Background: Across academic disciplines, researchers have found that argumentation-based pedagogies increase learners' achievement and engagement. Engineering educational researchers and teachers of engineering may benefit from knowledge regarding how argumentation related to engineering has been practiced and studied. Purpose/Hypothesis: Drawing from terms and concepts used in national standards for K-12 education and accreditation requirements for undergraduate engineering education, this study was designed to identify how arguments and argumentation related to the engineering-designed world were operationalized in relevant literature. Methodology: Specified search terms and inclusion criteria were used to identify 117 empirical studies related to engineering argumentation and educational research. A qualitative content analysis was used to identify trends across these studies.Findings: Overall, engineering-related argumentation was associated with a variety of positive learner outcomes. Across many studies, arguments were operationalized in practice as statements regarding whether an existing technology should be adopted in a given context, usually with a limited number of supports (e.g., costs and ethics) provided for each claim. Relatively few studies mentioned empirical practices, such as tests. Most studies did not name the race/ethnicity of participants nor report engineering-specific outcomes.Conclusions: Engineering educators in K-12 and undergraduate settings can create learning environments in which learners use a range of epistemic practices, including empirical practices, to support a range of claims. Researchers can study engineering-specific outcomes while specifying relevant demographics of their research participants. K E Y W O R D S argumentation, engineering education, systematic review

The Utah State University (USU) Libraries spend approximately 11 percent of their materials budget on electronic resources. Because electronic resources occupy no shelf space and often are used from remote locations, it can be difficult to alert users to new resources at the library and to determine what sort of patron support is needed. This study investigated electronic database awareness and use by 856 USU administrators and teaching faculty. The responses revealed the need for greater publicity regarding new acquisitions, training opportunities, and methods of remote access. Unexpectedly, the survey itself, with its accompanying descriptions of databases and access methods, met many of the needs it identified.

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There is no comprehensive review of the extent to which evidence-based veterinary medicine (EBVM) is taught in AVMA-accredited colleges of veterinary medicine in the US and Canada. We surveyed teaching faculty and librarians at these institutions to determine what EBVM skills are currently included in curricula, how they are taught, and to what extent librarians are involved in this process. Librarians appear to be an underused resource, as 59% of respondents did not use librarians/library resources in teaching EBVM. We discovered that there is no standard teaching methodology nor are there common learning activities for EBVM among our survey respondents, who represent 22 institutions. Respondents reported major barriers to inclusion such as a perceived shortage of time in an already-crowded course of study and a lack of high-quality evidence and point-of-care tools. Suggestions for overcoming these barriers include collaborating with librarians and using new EBVM online teaching resources.

Purpose -Reports methodology and findings of focus groups conducted at Utah state university to assess students' needs in the library's new information commons. Design/methodology/approach -A joint committee of computer services personnel and librarians, with assistance from undergraduate library peer mentors, undertook a series of focus groups with participants from the Utah state university student population. The goals were to assess the undiscovered needs of students and students' preferences in a new library. Findings -After the focus group responses were organized into eleven categories, we recorded several key traits and sets of comments from our user population; our users spend a good deal of their study time in the library either working individually or as a group, participants differ in their preferences for seeking help in the library, and participants consider noise levels and adequate space to study important concerns. Practical implications -By following a few standard procedures, focus groups can be a useful format for collecting data regarding patrons' needs and interests in the library. Focus groups can help library staff plan for and design new intellectual and physical spaces in the library. Originality/value -This paper will be useful to academic librarians planning an Information Commons or other services in the library, or librarians interested in assessing their users' needs through focus groups.