Most Admired Woman

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues her reign as the Most Admired Woman in the eyes of Americans, but barely edges out former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin this year, 16% to 15%. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey and first lady Michelle Obama finish third and fourth, with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Queen Elizabeth II, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and poet Maya Angelou — all regulars on the list — joined by newcomers German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Elin Woods in the top 10.
Source: Gallup Poll

Legal Opinions Using Google Scholar

You may now research full text legal opinions from U.S. federal and state district, appellate and supreme courts using Google Scholar. Search for cases or by topics. Your search results will include links to the famous cases and others of importance on the topic but less familiar. Try it.

Source: Quoted from Google Scholar

About Student Learning Styles

"If you've ever sat through a teaching seminar, you've probably heard a lecture about "learning styles." Perhaps you were told that some students are visual learners, some are auditory learners, and others are kinesthetic learners. Or maybe you were given one of the dozens of other learning-style taxonomies that scholars and consultants have developed.

Now four psychologists argue that you were told wrong. There is no strong scientific evidence to support the "matching" idea, they contend in a paper published this week in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. And there is absolutely no reason for professors to adopt it in the classroom." Read the article by David Glenn in the Chronicle. A copy is available in the library and in the faculty room on the second floor.

Source: Chronicle of Higher Education December 17 Illustration by Howard J. Radzyner, MedNet, Corbis

Definition of 21st Century Literacies

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)has established policies that define and explain how to work with students in this 21st century world.

"Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities and social trajectories of individuals and groups. Twenty-first century readers and writers need to

Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments
Document and Site Resources."
Source: NCTE Inbox December 2009

Count Down to the New Year

Every day until 2010 this blog will point you to tips on preparing for your New Year's resolutions--only 21 days away.
Top Ten List in 2009
Lifehacker

Here are useful items on a specific topic you may have forgotten about, or that are just very cool. This is one of the most popular personal development and productivity blogs with tips to help you make the most of technology. Who doesn't want to work faster and keep important and useful information at our fingertips--like the last draft of a NEASC standard?

Value of a College Education: CQ Researcher

Introduction to "Value of a College Education"

President Obama's $12 billion American Graduation Initiative — announced in July — aims to help millions more Americans earn degrees and certificates from community colleges. The president wants the United States to have, once again, the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. Along with the administration, economists and many students and parents embrace the notion that higher education offers the most promising ticket to financial security and upward mobility. However, some argue that many young people are ill-prepared or unmotivated to get a four-year degree and should pursue apprenticeships or job-related technical training instead. The debate is casting a spotlight on trends in high-school career and technical education — long known as vocational education — and raising questions about the ability of the nation's 1,200 community colleges to meet exploding enrollment demand.
Read the complete report online in the Goodwin Library.
Source: CQ Researcher

Featured Reference Book of the Month

Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity & Culture

Race, ethnicity and culture are concepts of extreme relevance in society today, and yet continue to be interpreted in various and often contradictory ways. The Dictionary provides the historical background and etymology of a wide range of words related to these concepts, looking at discourses of race, ethnicity and culture from a broadly multicultural perspective.

This new and up-to-date dictionary contains numerous references to both European and American concepts, debates and terms that are relevant today-words such as 'boat people', 'cybernazis', 'ebonics' as well as more established words and terms, such as 'affirmative action', 'caste', 'fortress Europe' and many more.

World AIDS Day

In order to promote more social tolerance and a greater awareness of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), the World Health Organization (WHO) declared December 1 as World Aids Day in 1988. Every year various global agencies, including the American Association for World Health, take the lead in coordinating this day and in educating people about HIV/AIDS, which has claimed nearly 22 million lives in the 20 years since the first AIDS cases were diagnosed.

Source: Holidays, Festivals and Celebrations of the World Dictionary in Credo Reference Database