study situated in the New York subway system, I examine the criminalization of a practice of New York’s poor known as “selling swipes” performed by so-called “swipers”. A high court came to classify the practice as felony forgery, interpreting it though an expert-witness account of how objects physically manipulated by swipers interact with a secretive, proprietary digital information system. Thousands of felony arrests – overwhelmingly of nonwhite men – have been legitimated under this theory, in which the crime occurs on a plane of technical interactions to which swipers have no access. Through close examination of the underlying technology (known as MetroCard), however, I show considerable problems in the authorities’ understanding of the technology, illustrating the hazards of interpreting human action through proprietary or complex systems, especially as they are represented solely through expert accounts. The case demonstrates fresh connections between technology and unequal outcomes in the U.S. criminal justice system, and suggests an emerging form of social vulnerability, to interpretations of our actions through the logic of technologies black-boxed to us.     

Leadership with integrity: A personal perspective

Conclusion In closing, the imperative remains to develop a presidential scorecard that focuses on the elements of leadership that truly further the great work of higher education. The academy requires leaders who are committed to quality, self-renewing change, and integrity in order to weather the current storms of uncertainty and forge a new model for higher academic achievement.The poet, Heinrich Heine, wrote in a letter: When I lately stood with a friend before the Cathedral Amiens, he asked me why we can no longer build such piles. I replied, Dear Alphonse, men in those days had convictions. We moderns have opinions, and it requires something more than an opinion to build a Gothic cathedral. The present and future leaders of America's colleges and universities must have convictions that rival those of the builders of old. Indeed, the work to be done transcends mere bricks, mortar, flesh, and blood. The mind is the agent and the object of our labors; it is both scaffold and structure, chisel and stone, giving shape and substance to human achievement. If the work of the academy is to stand the test of time, the construction must be sound-the builders must build with integrity.Charles J. McClain is currently Commissioner of Higher Education for the state of Missouri. He has held a variety of positions in a long and distinguished career in education. He has been teacher, principal, superintendent, and university president. He founded Jefferson College in 1963 and was president of Northeast Missouri State University for 20 years.