Abstract The origins of scientific nature collections in Wielkopolska (Western Poland) date back to the seventeenth century. Their development was repeatedly disrupted by major events, including two world wars fought in Poland in the twentieth century. The rescued historical collections as well as specimens of algae, plants, fungi and animals systematically collected after 1945 are now stored under optimal conditions at the Faculty of Biology of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (FBAMU). The current collections include approximately 2.2 million pre-catalogued objects that document not only the biodiversity of Wielkopolska and Poland but also that of many regions of the world on all continents. Specimens included in the FBAMU are used extensively in taxonomic, biogeographic, phylogenetic, ecological and genetic studies. The collections also have significant educational value and help disseminate knowledge about biodiversity.

The natural history collections of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Poland): an outline of their history and content

The Natural History Collections of Adam Mickiewicz University (AMUNATCOLL) in Poznań contain over 2.2 million specimens. Until recently, access to the collections was limited to specialists and was challenging because of the analogue data files. Therefore, this paper presents a new approach to data sharing called the Scientific, Educational, Public, and Practical Use (SEPP) Model. Since the stakeholder group is broad, the SEPP Model assumes the following key points: full open access to the digitized collections, the structure of metadata in accordance with certain standards, and a versatile tool set for data mining or statistical and spatial analysis. The SEPP Model was implemented in the AMUNATCOLL IT system, which consists of a web portal equipped with a wide set of explorative functionalities tailored to different user groups: scientists, students, officials, and nature enthusiasts. An integral part of the system is a mobile application designed for field surveys, enabling users to conduct studies comparing their own field data and AMUNATCOLL data. The AMUNATCOLL IT database contains digital data on specimens, biological samples, bibliographic sources, and multimedia nature documents. The metadata structure was developed in accordance with ABCD 2.06 and Darwin Core standards. 

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Open Access to the Digital Biodiversity Database: A Comprehensive Functional Model of the Natural History Collections

The purpose of this chapter is to track back the recent evolutions in the domain of museum management, as well as the upcoming changes. The factors shaping change will most likely affect the decisions and the activities of the key entities in museums context in the coming years. Technological innovations, changes in society, the growing and different requests from the audience, and the managerialization process—besides still ongoing—of some entities of the museum domain are among the engines of the ongoing evolution. This evolution is commonly recalled by the pivotal international institutions, and the ongoing change can be observed in the dissemination activities of these institutions, in the promotion they made, as well as in the contents of the recently issued reports, and in their indications that stimulate the debate between museum companies themselves and the world of research. 

Museums in a Changing Context

This paper examines how practicing teachers approach and evaluate students’ critical thinking processes in science, using the implementation of an online, inquiry-based investigation in middle school classrooms as the context for teachers’ observations. Feedback and ratings from three samples of science teachers were analysed to determine how they valued and evaluated component processes of students’ critical thinking and how such processes were related to their instructional approaches and student outcomes. Drawing from an integrated view of teacher practice, results suggested that practicing science teachers readily observed and valued critical thinking processes that aligned to goal intentions focused on domain content and successful student thinking. These processes often manifested as components of effective scientific reasoning—for example, gathering evidence, analysing data, evaluating ideas, and developing strong arguments. However, teachers also expressed avoidance intentions related to student confusion and uncertainty before and after inquiry-based investigations designed for critical thinking. These findings highlight a potential disconnect between the benefits of productive student struggle for critical thinking as endorsed in the research on learning and science education and the meaning that teachers ascribe to such struggle as they seek to align their instructional practices to classroom challenges. 

Critical thinking during science investigations: what do practicing teachers value and observe?

The influence of technology on business cannot be reversed. As the moveable type of printing altered the course of history, digitalization is transforming organizations, work environments, and processes, requiring leaders to address new challenges. Experts in the social sciences have attempted to comprehend this complex phenomenon, but their findings have been dispersed across various disciplines and do not appear to form a unified picture. In order to correct this flaw in the literature and improve the clarity and coherence of scholarly discourse, this chapter's specific purpose is to evaluate how the debate on digital transformation and leadership has evolved over the previous few years, to highlight significant theories and discoveries, and to recommend potential future study routes. The chapter looks at all of the research that has been done on leadership and digitalization, looking for patterns of thought and findings across different social science fields, like management and psychology. 

Review of Leadership in the Digitalized World

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/cura.12423

Susana Velásquez‐Franco

Papers

Museum Leadership for Engaging, Equitable Education: The Transformative Potential of Digitized Collections for Authentic Learning Experiences