School Library Research (SLR)

Joseph D. Novak Senior Research Scientist Completing graduate studies at the University of Minnesota in 1958, Dr. Novak taught biology at Kansas State Teachers College at Emporia, 1957-59, and biology and teacher education courses at Purdue University, 1959-67. He is currently Professor Emeritus, Cornell University, and Senior Research Scientist at IHMC. Dr. His current research work includes studies on student’s ideas on learning and epistemology, and methods of applying educational ideas and tools (such as concept mapping) in corporate settings and distance learning programs. e-mail Recent Publications Books Moon, B.M., Hoffman, R.R., Novak, J.D. & Cañas, J.J. (2011). Novak, J.D. (2010). Cañas, A.J., Novak, J.D. & González, F.M. González, F.M., Moron, C., & Novak, J.D. (2001). Mintzes, J., Wandersee, J. & Novak, J.D. (2000). Novak, J.D. (1998). Novak, J.D. & Gowin, D.B. (1984). Mintzes, J., Wandersee, J. & Novak, J.D. (1998) Teaching Science for Understanding. González, F. Papers Novak, J.D. (2006).

Abby the Librarian The Voice of Users: Perspectives on School Library Automation COLUMN The Voice of Users: Perspectives on School Library Automation by Barbara Fiehn, Assistant Professor Northern Illinois University, College of Education Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment While automation systems are not perfect, don't try taking them away from library media specialists! When surveyed on why automation is important to school libraries, several school library media specialists wondered why the question would even be asked at all. Automation systems are an expected technology in schools today. Several respondents expressed the idea that since teachers in content areas have the current technology of their fields, so should librarians. This article reports the results of a survey of 164 school library media professionals from 28 states who responded to a survey about their use of library automation software. Alexandria Athena Dynix Follett Sagebrush Winnebago This article is presented in three parts. Initial Training Experience

Motivation Motivation to Learn: An Overview Citation: Huitt, W. (2011). Motivation to learn: An overview. Return to: | EdPsyc Interactive: Courses | Home | Translations: Russian Ukrainian | Definition The following definitions of motivation were gleaned from a variety of psychology textbooks and reflect the general consensus that motivation is an internal state or condition (sometimes described as a need, desire, or want) that serves to activate or energize behavior and give it direction (see Kleinginna and Kleinginna, 1981a). internal state or condition that activates behavior and gives it direction; desire or want that energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior; influence of needs and desires on the intensity and direction of behavior. Franken (2006) provides an additional component in his definition: the arousal, direction, and persistence of behavior. Importance of motivation The relationship of motivation and emotion Theories of motivation Behavioral Cognitive Summary Psychoanalytic theories Summary

What are literacy skills? | Thoughtful Learning: Curriculum for 21st Century Skills, Inquiry, Project-Based Learning, and Problem-Based Learning Literacy skills help students gain knowledge through reading as well as using media and technology. These skills also help students create knowledge through writing as well as developing media and technology. Information Literacy Students need to be able to work effectively with information, using it at all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating). Consuming information: The current excess of information requires students to gain new skills in handling it. Inquire: A Guide to 21st Century Learning provides chapters on reading to learn, study skills, vocabulary, and basic and advanced research. Media Literacy Media literacy involves understanding the many ways that information is produced and distributed. Students' use of media has far outstripped educational use, and students will continue to adopt new media long before teachers can create curricula about it. Technology Literacy

» Back-to-school is the time to plan for data-driven programming AASL Blog Posted by Wendy Stephens in Check this out!. Tags: automation systems, beyond circulation, data trackback A new school year provides opportunities for fresh evaluation and strategic justification of our instructional programs. Our existing automation systems provide sophisticated capabilities for reporting about what is going on in our school libraries, but are we making use of them? The start of the year offers an ideal opportunity to set up your automation system to inform long term planning Circulation statistics are limited as a measure of library activity. I am excited about increasing the range of data, circulation and otherwise. In the past, I used one of the user-defined fields to track the checkout history of a student group. This year, I plan to use a single field in the student patron record to underpin a focus on equity. Data from the automation system can also help with external funding.

Making Concept Maps (Novak) Novak's cmap home Excerpted, rearranged (and annotated) from an online manuscript by Joseph D. Novak, Cornell University original manuscript was revised in 2008-> Concept maps are tools for organizing and representing knowledge. There are two features of concept maps that are important in the facilitation of creative thinking: the hierarchical structure that is represented in a good map and the ability to search for and characterize cross-links. Figure 1 A concept map about concept mapping Constructing Good Concept Maps In learning to construct a concept map, it is important to begin with a domain (an area) of knowledge that is very familiar to the person constructing the map. The next step is to construct a preliminary concept map. Figure 2 shows a list of concepts for making a concept map to address the question, "What is a plant?" Figure 2 Creating a GOOD MAP Facilitating Cooperative Learning

Skills Overview The Big6™ Developed by Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, the Big6 is the most widely known and widely used approach to teaching information and technology skills in the world. Used in thousands of K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and corporate and adult training programs, the Big6 information problem-solving model is applicable whenever people need and use information. The Big6 integrates information search and use skills along with technology tools in a systematic process to find, use, apply, and evaluate information for specific needs and tasks. Why Big6™? We all suffer from information overload. One solution to the information problem—the one that seems to be most often adopted in schools (as well as in business and society in general)—is to speed things up. The Big6™ Skills The Big6 is a process model of how people of all ages solve an information problem. 1. 1.1 Define the information problem 1.2 Identify information needed 2. 2.1 Determine all possible sources 3. 4. 5. 6.

Is Google Making Us Stupid? Illustration by Guy Billout "Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. I can feel it, too. I think I know what’s going on. For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind. I’m not the only one. Bruce Friedman, who blogs regularly about the use of computers in medicine, also has described how the Internet has altered his mental habits. Anecdotes alone don’t prove much. It is clear that users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of “reading” are emerging as users “power browse” horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins. Thanks to the ubiquity of text on the Internet, not to mention the popularity of text-messaging on cell phones, we may well be reading more today than we did in the 1970s or 1980s, when television was our medium of choice. But the machine had a subtler effect on his work. Also see:

A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: B.F. Skinner B.F. Skinner1904 - 1990 Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner majored in literature at Hamilton College in New York. He went to New York City in the late 1920s to become a writer, but he wasn't very successful. "I had nothing important to say," he later exlained. Skinner received his PhD in 1931. With pigeons, he developed the ideas of "operant conditioning" and "shaping behavior." Skinner expressed no interest in understanding the human psyche. After nine years in Minnesota, and three years as head of the psychology department at Indiana University, Skinner returned to Harvard in 1948 as a professor and remained there for the rest of his career. "Education is what survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten." Related Features "That's My Theory!"