Analysis of the Textbooks Utilized in Higher Education on Local Government in Terms of Their Physical Characteristics and Contents

Education on local government taken into consideration within the scope of the study was from the higher education domain offering in programs/majors in associate, bachelor, and graduate degrees in Turkey. Today, there are a number of textbooks studied in local government program, which contained 43 associate, 3 bachelors, and uncounted non-thesis or thesis master studies and a doctorate program. Therefore, it is crucially important to analyze local governments textbooks taught across these departments. Especially when significance of visual design of textbooks in student success and learning process is considered, materiality of this study could clearly be recognized. In the study, the concerned resources were accessed through library and internet, and then document analysis was carried out on masthead of textbooks and their physical and content characteristics. Also, NVivo 12 Quantitative Data Analysis Software was utilized in analysis of content characteristics.

“Spend your spoons wisely”: Conceptualizations of time, energy and aging invisibly with Crohn’s Disease

An increasing number of people with chronic medical disabilities are living longer and into old age due to the growing medical and technological advancements over the past half century. We used grounded theory to examine the lived experience of aging “with” a disability in a non-elderly population. On average, participants were 37 years of age at the time of interview. The average time since diagnosis was 17 years and ranged from 3 to 34 years. Many worked full-time outside of the home and some held advanced or graduate degrees. Of the 35 participants interviewed, three-quarters expressed worries about the future and aging, specifically related to physical limitations of having CD. The other 25% talked about learning to accept the diagnosis and ‘moving forward’ with their life as they age. All participants described the difficulties of fatigue and energy limitations. Planning of life was limited to 24 hours — a direct consequence of functional limitations of a relapsing-remitting disease. The most prominent theme that emerged from participants’ narratives to explain aging invisibly with a chronic illness was quantifying energy into ‘spoons’, a way of measuring the stock of their energy on any given day. These findings translate into important insights into the process of aging for those who live and age “with” Crohn’s as their everyday lives are immersed in managing the varying whims of this illness.

The True North Strong and Free? Casting Shadows on Whose History Students Learn in Canadian Universities

Race-based discrimination in Canada exists at the institutional and structural level. While acknowledging its existence is a crucial first step in eradicating this particular form of discrimination, an essential second step includes implementing structural changes at the institutional level in Canadian universities. In an effort to disrupt the Eurocentricity of knowledge production this commentary argues that the Canadian government’s official historical narrative that depicts Canada as being born of the pioneering spirit of British and French white settlers fails to capture the actual history of the country. Rather, it fosters the continuation of the supremacy of whiteness thereby causing significant harm through the perpetuation of racial bias. We argue that the history and contributions of Indigenous, Black, and Chinese Canadians, all of whom were in this country prior to confederation, should be told in a mandatory university course. Our findings indicate that while a number of universities have individual courses, usually electives and some graduate degrees on Indigenous, Black, and Chinese history, there is little offered from the Canadian context and certainly nothing that is a mandatory course requirement. In addition, we suggest compulsory university staff-wide anti-racism training; the ongoing hiring of professors and sessional instructors who are racially representative of the population of Canada; and community outreach, mentorship, and counselling programs that are designed to help students who are underrepresented in Canadian universities. In our opinion, we believe that these changes have the potential to provide a lens to disrupt settler colonial spaces, mobilize race in academic curricula, and encourage social justice actions that can offer a more inclusive learning environment.

The Stakeholder Playbook for Explaining AI Systems

The purpose of the Stakeholder Playbook is to enable system developers to take into account the different ways in which stakeholders need to "look inside" of the AI/XAI systems. Recent work on Explainable AI has mapped stakeholder categories onto explanation requirements. While most of these mappings seem reasonable, they have been largely speculative. We investigated these matters empirically. We conducted interviews with senior and mid-career professionals possessing post-graduate degrees who had experience with AI and/ or autonomous systems, and who had served in a number of roles including former military, civilian scientists working for the government, scientists working in the private sector, and scientists working as independent consultants. The results show that stakeholders need access to others (e.g., trusted engineers, trusted vendors) to develop satisfying mental models of AI systems. and they need to know "how it fails" and "how it misleads" and not just "how it works." In addition, explanations need to support end-users in performing troubleshooting and maintenance activities, especially as operational situations and input data change. End-users need to be able to anticipate when the AI is approaching an edge case. Stakeholders often need to develop an understanding that enables them to explain the AI to someone else and not just satisfy their own sensemaking. We were surprised that only about half of our Interviewees said they always needed better explanations. This and other findings that are apparently paradoxical can be resolved by acknowledging that different stakeholders have different capabilities, different sensemaking requirements, and different immediate goals. In fact, the concept of “stakeholder” is misleading because the people we interviewed served in a variety of roles simultaneously — we recommend referring to these roles rather than trying to pigeonhole people into unitary categories. Different cognitive styles re another formative factor, as suggested by participant comments to the effect that they preferred to dive in and play with the system rather than being spoon-fed an explanation of how it works. These factors combine to determine what, for each given end-user, constitutes satisfactory and actionable understanding. exp

A step toward equal representation? A cross-sectional analysis of the gender composition of neurosurgical editorial boards from 2000 to 2020

OBJECTIVE At present, females constitute less than 10% of neurosurgeons in the US, despite representing approximately half of all medical students. Multiple barriers have been described for females entering the neurosurgical field, particularly academic neurosurgery. Understanding the environment that female neurosurgeons face and any potential barriers preventing career advancement is needed to recruit, promote, and retain females in neurosurgery. METHODS The gender composition of editorial boards for 5 high-impact neurosurgery journals was analyzed from 2000 to 2020. The names of editorial board members were obtained directly from the journal administration, physical copies of the published journal, or publicly available data through each journal’s website. The gender, degrees, academic titles, H-index, and country were determined for each individual and statistical tests were performed to identify significant differences. RESULTS Of the 466 identified individuals that served on at least one editorial board between 2000 and 2020, there were 36 females (7.7%) and 430 males (92.3%). There were no significant differences between males and females serving on multiple editorial boards. Most females possessed an additional graduate degree (58.3%), while only one-third of males (33.5%) obtained such a degree (p = 0.002). In addition, males had significantly higher average H-indices than females (p = 0.002). These trends were also observed when analyzing only US-based editorial board members. Although females were more likely overall to be identified as associate professors, males were more likely to be appointed as full professors (p = 0.001); this trend did not remain true in the US-based cohort. When analyzing the editorial boards for individual journals, all 5 journals experienced an increase of female representation since 2000 or since their inception after 2000. The highest proportion of females for a single journal was 27.3% in 2020. All other journals ranged from 11.0% to 13.5% in 2020. CONCLUSIONS When entering the field of neurosurgery, females continue to face significant social and academic barriers. While the proportion of females on editorial boards for neurosurgery journals in 2020 is consistent with the proportion of practicing female neurosurgeons, there is a statistically significantly higher likelihood that females possess additional graduate degrees and lower H-indices compared to their male counterparts. The authors encourage neurosurgical journals to continue expanding female representation on editorial boards.

Job Seeking and Daily Workforce Experiences of Autistic Librarians

Anecdotal accounts suggest that librarianship is a rewarding career for some autistic adults, though no empirical evidence exists to support such claims. Additionally, barriers may exist for autistic librarians, both in job seeking and in on-the-job experiences. As autistic adults are un- and underemployed more than their neurotypical peers, it is important to understand the role that libraries can play in supporting their employment. In this qualitative study, ten librarians with graduate degrees, who self-identify as autistic, describe their experiences in job seeking and daily working experiences in the library field through interviews in multiple formats. Results indicate issues around disclosure and accessibility, and that librarians thrive when their skills are prioritized and when they feel like they are helping or doing meaningful work. Additionally, these librarians find their way into the profession through exposure to libraries and take comfort in working with like-minded people. Finally, autistic librarians in this study describe the hope that hiring managers and library supervisors have at least some knowledge and understanding of autism, along with the willingness to learn more.

The Role of Higher Education Policies in Science Production (Case Study; Graduate Degrees in University)

The present study aimed to investigate the role of higher education policies in science production in postgraduate education. This study was considered causal research in terms of the method used. In the present study, the statistical population of this study includes graduate students of Arak University. Morgan's Table was used for sampling, and the convenience sampling method (also known as availability sampling) was used. The sample size was 323 people. According to the results, higher education policies can positively and significantly affect science production through structuring higher education, subsidy allocation to graduate education, investment in higher education, building culture for higher education, the applicability of higher education, innovation support).

Motivations and attitudes of Brazilian dairy farmers regarding the use of automated behaviour recording and analysis systems

In this Research Communication we investigate the motivations of Brazilian dairy farmers to adopt automated behaviour recording and analysis systems (ABRS) and their attitudes towards the alerts that are issued. Thirty-eight farmers participated in the study distributed into two groups, ABRS users (USERS, n = 16) and non-users (NON-USERS, n = 22). In the USERS group 16 farmers accepted being interviewed, answering a semi-structured interview conducted by telephone, and the answers were transcribed and codified. In the NON-USERS group, 22 farmers answered an online questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was applied to coded answers. Most farmers were young individuals under 40 years of age, with undergraduate or graduate degrees and having recently started their productive activities, after a family succession process. Herd size varied with an overall average of approximately 100 cows. Oestrus detection and cow's health monitoring were the main reasons given to invest in this technology, and cost was the most important factor that prevented farmers from purchasing ABRS. All farmers in USERS affirmed that they observed the target cows after receiving a health or an oestrus alert. Farmers believed that they were able to intervene in the evolution of the animals' health status, as the alerts gave a window of three to four days before the onset of clinical signs of diseases, anticipating the start of the treatment.The alerts issued by the monitoring systems helped farmers to reduce the number of cows to be observed and to identify pre-clinically sick and oestrous animals more easily. Difficulties in illness detection and lack of definite protocols impaired the decision making process and early treatment, albeit farmers believed ABRS improved the farm's routine and reproductive rates.

Role strain: a duo-ethnography of fathers in online doctoral education in the United States

Purpose Within the USA, current trends in higher education show more women than men achieving graduate degrees. Among the potential reasons for this disparity is that fathers are reporting challenges in balancing their additional responsibilities while increasing their housework and childcare investment. Many fathers are turning to online graduate education to more effectively balance home and school responsibilities. However, limited portrayals of fathers' experiences in online education exist. Design/methodology/approach In this duoethnography of two online doctoral student fathers, the authors add to the limited literature on both fathers and online students in navigating home, school and work responsibilities. The authors use Goode’s role strain theory to examine the challenges to achieving a balance between each sphere of responsibility and explore strategies for managing these tensions. Findings The authors discuss the need for ongoing flexibility and change, the process of navigating feelings of guilt and self-doubt and the ability to engage in daily role bargains. They argue that online education is generally not a panacea for easing role conflict and find that integration is an effective strategy to aid online students' persistence in their programs. Practical implications The authors conclude with policy and practice recommendations for future online doctoral student fathers and doctoral program designers. Originality/value Little research has been conducted from the online doctoral student father lens. This research fills in this gap and lends a voice to fathers who are navigating the doctoral journey.