Monday, August 4, 2014

Teacher Reference Center--a Shortcut for Busy Educators

While St. Louis County Library offers excellent databases for academic research, such as Academic Onefile and Academic Search Elite, teachers have their own specialized database.  This database, Teacher Reference Center, allows users to search 280 peer-reviewed journals and obtain either full text or abstracts or articles.

The database features multiple search methods, by boolean search, keyword, whole word, and SmartText search (allows for the search for an entire extract of material).  Teacher Reference Center permits users to search for images, such as graphs and photographs.  A search for "assessment and quizzes" yielded an August 2007 full text article on the value of weekly class quizzes from Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education.  The article concluded that regular quizzes made students more efficient in reviewing their notes from the previous class.

With the growth of online degrees, the Teacher Reference Center allows education students and teachers to conduct research from their home computer or mobile device.  The flexible search methods of the database and its narrow focus save time for educators.

--Harry C., Reference