Academic literature on the topic 'Status of the University of Arizona Research Program'

Summary Objectives A new academic Biomedical Informatics (BMI) Program in Phoenix, Arizona, embodies a unique organizational structure to draw on the strengths of a computer science and informatics school and the biomedical and clinical strengths of a college of medicine, in an effort to infuse informatics approaches broadly. MethodsThe program reflects a partnership of two state universities that situates the Arizona State University (ASU) Department of BMI on a new downtown Phoenix Biomedical Campus with the University of Arizona (UA) College of Medicine in partnership with ASU (COMPHX). Plans call for development of faculty and expertise in the four major subdomains of BMI, as well as in various cross-cutting capabilities. Results Coming into existence in a state that is investing significantly in biomedical science and technology, BMI has already developed Masters and PhD degree programs, is working with COMPHX to integrate informatics intensively into the education of the medical students, and has been authorized to plan for an undergraduate program in BMI. Reflecting the statewide emphasis on the biomedical and health sector, the growing faculty are engaged in a number of research partnerships and collaborative centers. Conclusions As one of the newest academic BMI programs is taking shape in Arizona, it is embarking on a wide-ranging educational program and a broad research agenda that are now in their earliest stages.

A review of:
 Hernon, P., & McClure, C. (1986). Unobtrusive reference testing: The 55 percent rule. Library Journal, 111(7), 37-41.
 
 
 Objective – To determine the number of government documents reference questions that are answered correctly by professional library staff.
 
 Design – The authors utilized unobtrusive reference testing: reference queries posed to library personnel who were unaware they were being evaluated. As opposed to other designs that require the researcher’s presence in the setting, unobtrusive testing utilizes proxies to administer test questions to the subjects, reducing the possibility of reporter bias.
 
 Setting – Twenty-six public and academic libraries participating in the U.S. Government Printing Office Depository Program located in the Western, Southern, and Midwestern United States. The Federal Depository Program consisted of 1400 libraries at the time of the study. One public and one academic library were chosen for each city.
 
 Subjects – Reference and government documents librarians. These two staff types were selected in order to compare the accuracy of each group’s responses to the queries.
 
 Methods – A set of 15 predetermined factual and bibliographic questions were developed by the authors and administered to library staff respondents by proxies. Government documents were selected as the foundation for the test questions. In selecting federal depository libraries for their sample the authors could ensure all queries may hypothetically be answered using U.S. Government Printing Office documents, as all of the libraries would hold the resources in question.
 
 Graduate students enrolled in the University of Arizona and University of Oklahoma library science programs were trained by the authors to serve as proxies. The proxies posed as library users and administered the set of queries at each selected library. Reference librarians and government documents librarians were tested separately, receiving seven and eight questions respectively at each library visited. Over a four-month period a total of 390 questions were posed and their answers recorded.
 
 Main Results – The respondents correctly answered 241 of 390 queries (62 percent). Government documents librarians accurately answered 65 percent of questions, while reference librarians successfully responded to 59 percent. Hernon and McClure derived the “55 percent rule” for reference accuracy from these results and previous unobtrusive studies conducted by both the authors and other researchers. This body of research estimates the rate of accurate answers of factual and bibliographic questions to be between 50 and 62 percent.
 Data regarding the “interview and search process” (I&S), defined as the activities between the time a query was posed and when a resolution was provided, also yielded intriguing findings. Regardless of the question asked, the average I&S duration was three to five minutes. Two-thirds of the accurate answers were supplied within three minutes, and 89 percent within five minutes of the initiation of I&S. The duration of I&S did not vary significantly by library type or librarian type.
 
 Reasons for the provision of inaccurate answers included providing the wrong data (64 percent of instances), responding with “don’t know” and ending the interaction (20 percent), or claiming the library did not own a source that would answer the query (15 percent). Other findings included the fact that respondents infrequently offered referrals, which took place in 17 percent of all interactions, and that the three geographic regions studied had an even distribution of correct answers.
 
 Conclusions - Based on their research results as well as those of similar unobtrusive studies, the authors propose two rules regarding reference assistance that apply to public and academic libraries. First, reference librarians correctly answer approximately 55 percent of factual and bibliographic queries received (the 55 percent reference rule). Second, librarians spend no more than five minutes on most factual and bibliographic questions (the five-minute answer rule).
 
 Ultimately, Hernon and McClure recommend reevaluating the centrality of reference services to library operations. If trained professionals are unable to answer more than 60 percent of factual questions correctly, should reference services continue to receive such considerable staffing and funding? Or, alternatively, should libraries increase efforts to improve the accuracy of answers? The authors close by challenging the profession to address the need for strategic assessment of reference effectiveness.

The first International Social Pedagogy Conference took place February 22-24, 2018 in Puebla, Mexico. The conference, Social Pedagogy and Social Education: Bridging Traditions and Innovations, was hosted by Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) in partnership with the Social Pedagogy Association, ASU, REMPES, and Ceiba. The conference hosted over 350 participants from 17 countries and offered presentations in English, Spanish and Portuguese, representing a wide variety of topics which reflect many of the diverse areas encompassed by social pedagogy research and practice. In 2011, the first social pedagogy masters program in North America - a Master of Art in Social and Cultural Pedagogy - was approved by Arizona State University for the School of Social Transformation in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Within two years students in that program created a graduate organization, SCP-GO (Social and Cultural Pedagogy Graduate Organization), to connect with each other, organize events, and represent students’ needs and interests to the faculty. As the first of these graduates transitioned from University into a variety of careers and post-graduate studies, a need presented for a professional association to facilitate connections in North America between practical and theoretical pedagogues. Thus, the Social Pedagogy Association was created in 2015. The Social Pedagogy Association (SPA) brings together practitioners, academics, students and others to exchange experiences and to share knowledge and resources about social pedagogy theory, research and practice. The SPA strives to be an inclusive organization that believes in the importance of the free flow of ideas and scholars for the advancement of research, theory and educational practices. We are here to encourage scholarly interaction, collaboration, and debate from diverse intellectual perspectives and countries of origin by bringing together practitioners, academics, students and others to exchange experiences and to share knowledge and resources about social pedagogy theory, research and practice. (O’Neil, 2015) The SPA recognized a disconnect between academia and practice. While academics often engage in interdisciplinary study, and many practitioners refer to the works and successes of others in their fields, there is often a gap in communication between research and practice. As social pedagogues we bear a responsibility to ensure that gap is minimized as effectively as possible. As the academic discipline and practical application of social pedagogy expands, it is necessary that theoretical and practical pedagogues communicate and work in tandem. In 2004, prominent social pedagogue, Henry Giroux, wrote: I think too many cultural studies theorists are remiss in suggesting that pedagogy is primarily about schools and, by implication, that the intersection of cultural studies and pedagogy has little to do with theorizing the role pedagogy might play in linking learning to social change outside of traditional sites of schooling. Pedagogy is not simply about the social construction of knowledge, values, and experiences; it is also a performative practice embodied in the lived interactions among educators, audiences, texts, and institutional formations. Pedagogy, at its best, implies that learning takes place across a spectrum of social practices and settings. (Giroux, 2004, p.61) Rooted deeply in northern Europe and South America, the field of Social Pedagogy is growing and changing as it spreads and develops in the UK, Central America, and, most recently, North America. The discipline has more than 150 years of history as both an interdisciplinary academic field of inquiry and a field of practice that is situated in the intersection of three areas of human activity: education, social work, and community development (Schugurensky, 2011). Hans Thiersch defined the role of social pedagogue thus: The role of the social pedagogue is to help people to critically analyze their problems, reflecting on the social causes of the individual problems and to find options for successful everyday life. The focus is connecting help for the individual with political action in the context of social justice and well-being, while recognizing social and political resources. (Schugurensky, 2014, p. 9) It is of utmost importance that pedagogues ‘across a spectrum’ listen to one another and aid each other in this critical analysis and reflection. This need for an increase in communication was recognized by members and partners of the SPA soon after its founding. “As a critical practice, pedagogy’s role lies not only in changing how people think about themselves and their relationship to others and the world, but also is energizing students and others to engage in those struggles that further possibilities for living in a more just society.” (Giroux, 2004, p. 64) As pedagogues, we must also energize and engage one another. There is possibly no greater power than that inherent in the exchange of ideas and culture. In 2017, Jan Rothuizen and Lotte Harbo reminded us that “Bridge-building means changing society and not just working with care but also with community development, so as to address the wider and systematic aspects that affect the marginalized groups” (Rothuzian, p.18). It was with this idea of bridging connections and supporting one another that the SPA organized and planned the first International Social Pedagogy Conference which took place February 22-24, 2018 in Puebla, Mexico. The conference, Social Pedagogy and Social Education: Bridging Traditions and Innovations, was hosted by Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) in partnership with the Social Pedagogy Association, ASU, REMPES, and Ceiba. The intention of this conference was to bridge differences within the theories of academia and help to unite those theories with the experiences of field-work practitioners, an important connection that is all-too-often overlooked. The conference was held with the intention of bringing together the various studies and practices of social pedagogy and social education around the world. The conference welcomed any and all researchers and practitioners whose work falls into the realm of social or critical pedagogies and social education, to include topics such as: refugee education, cultural pedagogy, the formation/education of social educators and social workers, technology and social education, pedagogical theory, social pedagogy and social education in schools, and more. The conference hosted over 350 participants from 17 countries and offered presentations in English, Spanish and Portuguese, representing a wide variety of topics which reflect many of the diverse areas encompassed by social pedagogy research and practice. By forging initial connections between researchers and practitioners, we hope to continue to find and increase ways in which these connections can influence and impact the growth of social pedagogy and social education around the world. The hope of the SPA is that we continue to identify tension fields, share successes and challenges internationally within the field and research, and come to an understanding of social pedagogy advised and shaped by our varied cultures, experiences, and educations. The SPA will be partnering in June of 2020 with the University of Central Lancashire (CLAN) to host the second International Social Pedagogy Conference in Larnaka, Cyprus. We are excited to see the unification of ideas and knowledge and look forward to a future of partnership with pedagogues around the world.

Arizona State University has been involved in identifying the future Facility Manager (FM) paradigm which results in a sustainable FM profession. The $16M, 20-year international research program has identified, created and tested out a solution to the almost impossible task of replacing the aging FM professionals. The research has identified the future FM as one who is leadership based and leads the entire supply chain from inside the organization. This paper will cover the three year results of finding the future FM by accessing the top 10% of ASU’s 85,000 students through Barrett’s Honors Program, 7th – 10th graders through the Barrett’s Summer Honors Program, and culminating this year in placing the education in one of the top private schools in the state of Hawaii for high school students, testing the approach on 116 Brazilian engineering undergraduate students and getting approval for testing a 14 week program in the Tempe High School. The model is proposed as a prototype for future FM professionals and how the FM professional can become sustainable.