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This chapter discusses an innovative teaching method using an avatar to engage young learners in United States geographic studies. While this technique does not call for a teacher to perform in character, it is directly related to storytelling. The educator successfully personifies an inanimate object for engagement and education, linking it to learning objectives. In the author's case, “Moffat the Traveling Rabbit” accompanies first-grade Colorado students in their study of all 50 states. By endowing such an object with human qualities, the teacher draws students in to standards-based instruction presented in a new way. The use of an icon or figure is familiar to video gamers in representing themselves and other players. In education, presenting nonvisual concepts in character form is a familiar strategy and has multiple benefits for young students. As chapter examples demonstrate, teaching history, geography, and writing skills through an avatar encourages creativity and a sense of accessibility to those subjects for the young child. As the author also points out, students who experience discomfort in some situations may feel supported by a nonthreatening “companion” accepted within the class, enabling them to participate. By teaching with an avatar, students are drawn into experiential learning while practicing grade-level skills across multiple curricula. Such experiential learning promotes meaningful curiosity and creates a foundational base from which to make further connections. The author outlines how she has used a stuffed rabbit in her classroom to make these connections, inspiring her students to write their own geography- and history-based stories.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how physical therapists make meaning of their professional role identity when transitioning from clinician to leadership positions. Despite the importance of professional role identity in the transition from health-care provider to health-care leader, research on this topic in physical therapy remains almost nonexistent.

A qualitative, phenomenological research approach was used in this study. Data was collected through a three-part, semistructured interview process. An open coding to focused coding process was used to analyze data and develop themes which answered the research question.

Physical therapists in this study engaged in identity work, making meaning of their professional role identity by referencing a professional role identity focused on more than clinical skills, accepting the role of discomfort, focusing on relationships, exercising agency over the construction of their leader identity, recognizing consistency between clinical and leader roles and establishing a professional role identity informed but no longer bound by their physical therapist identity.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to investigate how physical therapists make meaning of their professional role identity when transitioning into leadership positions. The findings of this study highlight uniquities in the physical therapy professional role identity and the manner in which physical therapists navigate this work role transition.

US citizens who attend international medical schools (US IMGs) are more likely to be of Hispanic, Black American, or Asian descent compared to US medical students. As physicians, US IMGs contribute diversity to the health-care workforce; their experiences and perspectives have improved the health outcomes for populations typically underserved. To become a competent medical professional is a challenging experience, especially for IMGs who may have entered medical school with less than optimal academic histories. During this journey, some students develop academic and clinical deficiencies. Addressing these deficits through remediation interventions are critical to the student’s performance as a physician. This study measured the resiliency, self-efficacy, and self-compassion of IMGs who completed remediation while in medical school. Results indicate older students experienced failure more often and were found to have significantly higher levels of self-compassion compared to younger students. Males were assigned significantly more remedial interventions compared to the female participants. Finally, strong positive correlations suggested that the more remediation interventions students were provided, the more likely they were satisfied with their overall remediation experience. These findings indicate that by varying support strategies and encouraging student’s orientation to resiliency, self-efficacy, and self-compassion may assist them in overcoming their deficits.

Suggests that the restructuring of the European‐owned consumer electronics industry, and the relocation of manufacturing plants within Europe, will inevitably affect the distribution of their products. Considers that the centralization of production capacity, and a move away from country‐by‐country operations, will require major adjustments to transport systems and that incomers may also need to establish new systems of delivery from their new manufacturing points. Examines the current logistics practices and future expectations of major consumer electronics manufacturers operating in Europe, in the context of intense competitive rivalry and changing market structures, using empirical data gathered from companies operating in France, the United Kingdom and West Germany. While there are national differences, the results indicate growing involvement of multiple retailers in the distribution of consumer electronic products, further contracting out of manufacturers′ logistical operations, and growing demands on all logistics systems as order lead‐times continue to shorten.

The introduction presents the challenges of teaching history and social studies within a society that questions why we should learn about the past. It summarizes federal legislation and funding that have both expanded and limited history education at various times. It suggests that historical interpretation and performance are ways to engage students in their ability to make meaning of the past and engage in inquiry, at a time when student access to historical information and media is often overwhelming. The introduction concludes with a summary of all chapters as they advance a process for historical inquiry through storytelling and interpretation.