Great Books. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

Science.gov (United States)

What Works Clearinghouse, 2011

2011-01-01

"Great Books" is a program that aims to improve the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills of students in kindergarten through high school. The program is implemented as a core or complementary curriculum and is based on the Shared Inquiry[TM] method of learning. The purpose of "Great Books" is to engage students in…

Increasing Teleworking Skills of Student Translators: Turkish Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Halil İbrahim BALKUL

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This study reflects pedagogical implications derived from “Translation in the 2nd foreign language” course offered at Translation Studies Department at Sakarya University, Turkey in 2014- 2015 academic year / fall term. The insights derived from the classroom sessions were obtained from the instructor’s observations based on reflective journals, which were updated on a weekly basis. These observations provided a great deal of qualitative data. The course attendees used a Facebook group forum specifically designed for the course discussions and students-teacher communication. They also received their translation projects and then sent them via Facebook messaging system and e-mail till the deadline identified previously by the instructor. The findings reveal that trainee translators’ teleworking skills increased as they became more conscious users of computer assisted translation (CAT tools and social networks. In this way, they are more adaptable to work with distant colleagues, clients and translation vendors in their future career. Keywords: Teleworking, Tele-Translation, Translation Technologies, Translator Training, Use of Social Network Sites

Survey of awareness and analyses of related factors to volunteer activities of pharmacy students after the Great East Japan Earthquake

OpenAIRE

小武家, 優子; 吉田, 健; 吉武, 毅人

2012-01-01

The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. At the time of the earthquake, pharmacist and pharmacy students engaged in volunteer activities such as providing disaster medicine and relief supplies to disaster areas. Questionnaire survey for pharmacy students were carried out in order to clarify awareness to volunteer activities for disaster areas and to use data as a basis of Service-Learning in the 6 years pharmacy education. We divided subjects into pharmacy students those wo...

Caesarean section greatly increases risk of scar endometriosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nominato, Nilo Sérgio; Prates, Luis Felipe Victor Spyer; Lauar, Isabela; Morais, Jaqueline; Maia, Laura; Geber, Selmo

2010-09-01

To estimate the incidence of scar endometriosis after different surgical procedures. A retrospective study of 72 patients diagnosed with scar endometriosis between 1978 and 2003 was performed. Patient age, site of endometriosis, previous operations, time-gap between last surgery and onset of symptoms, nodule characteristics, and recurrence were evaluated. Age ranged from 16 to 48 years. Location varied according to the previous surgery: 46 caesarean section, one hysterectomy, one in abdominal surgery, 19 episiotomy, one was a relapse and two pelvic floor procedures, two women with no previous surgery. The incidence of scar endometriosis after caesarean section was significantly higher than after episiotomy (0.2 and 0.06%, respectively: p<0.00001) with a relative risk of 3.3. Pain was the most frequent symptom. The mean time between surgery and onset of symptoms was 3.7 years. Our findings confirm that scar endometriosis is a rare condition and indicate, probably for the first time, that caesarean section greatly increases the risk of developing scar endometriosis. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Worldwide Tuition Increases Send Students into the Streets.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodard, Colin

2000-01-01

Examines the global trend towards increased tuition and fees in public institutions of higher education. Despite histories of free or very low tuition and student protests, most observers see higher tuition and fees (and financial aid programs for needy students) as invitable. Notes increased demand, enrollment surges, and collapsing systems of…

ICT in higher education: increased student engagement.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zweekhorst, M.B.M.; Maas, J.

2015-01-01

Purpose – In general, active participation increases learning outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to explore how: information and communication technologies (ICT) can be used to improve the participation of students during lectures and the effect of ICT on the learning outcomes of students.

Increasing Student Engagement in Online Educational Leadership Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Deschaine, Mark E.; Whale, David E.

2017-01-01

Utilization of online instruction continues to increase at universities, placing more emphasis on the exploration of issues related to adult graduate student engagement. This reflective case study reviews nontraditional student engagement in online courses. The goals of the study are to enhance student focus, attention, and interaction. Findings…

Increasing Academic Growth through Motivating Students To Read.

Science.gov (United States)

Duignan, Sandra; Klioris, Ann; Porter, Jennifer; Rockett, Nicole; Vogwill, Kathy

This report describes a program for increasing academic growth through motivating students to read. The targeted population includes kindergarten, first, third, and high school special education students. The lack of motivation in reading was documented through data revealed by pre-surveys and post-surveys of students' interest in books. Analysis…

Goal Setting to Increase Student Academic Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Dotson, Ronnie

2016-01-01

Over the past two years, the teachers and students in Carter County, Kentucky have been utilizing goal setting. As a result, the district has shown tremendous growth on not only state assessments, but also on local assessments. Additionally, the number of students meeting benchmarks for college and career readiness has increased significantly. The…

Patient organizations in Finland: increasing numbers and great variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Toiviainen, Hanna K; Vuorenkoski, Lauri H; Hemminki, Elina K

2010-09-01

There is very little research on patient organizations (POs), even though their numbers and influence seem to be increasing. The purpose of this study was to describe the establishment, membership, size, organization, decision making and basic funding of national POs in Finland. National POs (n = 130) were identified from their umbrella organizations and by Internet searches. Data were collected from POs' web pages (87% of POs had one), Finland's Slot Machine Association (RAY, an important public financier of POs), a relevant survey done by a local TV-company, and interviews and written materials of POs. Some current national POs were established around the turn of the 19(th) century. The rate of establishment of new POs increased from the 1970s and particularly in the 1990s when POs were characterized by increasing specialization. POs focused on different patient groups and diseases and were founded by philanthropists, physicians, patients, parents and the drug industry. Members could be patients, patient relatives, health-care professionals and organizations. POs widely varied in memberships (20-145 000, in 2002) and in number of paid personnel (0-1395, in 2002), organizational structure and decision making. Interest groups and financiers were often represented in decision-making organs. Activities included mutual support and service production, and, increasingly, informing and lobbying. POs had wide domestic and international co-operation and networking. Drug industry marketing was visible on PO web pages. Budget sizes varied (4000-15 million euros, in 2001). The main public financier was RAY. The old national POs were large and part of national social and health care, but newer ones were often established for mutual support and lobbying. National POs are not uniform but characterized by great variation. The number of national POs is increasing suggesting tighter competition for financing and visibility in the future.

Moral reasoning about great apes in research

Science.gov (United States)

Okamoto, Carol Midori

2006-04-01

This study explored how individuals (biomedical scientists, Great Ape Project activists, lay adults, undergraduate biology and environmental studies students, and Grade 12 and 9 biology students) morally judge and reason about using great apes in biomedical and language research. How these groups perceived great apes' mental capacities (e.g., pain, logical thinking) and how these perceptions related to their judgments were investigated through two scenarios. In addition, the kinds of informational statements (e.g., biology, economics) that may affect individuals' scenario judgments were investigated. A negative correlation was found between mental attributions and scenario judgments while no clear pattern occurred for the informational statements. For the biomedical scenario, all groups significantly differed in mean judgment ratings except for the biomedical scientists, GAP activists and Grade 9 students. For the language scenario, all groups differed except for the GAP activists, and undergraduate environmental studies and Grade 9 students. An in-depth qualitative analysis showed that although the biomedical scientists, GAP activists and Grade 9 students had similar judgments, they produced different mean percentages of justifications under four moral frameworks (virtue, utilitarianism, deontology, and welfare). The GAP activists used more virtue reasoning while the biomedical scientists and Grade 9 students used more utilitarian and welfare reasoning, respectively. The results are discussed in terms of developing environmental/humane education curricula.

The Great Gatsby. [Lesson Plan].

Science.gov (United States)

Zelasko, Ken

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that adapting part of a novel into a dramatic reading makes students more intimate with the author's intentions and craft; and that a part of a novel may lend itself to various oral interpretations. The main activity…

Plastic with personality: Increasing student engagement with manikins.

Science.gov (United States)

Power, Tamara; Virdun, Claudia; White, Haidee; Hayes, Carolyn; Parker, Nicola; Kelly, Michelle; Disler, Rebecca; Cottle, Amanda

2016-03-01

Simulation allows students to practice key psychomotor skills and gain technical proficiency, fostering the development of clinical reasoning and student confidence in a low risk environment. Manikins are a valuable learning tool; yet there is a distinct lack of empirical research investigating how to enhance engagement between nursing students and manikins. To describe student perspectives of a layered, technology enhanced approach to improve the simulation learning experience. Tanner's Model of Clinical Judgment underpins the entire curriculum. This study additionally drew on the principles of narrative pedagogy. Across ten teaching weeks, five separate case studies were introduced to students through short vignettes. Students viewed the vignettes prior to their laboratory class. In the labs, manikins were dressed in the props used in the vignettes. The innovation was trialed in a second year core subject of a Bachelor of Nursing program in a large urban university in the autumn semester of 2014. Following ethics approval, students were emailed a participant information sheet. A focus group of nine students was held. The discussion was digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim prior to being subject to thematic analysis. Students' comments (143) about the vignettes in their standard subject specific student feedback surveys were also considered as data. Four themes were identified: Getting past the plastic; knowing what to say; connecting and caring; and, embracing diversity. The feedback indicated that these measures increased students ability to suspend disbelief, feel connected to, and approach the manikins in a more understanding and empathetic fashion. In addition to achieving increased engagement with manikins, other advantages such as students reflecting on their own values and pre-conceived notions of people from diverse backgrounds were realized. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increasing the graduation rates of minority medical students.

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Payne, J L; Nowacki, C M; Girotti, J A; Townsel, J; Plagge, J C; Beckham, T W

1986-05-01

The University of Illinois College of Medicine has operated a program since 1969 to recruit minority students into the college and to increase the graduation rates of these students once they enroll. Known as the Medical Opportunities Program (MOP) until 1978, the program was expanded in 1978 and renamed the Urban Health Program (UHP). The authors of the present paper discuss the results of these programs, particularly the effect of granting minority students delays in completing graduation requirements. The MOP (1969 through 1978) increased graduation rates for minority students from 55 percent for those who graduated on time to 81 percent for both on-time and delayed graduates. Under the first seven years of the UHP (1979 through 1985), more minority students have been offered places, and more have enrolled than in the 10 years of the MOP. The retention rate under the UHP, if it holds, will be higher than that under the MOP. For the combined MOP-UHP period, the retention rate for minority students was 88 percent; 69.8 percent of the graduates were on time, and 30.2 were delayed.

Student Management Teams Increase College Students' Feelings of Autonomy in the Classroom

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Troisi, Jordan D.

2015-01-01

The use of Student Management Teams (SMTs) is a relatively new teaching technique designed to increase students' motivation and involvement with the planning and execution of college courses. However, to date, little systematic, empirical research has validated the effectiveness of using SMTs. To test the effectiveness of this technique, the…

Outdoor Experiential Learning to Increase Student Interest in Geoscience Careers

Science.gov (United States)

Lazar, K.; Moysey, S. M.

2017-12-01

Outdoor-focused experiential learning opportunities are uncommon for students in large introductory geology courses, despite evidence that field experiences are a significant pathway for students to enter the geoscience pipeline. We address this deficiency by creating an extracurricular program for geology service courses that allows students to engage with classmates to foster a positive affective environment in which they are able to explore their geoscience interests, encouraged to visualize themselves as potential geoscientists, and emboldened to continue on a geoscience/geoscience-adjacent career path. Students in introductory-level geology courses were given pre- and post-semester surveys to assess the impact of these experiential learning experiences on student attitudes towards geoscience careers and willingness to pursue a major/minor in geology. Initial results indicate that high achieving students overall increase their interest in pursuing geology as a major regardless of their participation in extracurricular activities, while low achieving students only demonstrate increased interest in a geology major if they did not participate in extra credit activities. Conversely, high achieving, non-participant students showed no change in interest of pursuing a geology minor, while high achieving participants were much more likely to demonstrate interest in a minor at the end of the course. Similar to the trends of interest in a geology major, low achieving students only show increased interest in a minor if they were non-participants. These initial results indicate that these activities may be more effective in channeling students towards geology minors rather than majors, and could increase the number of students pursuing geoscience-related career paths. There also seem to be several competing factors at play affecting the different student populations, from an increased interest due to experience or a displeasure that geology is not simply `rocks for jocks

Did the Great Recession increase suicides in the USA? Evidence from an interrupted time-series analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Harper, Sam; Bruckner, Tim A

2017-07-01

Research suggests that the Great Recession of 2007-2009 led to nearly 5000 excess suicides in the United States. However, prior work has not accounted for seasonal patterning and unique suicide trends by age and gender. We calculated monthly suicide rates from 1999 to 2013 for men and women aged 15 and above. Suicide rates before the Great Recession were used to predict the rate during and after the Great Recession. Death rates for each age-gender group were modeled using Poisson regression with robust variance, accounting for seasonal and nonlinear suicide trajectories. There were 56,658 suicide deaths during the Great Recession. Age- and gender-specific suicide trends before the recession demonstrated clear seasonal and nonlinear trajectories. Our models predicted 57,140 expected suicide deaths, leading to 482 fewer observed than expected suicides (95% confidence interval -2079, 943). We found little evidence to suggest that the Great Recession interrupted existing trajectories of suicide rates. Suicide rates were already increasing before the Great Recession for middle-aged men and women. Future studies estimating the impact of recessions on suicide should account for the diverse and unique suicide trajectories of different social groups. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Great Expectations for Middle School Counselors

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Robert J.

2012-01-01

During the Great Recession, 2008 to 2010, school systems scrambled to balance budgets, and the ratio of counselors to students became even larger. To make matters worse, the Great Recession had a major impact on cuts in educational funding. Budget cutbacks tend to occur where the public will be least likely to notice. The loss of teachers and the…

Great Lakes Literacy Principles

Science.gov (United States)

Fortner, Rosanne W.; Manzo, Lyndsey

2011-03-01

Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Erie together form North America's Great Lakes, a region that contains 20% of the world's fresh surface water and is home to roughly one quarter of the U.S. population (Figure 1). Supporting a $4 billion sport fishing industry, plus $16 billion annually in boating, 1.5 million U.S. jobs, and $62 billion in annual wages directly, the Great Lakes form the backbone of a regional economy that is vital to the United States as a whole (see http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/downloads/economy/11-708-Great-Lakes-Jobs.pdf). Yet the grandeur and importance of this freshwater resource are little understood, not only by people in the rest of the country but also by many in the region itself. To help address this lack of knowledge, the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Great Lakes, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, developed literacy principles for the Great Lakes to serve as a guide for education of students and the public. These “Great Lakes Literacy Principles” represent an understanding of the Great Lakes' influences on society and society's influences on the Great Lakes.

CPL - a way to increase student's commitment, involvement and collaboration?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Velling, Louise Ærthøj; Larsen, Mette Yde

students and lecturers indicated that CPL as didactics is difficult directly to adapt in teaching in higher educational level. However, the evaluation indicated that some elements from CPL contributed in a positive way by increasing student’s involvement and commitment. Also a better collaboration between...... the students was indicated as well as a strengthened social environment in the class. Based on the experiment, our hypothesis is that the chosen 3 CPL activities will increase the students commitment and involvement in the lectures as well as provide the students with better collaborative competencies....

Hydrologic Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Associated With the Increased Role of Fire on Western Landscapes, Great Basin, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, C. J.; Pierson, F. B.; Robichaud, P. R.; Spaeth, K. E.; Hardegree, S. P.; Clark, P. E.; Moffet, C. A.; Al-Hamdan, O. Z.; Boll, J.

2010-12-01

Landscape-scale plant community transitions and altered fire regimes across Great Basin, USA, rangelands have increased the likelihood of post-fire flooding and erosion events. These hazards are particularly concerning for western urban centers along the rangeland urban-wildland interface where natural resources, property, and human life are at risk. Extensive conversion of 4-7 million hectares of Great Basin shrub-steppe to cheatgrass-dominated (Bromus tectorum) grasslands has increased the frequency and size of wildland fires within these ecosystems. Fire frequencies have increased by more than an order of magnitude and occur on 3-10 year intervals across much of the cheatgrass-dominated landscape. Extensive tree (Pinus spp. and Juniperus spp.) encroachment into wooded shrub-steppe has increased heavy fuel loads. Ladder fuels in these ecosystems promote rapidly spreading, high-intensity and severe ground-surface-crown fires. These altered fuel structures across much of the historical Great Basin shrub-steppe have initiated an upsurge in large rangeland wildfires and have increased the spatial and temporal vulnerability of these landscapes to amplified runoff and erosion. Resource and infrastructure damages, and loss of life have been reported due to flooding following recent large-scale burning of western rangelands and dry forests. We present a decade of post-fire rangeland hydrologic research that provides a foundation for conceptual modeling of the hydrologic impacts associated with an increased role of rangeland wildfires. We highlight advancements in predictive tools to address this large-scale phenomenon and discuss vital research voids requiring attention. Our geographic emphasis is the Great Basin Region, however, these concepts likely extend elsewhere given the increased role of fire in many geographic regions and across rangeland-to-forest ecotones in the western United States.

History of Great Ideas: An Honors Seminar.

Science.gov (United States)

Terrill, Marty; And Others

The History of Great Ideas is an interdisciplinary seminar course for sophomore honor students at North Arkansas Community Technical College that teaches the intellectual history of western civilization. Each semester, students study 14 ideas from science, philosophy, history, religion, sociology, and economics to discover how philosophical…

Efforts to increase junior high school students confidencethrough assertive training

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Romia Hari Susanti

2016-12-01

Full Text Available One of important aspects of personality in human life, especially teenagers is confidence. Counseling teachers can increase student confidence through assertive training. Through the training, students are expected to understand that everyone has the right to express their feelings, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes to do a thing without a doubt, but do not hurt other people's feelings, so that confidence can be increased. This study aims to improve students' confidence through assertive training using classroom action research. Subjects in this study were students of SMP Brawijaya Smart School Malang who have low-confidence criteria

Life on a Farm during the Great Depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Musbach, Joan W.

2001-01-01

Presents a lesson plan for eighth-grade students where they learn about the Great Depression by studying rural life. Explains that the students explore farm records from June and December 1935 after reading an excerpt about rural life in the 1930s. Includes copies of the ledgers, photographs, and student handouts. (CMK)

Evaluation of a rural demonstration program to increase seat belt use in the Great Lakes Region.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

Six States in the Great Lakes Region (Region 5) participated in a Rural Demonstration Program to increase seat belt : use in rural areas and among high-risk occupants, such as young males and occupants of pickup trucks. These : efforts, which include...

State Patty's Day: College Student Drinking and Local Crime Increased on a Student-Constructed Holiday

Science.gov (United States)

Lefkowitz, Eva S.; Patrick, Megan E.; Morgan, Nicole R.; Bezemer, Denille H.; Vasilenko, Sara A.

2012-01-01

College student alcohol consumption is a major concern, and is known to increase during the celebration of special events. This study examined a student-constructed holiday, State Patty's Day, at a university with a dominant drinking culture using three sources of data--coded data from Facebook groups, daily web surveys from first-year students (N…

The Politics of the Great Brain Race: Public Policy and International Student Recruitment in Australia, Canada, England and the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Sá, Creso M.; Sabzalieva, Emma

2018-01-01

As the number of globally mobile students has expanded, governments are assumed to be consistently and intentionally competing for talent, in what has been called a "great brain race". While the notion of competition has become dominant, there is little evidence on long-term policy dynamics in this field, not only across jurisdictions…

Tit-For-Tat Strategy for Increasing Medical Student Evaluation Response Rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew G. Malone

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Introducation It is essential for faculty to receive feedback on their teaching for the purpose of improvement as well as promotion. It can be challenging to motivate students to provide feedback to preceptors and fill out evaluation forms when not a clerkship requirement. Furthermore, there is concern that making the evaluations a requirement can compromise the quality of the feedback. The objective of this study was to identify an increase in the number of faculty and resident evaluations completed by students rotating through their Emergency Medicine clerkship following the implementation of a tit-for-tat incentive strategy. Method Prior to the implementation of Tit-for-Tat, students rotating through their emergency medicine clerkship were asked to fill out evaluations of residents and faculty members with whom they worked. These were encouraged but voluntary. Beginning in the 2014–2015 academic year, a tit-for-tat strategy was employed whereby students had to complete a resident or faculty evaluation in order to view the student assessment completed by that resident or faculty preceptor. Results Students submitted 1101 evaluations in the control, with a mean of 3.60 evaluations completed per student and 3.77 evaluations received per preceptor. Following the implementation of tit-for-tat, students submitted 2736 evaluations, with a mean of 8.19 evaluations completed per student and 7.52 evaluations received per preceptor. Both the increase in evaluations completed per student and evaluations received per preceptor were statistically significant with p-value <0.001. Conclusion The tit-for-tat strategy significantly increased the number of evaluations submitted by students rotating through their emergency medicine clerkship. This has served as an effective tool to increase the overall number of evaluations completed, the number of evaluations each instructor received on average and the proportion of students that completed evaluations

Humans and great apes share increased neocortical neuropeptide Y innervation compared to other haplorhine primates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Ann eRaghanti

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Neuropeptide Y (NPY plays a role in a variety of basic physiological functions and has also been implicated in regulating cognition, including learning and memory. A decrease in neocortical NPY has been reported for Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression, potentially contributing to associated cognitive deficits. The goal of the present analysis was to examine variation in neocortical NPY-immunoreactive axon and varicosity density among haplorhine primates (monkeys, apes, and humans. Stereologic methods were used to measure the ratios of NPY-expressing axon length density to total neuron density (ALv/Nv and NPY-immunoreactive varicosity density to neuron density (Vv/Nv, as well as the mean varicosity spacing in neocortical areas 10, 24, 44, and 22 (Tpt of humans, African great apes, New World monkeys, and Old World monkeys. Humans and great apes showed increased cortical NPY innervation relative to monkey species for ALv/Nv and Vv/Nv. Furthermore, humans and great apes displayed a conserved pattern of varicosity spacing across cortical areas and layers, with no differences between cortical layers or among cortical areas. These phylogenetic differences may be related to shared life history variables and may reflect specific cognitive abilities.

Using Music to Teach about the Great Depression

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Robert L.; Fogel, Jared A.

2007-01-01

The Great Depression is typically taught through history textbooks, but the music of this time allows students to learn about this era through different perspectives. The Great Depression witnessed many musical styles--from the light heartedness of popular music to the sadness of the blues, gospel, which offered inspiration, to the tension between…

Does Service-Learning Increase Student Learning?: A Meta-Analysis

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Warren, Jami L.

2012-01-01

Research studies reflect mixed results on whether or not service-learning increases student learning outcomes. The current study seeks to reconcile these findings by extending a meta-analysis conducted by Novak, Markey, and Allen (2007) in which these authors examined service-learning and student learning outcomes. In the current study, 11…

Using Data to Increase Student Success: A Focus on Diagnosis. Principles and Practices of Student Success

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Kenneth P.

2009-01-01

The Achieving the Dream (ATD) initiative works with more than 100 community colleges across the United States with the specific goal of increasing student success. Together, Achieving the Dream colleges graduate or transfer close to 250,000 students a year. With just a 5 percent increase in graduation rates, individuals can positively impact the…

Instituting a Surgical Skills Competition Increases Technical Performance of Surgical Clerkship Students Over Time.

Science.gov (United States)

Leraas, Harold J; Cox, Morgan L; Bendersky, Victoria A; Sprinkle, Shanna S; Gilmore, Brian F; Gunasingha, Rathnayaka M; Tracy, Elisabeth T; Sudan, Ranjan

2017-10-04

Surgical skills training varies greatly between institutions and is often left to students to approach independently. Although many studies have examined single interventions of skills training, no data currently exists about the implementation of surgical skills assessment as a component of the medical student surgical curriculum. We created a technical skills competition and evaluated its effect on student surgical skill development. Second-year medical students enrolled in the surgery clerkship voluntarily participated in a surgical skills competition consisting of knot tying, laparoscopic peg transfer, and laparoscopic pattern cut. Winning students were awarded dinner with the chair of surgery and a resident of their choice. Individual event times and combined times were recorded and compared for students who completed without disqualification. Disqualification included compromising cutting pattern, dropping a peg out of the field of vision, and incorrect knot tying technique. Timed performance was compared for 2 subsequent academic years using Mann-Whitney U test. Overall, 175 students competed and 71 students met qualification criteria. When compared by academic year, 2015 to 2016 students (n = 34) performed better than 2014 to 2015 students (n = 37) in pattern cut (133s vs 167s, p = 0.040), peg transfer (66s vs 101s, p skills competition improves student technical performance. Further research is needed regarding long-term benefits of surgical competitions for medical students. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Increasing High School Student Interest in Science: An Action Research Study

Science.gov (United States)

Vartuli, Cindy A.

An action research study was conducted to determine how to increase student interest in learning science and pursuing a STEM career. The study began by exploring 10th-grade student and teacher perceptions of student interest in science in order to design an instructional strategy for stimulating student interest in learning and pursuing science. Data for this study included responses from 270 students to an on-line science survey and interviews with 11 students and eight science teachers. The action research intervention included two iterations of the STEM Career Project. The first iteration introduced four chemistry classes to the intervention. The researcher used student reflections and a post-project survey to determine if the intervention had influence on the students' interest in pursuing science. The second iteration was completed by three science teachers who had implemented the intervention with their chemistry classes, using student reflections and post-project surveys, as a way to make further procedural refinements and improvements to the intervention and measures. Findings from the exploratory phase of the study suggested students generally had interest in learning science but increasing that interest required including personally relevant applications and laboratory experiences. The intervention included a student-directed learning module in which students investigated three STEM careers and presented information on one of their chosen careers. The STEM Career Project enabled students to explore career possibilities in order to increase their awareness of STEM careers. Findings from the first iteration of the intervention suggested a positive influence on student interest in learning and pursuing science. The second iteration included modifications to the intervention resulting in support for the findings of the first iteration. Results of the second iteration provided modifications that would allow the project to be used for different academic levels

Inclusive STEM High Schools Increase Opportunities for Underrepresented Students

Science.gov (United States)

Spillane, Nancy K.; Lynch, Sharon J.; Ford, Michael R.

2016-01-01

The authors report on a study of eight inclusive STEM high schools that are designed to increase the numbers of students in demographic groups underrepresented in STEM. As STEM schools, they have had broader and deeper STEM coursework (taken by all students) than required by their respective states and school districts; they also had outcome…

Increasing High School Student Interest in Science: An Action Research Study

Science.gov (United States)

Vartuli, Cindy A.

2016-01-01

An action research study was conducted to determine how to increase student interest in learning science and pursuing a STEM career. The study began by exploring 10th-grade student and teacher perceptions of student interest in science in order to design an instructional strategy for stimulating student interest in learning and pursuing science.…

Community College Presidents' Perspectives of Dichotomous Events: The Consequences of the Great Recession & Coincidental Increased Enrollment

Science.gov (United States)

Carlson, Corey W.

2013-01-01

The community college, like all of higher education, has been significantly impacted by the Great Recession and coincidental increased enrollment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the decision making processes of community college presidents as related to resource allocation and the impact of these decisions on the…

Cross-Cultural Counselling with International Students

Science.gov (United States)

Barletta, John; Kobayashi, Yumi

2007-01-01

This article explores the issues for counsellors working with international students, particularly Asian international students. As globalisation has expanded people have tended to study overseas in great numbers, hence the increasing importance for professionals to examine counselling in this cultural speciality. In order to understand effective…

Was the Great Pyramid Built with Simple Machines?

Science.gov (United States)

Kraft, Susan; Poynor, Leslie

2004-01-01

Recently one of the authors challenged her third-grade students to use their imagination and travel with her to Egypt. As they were exploring the Great Pyramid, she encouraged the students to speculate how ancient people could have built such a massive structure without the sophisticated machinery they have at our disposal today. This article…

Assessing Students in the Margin: Challenges, Strategies, and Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Michael; Kavanaugh, Maureen

2011-01-01

The importance of student assessment, particularly for summative purposes, has increased greatly over the past thirty years. At the same time, emphasis on including all students in assessment programs has also increased. Assessment programs, whether they are large-scale, district-based, or teacher developed, have traditionally attempted to assess…

Increasing Mathematical Computation Skills for Students with Physical and Health Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Paula

2017-01-01

Students with physical and health disabilities struggle with basic mathematical concepts. The purpose of this research study was to increase the students' mathematical computation skills through implementing new strategies and/or methods. The strategies implemented with the students was utilizing the ten-frame tiles and technology with the purpose…

The great 2006 heat wave over California and Nevada: Signal of an increasing trend

Science.gov (United States)

Gershunov, A.; Cayan, D.R.; Iacobellis, S.F.

2009-01-01

Most of the great California-Nevada heat waves can be classified into primarily daytime or nighttime events depending on whether atmospheric conditions are dry or humid. A rash of nighttime-accentuated events in the last decade was punctuated by an unusually intense case in July 2006, which was the largest heat wave on record (1948-2006). Generally, there is a positive trend in heat wave activity over the entire region that is expressed most strongly and clearly in nighttime rather than daytime temperature extremes. This trend in nighttime heat wave activity has intensified markedly since the 1980s and especially since 2000. The two most recent nighttime heat waves were also strongly expressed in extreme daytime temperatures. Circulations associated with great regional heat waves advect hot air into the region. This air can be dry or moist, depending on whether a moisture source is available, causing heat waves to be expressed preferentially during day or night. A remote moisture source centered within a marine region west of Baja California has been increasing in prominence because of gradual sea surface warming and a related increase in atmospheric humidity. Adding to the very strong synoptic dynamics during the 2006 heat wave were a prolonged stream of moisture from this southwestern source and, despite the heightened humidity, an environment in which afternoon convection was suppressed, keeping cloudiness low and daytime temperatures high. The relative contributions of these factors and possible relations to global warming are discussed. ?? 2009 American Meteorological Society.

Rising Tide II: Do Black Students Benefit as Grad Rates Increase?

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Nichols, Andrew Howard; Eberle-Sudré, Kimberlee; Welch, Meredith

2016-01-01

"Rising Tide II: Do Black Students Benefit as Grad Rates Increase?" looks at a decade of graduation rates for African American students at four-year, public institutions that improved student success during the past decade. It shows that while a majority (almost 70 percent) of institutions we examined improved graduation rates for black…

Making a Great First Impression

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Evenson, Renee

2007-01-01

Managers and business owners often base hiring decisions on first impressions. That is why it is so important to teach students to make a great first impression--before they go on that first job interview. Managers do not have unrealistic expectations, they just want to hire people who they believe can develop into valuable employees. A nice…

Great Apes

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Sleeman, Jonathan M.; Cerveny, Shannon

2014-01-01

Anesthesia of great apes is often necessary to conduct diagnostic analysis, provide therapeutics, facilitate surgical procedures, and enable transport and translocation for conservation purposes. Due to the stress of remote delivery injection of anesthetic agents, recent studies have focused on oral delivery and/or transmucosal absorption of preanesthetic and anesthetic agents. Maintenance of the airway and provision of oxygen is an important aspect of anesthesia in great ape species. The provision of analgesia is an important aspect of the anesthesia protocol for any procedure involving painful stimuli. Opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often administered alone, or in combination to provide multi-modal analgesia. There is increasing conservation management of in situ great ape populations, which has resulted in the development of field anesthesia techniques for free-living great apes for the purposes of translocation, reintroduction into the wild, and clinical interventions.

Examining the Practicum Experience to Increase Counseling Students' Self-Efficacy

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Ikonomopoulos, James; Vela, Javier Cavazos; Smith, Wayne D.; Dell'Aquila, Julia

2016-01-01

Counseling graduate students may begin practicum with low self-efficacy regarding their counseling abilities and skills. In the current study, we implemented a small-series (N = 11) single-case research design to assess the effectiveness of the practicum experience to increase counseling students' self-efficacy. Analysis of participants' scores on…

Great Zimbabwe University Psychology Students' Perceptions of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A quantitative approach was adopted, particularly making use of descriptive survey design. A sample of 38 students was selected through stratified random sampling and data was analysed using SPSS version 19 and Stata version 11.0.

["Great jobs"-also in psychiatry?].

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Spiessl, H; Hübner-Liebermann, B

2003-09-01

Against the background of a beginning shortage of psychiatrists, results from interviews with 112 employees of an automotive company with the topic "Great Job" are presented to discuss their relevance to psychiatry. The interviews were analysed by means of a qualitative content analysis. Most employees assigned importance to great pay, constructive collaboration with colleagues, and work appealing to personal interests. Further statements particularly relevant to psychiatry were: successful career, flexible working hours, manageable job, work-life balance, well-founded training, no bureaucracy within the company, and personal status in society. The well-known economic restrictions in health care and the still negative attitude towards psychiatry currently reduce the attraction of psychiatry as a profession. From the viewpoint of personnel management, the attractors of a great job revealed in this study are proposed as important clues for the recruitment of medical students for psychiatry and the development of psychiatric staff.

Using Computer Simulations and Games to Prevent Student Plagiarism

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Bradley, Elizabeth G.

2015-01-01

In this increasingly digital age, student plagiarism is rampant. Roughly half of college students admit to plagiarizing using content found online, directly copying and pasting the work of others. Digital technology and social media have greatly changed the landscape of how knowledge is acquired and disseminated; thus, students must be explicitly…

Increased household financial strain, the Great Recession and child health-findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

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McKenna, Caoimhe; Law, Catherine; Pearce, Anna

2017-03-09

There is a growing body of evidence associating financial strain (FS) with poor health but most of this research has been cross-sectional and adult-focused. During the 'Great Recession' many UK households experienced increased FS. The primary aim of this study was to determine the impact of increased FS on child health. We analysed the Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal study of children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002. Surveys at 7 years (T1, 2008) and 11 years (T2, 2012) spanned the 'Great Recession'. Three measures of increased FS were defined; 'became income poor' (self-reported household income dropped below the 'poverty line' between T1 and T2); 'developed difficulty managing' (parental report of being 'financially comfortable' at T1 and finding it 'difficult to manage' at T2); 'felt worse off' (parental report of feeling financially 'worse off' at T2 compared with T1). Poisson regression was used to estimate risk ratios (RR), adjusted risk ratios (aRR) and 95% CIs for six child health outcomes: measured overweight/obesity, problematic behaviour as scored by parents and teachers, and parental reports of fair/poor general health, long-standing illness and bedwetting at T2 (N=13 112). In subanalyses we limited our sample to those who were above the poverty line at T2. Compared with those who were not financially strained at both time points, children in households which experienced increased FS were at an increased risk of all unhealthy outcomes examined. In most cases, these increased risks persisted after adjustment for confounding and when limiting the sample to those above the poverty line. FS is associated with a range of new or continued poor child health outcomes. During times of widespread economic hardship, such as the 'Great Recession', measures should be taken to buffer children and their families from the impact of FS, and these should not be limited to those who are income poor. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For

Microbicide excipients can greatly increase susceptibility to genital herpes transmission in the mouse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sun Mianmian

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Several active ingredients proposed as vaginal microbicides have been shown paradoxically to increase susceptibility to infection in mouse genital herpes (HSV-2 vaginal susceptibility models and in clinical trials. In addition, "inactive ingredients" (or excipients used in topical products to formulate and deliver the active ingredient might also cause epithelial toxicities that increase viral susceptibility. However, excipients have not previously been tested in susceptibility models. Methods Excipients commonly used in topical products were formulated in a non-toxic vehicle (the "HEC universal placebo", or other formulations as specified. Twelve hours after exposure to the excipient or a control treatment, mice were challenged with a vaginal dose of HSV-2, and three days later were assessed for infection by vaginal lavage culture to assess susceptibility. Results The following excipients markedly increased susceptibility to HSV-2 after a single exposure: 5% glycerol monolaurate (GML formulated in K-Y® Warming Jelly, 5% GML as a colloidal suspension in phosphate buffered saline, K-Y Warming Jelly alone, and both of its humectant/solvent ingredients (neat propylene glycol and neat PEG-8. For excipients formulated in the HEC vehicle, 30% glycerin significantly increased susceptibility, and a trend toward increased HSV-2 susceptibility was observed after 10% glycerin, and 0.1% disodium EDTA, but not after 0.0186% disodium EDTA. The following excipients did not increase susceptibility: 10% propylene glycol, 0.18%, methylparaben plus 0.02% propylparaben, and 1% benzyl alcohol. Conclusions As reported with other surfactants, the surfactant/emulsifier GML markedly increased susceptibility to HSV-2. Glycerin at 30% significantly increased susceptibility, and, undiluted propylene glycol and PEG-8 greatly increased susceptibility.

Student Use of Self-Data for Out-of-Class Graphing Activities Increases Student Engagement and Learning Outcomes†

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DeBoy, Cynthia A.

2017-01-01

Two out-of-class graphing activities related to hormonal regulation of the reproductive cycle and stress responses are used to determine whether student use of self-data vs. provided data increases engagement, learning outcomes, and attitude changes. Comparisons of quizzes and surveys for students using self- vs. provided data suggest that while both activities increase learning outcomes, use of self-data compared with provided data has a greater impact on increasing learning outcomes, promotes recognition that hormones are relevant, and enhances confidence in graphing skills and graphing efficacy. PMID:29854057

Preventing Student Disengagement and Keeping Students on the Graduation Path in Urban Middle-Grades Schools: Early Identification and Effective Interventions

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Balfanz, Robert; Herzog, Liza; Iver, Douglas J. Mac

2007-01-01

This article considers the practical, conceptual, and empirical foundations of an early identification and intervention system for middle-grades schools to combat student disengagement and increase graduation rates in our nation's cities. Many students in urban schools become disengaged at the start of the middle grades, which greatly reduces the…

Decreased triadin and increased calstabin2 expression in Great Danes with dilated cardiomyopathy.

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Oyama, M A; Chittur, S V; Reynolds, C A

2009-01-01

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a common cardiac disease of Great Dane dogs, yet very little is known about the underlying molecular abnormalities that contribute to disease. Discover a set of genes that are differentially expressed in Great Dane dogs with DCM as a way to identify candidate genes for further study as well as to better understand the molecular abnormalities that underlie the disease. Three Great Dane dogs with end-stage DCM and 3 large breed control dogs. Prospective study. Transcriptional activity of 42,869 canine DNA sequences was determined with a canine-specific oligonucleotide microarray. Genome expression patterns of left ventricular tissue samples from affected Great Dane dogs were evaluated by measuring the relative amount of complementary RNA hybridization to the microarray probes and comparing it with expression from large breed dogs with noncardiac disease. Three hundred and twenty-three transcripts were differentially expressed (> or = 2-fold change). The transcript with the greatest degree of upregulation (+61.3-fold) was calstabin2 (FKBP12.6), whereas the transcript with the greatest degree of downregulation (-9.07-fold) was triadin. Calstabin2 and triadin are both regulatory components of the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) and are critical to normal intracellular Ca2+ release and excitation-contraction coupling. Great Dane dogs with DCM demonstrate abnormal calstabin2 and triadin expression. These changes likely affect Ca2+ flux within cardiac cells and may contribute to the pathophysiology of disease. Microarray-based analysis identifies calstabin2, triadin, and RyR2 function as targets of future study.

Figuring Somepin 'bout the Great Depression. Learning Page Lesson Plan.

Science.gov (United States)

McElroy, Amy; Pietsch, Chris

These 10th and 11th grade lessons plans related to the Great Depression and the novel "The Grapes of Wrath" help students to: develop research skills and strategies, such as keyword searches, for finding information; recognize and use the different voices of migrants; and understand the politics of migration and the Great Depression. By…

Using data to help increase STEM retention rates for at-risk students; Student expectations and skill building

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Reed, D. E.; Jones, G.; Heaney, A.

2013-12-01

Retention in the STEM fields is often a focus for higher education due to a shortage of trained workforce members. In particular, much effort has been spent on first year retention rates and introductory level courses under the assumption that students are more likely to drop out of STEM majors early in their higher education degree progress. While the retention rates of women, minorities, and low income students have been a priority by both the National Science Foundation and the private sector, we are interested in at-risk first year students for this study. The University of Wyoming Synergy Program's goal is to promote academic success and retention for underprepared and at-risk students by creating a series of first semester curricula as theme-based college transition skills courses that are paired with English courses. This creates a cohort group of courses for the students with increased communication between instructors at the same time allowing greater development of student social networks. In this study we are highlighting the results of the STEM students as compared with other at-risk participants in the program. The Synergy Program enrolls approximately 144 students each year with pre- and post-course surveys that directly measure which college skills students select as important as well as student expectations of the amount of time required for STEM courses. Follow-up surveys track the same queries for students who persist to their junior and senior year. In addition, instructors complete a summative survey about skills they find important to student success and individual student's challenges and successes with a variety of skills. Our results show a large gap in skills between those identified as important by students and those identified by their instructors. Expectations for the amount of time required to complete work for STEM courses and the reported time spent on course work are not constant when progressing throughout college. This analysis

GreatSchools.org Finds Its Niche

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Samuels, Christina A.

2012-01-01

GreatSchools.org neatly ranks more than 136,000 traditional public, private, and charter schools nationwide on a scale of 1 to 10, based on state test scores. But what often draws readers are the gossipy insider comments posted by parents, students, and teachers, and the star ratings those commenters contribute. The growth of online school rating…

Great Depression a Timely Class Topic

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Zehr, Mary Ann

2009-01-01

This article reports that a number of history and social studies teachers have found that because of the parallels they're able to draw between the current economic crisis and the Great Depression, their students are seeing that history is relevant. They're engaging more deeply in history lessons than they have in previous years. The teachers say…

With great control comes great responsibility: the relationship between perceived academic control, student responsibility, and self-regulation.

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Fishman, Evan J

2014-12-01

Students' perceived control over academic outcomes has been linked to their use of self-regulated strategies. However, students' sense of responsibility, or internal commitment to produce such outcomes, has not often been considered in this relationship. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived academic control (PAC), student responsibility (SR), and knowledge building (KB). Participants were 152 undergraduate students enrolled in an educational technology course. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to demonstrate the distinction between the PAC and SR constructs. A series of regression analyses were conducted to address the research hypotheses, and a bootstrap test was used to assess the mediating role of SR in the relationship between the PAC variables and KB. Initial evidence regarding the uniqueness of the PAC and SR constructs was provided. PAC (both primary control and secondary control [SC]) were positively and significantly related to SR. KB was positively and significantly related to SR, as was SC. Additionally, SR partially mediated the relationship between the PAC variables and KB. The findings showed that those who perceived the capability to achieve academic outcomes were more likely to feel internally obligated to produce such outcomes. The same was true for students who perceived the capability to psychologically adjust to academic situations. The results also demonstrated that students' sense of responsibility for academic outcomes played a partially mediating role in the relationship between their perceptions of control and reported use of self-regulated behaviour. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Increasing awareness in African American BSN students of the health risks of obesity.

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Williamson, Wanda; Kautz, Donald D

2013-01-01

This paper reports on the perceived effectiveness of a program to increase awareness of the health risks of obesity among African-American students. Thirty (n = 30) senior level Bachelor of Science in Nursing students attending a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) took a knowledge test, then participated in an hour-long educational session on obesity. Following the session, the students completed a 10-item post-test to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in increasing awareness of obesity as a risk for heart disease and diabetes. The findings suggested a need to further educate African-American students on the consequences of obesity as well as recommendations to advance the science of personal and family risk awareness in nursing students.

War or Peace? How the Subjective Perception of Great Power Interdependence Shapes Preemptive Defensive Aggression.

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Jing, Yiming; Gries, Peter H; Li, Yang; Stivers, Adam W; Mifune, Nobuhiro; Kuhlman, D M; Bai, Liying

2017-01-01

Why do great powers with benign intentions end up fighting each other in wars they do not seek? We utilize an incentivized, two-person "Preemptive Strike Game" (PSG) to explore how the subjective perception of great power interdependence shapes defensive aggression against persons from rival great powers. In Study 1, college students from the United States ( N = 115), China ( N = 106), and Japan ( N = 99) made PSG decisions facing each other. This natural experiment revealed that Chinese and Japanese participants (a) made more preemptive attacks against each other and Americans than against their compatriots, and that (b) greater preexisting perceptions of bilateral competition increased intergroup attack rates. In Study 2, adult Americans ( N = 127) watched real CNN expert interviews portraying United States-China economic interdependence as more positive or negative. This randomized experiment revealed that the more positive portrayal reduced preemptive American strikes against Chinese (but not Japanese), while the more negative portrayal amplified American anger about China's rise, increasing preemptive attacks against Chinese. We also found, however, that preemptive strikes were primarily defensive and not offensive. Interventions to reduce defensive aggression and promote great power peace are discussed.

War or Peace? How the Subjective Perception of Great Power Interdependence Shapes Preemptive Defensive Aggression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yiming Jing

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Why do great powers with benign intentions end up fighting each other in wars they do not seek? We utilize an incentivized, two-person “Preemptive Strike Game” (PSG to explore how the subjective perception of great power interdependence shapes defensive aggression against persons from rival great powers. In Study 1, college students from the United States (N = 115, China (N = 106, and Japan (N = 99 made PSG decisions facing each other. This natural experiment revealed that Chinese and Japanese participants (a made more preemptive attacks against each other and Americans than against their compatriots, and that (b greater preexisting perceptions of bilateral competition increased intergroup attack rates. In Study 2, adult Americans (N = 127 watched real CNN expert interviews portraying United States–China economic interdependence as more positive or negative. This randomized experiment revealed that the more positive portrayal reduced preemptive American strikes against Chinese (but not Japanese, while the more negative portrayal amplified American anger about China’s rise, increasing preemptive attacks against Chinese. We also found, however, that preemptive strikes were primarily defensive and not offensive. Interventions to reduce defensive aggression and promote great power peace are discussed.

76 FR 32857 - Great Outdoors Month, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-07

... protecting an iconic vast public land, or by creating a community garden or an urban park. Last year, I was... leaders, students, and community groups led to a report unveiled in February, America's Great Outdoors: A Promise to Future Generations, which lays the foundation for smarter, more community-driven action to...

Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics.

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Freeman, Scott; Eddy, Sarah L; McDonough, Miles; Smith, Michelle K; Okoroafor, Nnadozie; Jordt, Hannah; Wenderoth, Mary Pat

2014-06-10

To test the hypothesis that lecturing maximizes learning and course performance, we metaanalyzed 225 studies that reported data on examination scores or failure rates when comparing student performance in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses under traditional lecturing versus active learning. The effect sizes indicate that on average, student performance on examinations and concept inventories increased by 0.47 SDs under active learning (n = 158 studies), and that the odds ratio for failing was 1.95 under traditional lecturing (n = 67 studies). These results indicate that average examination scores improved by about 6% in active learning sections, and that students in classes with traditional lecturing were 1.5 times more likely to fail than were students in classes with active learning. Heterogeneity analyses indicated that both results hold across the STEM disciplines, that active learning increases scores on concept inventories more than on course examinations, and that active learning appears effective across all class sizes--although the greatest effects are in small (n ≤ 50) classes. Trim and fill analyses and fail-safe n calculations suggest that the results are not due to publication bias. The results also appear robust to variation in the methodological rigor of the included studies, based on the quality of controls over student quality and instructor identity. This is the largest and most comprehensive metaanalysis of undergraduate STEM education published to date. The results raise questions about the continued use of traditional lecturing as a control in research studies, and support active learning as the preferred, empirically validated teaching practice in regular classrooms.

Increased prevalence of low back pain among physiotherapy students compared to medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Falavigna, Asdrubal; Teles, Alisson Roberto; Mazzocchin, Thaís; de Braga, Gustavo Lisbôa; Kleber, Fabrício Diniz; Barreto, Felipe; Santin, Juliana Tosetto; Barazzetti, Daniel; Lazzaretti, Lucas; Steiner, Bruna; Beckenkamp, Natália Laste

2011-03-01

Some studies have demonstrated that physiotherapists have a high prevalence of low back pain (LBP). The association between physiotherapy students, who are potentially exposed to the same LBP occupational risks as graduates, and LBP has never been demonstrated. The objective of the study is to evaluate the association between undergraduate physiotherapy study and LBP. The study design includes a cross-sectional study. A questionnaire-based study was carried out with physiotherapy and medical students. LBP was measured as lifetime, 1-year and point prevalence. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to find the factors associated with LBP. Bivariate analyses were also performed to assess differences between LBP characteristics in the two courses. 77.9% of the students had LBP at some point in their lives, 66.8% in the last year and 14.4% of them reported they were suffering from LBP at the moment of answering the questionnaire. Physiotherapy students reported a higher prevalence of LBP when compared with the medical students in all measures. In the logistic regression model, physiotherapy students (A-OR 2.51; 95% CI 1.35-4.67; p = 0.003), and being exposed to the undergraduate study for more than four semesters (A-OR 2.55; 95% CI 1.43-4.55; p = 0.001) were independently associated with LBP. There were no differences between the courses concerning pain intensity and disability. As it was a cross-sectional study, we were not able to observe accurately if there is an increasing incidence of LBP during the course. Also, we did not intend to identify which activities in the course were associated with the development of LBP. This study clearly demonstrated an association between undergraduate physiotherapy study and LBP. The length of course exposure is also associated with LBP.

Great expectations: teaching ethics to medical students in South Africa.

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Behrens, Kevin Gary; Fellingham, Robyn

2014-12-01

Many academic philosophers and ethicists are appointed to teach ethics to medical students. We explore exactly what this task entails. In South Africa the Health Professions Council's curriculum for training medical practitioners requires not only that students be taught to apply ethical theory to issues and be made aware of the legal and regulatory requirements of their profession, it also expects moral formation and the inculcation of professional virtue in students. We explore whether such expectations are reasonable. We defend the claim that physicians ought to be persons of virtuous character, on the grounds of the social contract between society and the profession. We further argue that since the expectations of virtue of health care professionals are reasonable, it is also sound reasoning to expect ethics teachers to try to inculcate such virtues in their students, so far as this is possible. Furthermore, this requires of such teachers that they be suitable role models of ethical practice and virtue, themselves. We claim that this applies to ethics teachers who are themselves not members of the medical profession, too, even though they are not bound by the same social contract as doctors. We conclude that those who accept employment as teachers of ethics to medical students, where as part of their contractual obligation they are expected to inculcate moral values in their students, ought to be prepared to accept their responsibility to be professionally ethical, themselves. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T: Increasing Reading Independence for Students with Dyslexia

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Milner, Diane Hansen

2017-01-01

Due to their unique brain profile, children with dyslexia struggle with acquiring basic literacy skills. Even after basic reading skills have been learned students with dyslexia may still struggle greatly with generalizing their skills to new contexts. Researchers have found that 75 percent of children identified with reading problems in third…

Increasing educational indebtedness influences medical students to pursue specialization: a military recruitment potential?

Science.gov (United States)

Bale, Asha G; Coutinho, Karl; Swan, Kenneth G; Heinrich, George F

2013-02-01

Cost of medical education and student indebtedness has increased dramatically. This study surveyed medical students on educational debt, educational costs, and whether indebtedness influenced career choice. Responses should impact (1) Department of Defense (DoD) recruitment of physicians and (2) future of primary care. The authors surveyed 188 incoming medical students (University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School, Class of 2012) concerning educational indebtedness, perceptions about educational costs, and plans regarding loan repayment. Data were analyzed and expressed as mean +/- standard error. Students with loans anticipated their medical educational costs to be $155,993. 62% felt costs were "exorbitant," and 28% "appropriate." 64% planned to specialize, whereas only 9% chose primary care. 28% of students planning specialization said income potential influenced their decision. 70% of students said cost was a factor in choosing New Jersey Medical School over a more expensive school. Students anticipated taking about 10 years to repay loans. As medical educational costs and student indebtedness rise, students are choosing less costly education and career paths with higher potential future earnings. These trends will negatively impact health care availability, accessibility, and cost. DoD programs to provide financial assistance in exchange for military service are not well publicized. These findings should increase DoD recruitment opportunities.

Method to Increase Undergraduate Laboratory Student Confidence in Performing Independent Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colton E. Kempton

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The goal of an undergraduate laboratory course should be not only to introduce the students to biology methodologies and techniques, but also to teach them independent analytical thinking skills and proper experiment design.  This is especially true for advanced biology laboratory courses that undergraduate students typically take as a junior or senior in college.  Many courses achieve the goal of teaching techniques, but fail to approach the larger goal of teaching critical thinking, experimental design, and student independence.  Here we describe a study examining the application of the scaffolding instructional philosophy in which students are taught molecular techniques with decreasing guidance to force the development of analytical thinking skills and prepare undergraduate students for independent laboratory research. This method was applied to our advanced molecular biology laboratory class and resulted in an increase of confidence among the undergraduate students in their abilities to perform independent research.

Increasing Reading/Literacy Performance of At-Risk Elementary Students through Increased Access to Fiction/Non-Fiction Resources and Incorporating Readers Theater Activities

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Salas, Gayla L.

2008-01-01

This action research project was developed in order to increase student literacy, particularly in the area of reading, for students who were considered at-risk. The targeted student population was 2nd grade students who were served within a primary cross-categorical special education program. The classroom was housed in an elementary (K-2) school,…

Meeting students halfway: Increasing self-efficacy and promoting knowledge change in astronomy

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Bailey, Janelle M.; Lombardi, Doug; Cordova, Jacqueline R.; Sinatra, Gale M.

2017-12-01

Two motivational factors—self-efficacy and interest—may be especially relevant to deepening students' understanding of astronomy. We examined the relationship between students' self-efficacy for, interest in learning about, and changes in their knowledge of stars, as measured by the Star Properties Concept Inventory (SPCI). Approximately 700 undergraduate students taking introductory astronomy responded to surveys at the start and end of their semester-long course. A sequential multiple regression analysis showed that self-efficacy post explains an appreciable percentage of variance in SPCI posttest scores, more than twice the percentage explained by all the pretest variables (SPCI, self-efficacy, and interest) combined. Knowledge and self-efficacy improved significantly over instruction; interest did not. Follow-up analyses revealed that instructors whose classes increased in self-efficacy also had the greatest increases in knowledge scores. Interviews with these instructors suggest they provide their students with more opportunities for mastery experiences with elaborated, performance-related feedback, as well as strong positive verbal persuasion and vicarious experiences through peer instruction. Through increased understanding of the relationship between motivational constructs (e.g., self-efficacy, interest) and knowledge, we can both improve our models and better inform instruction.

Increased Preclass Preparation Underlies Student Outcome Improvement in the Flipped Classroom.

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Gross, David; Pietri, Evava S; Anderson, Gordon; Moyano-Camihort, Karin; Graham, Mark J

2015-01-01

Active-learning environments such as those found in a flipped classroom are known to increase student performance, although how these gains are realized over the course of a semester is less well understood. In an upper-level lecture course designed primarily for biochemistry majors, we examine how students attain improved learning outcomes, as measured by exam scores, when the course is converted to a more active flipped format. The context is a physical chemistry course catering to life science majors in which approximately half of the lecture material is placed online and in-class problem-solving activities are increased, while total class time is reduced. We find that exam performance significantly improves by nearly 12% in the flipped-format course, due in part to students interacting with course material in a more timely and accurate manner. We also find that the positive effects of the flipped class are most pronounced for students with lower grade point averages and for female students. © 2015 D. Gross et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2015 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Investigating ESL Students' Performance on Outcomes Assessments in Higher Education

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Lakin, Joni M.; Elliott, Diane Cardenas; Liu, Ou Lydia

2012-01-01

Outcomes assessments are gaining great attention in higher education because of increased demand for accountability. These assessments are widely used by U.S. higher education institutions to measure students' college-level knowledge and skills, including students who speak English as a second language (ESL). For the past decade, the increasing…

The flipped classroom: A learning model to increase student engagement not academic achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masha Smallhorn

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A decrease in student attendance at lectures both nationally and internationally, has prompted educators to re-evaluate their teaching methods and investigate strategies which promote student engagement. The flipped classroom model, grounded in active learning pedagogy, transforms the face-to-face classroom. Students prepare for the flipped classroom in their own time by watching short online videos and completing readings. Face-to-face time is used to apply learning through problem-solving with peers. To improve the engagement and learning outcomes of our second year cohort, lectures were replaced with short online videos and face-to-face time was spent in a flipped classroom. The impact of the flipped classroom was analysed through surveys, attendance records, learning analytics and exam data before and after the implementation of the flipped classroom. Results suggest an increase in student engagement and a positive attitude towards the learning method. However, there were no measurable increases in student learning outcomes.

Hard Times and New Deals: Teaching Fifth Graders about the Great Depression.

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Fertig, Gary

2001-01-01

Presents a fifth grade study unit about the Great Depression that attempts to incorporate research on student's historical understanding. Features activities that include a simulation focusing on how people lost money, children writing letters to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, and students performing their own historical scenarios. (CMK)

The behaviours of nurses that increase student accountability for learning in clinical practice: An integrative review.

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Perry, Christina; Henderson, Amanda; Grealish, Laurie

2018-06-01

To identify nurses' behaviours that promote student accountability for learning in clinical practice. Health care services are experiencing significant strain in meeting clinical education requirements of increasing numbers of nursing students enrolled in undergraduate nursing programs. Internationally, the transition to university based education for nurses has seen the emergence of issues for busy clinicians trying to manage increasing workloads with responsibility for student learning. An understanding of what types of supervisor behaviours promote student accountability for learning, may support clinicians to more effectively manage their dual roles of clinical care and student support. An integrative approach was adopted for this review. A search of the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Pubmed, Scopus and Embase was undertaken, limited to articles published between 2000 and March 2017. Whittemore and Knafls' (2005) framework for conducting integrative reviews was used to ensure a methodological and rigorous approach. Nine studies were considered. Behaviours emerged in relation to four themes including: belongingness associated with a genuine partnership; empowerment and increasing student self-efficacy; trust linked to increasing and staged independence; and balancing clinical and educational requirements. Behaviours of nurses significantly influence students' accountability for learning and accordingly, their ability to be adequately prepared for professional nursing practice. Understanding behaviours that impact on students' approach to clinical placement can guide nurses in their approach to facilitating student learning, in particular, behaviours that increase student responsibility and independence over the continuum of clinical education. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Development of Gamified Learning Activities to Increase Student Engagement in Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Poondej, Chanut; Lerdpornkulrat, Thanita

2016-01-01

In the literature, the potential efficacy of the gamification of education has been demonstrated. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of applying gamification techniques to increase student engagement in learning. The quasi-experimental nonequivalent-control group design was used with 577 undergraduate students from six classes. The…

Using Twitter to Increase Political Interest in Undergraduate Students

Science.gov (United States)

Caliendo, Stephen M.; Chod, Suzanne; Muck, William

2016-01-01

This study examines the impact of using Twitter in the classroom on student political efficacy, interest, and engagement. Millennials use the virtual world to build social relationships and to obtain information. By envisioning the virtual world as a means to increase civic engagement, political science instructors can use technology to draw upon…

Does a short self-compassion intervention for students increase healthy self-regulation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dundas, Ingrid; Binder, Per Einar; Hansen, Tia G.B.

2017-01-01

negative self-directed thinking; as well as for self-compassion, anxiety and depression. Concluding, a short self-compassion course seems an effective method of increasing self-compassion and perceived control over one's life for university students, as well as increasing mental health.......The primary aim of this study was to examine the effects of a two-week self-compassion course on healthy self-regulation (personal growth self-efficacy and healthy impulse control) and unhealthy self-regulation (self-judgment and habitual negative self-directed thinking) in university students. We...... also examined the effects on self-compassion, anxiety and depression. Students (N = 158, 85% women, mean age = 25 years) were randomized to an intervention group and a waiting-list control group in a multi-baseline randomized control trial. Healthy self-control was measured by the Personal Growth...

The Great Kanto earthquake and F. Scott Fitzgerald

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakatsu, Hitoshi; Bina, Craig R.

How many recall the following striking sentence from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which appears on the second page of the novel, where Fitzgerald first introduces Gatsby? “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.”This line may have failed to focus our attention when we first read the book in our younger days. Now, however, as a Japanese seismologist and an American geophysicist (and student of Japanese culture), we would be greatly remiss for failing to take greater note of this statement. Indeed, as The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, it occurred to us that the earthquake Fitzgerald might have been thinking of was the Great Kanto earthquake, which occurred on September 1, 1923 and devastated the Tokyo metropolitan area.

The Great White Guppy: Top Predator

Science.gov (United States)

Michalski, G. M.

2011-12-01

Nitrogen isotopes are often used to trace the trophic level of members of an ecosystem. As part of a stable isotope biogeochemistry and forensics course at Purdue University, students are introduced to this concept by analyzing nitrogen isotopes in sea food purchased from local grocery stores. There is a systematic increase in 15N/14N ratios going from kelp to clams/shrimp, to sardines, to tuna and finally to shark. These enrichments demonstrate how nitrogen is enriched in biomass as predators consume prey. Some of the highest nitrogen isotope enrichments observed, however, are in the common guppy. We investigated a number of aquarium fish foods and find they typically have high nitrogen isotope ratios because they are made form fish meal that is produced primarily from the remains of predator fish such as tuna. From, a isotope perspective, the guppy is the top of the food chain, more ferocious than even the Great White shark.

Increasing Academic Skills of Students with Autism Using Fifth Grade Peers as Tutors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamps, Debra; And Others

1989-01-01

Nonhandicapped fifth-grade students conducted tutoring sessions in math, language, and reading for two elementary-aged children with autism. Results demonstrated that normal peers could effectively increase academic behaviors of autistic students through tutoring activities. (Author/JDD)

Supporting Students with Asperger Syndrome on College Campuses: Current Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Barnhill, Gena P.

2016-01-01

With the increasing number of students with Asperger syndrome (AS) and high functioning autism (HFA) enrolling in college, it has become apparent that support services are greatly needed to assist these students in navigating college life, both academically and socially. Yet, there is a dearth of research describing the specific supports needed…

How the ICCOC Uses Analytics to Increase Student Success

Science.gov (United States)

Leavy, Matt; Rheinschmidt, Steve

2010-01-01

With unemployment still high in many areas of the country, many job seekers are returning to school for additional training. The increase in numbers of students puts additional strain on community colleges, which is where many adult learners choose to further their education. Nevertheless, even among this population, only about half earn degrees.…

Math Manipulatives to Increase 4th Grade Student Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Couture, Katie

2012-01-01

This research project was completed with twenty-nine fourth grade students from Shawnee Elementary, a school in the Chippewa Valley School District. It began in April 2012 and the data collection was completed by June 2012. The purpose of this project was to see if utilizing math manipulatives in an elementary classroom will increase student…

Increasing Student Metacognition and Learning through Classroom-Based Learning Communities and Self-Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy Siegesmund

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Student overconfidence challenges success in introductory biology. This study examined the impact of classroom learning communities and self-assessment on student metacognition and subsequent impact on student epistemological beliefs, behaviors, and learning. Students wrote weekly self-assessments reflecting on the process of learning and received individual feedback. Students completed a learning strategies inventory focused on metacognition and study behaviors at the beginning and end of the semester and a Student Assessment of their Learning Gains (SALG at the end of the semester. Results indicated significant changes in both metacognition and study behaviors over the course of the semester, with a positive impact on learning as determined by broad and singular measures. Self-assessments and SALG data demonstrated a change in student beliefs and behaviors. Taken together, these findings argue that classroom learning communities and self-assessment can increase student metacognition and change student epistemological beliefs and behaviors.

Applying Student Team Achievement Divisions (STAD) Model on Material of Basic Programme Branch Control Structure to Increase Activity and Student Result

Science.gov (United States)

Akhrian Syahidi, Aulia; Asyikin, Arifin Noor; Asy’ari

2018-04-01

Based on my experience of teaching the material of branch control structure, it is found that the condition of the students is less active causing the low activity of the students on the attitude assessment during the learning process on the material of the branch control structure i.e. 2 students 6.45% percentage of good activity and 29 students percentage 93.55% enough and less activity. Then from the low activity resulted in low student learning outcomes based on a daily re-examination of branch control material, only 8 students 26% percentage reached KKM and 23 students 74% percent did not reach KKM. The purpose of this research is to increase the activity and learning outcomes of students of class X TKJ B SMK Muhammadiyah 1 Banjarmasin after applying STAD type cooperative learning model on the material of branch control structure. The research method used is Classroom Action Research. The study was conducted two cycles with six meetings. The subjects of this study were students of class X TKJ B with a total of 31 students consisting of 23 men and 8 women. The object of this study is the activity and student learning outcomes. Data collection techniques used are test and observation techniques. Data analysis technique used is a percentage and mean. The results of this study indicate that: an increase in activity and learning outcomes of students on the basic programming learning material branch control structure after applying STAD type cooperative learning model.

Applying Mass Customization Concepts to Core Courses: Increasing Student-Centered Customization and Enabling Cross-Functional Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Darryl D.

2011-01-01

This conceptual paper suggests a methodology for increasing student satisfaction in core courses by applying the principle of mass customization to increase student satisfaction. It proposes that customization can be increased by increasing course flexibility along three dimensions: content flexibility, schedule flexibility, and course length…

The Potential for Using Gamification in Academic Libraries in Order to Increase Student Engagement and Achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Walsh

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the potential benefits of using gamification techniques to increase student engagement with library resources. It outlines the link between student use of library resources and academic achievement, and suggests that gamification has to potential to increase usage of resources, which may also increase academic achievement. Some early findings from an implementation of a gamification project, Lemontree, are also discussed in which students reported increased usage of library resources and their acceptance of gamification techniques in Higher Education.

Social networks, substance use, and mental health in college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, Michael J; Zaharakis, Nikola; Benotsch, Eric G

2014-01-01

The relationship between social network risk (alcohol-using close friends), perceived peer closeness, substance use, and psychiatric symptoms was examined to identify risk and protective features of college students' social context. Six hundred and seventy undergraduate students enrolled in a large southeastern university. An online survey was administered to consenting students. Students with risky networks were at a 10-fold increase of hazardous drinking, 6-fold increase for weekly marijuana use, and 3-fold increase for weekly tobacco use. College students' who feel very close to their peers were protected against psychiatric symptoms yet were at increased risk for marijuana use. Perceived closeness of peers was highly protective against psychiatric symptoms, adding a natural preventive effect for a population at great risk for mental illness. RESULTS support targeting college students through network-oriented preventive interventions to address substance use as well as mental health.

State Patty's Day: College Student Drinking and Local Crime Increased on a Student-constructed Holiday.

Science.gov (United States)

Lefkowitz, Eva S; Patrick, Megan E; Morgan, Nicole R; Bezemer, Denille H; Vasilenko, Sara A

2012-05-01

College student alcohol consumption is a major concern, and is known to increase during the celebration of special events. This study examined a student-constructed holiday, State Patty's Day, at a university with a dominant drinking culture using three sources of data - coded data from Facebook groups, daily web surveys from first-year students (N= 227, 51% male, age 18 to 20; 27.3% Hispanic/Latino; of non-Hispanic/Latino, 26.9% of sample European American/White, 19.4% Asian American/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 15.9% African American/Black, 10.6% more than one race), and criminal offense data from police records. Results indicated that messages about State Patty's Day on Facebook focused on drinking and social aspects of the holiday, such as the social context of drinking, a sense of belonging to a larger community, and the social norms of drinking. These messages were rarely about consequences and rarely negative. On State Patty's Day, 51% of students consumed alcohol, compared to 29% across other sampled weekend days. Students consumed more drinks (M = 8.2 [SD = 5.3] drinks per State Patty's Day drinker) and were more likely to engage in heavy drinking on State Patty's Day, after controlling for gender, drinking motives, and weekend, demonstrating the event-specific spike in heavy drinking associated with this holiday. The impact of this student-constructed holiday went beyond individual drinking behavior; alcohol-specific and other crime also peaked on State Patty's Day and the day after. Event-specific prevention strategies may be particularly important in addressing these spontaneous, quickly-constructed, and dynamic events.

Increasing Student Physical Fitness through Increased Choice of Fitness Activities and Student Designed Fitness Activities for Ninth through Twelfth Graders in Physical Education Class

Science.gov (United States)

Jacob, Margo A.

2011-01-01

This action research project report began when the teacher researcher determined that students exhibited physical fitness levels below that of the state and national norms, and also displayed negative attitudes about physical education. The purpose of this action research project was to increase physical fitness and fitness attitudes through…

How to Increase the Value of Student in the Curriculum Education%课程教学如何为学生增值

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

赵宇萱

2011-01-01

教育学中学生的＂增值＂是指学生在课程学习中各种能力的提升及其职业素质的养成。商务沟通课程教学高度重视理论讲解和实际操作相结合;充分发挥学生主体作用,引导他们构建自己的知识体系;注重学生职业道德培养和心理素质的提高是促进学生增值的途径。%In pedagogy,the increase in value of student refers the student improve each kind of ability and the professional ethics in the curriculum.The teaching of ＂Business Communication＂ discussed how to make students get added value through curriculum education from three ways.First,it put forward that curriculum education must attach great importance to combine the theory and the practice.Second,it expounded that curriculum education must bring into full play the main role of students,guide them to construct their own knowledge system and form their own characteristics.Finally,it pointed out that curriculum education must focus on students＇ training of emotional intelligence and improvement of will and moral character.

Use of healthcare consumer voices to increase empathy in nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Heidke, Penny; Howie, Virginia; Ferdous, Tabassum

2018-03-01

Nurses need to be well prepared to address the needs of a diverse population and facilitate positive experiences in an equitable and inclusive approach to care. The aim of the study was to determine whether the integration of consumer lived experience interviews into the content of a first-year course influenced empathy in nursing students. A one group pre-test, post-test design was used. A convenience sample of first-year undergraduate nursing students (N = 32) from a regional Australian university was recruited for the study. The pre and post tests were conducted using the Kiersma Chen Empathy Scale and t-tests performed to analyse the data. Results showed overall that nursing students demonstrated moderate levels of empathy; pre-test score of (M = 75.53; SD = 5.76). After the intervention the post-test results showed that there was a statistically significant increase in students' empathy towards vulnerable, disadvantaged and stigmatised population groups. The healthcare consumer voice has the potential to strengthen current teaching practices that promote caring behaviours in nursing students. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reflective Journaling as a Flipped Classroom Technique to Increase Reading and Participation With Social Work Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Sage, Melanie; Sele, Patti

Students in undergraduate social work practice courses come to the class with varying levels of educational, life, and practice experience. Students require an introduction to the material through textbook reading before they are able to engage in critical discussions, yet reading adherence varies widely among students. This research explores the use of reflective journals as a Flipped Classroom technique to increase reflective thinking and reading adherence. This study surveys 27 students in two practice courses about the use of weekly reflective journaling as a flipped classroom assignment. Findings support that reflective reading journals increase student preparation and engagement, but require more work for students and instructors. Implications are discussed.

The Great Dinosaur Feud: Science against All Odds

Science.gov (United States)

Clary, Renee; Wandersee, James; Carpinelli, Amy

2008-01-01

In the 19th century, the race to uncover dinosaur fossils and name new dinosaur species inspired two rival scientists, Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, to behave in ways that were the antithesis of scientific methods. Subterfuge, theft, and espionage were the ingredients of the Great Dinosaur Feud. Because students often enjoy…

Emotional intelligence increases over time: A longitudinal study of Australian pre-registration nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Kim; Fethney, Judith; McKenzie, Heather; Fisher, Murray; Harkness, Emily; Kozlowski, Desirée

2017-08-01

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been associated with positive outcomes for nursing students. Higher EI is associated with personal wellbeing and stress management, higher academic performance, stronger nursing leadership and practice performance, and greater patient safety. While there is an increasing body of evidence on nursing students' EI, there is minimal evidence on EI over time during pre-registration programs. To measure EI in pre-registration nursing students from program commencement to conclusion to ascertain EI over time and examine the relationship between EI and academic performance. Longitudinal repeated measures study between March 2010-February 2013 at a metropolitan university in Australia. 111 nursing students (74.8% female) contributed data on at least two occasions. Participants were enrolled in a pre-registration Master of Nursing degree. Half the cohort (55.0%) comprised Graduate Entry students who completed the course in two years full time. The other 45% were enrolled in an undergraduate degree in arts, science or health science, combined with the same pre-registration Master of Nursing Degree. These students completed their Combined Degree program in four years full time. Participants had a mean age of 24.7years (SD=7.36). EI was measured for commencing students (T1) using the Assessing Emotions Scale (AES), then a further three times: end of first year (T2; 9 months follow up); beginning of second year (12 months follow up; T3) and end of the program (T4; 24/36 months follow up). Students' EI was found to increase across the program; one subscale of EI (managing others' emotions) was related to higher academic performance; and there was a significant increase in the Utilising Emotions subscale scores over time. Pre-registration nurse education contributes to strengthening students' EI over time. Specific EI education scaffolded throughout programs is recommended in pre-registration curricula. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The Great Gorilla Jump: An Introduction to Riemann Sums and Definite Integrals

Science.gov (United States)

Sealey, Vicki; Engelke, Nicole

2012-01-01

The great gorilla jump is an activity designed to allow calculus students to construct an understanding of the structure of the Riemann sum and definite integral. The activity uses the ideas of position, velocity, and time to allow students to explore familiar ideas in a new way. Our research has shown that introducing the definite integral as…

Tweets from the forest: using Twitter to increase student engagement in an undergraduate field biology course

Science.gov (United States)

Soluk, Lauren; Buddle, Christopher M.

2015-01-01

Twitter is a cold medium that allows users to deliver content-rich but small packets of information to other users, and provides an opportunity for active and collaborative communication. In an education setting, this social media tool has potential to increase active learning opportunities, and increase student engagement with course content. The effects of Twitter on learning dynamics was tested in a field biology course offered by a large Canadian University: 29 students agreed to take part in the Twitter project and quantitative and qualitative data were collected, including survey data from 18 students. Students published 200% more public Tweets than what was required, and interacted frequently with the instructor and teaching assistant, their peers, and users external to the course. Almost 80% of students stated that Twitter increased opportunities for among-group communication, and 94% of students felt this kind of collaborative communication was beneficial to their learning. Although students did not think they would use Twitter after the course was over, 77% of the students still felt it was a good learning tool, and 67% of students felt Twitter had a positive impact on how they engaged with course content. These results suggest social media tools such as Twitter can help achieve active and collaborative learning in higher education. PMID:26594328

Tweets from the forest: using Twitter to increase student engagement in an undergraduate field biology course.

Science.gov (United States)

Soluk, Lauren; Buddle, Christopher M

2015-01-01

Twitter is a cold medium that allows users to deliver content-rich but small packets of information to other users, and provides an opportunity for active and collaborative communication. In an education setting, this social media tool has potential to increase active learning opportunities, and increase student engagement with course content. The effects of Twitter on learning dynamics was tested in a field biology course offered by a large Canadian University: 29 students agreed to take part in the Twitter project and quantitative and qualitative data were collected, including survey data from 18 students. Students published 200% more public Tweets than what was required, and interacted frequently with the instructor and teaching assistant, their peers, and users external to the course. Almost 80% of students stated that Twitter increased opportunities for among-group communication, and 94% of students felt this kind of collaborative communication was beneficial to their learning. Although students did not think they would use Twitter after the course was over, 77% of the students still felt it was a good learning tool, and 67% of students felt Twitter had a positive impact on how they engaged with course content. These results suggest social media tools such as Twitter can help achieve active and collaborative learning in higher education.

Effects of increased self-regulated learning opportunities on student teachers’ metacognitive and motivational development.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vrieling, Emmy; Bastiaens, Theo; Stijnen, Sjef

2017-01-01

This intervention study focused on the relationships between student teachers’ self-regulated learning (SRL) opportunities, their use of metacognitive learning strategies and their motivation for learning. Results indicate that student teachers’ use of metacognitive learning strategies increases

Biology Student Teachers' Conceptual Frameworks regarding Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Dikmenli, Musa

2010-01-01

In recent years, biodiversity has received a great deal of attention worldwide, especially in environmental education. The reasons for this attention are the increase of human activities on biodiversity and environmental problems. The purpose of this study is to investigate biology student teachers' conceptual frameworks regarding biodiversity.…

School-level factors associated with increased fruit and vegetable consumption among students in California middle and high schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Gosliner, Wendi

2014-09-01

This study assessed associations between selective school-level factors and students' consumption of fruits and vegetables at school. Better understanding of school factors associated with increased produce consumption is especially important, as students are served more produce items at school. This cross-sectional study included 5439 seventh- and ninth-grade students from 31 schools in California in 2010. Multilevel regression models estimated whether the odds of consuming fruits or vegetables at school among students eating the school lunch were associated with the length of the lunch period, quality/variety of produce options, or other factors. A longer lunch period was associated with increased odds of a student eating fruits (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40) and vegetables (OR = 1.54) at school. Better fruit quality increased the odds of a student consuming fruit (OR = 1.44). Including a salad bar and involving students in food service decisions increased a student's odds of consuming vegetables (OR = 1.48 and OR = 1.34, respectively). This study suggests that institutional factors in schools are positively associated with middle and high school students' consumption of produce items at school. Additional efforts to structure school meal environments to enhance students' consumption of produce items can benefit students' nutrition and health. © 2014, American School Health Association.

The Great Recession was not so Great

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Ours, J.C.

2015-01-01

The Great Recession is characterized by a GDP-decline that was unprecedented in the past decades. This paper discusses the implications of the Great Recession analyzing labor market data from 20 OECD countries. Comparing the Great Recession with the 1980s recession it is concluded that there is a

Increasing First-Semester Student Engagement: A Residential Community Retention Study

Science.gov (United States)

Briggs, Ronald

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to increase first year residential student engagement and participation in residence hall programs during the 2011 fall semester at the Downtown Phoenix Campus of Arizona State University. Six upperclassmen (Taylor Place Leaders) residing in a residence hall (Taylor Place) were matched by academic major with 17 first…

Potential Students' Perceptions on Online Learning as Innovation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study was conducted in consideration of increasing African education institutions' interest to offer online learning. The interest has been triggered by the great opportunities available with online education provision and contemporary global trends in such provision. An understanding of potential online students' ...

"Explain to Your Partner": Teachers' Instructional Practices and Students' Dialogue in Small Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Noreen M.; Franke, Megan L.; De, Tondra; Chan, Angela G.; Freund, Deanna; Shein, Pat; Melkonian, Doris K.

2009-01-01

Collaborative group work has great potential to promote student learning, and increasing evidence exists about the kinds of interaction among students that are necessary to achieve this potential. Less often studied is the role of the teacher in promoting effective group collaboration. This article investigates the extent to which teachers'…

Changing the Context of Student Engagement: Using Facebook to Increase Community College Student Persistence and Success

Science.gov (United States)

Fagioli, Loris; Rios-Aguilar, Cecilia; Deil-Amen, Regina

2015-01-01

Background: Community college leaders are now turning to social media/social networking sites for new avenues and opportunities to increase students' interaction, engagement, and collaboration with peers, faculty, and staff. Social media may be a particularly attractive option because it can provide a potentially effective and exciting mechanism…

Increasing Students' Motivation by Using Computers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodríguez Aura Stella

2000-08-01

Full Text Available The lack of motivation in the 9th grade students of Tomás Rueda Vargas School was the objective of this project, so we planned a series of workshops in Microsoft Word to apply in the computer lab. We observed that by working in groups of four in the computer lab, the students did the activities with enthusiasm. It could also be noticed that the workshops were effective in reinforcing English learning.

'Show me the money': financial incentives increase chlamydia screening rates among tertiary students: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Currie, Marian J; Schmidt, Matthias; Davis, Belinda K; Baynes, Anne M; O'Keefe, Elissa J; Bavinton, Tim P; McNiven, Michelle; Martin, Sarah J; Bowden, Francis J

2010-03-01

We hypothesise that text-messaging and financial incentives would increase tertiary student participation in chlamydia screening. A cross-sectional study was conducted over two phases on eight tertiary campuses during 2007. During Phase 1 (6 months) study activities were advertised through student organisations and media. Education and screening were offered during a range of student activities. During Phase 2 (4 days) education and screening were offered via text messages. Non-financial incentives were offered during Phase 1 and a $10 cash incentive was offered during Phase 2. Rates of specimens provided by students and the direct costs incurred during each phase were compared. 2786 students attended the 31 activities conducted in Phase 1. Of these, 627 students (22.5%) provided urine specimens for chlamydia testing. During Phase 2, the dissemination of 866 text messages resulted in urine specimens from 392 students (45.3%). Costs per test were AUD $175.11 in Phase 1 and AUD $27.13 in Phase 2. Compared with more labour intensive (and therefore more expensive) screening activities conducted over a 6-month period, offering a small financial incentive to tertiary students through text messaging over a 4-day period significantly increased participation in on-campus chlamydia screening. This model could readily be applied to other populations to increase participation in chlamydia screening.

Overburndened and Underfunded: California Public Schools Amidst the Great Recession

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rhoda Freelon

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Since 2008, many nations, including the United States, have struggled with the effects of a global recession. The state of California has been particularly impacted by the Great Recession. Unemployment rates in California are among the highest in the United States, and a weak fiscal environment has forced deep cutbacks to a variety of state services. This study uses California as a case to explore the effects of economic crisis on public schools and the students they serve. The study draws on two years of survey and interview data with a representative sample of public school principals across California. The data show that, during the Great Recession, students have experienced growing social welfare needs that often shape their well-being and their performance in schools. We also find that the capacity of public schools to meet these needs and provide quality education has been eroded by budget cuts. This study finds that schools primarily serving low-income families have been hardest hit during the recession, in part because they cannot raise private dollars to fill the gap left by public sector cuts. The Great Recession thus has undermined educational quality while producing widening educational inequality in California.

State Patty’s Day: College Student Drinking and Local Crime Increased on a Student-constructed Holiday

Science.gov (United States)

Lefkowitz, Eva S.; Patrick, Megan E.; Morgan, Nicole R.; Bezemer, Denille H.; Vasilenko, Sara A.

2012-01-01

College student alcohol consumption is a major concern, and is known to increase during the celebration of special events. This study examined a student-constructed holiday, State Patty’s Day, at a university with a dominant drinking culture using three sources of data – coded data from Facebook groups, daily web surveys from first-year students (N= 227, 51% male, age 18 to 20; 27.3% Hispanic/Latino; of non-Hispanic/Latino, 26.9% of sample European American/White, 19.4% Asian American/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 15.9% African American/Black, 10.6% more than one race), and criminal offense data from police records. Results indicated that messages about State Patty’s Day on Facebook focused on drinking and social aspects of the holiday, such as the social context of drinking, a sense of belonging to a larger community, and the social norms of drinking. These messages were rarely about consequences and rarely negative. On State Patty’s Day, 51% of students consumed alcohol, compared to 29% across other sampled weekend days. Students consumed more drinks (M = 8.2 [SD = 5.3] drinks per State Patty’s Day drinker) and were more likely to engage in heavy drinking on State Patty’s Day, after controlling for gender, drinking motives, and weekend, demonstrating the event-specific spike in heavy drinking associated with this holiday. The impact of this student-constructed holiday went beyond individual drinking behavior; alcohol-specific and other crime also peaked on State Patty’s Day and the day after. Event-specific prevention strategies may be particularly important in addressing these spontaneous, quickly-constructed, and dynamic events. PMID:22685369

Meeting the needs of student users in academic libraries reaching across the great divide

CERN Document Server

Crump, Michele J; Carrico, Steve; Lindell, Ann; Lupien, Pascal; Oldham, Randy

2012-01-01

Meeting the Needs of Student Users in Academic Libraries surveys and evaluates the current practice of learning commons and research services within the academic library community in order to determine if these learning spaces are functioning as intended. To evaluate their findings, the authors examine the measurement tools that libraries have used to evaluate usage and satisfaction, including contemporary anthropological studies that provide a more detailed view of the student's approach to research. The book takes a candid look at these redesigns and asks if improvements have lived up to expectations of increased service and user satisfaction. Are librarians using these findings to inform the evolution and implementation of new service models, or have they simply put a new shade of lipstick on the pig? Takes an honest look at learning commons in academic libraries and discusses what is working and what is not Explores behind the statistics as to why users come to the library; does the librarians' concept of...

Using Content Acquisition Podcasts to Increase Student Knowledge and to Reduce Perceived Cognitive Load

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Michael J.; Hirsch, Shanna Eisner; Dillon, Sarah E.; Rabideaux, Lindsey; Alves, Kathryn D.; Driver, Melissa K.

2016-01-01

The use of multimedia-driven instruction in college courses is an emerging practice designed to increase students' knowledge. However, limited research has validated the effectiveness of using multimedia to teach students about functional behavioral assessments (FBAs). To test the effectiveness of a multimedia tool called Content Acquisition…

Reductions in Negative Automatic Thoughts in Students Attending Mindfulness Tutorials Predicts Increased Life Satisfaction

Science.gov (United States)

Ritvo, Paul; Vora, Khushboo; Irvine, Jane; Mongrain, Myriam; Azargive, Saam; Azam, Muhammad Abid; Pirbaglou, Meysam; Guglietti, Crissa; Wayne, Noah; Perez, Daniel Felipe; Cribbie, Rob

2013-01-01

University education confronts students with stressful developmental challenges that can lead to mental health problems. Innovative programs must address an increasing prevalence of these problems but are impeded by the high costs involved. In this study, thirty-nine undergraduate students attended weekly one hour mindfulness meditation tutorials…

Cyberbullying of Teachers by Students on YouTube: Challenging the Image of Teacher Authority in the Digital Age

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Kyriacou, Chris; Zuin, Antônio

2016-01-01

There has been a rapid increase in the cyberbullying of teachers in schools by their students. One aspect of this phenomenon is the posting of visual recordings of teachers and teacher-student interaction on easily accessible websites such as YouTube. Whilst research on the cyberbullying of students by other students has received a great deal of…

Lost in the Great Divide: Motivation in Religious Studies Classrooms

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Gravett, Emily O.

2018-01-01

One of the most illuminating finds in Barbara E. Walvoord's "Teaching and Learning in College Introductory Religion Courses" (2008) is what she calls "the great divide," a mismatch between instructors' goals for their courses, which are academic, and the students' reasons for taking them, which relate to their personal…

Self-Monitoring as a Strategy to Increase Student Teachers' Use of Effective Teaching Practices

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Hager, Karen D.

2012-01-01

Student teachers in classrooms for students with moderate-severe disabilities used self-monitoring to increase their use of effective teaching strategies. In the first study, the participant videotaped daily instructional sessions and collected data on her use of varied praise statements and the number of opportunities to respond in a multiple…

Growth In SNAP Retailers Was Associated With Increased Client Enrollment In Georgia During The Great Recession.

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Shannon, Jerry; Shannon, Sarah; Adams, Grace Bagwell; Lee, Jung Sun

2016-11-01

Policies to improve food accessibility in underserved areas often use direct financial incentives to attract new food retailers. Our analysis of data on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Georgia before and after the Great Recession suggests that increased program enrollment improves access to food for SNAP beneficiaries by acting as an indirect subsidy to retailers. We divided food stores into four categories: large, midsize, small, and specialty retailers. Between 2008 and 2011 the number of SNAP enrollees increased by 87 percent, and between 2007 and 2014 the number of SNAP retailers in Georgia increased by 82 percent, primarily because of growth in the number of authorized small retailers. Inside metropolitan Atlanta, changes in the numbers of SNAP enrollees and authorized retailers were positively and significantly associated for small retailers. For the areas outside of metropolitan Atlanta, the association between changes in numbers of enrollees and authorized retailers was strongest for small retailers; more modest associations were also seen for large and specialty retailers. Policy makers should consider how retailers' sensitivity to and reliance on SNAP funding can be leveraged to improve not only food availability, but also access to healthy foods. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Teaching undergraduate students community nursing: using action research to increase engagement and learning.

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Seib, Charrlotte; English, Rebecca; Barnard, Alan

2011-09-01

Nurses play a pivotal role in responding to the changing needs of community health care. Therefore, nursing education must be relevant, responsive, and evidence based. We report a case study of curriculum development in a community nursing unit embedded within an undergraduate nursing degree. We used action research to develop, deliver, evaluate, and redesign the curriculum. Feedback was obtained through self-reflection, expert opinion from community stakeholders, formal student evaluation, and critical review. Changes made, especially in curriculum delivery, led to improved learner focus and more clearly linked theory and practice. The redesigned unit improved performance, measured with the university's student evaluation of feedback instrument (increased from 0.3 to 0.5 points below to 0.1 to 0.5 points above faculty mean in all domains), and was well received by teaching staff. The process confirmed that improved pedagogy can increase student engagement with content and perception of a unit as relevant to future practice. Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

Using Technology to Increase Physical Activity in Health Profession Students

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Mary Ann Stark

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Health profession students may need help establishing and maintaining positive health behaviors when they are in college. This study explored the effectiveness of text messaging as an innovative method for promoting an increase in daily physical activity. A convenience sample (N = 134 was recruited from students at a college of Health and Human Services in Michigan. The participants were randomized into an intervention or control group (n = 67 each. The intervention group received daily affective text messages encouraging more physical activity by taking more steps. The control group received only messages reminding them to report their number of steps. All of the participants received a pedometer, completed a demographics and daily habits questionnaire, and completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS. There was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups in their number of daily steps. However, the most inactive participants had a significant increase in steps during the study period. Health profession students’ lifestyle behaviors have consequences, as they become caregivers in our dynamic, demanding health-care system. For those with the greatest need for physical activity, encouraging such activity via text messaging may improve their ability to care for themselves and their clients.

Student satisfaction as an element of education quality monitoring in innovative higher education institution

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Razinkina, Elena; Pankova, Ludmila; Trostinskaya, Irina; Pozdeeva, Elena; Evseeva, Lidiya; Tanova, Anna

2018-03-01

Topicality of the research is confirmed by increasing student involvement into the educational process, when not only the academic staff and administration participate in the improvement of higher education institution's activity, but also education customers - students. This adds a new dimension to the issue of monitoring education quality and student satisfaction with higher education. This issue echoes the ideas of M. Weber about the relationship between such components as cognitive motivation, personal development and student satisfaction with higher education. Besides, it is essential to focus on the approach of R. Barnet to defining the quality of education with the emphasis on a priority of development of an educational institution as the system that meets customers' needs. Monitoring student satisfaction with education quality has become an integral part of the educational process not only in a number of European universities, which have used this monitoring for decades, but also in Russian universities, which are interested in education quality improvement. Leading universities in Russia, including Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, are implementing policies targeted at increasing student satisfaction with higher education quality. Education quality monitoring as a key element in the system of providing feedback to students contributes greatly to this process.

Motivational Partnerships: Increasing ESL Student Self-Efficacy

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Cave, Paul N.; Evans, Norman W.; Dewey, Dan P.; Hartshorn, K. James

2018-01-01

The present study investigated the relationship between student use of self-efficacy-building strategies through motivational partnerships and student levels of self-efficacy and motivation in an adult intensive English programme in the United States. The extent to which self-efficacy influenced motivation was also examined. After being organized…

The Effect of Various Media Scaffolding on Increasing Understanding of Students' Geometry Concepts

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Sutiarso, Sugeng; Coesamin, M.; Nurhanurawati

2018-01-01

This study is a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design, which aims to determine (1) the tendency of students in using various media scaffolding based on gender, and (2) effect of media scaffolding on increasing understanding of students' geometry concepts. Media scaffolding used this study is chart, props, and…

Urban Games: How to Increase the Motivation, Interaction and Perceived Learning of Students in the Schools

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Vieira, Liliana; Coutinho, Clara

2016-01-01

Mobile technologies are increasingly rooted in society and, therefore, intuitively, teachers begin to take advantage of devices that students carry with them daily in a logic of 1:1 bring your own device (BYOD). In fact, it becomes crucial to use this media to promote/increase new pedagogical activities to motivate and challenge students to…

Increasing medical students' engagement in public health: case studies illustrating the potential role of online learning.

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Sheringham, J; Lyon, A; Jones, A; Strobl, J; Barratt, H

2016-09-01

The value of e-learning in medical education is widely recognized but there is little evidence of its value in teaching medical students about public health. Such evidence is needed because medical students' engagement with public health has been low. We present three recent case studies from UK medical schools to illustrate diverse ways in which online approaches can increase medical students' engagement with learning public health. A comparative case study approach was used applying quantitative and qualitative data to examine engagement in terms of uptake/use amongst eligible students, acceptability and perceived effectiveness using an analytic framework based on Seven Principles of Effective Teaching. Across the three case studies, most (67-85%) eligible students accessed online materials, and rated them more favourably than live lectures. Students particularly valued opportunities to use e-learning flexibly in terms of time and place. Online technologies offered new ways to consolidate learning of key public health concepts. Although students found contributing to online discussions challenging, it provided opportunities for students to explore concepts in depth and enabled students that were uncomfortable speaking in face-to-face discussions to participate. E-learning can be applied in diverse ways that increase medical student engagement with public health teaching. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Great Basin geologic framework and uranium favorability

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Larson, L.T.; Beal, L.H.

1978-01-01

Work on this report has been done by a team of seven investigators assisted over the project span by twenty-three undergraduate and graduate students from May 18, 1976 to August 19, 1977. The report is presented in one volume of text, one volume or Folio of Maps, and two volumes of bibliography. The bibliography contains approximately 5300 references on geologic subjects pertinent to the search for uranium in the Great Basin. Volume I of the bibliography lists articles by author alphabetically and Volume II cross-indexes these articles by location and key word. Chapters I through IV of the Text volume and accompanying Folio Map Sets 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, discuss the relationship of uranium to rock and structural environments which dominate the Great Basin. Chapter 5 and Map Sets 6 and 7 provide a geochemical association/metallogenic grouping of mineral occurrences in the Great Basin along with information on rock types hosting uranium. Chapter VI summarizes the results of a court house claim record search for 'new' claiming areas for uranium, and Chapter VII along with Folio Map Set 8 gives all published geochronological data available through April 1, 1977 on rocks of the Great Basin. Chapter VIII provides an introduction to a computer analysis of characteristics of certain major uranium deposits in crystalline rocks (worldwide) and is offered as a suggestion of what might be done with uranium in all geologic environments. We believe such analysis will assist materially in constructing exploration models. Chapter IX summarizes criteria used and conclusions reached as to the favorability of uranium environments which we believe to exist in the Great Basin and concludes with recommendations for both exploration and future research. A general summary conclusion is that there are several geologic environments within the Great Basin which have considerable potential and that few, if any, have been sufficiently tested

Increasing Student Involvement in IEPs

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Nolan-Spohn, Hannah

2016-01-01

In this article, the author proposes that students who led their Individual Education Program (IEP) meetings were better informed about their own disabilities, rights, and accommodations, and that the act of leading the meeting resulted in improved self-advocacy and self-confidence. Also, in understanding their list of accommodations and…

Restrictive educational placements increase adolescent risks for students with early-starting conduct problems.

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Powers, Christopher J; Bierman, Karen L; Coffman, Donna L

2016-08-01

Students with early-starting conduct problems often do poorly in school; they are disproportionately placed in restrictive educational placements outside of mainstream classrooms. Although intended to benefit students, research suggests that restrictive placements may exacerbate the maladjustment of youth with conduct problems. Mixed findings, small samples, and flawed designs limit the utility of existing research. This study examined the impact of restrictive educational placements on three adolescent outcomes (high school noncompletion, conduct disorder, depressive symptoms) in a sample of 861 students with early-starting conduct problems followed longitudinally from kindergarten (age 5-6). Causal modeling with propensity scores was used to adjust for confounding factors associated with restrictive placements. Analyses explored the timing of placement (elementary vs. secondary school) and moderation of impact by initial problem severity. Restrictive educational placement in secondary school (but not in elementary school) was iatrogenic, increasing the risk of high school noncompletion and the severity of adolescent conduct disorder. Negative effects were amplified for students with conduct problem behavior with less cognitive impairment. To avoid harm to students and to society, schools must find alternatives to restrictive placements for students with conduct problems in secondary school, particularly when these students do not have cognitive impairments that might warrant specialized educational supports. © 2015 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Utilizing Social Media to Increase Student Engagement: A Study of Kern County Public Schools

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Bynum, Steven Lance

2011-01-01

Social media has permeated almost every aspect of the lives of anyone who utilizes the internet. Teachers and students are no exception. Students are most likely to use social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. This research focuses on best practices related to augmenting school curriculum to utilize these tools to increase student…

Increasing Access for Economically Disadvantaged Students: The NSF/CSEM & S-STEM Programs at Louisiana State University

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Wilson, Zakiya S.; Iyengar, Sitharama S.; Pang, Su-Seng; Warner, Isiah M.; Luces, Candace A.

2012-10-01

Increasing college degree attainment for students from disadvantaged backgrounds is a prominent component of numerous state and federal legislation focused on higher education. In 1999, the National Science Foundation (NSF) instituted the "Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarships" (CSEMS) program; this initiative was designed to provide greater access and support to academically talented students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Originally intended to provide financial support to lower income students, this NSF program also advocated that additional professional development and advising would be strategies to increase undergraduate persistence to graduation. This innovative program for economically disadvantaged students was extended in 2004 to include students from other disciplines including the physical and life sciences as well as the technology fields, and the new name of the program was Scholarships for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM). The implementation of these two programs in Louisiana State University (LSU) has shown significant and measurable success since 2000, making LSU a Model University in providing support to economically disadvantaged students within the STEM disciplines. The achievement of these programs is evidenced by the graduation rates of its participants. This report provides details on the educational model employed through the CSEMS/S-STEM projects at LSU and provides a path to success for increasing student retention rates in STEM disciplines. While the LSU's experience is presented as a case study, the potential relevance of this innovative mentoring program in conjunction with the financial support system is discussed in detail.

Medical Student Summer Externship Program: Increasing the Number Matching in Family Practice

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Holly Cronau

2004-02-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives. The number of US allopathic medical school graduates choosing a residency in family medicine has fallen from 13.4% in 1999 to 10.5% in 2002. Concern about declining numbers has led to the development of programs to provide medical students exposure to family medicine outside the clerkship. This paper reports on the development and longitudinal achievements of a clinical summer externship program 1993 to 1999. Methods. The program description, practice settings, students’ experiences, and department commitment are described. The purpose of this prospective study is to determine the percentage of family medicine summer externship participants (n=115 who match into family medicine. Results. During the six years studied, 49 (43.4% of the participants matched into family medicine. Program participants viewed the program favorably, mean = 5.82 out of 6. Conclusions. The Ohio State University Department of Family Medicine Medical Student Summer Externship Program demonstrates an effective educational experience that can increase and/or attain the proportion of students going into family medicine at the time of graduation

Curtis E. LeMay: A Great Warrior

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1984-04-01

Continue On F& Veta . sid~ e Of necessary and Identify hr block number) - Roview, analysis and comparison of Curtis E.Lemay’s strategy ir Europe and the...000 AIR COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE STUDENT REPORT, . CURTIS E . LE-MAY A GREAT WARRIORi’ l MAVO IAN . ROBINSON 84,-2190 -AUG 1 0 1984 • "’insights into...tomorrow" E ,,=IL i ’,’ ....... -" -- 84 08 08 03 ~032 DISCLAIMER The views and conclusions expressed in this document are those of the author. They

Engaging with Assessment: Increasing Student Engagement through Continuous Assessment

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Holmes, Naomi

2018-01-01

Student engagement is intrinsically linked to two important metrics in learning: student satisfaction and the quality of the student experience. One of the ways that engagement can be influenced is through careful curriculum design. Using the knowledge that many students are "assessment-driven," a low-stakes continuous weekly summative…

Stewards of children education: Increasing undergraduate nursing student knowledge of child sexual abuse.

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Taylor, L Elaine; Harris, Heather S

2018-01-01

Child sexual abuse and exploitation are an increasing public health problem. In spite of the fact that nurses are in a unique position to identify and intervene in the lives of children suffering from abuse due to their role in providing health care in a variety of settings, nursing curricula does not routinely include this focus. The goal was to document the effectiveness of the Stewards of Children child sexual abuse training as an effective educational intervention to increase the knowledge level of undergraduate nursing students on how to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse and trafficking. Undergraduate nursing students were required to take the Stewards of Children training in their last semester prior to graduation. Students in the study were given a pre-test prior to the class and a post-test following the class. Pre- and post-tests were graded and the results were compared along with an item indicating the participants' perception of the educational intervention in improving their confidence and competence in this area. Data analysis revealed that post-test scores following training were significantly improved: pre-test mean=45.5%; post-test mean score=91.9%. The statistical significance of the improvement was marked, pChildren training. Students also reported a high level of confidence in how to prevent abuse and react skillfully when child sexual abuse had occurred. The authors concluded that Stewards of Children is an effective option to educate nursing students on this topic. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Evolution of multicellularity coincided with increased diversification of cyanobacteria and the Great Oxidation Event

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Schirrmeister, Bettina E.; de Vos, Jurriaan M.; Antonelli, Alexandre; Bagheri, Homayoun C.

2013-01-01

Cyanobacteria are among the most diverse prokaryotic phyla, with morphotypes ranging from unicellular to multicellular filamentous forms, including those able to terminally (i.e., irreversibly) differentiate in form and function. It has been suggested that cyanobacteria raised oxygen levels in the atmosphere around 2.45–2.32 billion y ago during the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), hence dramatically changing life on the planet. However, little is known about the temporal evolution of cyanobacterial lineages, and possible interplay between the origin of multicellularity, diversification of cyanobacteria, and the rise of atmospheric oxygen. We estimated divergence times of extant cyanobacterial lineages under Bayesian relaxed clocks for a dataset of 16S rRNA sequences representing the entire known diversity of this phylum. We tested whether the evolution of multicellularity overlaps with the GOE, and whether multicellularity is associated with significant shifts in diversification rates in cyanobacteria. Our results indicate an origin of cyanobacteria before the rise of atmospheric oxygen. The evolution of multicellular forms coincides with the onset of the GOE and an increase in diversification rates. These results suggest that multicellularity could have played a key role in triggering cyanobacterial evolution around the GOE. PMID:23319632

Combining Chalk Talk with PowerPoint to Increase In-class Student Engagement

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Swati Betharia

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In striving to attain a higher degree of in-class student engagement, and target a larger number of preferred student-learning styles, this case study describes a multimodal teaching approach. PowerPoint slides have gradually gained popularity over the more traditional chalk and talk lecture design. The student population in today’s age seeks more non-passive modes of information delivery. Numerous novel approaches to enhance active learning, such as flipped classroom and problem-based learning, have recently been explored. While working well for therapeutic and lab-based courses, these formats may not be best-suited for all basic science topics. The importance of basic science in a pharmacy curriculum is well emphasized in the 2016 ACPE Standards. To actively involve students in a pharmacology lecture on diuretics, a session was designed to combine the PowerPoint and chalk talk approaches. Students created 10 concept diagrams following an instructor, who explained each step in the process using a document camera. For visual learners, these diagrams provided a layered representation of the information, gradually increasing in complexity. For learners with a preference for the reading learning style, the information was also available in corresponding PowerPoint slides. Scores from pre- and post-session quizzes indicated a high level of concept understanding and recall (median 1 [IQR 0 – 2] vs 4 [IQR 3 – 5]; p<0.001. The student perception survey data reported higher in-class attention levels (76%, an appreciation for the utility of self-created concept diagrams (88%, and a call for additional sessions being presented in this format (73%. Targeting a variety of student learning styles by using the active development of concept diagrams, in addition to traditional PowerPoint slides, can promote student engagement and enhance content understanding.   Type: Case Study

Undergraduate Orientations towards Higher Education in Germany and England: Problematizing the Notion of "Student as Customer"

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Budd, Richard

2017-01-01

There is a great deal of discussion in the academic literature around how the current conditions in higher education frame students as customers. Observers are of the view that rankings and marketing, an increased focus on student satisfaction, and particularly tuition fees, encourage an instrumental, passive attitude towards a university…

Increasing Elementary School Teachers' Awareness of Gender Inequity in Student Computer Usage

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Nicole LUONGO

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This study was designed to increase gender equity awareness in elementary school teachers withrespect to student computer and technology usage. Using professional development methods with agroup of teachers, the writer attempted to help them become more aware of gender bias intechnology instruction. An analysis of the data revealed that teachers who were exposed to genderequity professional development training sessions were more likely to exhibit gender equitableteaching behaviors than they did prior to the sessions. The data also indicated that teachers providedmore equitable assistance to their classroom students after being presented with gender equityinterventions.

Structural Intervention With School Nurses Increases Receipt of Sexual Health Care Among Male High School Students.

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Dittus, Patricia J; Harper, Christopher R; Becasen, Jeffrey S; Donatello, Robin A; Ethier, Kathleen A

2018-01-01

Adolescent males are less likely to receive health care and have lower levels of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge than adolescent females. The purpose of this study was to determine if a school-based structural intervention focused on school nurses increases receipt of condoms and SRH information among male students. Interventions to improve student access to sexual and reproductive health care were implemented in six urban high schools with a matched set of comparison schools. Interventions included working with school nurses to improve access to sexual and reproductive health care, including the provision of condoms and information about pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease prevention and services. Intervention effects were assessed through five cross-sectional yearly surveys, and analyses include data from 13,740 male students. Nurses in intervention schools changed their interactions with male students who visited them for services, such that, among those who reported they went to the school nurse for any reason in the previous year, those in intervention schools reported significant increases in receipt of sexual health services over the course of the study compared with students in comparison schools. Further, these results translated into population-level effects. Among all male students surveyed, those in intervention schools were more likely than those in comparison schools to report increases in receipt of sexual health services from school nurses. With a minimal investment of resources, school nurses can become important sources of SRH information and condoms for male high school students. Published by Elsevier Inc.

'Do no harm'? Professional regulation of disabled nursing students and nurses in Great Britain.

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Sin, Chih Hoong; Fong, Janice

2008-06-01

This paper is a report of the findings of a General Formal Investigation launched by the Disability Rights Commission, Great Britain into the impact of regulatory fitness standards on disabled people, and on nursing students and nurses in particular. The potential for systemic discrimination against disabled nursing professionals lies in the existence and nature of regulatory fitness standards, as well as in how these are interpreted and implemented in practice. A review of relevant legislation, regulation and guidance was conducted to explore the interaction of the regulatory framework with the Disability Discrimination Act. A formal call to key national stakeholder organizations solicited information on perceptions of the regulatory framework and the adequacy of guidance issued. Independent research was commissioned on disabled people's disclosure of disability, informal and formal decision-making around fitness within the educational, and employment contexts. An Inquiry Panel examined all evidence sources, solicited further oral evidence from key organizations, and developed recommendations. No mention was found of the Disability Discrimination Act in any regulation and guidance governing nursing prior to 2006. There are particular requirements for 'good health and good character'. Respondents from key national stakeholder organizations, higher educational institutions and employers struggle to interpret the fitness requirements consistently. Implementation is variable, with reliance on ad hoc self-initiated strategies. The variability of interpretation and implementation can lead to discrimination against disabled people. The imprecision of fitness requirements and variability of implementation raise serious doubts about their utility in managing risk.

The Implementation of Discovery Learning Method to Increase Learning Outcomes and Motivation of Student in Senior High School

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Nanda Saridewi

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Based on data from the observation of high school students grade XI that daily low student test scores due to a lack of role of students in the learning process. This classroom action research aims to improve learning outcomes and student motivation through discovery learning method in colloidal material. This study uses the approach developed by Lewin consisting of planning, action, observation, and reflection. Data collection techniques used the questionnaires and ability tests end. Based on the research that results for students received a positive influence on learning by discovery learning model by increasing the average value of 74 students from the first cycle to 90.3 in the second cycle and increased student motivation in the form of two statements based competence (KD categories (sometimes on the first cycle and the first statement KD category in the second cycle. Thus the results of this study can be used to improve learning outcomes and student motivation

USING STORYTELLING TO INCREASE SPEAKING PERFORMANCE OF PAI STUDENTS OF MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF METRO

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Amirudin - Latif

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The study is intended to increase speaking performance of PAI students of Muhammadiyah University of Metro by using storytelling. The design of the research is collaborative classroom action research which involves a collaborator in whole process of the research. The instruments of the research are observation sheet, field notes, and speaking test. The criteria of success of the research are 100% from thirty students are active in the classroom and get score equal to or more than 70. The result shows that twenty two students get score 70 in Cycle 1 and thirty in Cycle 2.

Increasing Motivation and Engagement in Elementary and Middle School Students through Technology-Supported Learning Environments

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Godzicki, Linda; Godzicki, Nicole; Krofel, Mary; Michaels, Rachel

2013-01-01

This action research project report was conducted in order to increase motivation and engagement in elementary and middle school students through technology-supported learning environments. The study was conducted from August 27, 2012, through December 14, 2012 with 116 participating students in first-, fourth-, fifth- and eighth-grade classes. To…

Increasing nursing students' understanding and accuracy with medical dose calculations: A collaborative approach.

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Mackie, Jane E; Bruce, Catherine D

2016-05-01

Accurate calculation of medication dosages can be challenging for nursing students. Specific interventions related to types of errors made by nursing students may improve the learning of this important skill. The objective of this study was to determine areas of challenge for students in performing medication dosage calculations in order to design interventions to improve this skill. Strengths and weaknesses in the teaching and learning of medication dosage calculations were assessed. These data were used to create online interventions which were then measured for the impact on student ability to perform medication dosage calculations. The setting of the study is one university in Canada. The qualitative research participants were 8 nursing students from years 1-3 and 8 faculty members. Quantitative results are based on test data from the same second year clinical course during the academic years 2012 and 2013. Students and faculty participated in one-to-one interviews; responses were recorded and coded for themes. Tests were implemented and scored, then data were assessed to classify the types and number of errors. Students identified conceptual understanding deficits, anxiety, low self-efficacy, and numeracy skills as primary challenges in medication dosage calculations. Faculty identified long division as a particular content challenge, and a lack of online resources for students to practice calculations. Lessons and online resources designed as an intervention to target mathematical and concepts and skills led to improved results and increases in overall pass rates for second year students for medication dosage calculation tests. This study suggests that with concerted effort and a multi-modal approach to supporting nursing students, their abilities to calculate dosages can be improved. The positive results in this study also point to the promise of cross-discipline collaborations between nursing and education. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Increasing Academic Learning Time for College Undergraduate Students' Achievement in Kuwait

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Al-Shammari, Zaid; Mohammad, Anwar; Al-Shammari, Bandar

2010-01-01

The study investigated the effectiveness of increasing ALT for college students' achievement in Kuwait. In Phase 1, 37 students participated (22, experimental; 15, control); in Phase 2, 19 students participated (8, sub-experimental; 11, sub-control). Several experimental research methods used in conducting this study, including development of a…

High-Tech or Low-Tech? Comparing Self-Monitoring Systems to Increase Task Independence for Students with Autism

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Bouck, Emily C.; Savage, Melissa; Meyer, Nancy K.; Taber-Doughty, Teresa; Hunley, Megan

2014-01-01

Independence is the ultimate goal for students with disabilities, including secondary students with autism. One avenue targeted for increasing independence and decreasing prompt-dependency is through self-monitoring. In this study, investigators sought to determine whether a difference exists in levels of task independence when three students with…

The Effect of Discovery Learning Method Application on Increasing Students' Listening Outcome and Social Attitude

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Hanafi

2016-01-01

Curriculum of 2013 has been started in schools appointed as the implementer. This curriculum, for English subject demands the students to improve their skills. To reach this one of the suggested methods is discovery learning since this method is considered appropriate to implement for increasing the students' ability especially to fulfill minimum…

The Great London Smog of 1952.

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Polivka, Barbara J

2018-04-01

: The Great London Smog of December 1952 lasted five days and killed up to 12,000 people. The smog developed primarily because of extensive burning of high-sulfur coal. The health effects were both immediate and long lasting, with a recent study revealing an increased likelihood of childhood asthma development in those exposed to the Great Smog while in utero or during their first year of life. Subsequent pollution legislation-including the U.S. Clean Air Act and its amendments-have demonstrably reduced air pollution and positively impacted health outcomes. With poor air quality events like the Great Smog continuing to occur today, nurses need to be aware of the impact such environmental disasters can have on human health.

Student Content Knowledge Increases after Participation in a Hands-on Biotechnology Intervention

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Bigler, Amber M.; Hanegan, Nikki L.

2011-01-01

Implementing biotechnology education through hands-on teaching methods should be considered by secondary biology teachers. This study is an experimental research design to examine increased student content knowledge in biotechnology after a hands-on biotechnology intervention. The teachers from both school groups participated in, Project Crawfish,…

Increasing student engagement and retention using immersive interfaces virtual worlds, gaming and simulation

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Wankel, Charles

2012-01-01

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Immersive Interfaces: Virtual Worlds, Gaming, and Simulation uses case studies, surveys, and literature reviews to critically examine how gaming, simulation, and virtualization are being used to improve teamwork and leadership skills in students, create engaging communities of practice, and as experiential learning tools to create inter-cultural, multi-perspective, and global experiences. Chapters include how to increase learner engagement using serious games, using game features for classroom engagement, using client-based peer assessment in multi-role, whole-enterprise simulations, using virtual worlds to develop teacher candidate skills, enhancing leadership skills through virtual simulation, using online video simulation for educational leadership, using augmented reality in education, using open source software in education, using educational robotics laboratories to enhance active learning, and utilizing the virtual learning environment to encourage facu...

Meeting students halfway: Increasing self-efficacy and promoting knowledge change in astronomy

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Janelle M. Bailey

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Two motivational factors—self-efficacy and interest—may be especially relevant to deepening students’ understanding of astronomy. We examined the relationship between students’ self-efficacy for, interest in learning about, and changes in their knowledge of stars, as measured by the Star Properties Concept Inventory (SPCI. Approximately 700 undergraduate students taking introductory astronomy responded to surveys at the start and end of their semester-long course. A sequential multiple regression analysis showed that self-efficacy post explains an appreciable percentage of variance in SPCI posttest scores, more than twice the percentage explained by all the pretest variables (SPCI, self-efficacy, and interest combined. Knowledge and self-efficacy improved significantly over instruction; interest did not. Follow-up analyses revealed that instructors whose classes increased in self-efficacy also had the greatest increases in knowledge scores. Interviews with these instructors suggest they provide their students with more opportunities for mastery experiences with elaborated, performance-related feedback, as well as strong positive verbal persuasion and vicarious experiences through peer instruction. Through increased understanding of the relationship between motivational constructs (e.g., self-efficacy, interest and knowledge, we can both improve our models and better inform instruction.

Cognitive flexibility and undergraduate physiology students: increasing advanced knowledge acquisition within an ill-structured domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, Ashley E; Rozell, Timothy G

2017-09-01

Cognitive flexibility is defined as the ability to assimilate previously learned information and concepts to generate novel solutions to new problems. This skill is crucial for success within ill-structured domains such as biology, physiology, and medicine, where many concepts are simultaneously required for understanding a complex problem, yet the problem consists of patterns or combinations of concepts that are not consistently used or needed across all examples. To succeed within ill-structured domains, a student must possess a certain level of cognitive flexibility: rigid thought processes and prepackaged informational retrieval schemes relying on rote memorization will not suffice. In this study, we assessed the cognitive flexibility of undergraduate physiology students using a validated instrument entitled Student's Approaches to Learning (SAL). The SAL evaluates how deeply and in what way information is processed, as well as the investment of time and mental energy that a student is willing to expend by measuring constructs such as elaboration and memorization. Our results indicate that students who rely primarily on memorization when learning new information have a smaller knowledge base about physiological concepts, as measured by a prior knowledge assessment and unit exams. However, students who rely primarily on elaboration when learning new information have a more well-developed knowledge base about physiological concepts, which is displayed by higher scores on a prior knowledge assessment and increased performance on unit exams. Thus students with increased elaboration skills possibly possess a higher level of cognitive flexibility and are more likely to succeed within ill-structured domains. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Student-selected components in surgery: providing practical experience and increasing student confidence.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Falk, G A

2009-09-01

Reviews of the medical school curriculum in the UK and Ireland have recommended the introduction of student-selected components (SSCs). The Department of Surgery in The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has introduced a 6-week surgical SSC, which aims to develop practical clinical skills, provide mentorship and prepare students for internship.

Premenstrual symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder in Japanese high school students 9 months after the great East-Japan earthquake.

Science.gov (United States)

Takeda, Takashi; Tadakawa, Mari; Koga, Shoko; Nagase, Satoru; Yaegashi, Nobuo

2013-07-01

On March 11, 2011, the Great East-Japan Earthquake occurred and a massive tsunami hit the northeastern coast of Japan. Catastrophic disasters such as earthquakes and war cause tremendous damage, not only physically but also mentally. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that occurs in the aftermath of a traumatic event. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a cluster of psychological and somatic symptoms that are limited to the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is considered a severe form of PMS. To determine the relationship between premenstrual symptoms and natural disaster-induced PTSD among Japanese adolescent girls, we conducted a cross-sectional study. Overall, 1489 high school students who belong to two high schools in Sendai, the largest city in northeastern Japan, were assessed 9 months after the earthquake. These schools are located inland, far from the seashore, and were not damaged by the tsunami. Premenstrual symptoms were assessed using the Premenstrual Symptoms Questionnaire, and PTSD symptoms were assessed using the Japanese-language version of Impact of Event Scale-Revised, which is a widely used self-assessment questionnaire about PTSD symptoms. We analyzed the data of 1,180 girls who completed the questionnaires and 118 girls (10.0%) were classified as having PTSD. The prevalence rates of PMDD and moderate to severe PMS increased according to the comorbidity of PTSD (p PMS/PMDD and natural disaster-induced PTSD. The comorbidity of PMS/PMDD and PTSD may complicate the follow-up of both conditions.

What Matters Most: Using High-Traction Instructional Strategies to Increase Student Success

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Turner, Curtis

2016-01-01

What matters most when it comes to increasing achievement and student success in the developmental classroom? Recent reform efforts in developmental education have brought sweeping changes in some states. New curricular pathways, redesigned courses, and a handful of new instructional delivery methodologies have been the result. Although these are…

GIS Enabled PBl Pedagogy: The Effects on Students' Learning in the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yan; Laxman, Kumar

2009-01-01

In efforts aimed at acquainting learners with "how to learn" skills rather than static content knowledge, more student centric instructional approaches are being increasingly adopted in informing curriculum design and delivery. Technology-rich problem solving environments offer great promise in scaffolding and facilitating…

Community-based clinical education increases motivation of medical students to medicine of remote area: comparison between lecture and practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Tani, Kenji; Yamaguchi, Harutaka; Tada, Saaya; Kondo, Saki; Tabata, Ryo; Yuasa, Shino; Kawaminami, Shingo; Nakanishi, Yoshinori; Ito, Jun; Shimizu, Nobuhiko; Obata, Fumiaki; Shin, Teruki; Bando, Hiroyasu; Kohno, Mitsuhiro

2014-01-01

In this study, we administered a questionnaire to medical students to evaluate the effect of community-based clinical education on their attitudes to community medicine and medicine in remote area. Questionnaires were given 4 times to all the students from first-year to sixth-year. Of 95 students, 65 students (68.4%) who completed all questionnaires, were used in this study. The intensity of students' attitudes was estimated by using visual analogue scale. The intensity of interest, a sense of fulfillment and passion in medicine of remote area was significantly increased after the community-based practice. On the other hand, the level of understanding in medicine in remote area was increased by the lecture not by the practice. The intensity of desire both to become a generalist and a specialist was significantly increased when the grade went up. Most of sixth-year students desired to have abilities of a generalist and a specialist simultaneously. This study shows that the community-based practice is more meaningful in increasing motivation in medicine in remote area than the lecture, and suggests that it is important to prepare more courses to experience community medicine to increase the number of physicians who desire to work in remote area.

Increased body weight affects academic performance in university students

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Angela S. Anderson

2017-03-01

Full Text Available For K-12 students, obesity has been linked to student educational achievements. The study objective was to determine whether academic performance in university students is correlated with BMI. Students from two consecutive academic years (Jan–May 2013 and Jan–May 2014 were given an optional class survey in May, as extra credit. Of the 452 students that completed the survey, 204 females and 75 males (N = 279; 73% female and 27% male consented to participate in the study. The number of correct answers to problem-solving questions (PSQs and the overall final grade for the class were compared to the calculated BMI using linear regression with a Pearson's R correlation and unpaired t-tests. BMI was significantly negatively correlated with student's final grades (P = 0.001 Pearson's r = −0.190 and PSQs were positively correlated with final grades (P < 0.001; Pearson's r = 0.357. Our findings show a correlation between healthy body weight and improved academic performance. Further, the data suggest that future research in the area of body weight, diet, and exercise and any correlations of these with academic performance in college students are warranted.

A multimedia educational program that increases science achievement among inner-city non-Asian minority middle-school students.

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Murray, Nancy G; Opuni, Kwame A; Reininger, Belinda; Sessions, Nathalie; Mowry, Melanie M; Hobbs, Mary

2009-06-01

To test the effectiveness of a middle school, multimedia health sciences educational program called HEADS UP in non-Asian-minority (Hispanic and African American), inner-city students. The program designers hope to increase the number of these students entering the health sciences pipeline. The program includes video role-model stories featuring minority scientists and students, hands-on activities, and teacher resources. Collaborators from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Spring Branch Independent School District, and the Health Museum developed the modules. From 2004 to 2007, the authors used a quasi-experimental, two-group pretest/posttest design to assess program effects on students' performance and interest in science, their science self-efficacy, their fear of science, and their science-related careers self-efficacy. An independent third party matched the intervention school to a comparison school by test scores, school demographics, and student demographics and then matched pairs of sixth-grade students (N = 428) by fifth-grade science scores, gender, ethnicity, and participation in the free or reduced lunch program. The authors collected data on these students for three years. At eighth grade (2007), the intervention school students scored significantly higher (F = 12.38, P science and reported higher interest in science (F = 11.08, P school pairs. Students in neither group reported an increase in their confidence to choose a science-related career, but students in one high-implementing teacher's class reported decreased fear of science. HEADS UP shows potential for improving inner-city, non-Asian-minority middle school students' performance and interest in science.

The Use of Stuffed Microbes in an Undergraduate Microbiology Course Increases Engagement and Student Learning

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Ginny Webb

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Student engagement, attention, and attendance during a microbiology lecture are crucial for student learning.  In addition, it is challenging to cover a large number of infectious diseases during a one-semester introductory microbiology course.  The use of visual aids helps students retain the information presented during a lecture.  Here, I discuss the use of stuffed, plush microbes as visual aids during an introductory microbiology course.  The incorporation of these stuffed microbes during a microbiology lecture results in an increase in engagement, interest, attendance, and retention of material.

Reducing Test Anxiety while Increasing Learning: The Cheat Sheet

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Erbe, Brigitte

2007-01-01

Student learning is greatly enhanced by studying prior to an exam. Allowing students to prepare a cheat sheet for the exam helps structure this study time and deepens learning. The crib sheet is well defined: one double-sided page of notes. An award for the best and most creative cheat sheet allows the instructor to appreciate the students'…

Implementing a Principal Tutor to Increase Student Engagement and Retention within the First Year of a Professional Program

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Jason Lodge

2012-03-01

Full Text Available With ongoing changes to the requirements for professional registration, greater demand for professional services, and targets for increasing participation, universities must adapt quickly to ensure that the quality of accredited professional programs is continually improving. The problem of retaining students is particularly relevant in accredited professional courses where students often have unrealistic expectations about course content and the profession. In order to address issues surrounding student engagement and retention in an accredited psychology course, a Principal Tutor was appointed to a first year cohort. By using a transition pedagogy framework to support student engagement through incorporating administrative and profession-specific advice within and outside the formal curriculum, the program appears to have been successful in increasing student engagement. Indicators of student engagement were higher than national averages and retention rates improved. Implications for possible application of the initiatives included in this program elsewhere are discussed. 

Increasing Student Participation in Online Group Discussions via Facebook

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Miller, Scott T.

2013-01-01

A comparison study between two different methods of conducting online discussions in an introductory astronomy course was performed to determine if the use of Facebook as an online discussion tool has an impact on student participation as well as student response time. This study shows that students using Facebook for their online discussions…

Walking with Students To Increase Satisfaction and Retention.

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Steinhaus, Carol s.

1999-01-01

Describes "walking office hours," an activity in which students (n=64) in introductory health topics and human resources management classes each took a one-half hour walk with the professor around the campus. In both classes students unanimously reported higher "comfort levels" with the instructor following the walk. (DB)

Rice University: Innovation to Increase Student College Readiness

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Gigliotti, Jennifer

2012-01-01

"College readiness" means that a student can enter a college classroom without remediation and successfully complete entry-level college requirements (Conley, 2012). In order for students to be considered college ready, they must acquire skills, content knowledge, and behaviors before leaving high school. Research on high-school performance…

Increasing instruction time in school does increase learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Simon Calmar; Humlum, Maria; Nandrup, Anne Brink

2016-01-01

Increasing instruction time in school is a central element in the attempts of many governments to improve student learning, but prior research—mainly based on observational data—disputes the effect of this approach and points out the potential negative effects on student behavior. Based on a large......-scale, cluster-randomized trial, we find that increasing instruction time increases student learning and that a general increase in instruction time is at least as efficient as an expert-developed, detailed teaching program that increases instruction with the same amount of time. These findings support the value...... of increased instruction time....

Increasing Student-Learning Team Effectiveness with Team Charters

Science.gov (United States)

Hunsaker, Phillip; Pavett, Cynthia; Hunsaker, Johanna

2011-01-01

Because teams are a ubiquitous part of most organizations today, it is common for business educators to use team assignments to help students experientially learn about course concepts and team process. Unfortunately, students frequently experience a number of problems during team assignments. The authors describe the results of their research and…

Evolution in students' understanding of thermal physics with increasing complexity

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Langbeheim, Elon; Safran, Samuel A.; Livne, Shelly; Yerushalmi, Edit

2013-12-01

We analyze the development in students’ understanding of fundamental principles in the context of learning a current interdisciplinary research topic—soft matter—that was adapted to the level of high school students. The topic was introduced in a program for interested 11th grade high school students majoring in chemistry and/or physics, in an off-school setting. Soft matter was presented in a gradual increase in the degree of complexity of the phenomena as well as in the level of the quantitative analysis. We describe the evolution in students’ use of fundamental thermodynamics principles to reason about phase separation—a phenomenon that is ubiquitous in soft matter. In particular, we examine the impact of the use of free energy analysis, a common approach in soft matter, on the understanding of the fundamental principles of thermodynamics. The study used diagnostic questions and classroom observations to gauge the student’s learning. In order to gain insight on the aspects that shape the understanding of the basic principles, we focus on the responses and explanations of two case-study students who represent two trends of evolution in conceptual understanding in the group. We analyze changes in the two case studies’ management of conceptual resources used in their analysis of phase separation, and suggest how their prior knowledge and epistemological framing (a combination of their personal tendencies and their prior exposure to different learning styles) affect their conceptual evolution. Finally, we propose strategies to improve the instruction of these concepts.

Formation of student personality’s physical culture as subject of professional functioning

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O.V. Otravenko

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: generalization of experience of higher educational establishments’ future specialists’ professional training, oriented on formation of students’ personalities’ physical culture. Material: we questioned students (n=50 and institute teachers (n=30. Results: it was found that for increase of future specialists’ professional fitness effectiveness it was important to consider orientation of educational process on formation of student personality’s physical culture. Besides, it was noticed that professional fitness of future specialists is greatly influenced by implementation of modern technologies of formation of students’ physical culture in educational-learning process. Physical education means, oriented on aesthetic are of great health related and recreation significance. Conclusions: educational process shall be oriented on support of active motor functioning, motivation for physical exercises’ and healthy life style practicing.

Smoking Prevalence Among Mugla School of Health Sciences Students and Causes of Leading Increase in Smoking

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Metin Picakciefe

2007-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determine the smoking prevalence among Mugla School of Health Sciences students, to determine the effects the increasing causes of smoking and their education about adverse health outcome of smoking. A cross-sectional study was performed among Mugla School of Health Sciences students in Mugla University. All students (417 in Mugla School of Health Sciences included in the study. The participation rates was 85.1%. Data were obtained by the self-administered questionnaire without teachers in classes. SPSS 11.0 was used for data analysis, and the differentiation was assessed by Chi-square analysis. P < 0.05 was accepted statistically significant. The prevalence of current smokers was 25.3% among students in Mugla School of Health Sciences. The students stated that the most important factor of smoking initiation was stress (59.2%. The univariable analysis showed that the friends’ smoking (p: 0.000 , having knowledge about smoking habits of teachers (p: 0.020 , alcohol consumption (p: 0.000, and other smokers out of parent in the home (p: 0.000 was significantly associated with increasing rate of smoking prevalence. The smoking prevalence was quite high (25.3% among Mugla School of Health Sciences students in Mugla University. It is needed to decreasing smoking prevalence among students that antismoking education should be reevaluated, that antismoking campaign should be administered in schools. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2007; 6(4.000: 267-272

A New Model of Clinical Education to Increase Student Placement Availability: The Capacity Development Facilitator Model

Science.gov (United States)

Fairbrother, Michele; Nicole, Madelyn; Blackford, Julia; Nagarajan, Srivalli Vilapakkam; McAllister, Lindy

2016-01-01

This paper reports on a trial of a new model of clinical education designed to increase student clinical placement availability and address workforce constraints on supervision. The University of Sydney deployed the Capacity Development Facilitators (CDF) in selected Sydney hospitals to work with staff to expand student clinical placement…

Application of various forms of physical education as a factor of increase in the level of physical activity of medical students

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A.Yu. Osipov

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: increase in the level of weekly physical activity of medical students of HEI by application of various forms of physical education training. Material: Senior students participated in a research (n=78 – males, n=190 – females, age – 21-23 years. Indicators of physical strength development were estimated by the number of pull-ups on a horizontal bar (males and by the number of floor push-ups (females. Development of speed was estimated by the time of cover100 ma distance. Level of the general endurance of an organism was estimated by results of cover3000 ma distance by male students and2000 mby female students. Results: it was revealed a significant increase in time of physical activity training in students of experimental groups. The average time of physical training was 3±0,08 hours per a week. This indicator is significantly above (Р<0,01, than in students of control groups. Indicators of strength development, speed and general endurance in students of experimental groups is significantly above (Р<0,01. Body weight indicators significantly increased (Р<0,05 in 2,3±0,2 kg in students of control groups. Indicators of body weight slightly increased in 0,4±0,2 kg in students of experimental groups.  Conclusions: Various forms of physical education promote increase in the weekly level of physical activity of students.

Texas Student Success Council: Finding Common Ground to Increase Community College Completion

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Michael Lawrence

2014-01-01

In 2011, a prominent Texas business group erected provocative billboards condemning low completion rates at the state's community colleges and questioning the value of tax dollars spent there. The Texas Association of Business put up the signs to prod community colleges to do more to increase student success and help create a better educated…

A Comparison of Reading Response Methods to Increase Student Learning

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Cheryl J. Davis

2016-01-01

Full Text Available It is common in college courses to test students on the required readings for that course. With a rise in online education it is often the case that students are required to provide evidence of reading the material. However, there is little empirical research stating the best written means to assess that students read the materials. This study experimentally compared the effect of assigned reading summaries or study questions on student test performance. The results revealed that study questions produced higher quiz scores and higher preparation for the quiz, based on student feedback. Limitations of the study included a small sample size and extraneous activities that may have affected general knowledge on a topic. Results suggest that study questions focusing students on critical information in the required readings improve student learning.

Compression of Semesters or Intensity of Study: What is it that Increases Student Success?

Science.gov (United States)

Spurling, Steven

This study examined the relationship between intensity of study (defined as more hours per week of class within a subject matter area) and student success. The researcher identified two possible methods for increasing the intensity of study: (1) Compression Hypothesis--shortening the length of terms and increasing the amount of time per week spent…

Working and Providing Care: Increasing Student Engagement for Part-Time Community College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Leingang, Daniel James

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among external time obligations of work and care giving by part-time students, their participation within structured group learning experiences, and student engagement. The Structured Group Learning Experiences (SGLEs) explored within this study include community college programming…

Increasing Classroom Compliance: Using a High-Probability Command Sequence with Noncompliant Students

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Axelrod, Michael I.; Zank, Amber J.

2012-01-01

Noncompliance is one of the most problematic behaviors within the school setting. One strategy to increase compliance of noncompliant students is a high-probability command sequence (HPCS; i.e., a set of simple commands in which an individual is likely to comply immediately prior to the delivery of a command that has a lower probability of…

Using Assistive Technology to Increase Vocabulary Acquisition and Engagement for Students with Learning Disabilities in the High School Science Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Slemrod, Tal

There is a growing recognition of the importance and effectiveness of instruction in the STEM subjects, including science. The movement towards increased requirements and expectations in science presents a challenge to both students and teachers as many students with Learning Disabilities (LD) often particularly struggle in their science classes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of an assistive technology (AT) intervention targeting the acquisition of science vocabulary for adolescents with LD in a general education secondary biology classroom. Participants for this study included 3 secondary students with LD who were enrolled in a biology class. An alternating treatment design was used to compare the effects of a keyword mnemonic vocabulary intervention via index cards or iPod touch on student, vocabulary acquisition, academic engagement and disruptive behavior. All students' acquired the content vocabulary equally well during both conditions. When using the AT, students' engagement increased compared to baseline conditions. It was clear that the students had a strong interest in using AT to increase their grades and engagement, however the teachers had little access and training on using AT to support their students with disabilities.

Students using mobile phones in the classroom: Can the phones increase content learning

Science.gov (United States)

Rinehart, David Lee

A study was conducted at a high-performing school in Southern California to explore the effects on learning content from students using their own smart phones in and out of the classroom. The study used a Switching Replications design format which allowed two independent analyses of posttest scores between a group using e-flash cards on smart phones and a group using paper flash cards. Quantitative data was collected via two tailed, t-tests and qualitative data was collected through observations and interviews. Results suggest that knowledge level learning may be increased with mobile phone use, but no effect on comprehension level learning was found. Students found the phones to be convenient in accessing flash cards anytime and anywhere. Enthusiasm for using the phones in class while initially high waned over the 1 month study duration. Students perceived the phones to not be a significant source of distraction outside of class.

Data-informed nudges for student engagement and success

OpenAIRE

Stephens, Jason; Leichtweis, Steve; Liu, Danny; Blumenstein, Marion; Richards, Deborah

2018-01-01

Student engagement has never mattered more in college and university education. While the problem of low engagement and underachievement may differ greatly depending on learning contexts their relationship is well-established. Increasingly, digital technologies have allowed teachers to utilize actionable insights gleaned from data about learner engagement and performance to influence students’ choices on regulating their learning behaviour towards academic success. In this context, we apply t...

Application of experiential learning model using simple physical kit to increase attitude toward physics student senior high school in fluid

Science.gov (United States)

Johari, A. H.; Muslim

2018-05-01

Experiential learning model using simple physics kit has been implemented to get a picture of improving attitude toward physics senior high school students on Fluid. This study aims to obtain a description of the increase attitudes toward physics senior high school students. The research method used was quasi experiment with non-equivalent pretest -posttest control group design. Two class of tenth grade were involved in this research 28, 26 students respectively experiment class and control class. Increased Attitude toward physics of senior high school students is calculated using an attitude scale consisting of 18 questions. Based on the experimental class test average of 86.5% with the criteria of almost all students there is an increase and in the control class of 53.75% with the criteria of half students. This result shows that the influence of experiential learning model using simple physics kit can improve attitude toward physics compared to experiential learning without using simple physics kit.

Increasing Student Engagement Using Asynchronous Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Northey, Gavin; Bucic, Tania; Chylinski, Mathew; Govind, Rahul

2015-01-01

Student engagement is an ongoing concern for educators because of its positive association with deep learning and educational outcomes. This article tests the use of a social networking site (Facebook) as a tool to facilitate asynchronous learning opportunities that complement face-to-face interactions and thereby enable a stronger learning…

Teaching Calculus Students How to Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Boelkins, Matthew R.; Pfaff, Thomas J.

1998-01-01

Addresses the problem of poor study habits in calculus students and presents techniques to teach students how to study consistently and effectively. Concludes that many students greatly appreciate the added structure, work harder than in previous courses, and witness newfound success as a consequence. (Author/ASK)

Non-exposure parenting increases risk of bullying behavior in junior high school students

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Surilena Hasan

2016-05-01

Non-exposure parenting was the most relevant risk factor of bullying behavior. Low self-esteem increases the risk of bullying behavior. These findings suggest the need of timely bullying prevention and intervention programs that should have a special focus on families of primary high school students.

Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. Second Edition

Science.gov (United States)

Dean, Ceri B.; Stone, BJ; Hubbell, Elizabeth; Pitler, Howard

2012-01-01

First published in 2001, "Classroom Instruction That Works" revolutionized teaching by linking classroom strategies to evidence of increased student learning. Now this landmark guide has been reenergized and reorganized for today's classroom with new evidence-based insights and a refined framework that strengthens instructional planning. Whether…

Instant Messaging between Students and Faculty: A Tool for Increasing Student-Faculty Interaction

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Hickerson, Corey A.; Giglio, Matt

2009-01-01

This study explores the pedagogical potential of instant messaging in a communication course. Two instructors made themselves available to students via instant messaging as a supplement to other modes of communication (e.g., e-mail, office hours). In order to gauge students' reactions to and use of the technology, the researchers kept logs of…

Increasing student learning through space life sciences education

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno, Nancy P.; Kyle Roberts, J.; Tharp, Barbara Z.; Denk, James P.; Cutler, Paula H.; Thomson, William A.

2005-05-01

Scientists and educators at Baylor College of Medicine are using space life sciences research areas as themes for middle school science and health instructional materials. This paper discusses study findings of the most recent unit, Food and Fitness, which teaches concepts related to energy and nutrition through guided inquiry. Results of a field test involving more than 750 students are reported. Use of the teaching materials resulted in significant knowledge gains by students as measured on a pre/post assessment administered by teachers. In addition, an analysis of the time spent by each teacher on each activity suggested that it is preferable to conduct all of the activities in the unit with students rather than allocating the same total amount of time on just a subset of the activities.

Does self-help increase rates of help seeking for student mental health problems by minimizing stigma as a barrier?

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, Michael E; Krafft, Jennifer; Levin, Crissa

2018-01-01

This study examined whether self-help (books, websites, mobile apps) increases help seeking for mental health problems among college students by minimizing stigma as a barrier. A survey was conducted with 200 college students reporting elevated distress from February to April 2017. Intentions to use self-help were low, but a significant portion of students unwilling to see mental health professionals intended to use self-help. Greater self-stigma related to lower intentions to seek professional help, but was unrelated to seeking self-help. Similarly, students who only used self-help in the past reported higher self-stigma than those who sought professional treatment in the past. Although stigma was not a barrier for self-help, alternate barriers were identified. Offering self-help may increase rates of students receiving help for mental health problems, possibly by offering an alternative for students unwilling to seek in-person therapy due to stigma concerns.

Political Action Day: A Student-Led Initiative to Increase Health Advocacy Training Among Medical Students

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Harbir Gill

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Health advocacy is a critical aspect of the competent physician's role. It is identified as a core competency by several national physician regulatory organizations, yet few formal training programs exist. We developed an initiative to teach medical students health advocacy skills. Methods: At Political Action Day, students from Alberta medical schools lobbied the provincial government. A day of training seminars preceded Political Action Day that focused on teaching health advocacy and communication strategies. The following day, medical students met with elected representatives at the Legislative Assembly. An entry and exit survey was administered to students. Results: On October 26-27th, 2008, 40 students met with 38/83 (46% elected representatives including the Minister of Health and Wellness. Feedback from students and politicians suggests the event was effective in teaching advocacy skills. This initiative inspired students to be politically active in the future. Conclusions: Political Action Day helps fulfill the health advocacy competency objectives, and requires minimal curriculum time and resources for integration. It is an effective tool to begin teaching advocacy, and should be further expanded and replicated at other Canadian medical schools.

The Effects of Increased Accountability Standards on Graduation Rates for Students with Disabilities

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Moore, Mitzi Lee

2012-01-01

This research sought to determine if unintended effects of increased accountability standards on graduation rates for students with disabilities existed. Data from one southeastern state were utilized in order to determine if graduation rates were impacted as a result of higher accountability standards. In addition, administrator attitudes on…

The impact of increased interconnection on electricity systems with large penetrations of wind generation. A case study of Ireland and Great Britain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denny, E.; Tuohy, A.; Keane, A.; Flynn, D.; O'Malley, M.; Meibom, P.; Mullane, A.

2010-01-01

Increased interconnection has been highlighted as potentially facilitating the integration of wind generation in power systems by increasing the flexibility to balance the variable wind output. This paper utilizes a stochastic unit commitment model to simulate the impacts of increased interconnection for the island of Ireland with large penetrations of wind generation. The results suggest that increased interconnection should reduce average prices in Ireland, and the variability of those prices. The simulations also suggest that while increased interconnection may reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Ireland, Great Britain would experience an increase in emissions, resulting in total emissions remaining almost unchanged. The studies suggest that increased interconnection would not reduce excess wind generation. This is because under unit commitment techniques which incorporate wind power forecasts in the scheduling decisions, wind curtailment is minimal even with low levels of interconnection. As would be expected an increase in interconnection should improve system adequacy considerably with a significant reduction in the number of hours when the load and reserve constraints are not met. (author)

Teacher Research Programs: An Effective Form of Professional Development to Increase Student Achievement and Benefit the Economy

Science.gov (United States)

Dubner, J.

2008-12-01

U.S. high school students perform markedly less well in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) than students in other economically advanced countries. This low level of STEM performance endangers our democracy and economy. The President's Council of Advisors in Science and Technology's 2004 report attributed the shortfall of students attracted to the sciences is a result of the dearth of teachers sufficiently conversant with science and scientists to enable them to communicate to their students the excitement of scientific exploration and discovery, and the opportunities science provides for highly rewarding and remunerative careers. Nonetheless, the United States has made little progress in correcting these deficiencies. Studies have shown that high-quality teaching matters more to student achievement than anything else schools do. This belief is buttressed by evidence from Columbia University's Summer Research Program for Science Teachers (SRP) that highly motivated, in-service science teachers require professional development to enable them and their students to perform up to their potential. Columbia's Summer Research Program is based on the premise that to teach science effectively requires experience in using the tools of contemporary science to answer unsolved questions. From its inception, SRP's goal has been to enhance interest and improve performance in science of students. It seeks to achieve this goal by increasing the professional competence of teachers. The reports of Elmore, Sanders and Rivers, and our own studies, show that professional development is a "key lever for improving student outcomes." While most middle and high school science teachers have taken college science courses that include cookbook laboratory exercises, the vast majority of them have never attempted to answer an unsolved question. Just as student learning depends on the expertise of teachers, the expertise of teachers depends on the quality of their professional

Using Experiential Learning Through Science Experiments to Increase the Motivation of Students Classified as Emotionally Disturbed

Science.gov (United States)

Crozier, Marisa

When learning is an adventure rather than an exercise in memorization, students can enjoy the process and be motivated to participate in classroom activities (Clem, Mennicke, & Beasley, 2014). Students classified as emotionally disturbed are prone to disruptive behaviors and struggle learning in a traditional science classroom consisting of lecture and demonstrations. They cannot maintain the necessary level of attention nor have the strong reading, writing or memory skills needed to succeed. Therefore, this study examined whether the use of experiential learning would increase on-task behavior and improve the motivation of emotionally disturbed, middle school students in science. Students completed four hands-on experiments aligned with the science curriculum. The data collection methods implemented were an observation checklist with corresponding journal entries, a summative assessment in the form of lab sheets, and student interviews. Through triangulation and analysis, data revealed that the students had more on-task behaviors, were engaged in the lessons, and improved grades in science.

Students Perceptions about Celebrity Endorsement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mersid Poturak

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The instrument of celebrity endorsement has nowadays become a pervasive element in advertising and communication management. It is unanimously accepted that celebrity endorsement can grant extraordinary characteristics to a product or service that may have lacked otherwise. The great number of celebrities endorsing brands has been increasing over the past decades. The purpose of this study is to examine perceptions of the student population in Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereafter named BiH about the celebrity endorsement. Questionnaire is designed and used to survey a randomly selected sample of university students and 125 usable responses were obtained. During the research, five hypotheses have been tested. Data were analyzed by performing descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test. Chi-Square test was used to analyze relationship between nationality of respondents and factors that influence decision of choosing celebrity endorser by firm. Findings show that students perceive celebrities as a very important factor in advertisements.

Asking a Great Question: A Librarian Teaches Questioning Skills to First-Year Medical Students.

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Adams, Nancy E

2015-01-01

In a single one-hour session, first-year medical students were taught a framework for differentiating between lower-order questions that lead to knowledge of facts and higher-order questions that lead to integration of concepts and deeper learning, thereby preparing them for problem-based learning (PBL). Students generated lists of questions in response to an assertion prompt and categorized them according to Bloom's Taxonomy. These data were analyzed in addition to data from the course exam, which asked them to formulate a higher-level question in response to a prompt. Categorizing questions according to Bloom's Taxonomy was a more difficult task for students than was formulating higher-order questions. Students reported that the skills that they learned were used in subsequent PBL sessions to formulate higher-order learning objectives that integrated new and previously-learned concepts.

Does elementary school alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use increase middle school risk?

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Wilson, Nance; Battistich, Victor; Syme, S Leonard; Boyce, W Thomas

2002-06-01

To assess whether alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use in elementary school may have serious implications for continued ATOD use in middle school and beyond. Longitudinal analyses were conducted on questionnaire data from 331 middle school students who had previously provided ATOD-use data during elementary school. Non-school personnel administered questionnaires in three participating school districts in three different states. The sample of students was ethnically and geographically diverse, including students from a range of low socioeconomic status backgrounds living in rural, urban or inner-city environments. Middle school alcohol use was almost three times as likely to occur if alcohol use had occurred in elementary school (OR = 2.94, p Elementary school use of tobacco and marijuana also greatly increased the likelihood of middle school use (OR = 5.35, p elementary school, during the middle childhood years.

Student Response to Tuition Increase by Academic Majors: Empirical Grounds for a Cost-Related Tuition Policy

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Shin, Jung Cheol; Milton, Sande

2008-01-01

This study explored the responses of students in different academic majors to tuition increase, with a particular focus on the relationship between tuition increase, and future earnings and college expenditures. We analyzed effects of tuition increase on enrollment in six academic majors--Engineering, Physics, Biology, Mathematics, Business, and…

Natural phenolics greatly increase flax (Linum usitatissimum) oil stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasiewicz-Derkacz, Karolina; Kulma, Anna; Czuj, Tadeusz; Prescha, Anna; Żuk, Magdalena; Grajzer, Magdalena; Łukaszewicz, Marcin; Szopa, Jan

2015-06-30

Flaxseed oil is characterized by high content of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) promoted as a human dietary supplement protecting against atherosclerosis. The disadvantage of the high PUFA content in flax oil is high susceptibility to oxidation, which can result in carcinogenic compound formation. Linola flax cultivar is characterized by high linoleic acid content in comparison to traditional flax cultivars rich in linolenic acid. The changes in fatty acid proportions increase oxidative stability of Linola oil and broaden its use as an edible oil for cooking. However one of investigated transgenic lines has high ALA content making it suitable as omega-3 source. Protection of PUFA oxidation is a critical factor in oil quality. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of phenylpropanoid contents on the oil properties important during the whole technological process from seed storage to grinding and oil pressing, which may influence health benefits as well as shelf-life, and to establish guidelines for the selection of new cultivars. The composition of oils was determined by chromatographic (GS-FID and LC-PDA-MS) methods. Antioxidant properties of secondary metabolites were analyzed by DPPH method. The stability of oils was investigated: a) during regular storage by measuring acid value peroxide value p-anisidine value malondialdehyde, conjugated dienes and trienes; b) by using accelerated rancidity tests by TBARS reaction; c) by thermoanalytical - differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In one approach, in order to increase oil stability, exogenous substances added are mainly lipid soluble antioxidants from the isoprenoid pathway, such as tocopherol and carotene. The other approach is based on transgenic plant generation that accumulates water soluble compounds. Increased accumulation of phenolic compounds in flax seeds was achieved by three different strategies that modify genes coding for enzymes from the phenylpropanoid pathway. The three

The Application of Learning Model SQ4R (Survey, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, Review can Increase Activeness and Learning Outcomes of Student

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Olivia Frances Rivan

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to analyze implementation of SQ4R learning method, students ' active participation and students ' achievement in the subject " Public Administration of Public Relations and Protocol " for students of class XI ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE 1 at SMK PGRI Turen. This type of research is a Classroom Action Research (CAR. Data collection was done by interview, observation, documentation, test, and field note. The result of the research shows that (1 the implementation of learning goes well, proved by the increase of students ' active participation and students ' achievement, (2 the students ' active participation increased from the percentage of 61% in the circle 1 to 82% in circle 2, (3 Students ' achievement from the cognitive aspect increased from the average of 6.7 in circle 1 to 88.7 on circle 2.

Teaching an experiential mind-body method to medical students to increase interpersonal skills: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Cara; Sheeler, Robert D; Rasmussen, Norman H; Hayden, Lucinda

2015-06-01

The authors investigate whether inner relationship focusing increases self-awareness in medical students and, in the process, to give them experience with empathic listening. Thirteen second-year medical students were randomized into experimental and control groups and surveyed pre-course and post-course about their self-awareness and perceived comfort with clinical interpersonal skills. Subjects attended a 20-h course on inner relationship focusing, followed by 5 months of weekly sessions. Pre-course and post-course survey scores were averaged by group, and mean differences were calculated and compared using the two-sample t test. The experimental group showed improvement in all areas compared to the control group. Improvement in one area (comfort talking to patients about how recurring symptoms might relate to issues in their lives) reached statistical significance (P = 0.05). Inner relationship focusing is a potential tool to increase self-awareness and empathic listening in medical students.

Obesity in elementary school children after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Science.gov (United States)

Moriyama, Hidenori; Fuchimukai, Toru; Kondo, Naoki; Takayama, John I

2018-03-01

Rikuzentakata was one of the cities most devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011. Many buildings were swept away or destroyed and affected families were placed into temporary housing. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of long-term temporary housing on the body mass index (BMI) of elementary school children living in Rikuzentakata City. A retrospective cohort study of was carried out of students attending 1st-3rd grade in 2010, and 4th-6th grade in 2013, in eight elementary schools in Rikuzentakata City. Height and weight were measured annually. We compared changes in BMI between children in temporary housing and those in permanent housing. Separately, parents of students attending one of the elementary schools were surveyed in 2013. Of 526 children in the present study, 32% were living in temporary housing. The prevalence of obesity climbed from 5.3% in 2010 to 7.8% in 2013 in the temporary housing group, and from 7.6% to 7.8% in the permanent housing group. BMI z-score in the temporary housing group increased by 0.102 points between 2010 and 2013 (P comic books and their walking commute time had decreased by 2 min compared with before the disaster. Obesity prevalence and BMI z-score increased in children in temporary housing compared with permanent housing. A more sedentary lifestyle may explain this trend. It is important for policy makers and health-care providers to recognize potential consequences of long-term residence in temporary housing. © 2017 Japan Pediatric Society.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Great Lakes Mussel Watch(2009-2014)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Following the inception of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to address the significant environmental issues plaguing the Great Lakes region, the...

The Impact of Social Networking: A Study of the Influence of Smartphones on College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Harrasi, Abir S.; Al-Badi, Ali H.

2014-01-01

The use of social networking by college students has become increasingly relevant to their academic lives. Smartphones have added great potential by enabling an increase in the use of social networking and in the number of hours spent on such sites. Being online for a long time and being able to access different information from different sources…

Increasing Student Success in Large Survey Science Courses via Supplemental Instruction in Learning Centers

Science.gov (United States)

Hooper, Eric Jon; Nossal, S.; Watson, L.; Timbie, P.

2010-05-01

Large introductory astronomy and physics survey courses can be very challenging and stressful. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Physics Learning Center (PLC) reaches about 10 percent of the students in four introductory physics courses, algebra and calculus based versions of both classical mechanics and electromagnetism. Participants include those potentially most vulnerable to experiencing isolation and hence to having difficulty finding study partners as well as students struggling with the course. They receive specially written tutorials, conceptual summaries, and practice problems; exam reviews; and most importantly, membership in small groups of 3 - 8 students which meet twice per week in a hybrid of traditional teaching and tutoring. Almost all students who regularly participate in the PLC earn at least a "C,” with many earning higher grades. The PLC works closely with other campus programs which seek to increase the participation and enhance the success of underrepresented minorities, first generation college students, and students from lower-income circumstances; and it is well received by students, departmental faculty, and University administration. The PLC staff includes physics education specialists and research scientists with a passion for education. However, the bulk of the teaching is conducted by undergraduates who are majoring in physics, astronomy, mathematics, engineering, and secondary science teaching (many have multiple majors). The staff train these enthusiastic students, denoted Peer Mentor Tutors (PMTs) in general pedagogy and mentoring strategies, as well as the specifics of teaching the physics covered in the course. The PMTs are among the best undergraduates at the university. While currently there is no UW-Madison learning center for astronomy courses, establishing one is a possible future direction. The introductory astronomy courses cater to non-science majors and consequently are less quantitative. However, the basic structure

Factors Affecting College Students' Knowledge and Opinions of Genetically Modified Foods

Science.gov (United States)

Laux, Chad M.; Mosher, Gretchen A.; Freeman, Steven A.

2010-01-01

The use of biotechnology in food and agricultural applications has increased greatly during the past decade and is considered by many to be a controversial topic. Drawing upon a previous national study, a new survey was conducted of U.S. and international college students at a large, land-grant, Research University to determine factors that may…

A mindfulness-based intervention to increase resilience to stress in university students (the Mindful Student Study): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Galante, Julieta; Dufour, Géraldine; Vainre, Maris; Wagner, Adam P; Stochl, Jan; Benton, Alice; Lathia, Neal; Howarth, Emma; Jones, Peter B

2018-02-01

The rising number of young people going to university has led to concerns about an increasing demand for student mental health services. We aimed to assess whether provision of mindfulness courses to university students would improve their resilience to stress. We did this pragmatic randomised controlled trial at the University of Cambridge, UK. Students aged 18 years or older with no severe mental illness or crisis (self-assessed) were randomly assigned (1:1), via remote survey software using computer-generated random numbers, to receive either an 8 week mindfulness course adapted for university students (Mindfulness Skills for Students [MSS]) plus mental health support as usual, or mental health support as usual alone. Participants and the study management team were aware of group allocation, but allocation was concealed from the researchers, outcome assessors, and study statistician. The primary outcome was self-reported psychological distress during the examination period, as measured with the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure (CORE-OM), with higher scores indicating more distress. The primary analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with the Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, number ACTRN12615001160527. Between Sept 28, 2015, and Jan 15, 2016, we randomly assigned 616 students to the MSS group (n=309) or the support as usual group (n=307). 453 (74%) participants completed the CORE-OM during the examination period and 182 (59%) MSS participants completed at least half of the course. MSS reduced distress scores during the examination period compared with support as usual, with mean CORE-OM scores of 0·87 (SD 0·50) in 237 MSS participants versus 1·11 (0·57) in 216 support as usual participants (adjusted mean difference -0·14, 95% CI -0·22 to -0·06; p=0·001), showing a moderate effect size (β -0·44, 95% CI -0·60 to -0·29; pmindfulness training could be an effective component of a wider student

The Great Recession, unemployment and suicide.

Science.gov (United States)

Norström, Thor; Grönqvist, Hans

2015-02-01

How have suicide rates responded to the marked increase in unemployment spurred by the Great Recession? Our paper puts this issue into a wider perspective by assessing (1) whether the unemployment-suicide link is modified by the degree of unemployment protection, and (2) whether the effect on suicide of the present crisis differs from the effects of previous economic downturns. We analysed the unemployment-suicide link using time-series data for 30 countries spanning the period 1960-2012. Separate fixed-effects models were estimated for each of five welfare state regimes with different levels of unemployment protection (Eastern, Southern, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian and Scandinavian). We included an interaction term to capture the possible excess effect of unemployment during the Great Recession. The largest unemployment increases occurred in the welfare state regimes with the least generous unemployment protection. The unemployment effect on male suicides was statistically significant in all welfare regimes, except the Scandinavian one. The effect on female suicides was significant only in the eastern European country group. There was a significant gradient in the effects, being stronger the less generous the unemployment protection. The interaction term capturing the possible excess effect of unemployment during the financial crisis was not significant. Our findings suggest that the more generous the unemployment protection the weaker the detrimental impact on suicide of the increasing unemployment during the Great Recession. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Teaching methods for increasing the participations of students: Innovative dynamics games Teaching methods for increasing the participations of students: Innovative dynamics games Teaching methods for increasing the participations of students: Innovative dynamics games

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ester Oliveras

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This paper analyses new dynamics as teaching methodologies in the context of   the degrees adapted to the EHEA. The aim of this study is double: to assess whether there is greater involvement in seminars with these new dynamics and to test if learning also experienced changes. Design/methodology/approach: To experiment with the introduction of innovative dynamic games in an introductory course in accounting.  These new dynamics are applied during the academic year 2010-11 in the UPF. The design, implementation and evaluation of the methodology devised have followed three stages: 1 Game Design and adequate dynamic; 2 To test the games; 2 Implementation during the course. Findings: The results show that students value positively those dynamics improving their learning and creating greater involvement. Research limitations/implications: There are some contradictory results regarding the knowledge gained by the students. Another area to be explored relates to the skills that the teacher must have in order to manage this type of dynamics. Originality/value: In an introductory level of the Financial Accounting course the most common dynamics is solving exercises. Due to the nature of matter, these are closed so they not provoke discussion among students. However, you can use activities that allow greater participation, especially through dynamics or games. This paper shows that.Purpose: This paper analyses new dynamics as teaching methodologies in the context of   the degrees adapted to the EHEA. The aim of this study is double: to assess whether there is greater involvement in seminars with these new dynamics and to test if learning also experienced changes.Design/methodology/approach: To experiment with the introduction of innovative dynamic games in an introductory course in accounting.  These new dynamics are applied during the academic year 2010-11 in the UPF. The design, implementation and evaluation of the methodology devised

Short-Term Study Tours as a Driver for Increasing Domestic Student Mobility in Order to Generate Global Work-Ready Students and Cultural Exchange in Asia Pacific

Science.gov (United States)

Scharoun, Lisa

2016-01-01

Recent federal government programmes in Australia have seen a shift in focus from the international student towards increasing the possibilities for domestic mobility through short- and long-term exchange opportunities. The current New Colombo Plan funding scheme encourages Australian students, who have traditionally undertaken semester-long…

Can Environmental Education Increase Student-Athletes' Environmental Behaviors?

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Mullenbach, Lauren E.; Green, Gary T.

2018-01-01

Environmental education was incorporated within a mentoring program (i.e. treatment group) for student-athletes at the University of Georgia. These student-athletes' environmental attitudes, behavioral intent, knowledge, self-efficacy, self-regulatory learning, motivation, and learning strategies were assessed before and after their environmental…

The performance of ethics course for increasing students intention to blow the whistle using information technology

Science.gov (United States)

Munandar, Agus

2017-10-01

The profession of accounting believes that ethics is very important in the workplace. For that, profession recommends that ethics course should be taught for accounting student. Unfornutaly, the impact of ethics courses on accounting students intention to blow the whistle on organizational wrongdoing using information technology have not been determined. For that, this paper attempts to measure the impact of ethics courses on accounting student intention to blow the whistle on organizational wrongdoing. The research using experimental design for investigate the impact of ethic course on students intention to blow the whistle using IT. The respondents for this study are 40 accountig students. The respondent were given the ethical scenarios and were measured their intention to blow the whistle using information technology. This result of study reports that 70% of accounting student who completed ethic course indicated high intention to blow the whistle on organizational wrongdoing using information technology. Hence, ethics course is beneficial for increasing accounting professionalism especially their intentio to blow the whistle wrongdoing using information technology.

Improvements in Students' Understanding from Increased Implementation of Active Learning Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes-Gehrke, Melissa N.; Prather, E. E.; Rudolph, A. L.; Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars CATS

2011-01-01

Many instructors are hesitant to implement active learning strategies in their introductory astronomy classrooms because they are not sure which techniques they should use, how to implement those techniques, and question whether the investment in changing their course will really bring the advertised learning gains. We present an example illustrating how thoughtful and systematic implementation of active learning strategies into a traditionally taught Astro 101 class can translate into significant increases in students' understanding. We detail the journey of one instructor, over several years, as she changes the instruction and design of her course from one that focuses almost exclusively on lecture to a course that provides an integrated use of several active learning techniques such as Lecture-Tutorials and Think-Pair-Share questions. The students in the initial lecture-only course achieved a low normalized gain score of only 0.2 on the Light and Spectroscopy Concept Inventory (LSCI), while the students in the re-designed learner-centered course achieved a significantly better normalized gain of 0.43. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS), and Grant No. 0847170, a PAARE Grant for the Calfornia-Arizona Minority Partnership for Astronomy Research and Education (CAMPARE). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Introducing sit-stand desks increases classroom standing time among university students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew Jerome

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Excessive sedentary behavior has been associated with many negative health outcomes. While an understudied health topic, there is evidence that university students are excessively sedentary. Sit-stand desks have been shown to reduce sedentary time among pre-university students (ages 5–18years and sedentary workers but have not been tested in university classrooms. This study tested the effects of introducing sit-stand desks into a university classroom on student's classroom sitting and standing behaviors. Using a cross-over design, students received access to both traditional seated desks and sit-stand desks for six weeks. Data were collected between September and December, 2016. We recruited 304 healthy undergraduate university students enrolled in one of two small (25 seats classrooms at a large Midwestern university during the fall of 2016. Average minutes of standing/hour/student, average percent class time spent standing, and the number of sit-stand transitions/student/hour were directly observed with video camera surveillance. Participants stood significantly more (p<0.001 when provided access to sit-stand desks (7.2min/h/student; 9.3% of class time spent standing compared to when they had access to seated desks (0.7min/h/student; 1.6% of class time spent standing but no differences were observed for the number of sit-stand transitions (p=0.47. Students reported high favorability for the sit-stand desks and improvements in several student engagement and affective outcomes while using the sit-stand desks. These findings support introducing sit-stand desks in university classrooms as an approach to reduce sedentary behaviors of university students. Keywords: Sedentary, University students, Sit-stand desk

Comparison of the Learning Styles of Students with Autism versus Typical Elementary-School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Friedlander, Diana

2010-01-01

Developing successful educational opportunities for students with autism has long been a challenge for educators. Although medical research is making great strides in the treatment and etiology of autism, as more and more students with autism are learning alongside their peers in the general education classroom the struggle to find effective…

Migrant Hispanic Students Speak Up: Linguistic and Cultural Perspectives on Low Academic Attainment

Science.gov (United States)

Schwieter, John W.

2011-01-01

The Hispanic population and their high school dropout rates in the United States have greatly increased over the last several decades. This study investigates linguistic and cultural issues that may have an association with high school abandonment among migrant Hispanic students. Open-ended interview questions were posed to a bilingual education…

Project Magnify: Increasing Reading Skills in Students with Low Vision

Science.gov (United States)

Farmer, Jeanie; Morse, Stephen E.

2007-01-01

Modeled after Project PAVE (Corn et al., 2003) in Tennessee, Project Magnify is designed to test the idea that students with low vision who use individually prescribed magnification devices for reading will perform as well as or better than students with low vision who use large-print reading materials. Sixteen students with low vision were…

Increasing Left and Right Brain Communication to Improve Learning for Tenth Grade Students in a Public School

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Jennifer J.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this exploratory correlation research study was to determine if students who engaged in exercises designed to increase left and right brain hemisphere connections would score higher on identical tests than those who did not perform the exercises. Because the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act requires students to reach benchmarks of…

Novel surveillance of psychological distress during the great recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayers, John W; Althouse, Benjamin M; Allem, Jon-Patrick; Childers, Matthew A; Zafar, Waleed; Latkin, Carl; Ribisl, Kurt M; Brownstein, John S

2012-12-15

Economic stressors have been retrospectively associated with net population increases in nonspecific psychological distress (PD). However, no sentinels exist to evaluate contemporaneous associations. Aggregate Internet search query surveillance was used to monitor population changes in PD around the United States' Great Recession. Monthly PD query trends were compared with unemployment, underemployment, homes in delinquency and foreclosure, median home value or sale prices, and S&P 500 trends for 2004-2010. Time series analyses, where economic indicators predicted PD one to seven months into the future, were performed in 2011. PD queries surpassed 1,000,000 per month, of which 300,000 may be attributable to the Great Recession. A one percentage point increase in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures was associated with a 16% (95%CI, 9-24) increase in PD queries one-month, and 11% (95%CI, 3-18) four months later, in reference to a pre-Great Recession mean. Unemployment and underemployment had similar associations half and one-quarter the intensity. "Anxiety disorder", "what is depression", "signs of depression", "depression symptoms", and "symptoms of depression" were the queries exhibiting the strongest associations with mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, unemployment or underemployment. Housing prices and S&P 500 trends were not associated with PD queries. A non-traditional measure of PD was used. It is unclear if actual clinically significant depression or anxiety increased during the Great Recession. Alternative explanations for strong associations between the Great Recession and PD queries, such as media, were explored and rejected. Because the economy is constantly changing, this work not only provides a snapshot of recent associations between the economy and PD queries but also a framework and toolkit for real-time surveillance going forward. Health resources, clinician screening patterns, and policy debate may be informed by changes in PD query

A Comparison of Reading Response Methods to Increase Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Cheryl J.; Zane, Thomas

2016-01-01

It is common in college courses to test students on the required readings for that course. With a rise in online education it is often the case that students are required to provide evidence of reading the material. However, there is little empirical research stating the best written means to assess that students read the materials. This study…

Dental Student Hand Hygiene Decreased With Increased Clinical Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Yaembut, Nanmanas; Ampornaramveth, Ruchanee S; Pisarnturakit, Pagaporn P; Subbalekha, Keskanya

2016-01-01

To investigate the effectiveness, related knowledge, attitudes, and practices of hand hygiene (HH) among dental students with different levels of clinical experience. This was a cross-sectional analytical study. Bacterial samples on the participants' hands were obtained using a swab technique before and after handwashing, for oral surgical procedures. After culturing, the colony-forming units were counted. Self-reported questionnaires reflecting the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to HH were completed by the participants. This study was performed in a primary oral health care institution, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok, Thailand). Bacterial samples and self-reported questionnaires were collected in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Bacterial culture was performed in the Department of Microbiology. The 120 participants comprised first, second, third-year clinical training students (CTs), and postgraduate dental students (PGs) (32, 34, 30, and 24 participants, respectively). More than 99% of the bacteria were eliminated from the participants' hands after handwashing. Significantly higher numbers of bacteria were recovered from the hands of the PGs compared with those of the CTs, and the hands of the third-year CTs compared with those of the first-year CTs (p < 0.001), after HH. The first-year CTs had the highest attitude scores, whereas the PGs had the lowest practice scores. The knowledge scores were similar in all groups. HH effectiveness, attitudes, and practices of dental students decreased as students gained more clinical experience, whereas knowledge did not. Our results suggest that HH instruction should be given throughout the duration of dental students' education. Copyright © 2016 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Application of School Watching Method to Increase the Earthquake Disaster Knowledge of Primary School Students

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Sri Adelila Sari

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The study entitled "The Application of School Watching to Increase the Earthquake Disaster Knowledge of Primary School Students, MIN Blang Mancung, Aceh" was aimed to describe the students' knowledge of the different dangerous objects in the face of an earthquake. The approach used in this study was qualitative and quantitative. The type of study was descriptive. Subjects used were as many as 30 students MIN Blang Mancung, Aceh. The method used was an experimental, which was divided into two classes, namely the experimental and control classes. Data collection technique was using questionnaires, which included the questions about common dangerous objects, dangerous objects in the class and also in the school yard. The results showed that there was a significant effect on students' knowledge before and after the implementation of the method School Watching. In addition, the knowledge of students toward the dangerous objects was found to be significant different between control and experimental class.

Increased number of papers co-authored by professor and his students in humanities and social sciences journals published in Korea

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Rae Seong Hong

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Humanities and social sciences studies in Korea have remarkably low rates of co-authorship between professors and students. We chose a bibliometrics-based approach to characterize changes in the ratio of joint authorship between professors and students. Articles classified in the humanities and social sciences sectors that were published in journals registered in the Korean Citation Index during 2 phases over a 10-year period—2004 to 2006 (phase 1 and 2011 to 2013 (phase 2—were used as the main source for the analysis. The study results can be summarized as follows: first, the overall number of co-authored articles drastically increased from phase 1 to phase 2; the percentage of co-authorship articles increased from 34.8% to 47.7%, and the percentage of co-authorship between students and professors rose from 9.9% to 20.7%. This trend was particularly noticeable in the social sciences, such as accounting, social welfare, and economics/business administration. Second, papers written by scholars from Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University were often published in high-impact factor journals. Among those articles, the rate of professor-student co-authorship increased by 21.6% for 7 years. Third, the increase in professor-student co-authored articles published in high- impact factor journals was even sharper. These findings indicate that perceptions of professor-student co-authorship have changed in the humanities and social sciences. In the near future, positive perceptions toward joint research and joint authorship between professors and students are expected to become more widespread.

Antenna size reduction as a strategy to increase biomass productivity: a great potential not yet realized

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooij, de T.; Janssen, M.G.J.; Cerezo-Chinarro, O.; Mussgnug, J.H.; Kruse, O.; Ballottari, M.; Bassi, R.; Bujaldon, S.; Wollman, F.A.; Wijffels, R.H.

2015-01-01

A major limitation in achieving high photosynthetic efficiency in microalgae mass cultures is the fact that the intensity of direct sunlight greatly exceeds the photosynthetic capacity of the cells. Due to the high pigment content of algal cells, the light absorption rate surpasses the much slower

Videophone Technology and Students with Deaf-Blindness: A Method for Increasing Access and Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Emerson, Judith; Bishop, John

2012-01-01

Introduction: Seeing the Possibilities with Videophone Technology began as research project funded by the National Center for Technology Innovation. The project implemented a face-to-face social networking program for students with deaf-blindness to investigate the potential for increasing access and communication using videophone technology.…

The Discovery Dome: A Tool for Increasing Student Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Brevik, Corinne

2015-04-01

The Discovery Dome is a portable full-dome theater that plays professionally-created science films. Developed by the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Rice University, this inflatable planetarium offers a state-of-the-art visual learning experience that can address many different fields of science for any grade level. It surrounds students with roaring dinosaurs, fascinating planets, and explosive storms - all immersive, engaging, and realistic. Dickinson State University has chosen to utilize its Discovery Dome to address Earth Science education at two levels. University courses across the science disciplines can use the Discovery Dome as part of their curriculum. The digital shows immerse the students in various topics ranging from astronomy to geology to weather and climate. The dome has proven to be a valuable tool for introducing new material to students as well as for reinforcing concepts previously covered in lectures or laboratory settings. The Discovery Dome also serves as an amazing science public-outreach tool. University students are trained to run the dome, and they travel with it to schools and libraries around the region. During the 2013-14 school year, our Discovery Dome visited over 30 locations. Many of the schools visited are in rural settings which offer students few opportunities to experience state-of-the-art science technology. The school kids are extremely excited when the Discovery Dome visits their community, and they will talk about the experience for many weeks. Traveling with the dome is also very valuable for the university students who get involved in the program. They become very familiar with the science content, and they gain experience working with teachers as well as the general public. They get to share their love of science, and they get to help inspire a new generation of scientists.

Thai nursing students' adaption to problem-based learning: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Klunklin, Areewan; Subpaiboongid, Pornpun; Keitlertnapha, Pongsri; Viseskul, Nongkran; Turale, Sue

2011-11-01

Student-centred forms of learning have gained favour internationally over the last few decades including problem based learning, an approach now incorporated in medicine, nursing and other disciplines' education in many countries. However, it is still new in Thailand and being piloted to try to offset traditional forms of didactic, teacher-centred forms of teaching. In this qualitative study, 25 undergraduate nursing students in northern Thailand were interviewed about their experiences with problem-based learning in a health promotion subject. Content analysis was used to interrogate interview data, which revealed four categories: adapting, seeking assistance, self-development, and thinking process development. Initially participants had mixed emotions of confusion, negativity or boredom in the adaption process, but expressed satisfaction with creativity in learning, group work, and leadership development. They described increased abilities to problem solve and think critically, but struggled to develop questioning behaviours in learning. Socio-culturally in Thai education, students have great respect for teachers, but rarely question or challenge them or their learning. We conclude that problem-based learning has great potential in Thai nursing education, but educators and systems need to systematically prepare appropriate learning environments, their staff and students, to incorporate this within curricula. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Motivation to Study in Higher Education: A Comparison between Germany and Great Britain

Science.gov (United States)

Loeber, Sandra; Higson, Helen E.

2009-01-01

This article deals with reasons for the motivation to study in higher education. To find out about motives, around 200 A-level students in Germany and Great Britain were asked about their plans for the time after completion of their A-levels. Through socio-demographic data the authors could deploy facts about social backgrounds and the…

Introducing sit-stand desks increases classroom standing time among university students.

Science.gov (United States)

Jerome, Matthew; Janz, Kathleen F; Baquero, Barbara; Carr, Lucas J

2017-12-01

Excessive sedentary behavior has been associated with many negative health outcomes. While an understudied health topic, there is evidence that university students are excessively sedentary. Sit-stand desks have been shown to reduce sedentary time among pre-university students (ages 5-18 years) and sedentary workers but have not been tested in university classrooms. This study tested the effects of introducing sit-stand desks into a university classroom on student's classroom sitting and standing behaviors. Using a cross-over design, students received access to both traditional seated desks and sit-stand desks for six weeks. Data were collected between September and December, 2016. We recruited 304 healthy undergraduate university students enrolled in one of two small (25 seats) classrooms at a large Midwestern university during the fall of 2016. Average minutes of standing/hour/student, average percent class time spent standing, and the number of sit-stand transitions/student/hour were directly observed with video camera surveillance. Participants stood significantly more (p classrooms as an approach to reduce sedentary behaviors of university students.

Utility-value intervention with parents increases students' STEM preparation and career pursuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Rozek, Christopher S; Svoboda, Ryan C; Harackiewicz, Judith M; Hulleman, Chris S; Hyde, Janet S

2017-01-31

During high school, developing competence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is critically important as preparation to pursue STEM careers, yet students in the United States lag behind other countries, ranking 35th in mathematics and 27th in science achievement internationally. Given the importance of STEM careers as drivers of modern economies, this deficiency in preparation for STEM careers threatens the United States' continued economic progress. In the present study, we evaluated the long-term effects of a theory-based intervention designed to help parents convey the importance of mathematics and science courses to their high-school-aged children. A prior report on this intervention showed that it promoted STEM course-taking in high school; in the current follow-up study, we found that the intervention improved mathematics and science standardized test scores on a college preparatory examination (ACT) for adolescents by 12 percentile points. Greater high-school STEM preparation (STEM course-taking and ACT scores) was associated with increased STEM career pursuit (i.e., STEM career interest, the number of college STEM courses, and students' attitudes toward STEM) 5 y after the intervention. These results suggest that the intervention can affect STEM career pursuit indirectly by increasing high-school STEM preparation. This finding underscores the importance of targeting high-school STEM preparation to increase STEM career pursuit. Overall, these findings demonstrate that a motivational intervention with parents can have important effects on STEM preparation in high school, as well as downstream effects on STEM career pursuit 5 y later.

Serving vegetables first: A strategy to increase vegetable consumption in elementary school cafeterias.

Science.gov (United States)

Elsbernd, S L; Reicks, M M; Mann, T L; Redden, J P; Mykerezi, E; Vickers, Z M

2016-01-01

Vegetable consumption in the United States is low despite the wealth of evidence that vegetables play an important role in reducing risk of various chronic diseases. Because eating patterns developed in childhood continue through adulthood, we need to form healthy eating habits in children. The objective of this study was to determine if offering vegetables before other meal components would increase the overall consumption of vegetables at school lunch. We served kindergarten through fifth-grade students a small portion (26-33 g) of a raw vegetable (red and yellow bell peppers) while they waited in line to receive the rest of their lunch meal. They then had the options to take more of the bell peppers, a different vegetable, or no vegetable from the lunch line. We measured the amount of each vegetable consumed by each child. Serving vegetables first greatly increased the number of students eating vegetables. On intervention days most of the vegetables consumed came from the vegetables-first portions. Total vegetable intake per student eating lunch was low because most students chose to not eat vegetables, but the intervention significantly increased this value. Serving vegetables first is a viable strategy to increase vegetable consumption in elementary schools. Long-term implementation of this strategy may have an important impact on healthy eating habits, vegetable consumption, and the health consequences of vegetable intake. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increasing the emotional engagement of first year mature-aged distance students: Interest and belonging

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Ella Kahu

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This research followed 19 mature-aged distance students through their first semester of undergraduate study. The analysis of interviews and video diaries presented in this paper focuses on two key elements of emotional engagement: interest and belonging. Findings highlight the importance of interest triggered by personal preferences and experiences. Interest led to enjoyment, increased behavioural engagement with greater time and effort expended, and improved cognitive engagement in terms of depth and breadth of learning. In contrast, there was less evidence of the social side of emotional engagement, belonging. Participants felt little connection to the university, but connecting with fellow students through face-to-face courses and online forums was important for some to reduce their sense of isolation. However, distance study was not for all. The findings highlight the need for staff to consider emotional engagement when designing and delivering the curriculum and when interacting with students, particularly in the all-important first year.

Academic examination stress increases disordered eating symptomatology in female university students.

Science.gov (United States)

Costarelli, V; Patsai, A

2012-09-01

It is well documented that stress and anxiety can affect eating behaviour and food intake in humans. The purpose of the current study was to explore the possible effect of academic examination stress on disordered eating attitudes, emotional eating, restraint eating, body image, anxiety levels and self-esteem in a group of female university students. The interrelationships of the above parameters were also examined. Sixty Greek female university students, 18-25 years old, have been recruited and completed, on two separate occasions: a) during an examination stress period, and b) during a control period, the following questionnaires: the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale, the Body Image Pictorial Instrument Scale (COLLINS) and a specially designed General Background Questionnaire. Subjects reported significantly higher levels of disordered eating attitudes (EAT-26, p=0.01), higher levels of anxiety (p=0.000) and lower levels of self-esteem (p=0.016) during the examination stress period compared to the control period. Disordered eating attitudes (EAT-26) were significantly positively correlated with emotional eating (p=0.04) and restrained eating (p=0.010) and negatively correlated with levels of self-esteem (p=0.05) and perceived desired body image (p=0.008) during the exam stress period. Finally, EAT-26 was significantly positively correlated with levels of anxiety in both study periods. Academic examination stress seems to increase disordered eating symptomatology in female university students and is associated with lower levels of self-esteem, an important finding which warrants further investigation.

Student-to-Student Diplomacy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bislev, Ane Katrine

2017-01-01

Chinese international students have become an increasingly visible presence around the globe, and interest in these students has consequently increased among universities, researchers, and policy-makers, who often see international students as a source of increased soft power. This article...... questions the idea of Chinese international students as a soft-power tool. This is done through a critical discussion of the concept of soft power and the rather limited research on educational diplomacy, demonstrating that the analytical vagueness of the concept of soft power leads to an oversimplified...... understanding of the linkage between international students and soft power. In order to provide a more nuanced understanding of this linkage, the article examines the actual overseas experience of Chinese international students and argues that the linkage between international students and soft power is highly...

An Online Student Research Institute Designed to Engage Students in Original Scientific Research Using State of the Art Technologies to Increase Participation in STEM Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Freed, R.

2015-12-01

Affordable and accessible technology has advanced tremendously in the last decade allowing educational paradigms to change dramatically to more student-centered, experiential and project-based models. Additionally, as the need to increase the number of students entering STEM fields in the United States becomes more critical it is imperative to understand the factors that determine student career pathways and to provide opportunities for students to experience, understand and pursue scientific endeavors. The Institute for Student Astronomical Research was founded in order to provide a means for high school and early undergraduate students to engage in meaningful and relevant scientific research. A major goal is to give students the experience of true-to-life scientific investigation from the planning and proposal stages to the data collection and analysis, writing up and presenting of scientific findings and finally to the publication of results. Furthermore, the Institute is designed to collect data on how involvement in the Science Research Seminars influences educational and career choices for students in longitudinal studies following participants for several years. In the first year of the online course of the Institute 10 student teams conducted original research and published their findings in peer-reviewed journals. Lessons learned from the pilot year are being applied to the Institute as efforts to scale up the program are underway.

"Great Technology, Football and...": Malaysian Language Learners' Stereotypes about Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Larisa Nikitina

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on stereotypes about Germany, its culture and people, held by learners of German in a big public university in Malaysia. It examines not only the stereotypical representations of the target language country but also assesses its favourability and salience, which has not been done previously. The findings revealed that the students' stereotypes about Germany were varied and diverse. Also, they were overwhelmingly positive. The top three salient categories of images about Germany were related to technology, famous personalities - for the most part football players and scientists - and cars. The findings also indicated that very few references had been made to German culture and to its great cultural figures. The results of the present study suggest that students could benefit from a wider and deeper exposure to German culture in the language classroom.

Improving Geoscience Learning and Increasing Student Engagement Using Online Interactive Writing Assignments with Calibrated Peer Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Harbor, Jon

2014-05-01

Peer review is a hallmark of the publication process for scientific research, yet it is rarely used as a pedagogical approach in university geoscience courses. Learning outcomes for university geoscience courses include content knowledge and critical thinking and analysis skills, and often include written communication of scientific issues or concepts. Because lecture and memorization is not the most effective learning approach for many students, instructors are increasingly exploring teaching approaches that involve active engagement. In this context, writing assignments that engage students in using content, constructing arguments, and critiquing other students' work are highly desirable. However, many of us struggle with extensive writing requirements in our courses because the workload associated with having the instructor provide detailed comments on writing is daunting, especially in large-enrollment courses, and organizing effective peer review by students is very challenging. Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) is a web-based program that involves students in writing and in reviewing each other's writing. It is designed to allow for more involved writing and feedback experiences with much less instructor time. Here we report on the results of a qualitative-methods analysis of narrative survey responses from students using CPR in an introductory geoscience class. In addition to an impact on the students' writing and their understanding of what goes in to effective writing, the results indicate that CPR acted as reinforcement for content learning, and an impetus for gaining a deeper understanding of content material. It allowed students to see how other students explained and analyzed content, and to check their understanding of a topic in relation to other students in the class. Not surprisingly, the instructor reported that students performed far better on exam questions that tested knowledge covered by CPR assignments.

Inverted Classroom by Topic - A Study in Mathematics for Electrical Engineering Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isabel Braun

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The inverted classroom is a teaching model, where the students prepare for classroom by watching video lectures. The classroom time is then dedicated to individual practice. We evaluated a mathematics course for electrical engineering students throughout three semesters, where 20% of the topics were taught using the inverted classroom model. The aim was to find out whether the model can help to better address groups with large differences in prior knowledge in mathematics. We report mainly positive feedback from the students, although the opinions vary greatly between the groups. The students appreciate the increased amount of practice in the classroom as well as the possibility to learn at their own pace. Exam performance remained constant in the topics taught using the inverted classroom compared to previous semesters. The exam performance of weaker students also remained constant.

Development of E-Book Multimedia Model to Increase Critical Thinking of Senior High School Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suparno Suparno

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This study aims to develop the interactive e-book multimedia model to improve the students' critical thinking ability (KBK. Critical thinking is very important to develop because it provides a high level of reasoning thinking that provides permanent experience to students through conscious and controlled decision making in a rational, reflective, responsible manner with the optimization of potential. Flash-based e-book media is capable of interactively loading videos, pictures, practice questions and learning with directed directions from the teacher. The research method developed is research and development. The output products are learning plan, KBK evaluation question, flash-based interactive e-book multimedia, and quasi experiment to see media effectiveness to KBK. The results showed that e-book multimedia is able to significantly increase the KBK of high school students in economic learning.

Increasing Mathematics and Science Achievement for Culturally Diverse Students through Teaching Training

Science.gov (United States)

Mahon, Lee

1997-01-01

The purpose of this proposal was to field test and evaluate a Teacher Training program that would prepare teachers to increase the motivation and achievement of culturally diverse students in the areas of science and mathematics. Designed as a three year program, this report covers the first two years of the training program at the Ronald McNair School in the Ravenswood School district, using the resources of the NASA Ames Research Center and the California Framework for Mathematics and Science.

Does Tasting Local Sweet Potatoes Increase the Likelihood of Selection by High School Students?

Science.gov (United States)

Bristow, Kelly; Jenkins, Steven; Kelly, Patrick; Mattfeldt-Beman, Mildred

2017-01-01

Purpose/Objectives: Schools are offering more fruits and vegetables; yet consumption of fruits and vegetables among adolescents remains low. Many schools are implementing Farm-to-School programs to help generate excitement and increase selection of fruits and vegetables by students. The purpose of this research was to determine if a simple tasting…

Social media use and goals after the Great East Japan Earthquake

OpenAIRE

Jung, Joo-Young

2012-01-01

This paper examines the use of social media after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Based on media system dependency theory, the study focuses on the ways in which people used different types of social media to cope with a highly ambiguous situation created by the earthquake. A survey of Japanese university students revealed that the respondents used different forms of social media with different goals. Moreover, use of a particular social media type influenced the relative importance of ...

Increasing Student Interest and Comprehension of Production Planning and Control and Operations Performance Measurement Concepts Using a Production Line Game

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, James F., III; Walker, Edward D., II

2005-01-01

Production planning and control (PPC) systems and operations performance measures are topics that students generally find both boring and difficult to understand. In the article, the authors present a production line game that they have found to be an effective tool to increase student interest in the topics as well as student comprehension. The…

Increasing Minority Student Enrollment in Counselor Education

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Mona C.; Lewis, Denise; Henderson, DeAnna; Flowers, Carl R.

2009-01-01

Counselor education programs across the country often fail to attract, enroll and graduate students in proportion that reflects the diversity of the nation. As our country's demography changes, the impact of race and ethnicity within the client-counselor relationship is likely to have greater importance and, as such, counselor education programs…

A Teacher-Focused Intervention to Decrease PE Students' Amotivation by Increasing Need Satisfaction and Decreasing Need Frustration.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheon, Sung Hyeon; Reeve, Johnmarshall; Song, Yong-Gwan

2016-06-01

Intervention-induced gains in need satisfaction decrease PE students' amotivation. The present study adopted a dual-process model to test whether an intervention could also decrease need frustration and hence provide a second supplemental source to further decrease students' PE amotivation. Using an experimental, longitudinal research design, 19 experienced PE teachers (9 experimental, 10 control) and their 1,017 students participated in an intervention program to help teachers become both more autonomy supportive and less controlling. Multilevel repeated measures analyses showed that students of teachers in the experimental group reported greater T2, T3, and T4 perceived autonomy support, need satisfaction, and engagement and lesser T2, T3, and T4 perceived teacher control, need frustration, and amotivation than did students of teachers in the control group. Multilevel structural equation modeling analyses confirmed the hypothesized dual-process model in which both intervention-induced increases in need satisfaction and intervention-induced decreases need frustration decreased students' end-of-semester amotivation. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this new finding on the dual antecedents of diminished amotivation.

National Postsecondary Enrollment Trends: Before, during, and after the Great Recession. Signature[TM] Report 1

Science.gov (United States)

Dunbar, Afet; Hossler, Don; Shapiro, Doug; Chen, Jin; Martin, Sarah; Torres, Vasti; Zerquera, Desiree; Ziskin, Mary

2011-01-01

This report, "National Postsecondary Enrollment Trends: Before, During, and After the Great Recession," brings to light emerging national and regional patterns among traditional-age, first-time students enrolling in colleges and universities during the fall term each year from 2006 through 2010--before, during, and after the recession.…

The Association between Socio-Demographic Charactristics and Fast Food Consumption withinHigh School Students in Isfahan, Iran

OpenAIRE

Parastoo Yarmohammadi; Gholam Reza Sharifirad; Leila Azadbakht; Parisa Yarmohammadi; Zohreh Rahaei; Vali Bahrevar; Zahra Khajeh

2015-01-01

Abstract Introduction: Fast food consumption has greatly increased with in adolescents in recent years, which is linked with weight gain, poor dietary indexes and insulin resistance. Hence, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between demographic characteristics and fast food consumption with in high school students. Materials & Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, a sample of 521 high school students  aged 15-18 years were examined in Isfahan city, who wer...

Why They Stay - Retention Strategies for Students from Diverse Backgrounds in the Geosciences

Science.gov (United States)

Haacker, R.

2014-12-01

The geosciences have had a chronic problem of underrepresentation of students from diverse ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds. While many programs and efforts focus on the recruitment of minorities, a strategic approach to increase retention is equally important for a student's success. Students from diverse backgrounds often face isolation in majority schools, and lack role models and guidance as they navigate through the academic system. Research has shown that continuous and individualized support can greatly strengthen a student's performance and chance of staying in the field. Successful strategies include a strong mentoring system, early involvement in research, cohort building, and creating a welcoming campus climate. At the SOARS Center for Undergraduate Research, we have found that offering students research topics that allow them to give back to society increases engagement and retention significantly. All interventions need to be applied early, often and on a continuous basis in a student's college experience. A long-term mentor assigned to the student beyond a class or a summer research experience can provide follow-up and champion the student's progress. This presentation will share successful approaches of retaining diverse students in the geosciences and discuss how we can support each other in the community to provide such resources.

A Reconceptualization of CCSSE's Benchmarks of Student Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Nora, Amaury; Crisp, Gloria; Matthews, Cissy

2011-01-01

As a great deal of importance is now placed on student engagement, it is just as imperative to establish the soundness of constructs underlying those survey instruments and benchmarks used in providing indicators of such. This study investigates the dimensionalities of student engagement among community college students as measured by the…

INFLUENCE OF GREAT HYDRAULIC WORKS UPON NATURE AND MANKIND

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Mircea O. POPOVICIU

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The great hydraulic works represent heavy environmental modifications and influence both humans (during the construction and the utilization and nature. The present paper compares these influences for two such works the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal. Both are relatively recent, have the same purpose (the increase of the East-West trade and were initiated by Ferdinand de Lesseps. The possibility of realization was analyzed long time before the beginning of the work. Both works are sources of huge incomes and created endless disputes between the great powers. The forecast level increase of the planetary ocean will affect differently these works.

Student Engagement: Key to Personalized Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Ferlazzo, Larry

2017-01-01

Personalized learning has the potential to greatly improve student achievement--but realistic teachers know that any instructional strategy will only be effective if students are willing to do the work. That is why Larry Ferlazzo emphasizes the importance of weaving intrinsic motivation into every personalized learning classroom. Four key elements…

Increasing Student Engagement with Practical Classes through Online Pre-Lab Quizzes

Science.gov (United States)

Cann, Alan J.

2016-01-01

Laboratory practicals classes are an essential component of all science degrees, but are a pinch point because of rising student numbers, rising student expectations and falling student exposure to laboratory work prior to entering higher education. Augmentation of physical laboratory work with online interventions is not new, but as virtual…

Association between housing type and γ-GTP increase after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Science.gov (United States)

Murakami, Aya; Sugawara, Yumi; Tomata, Yasutake; Sugiyama, Kemmyo; Kaiho, Yu; Tanji, Fumiya; Tsuji, Ichiro

2017-09-01

It has been reported that alcohol consumption increases after natural disasters, with an impact on health. However, the impact of relocation upon drinking behavior has been unclear. The aim of this study was to clarify the association between housing type and the impact of alcohol consumption on health after the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) of 2011. We analyzed 569 residents living in devastated areas of Ishinomaki city, who had undergone assessment of their γ-GTP levels at health check-ups in both 2010 and 2013, and had given details of the type of housing they occupied in 2013. The housing types were categorized into five groups: "same housing as that before the GEJE", "prefabricated temporary housing", "privately rented temporary housing/rental housing", "homes of relatives", and "reconstructed housing". We used fixed-effect regression analysis to examine the association between housing type after the GEJE and changes in γ-GTP after adjustment for age, BMI, housing damage, number of people in household, smoking status, presence of illness, psychological distress, and social network. The mean age of the participants was 71.5 years and 46.2% of them were men. The proportion of individuals who drank heavily, and suffered from psychological distress and insomnia, was highest among those living in privately rented temporary housing/rental housing. Compared with individuals who continued to occupy the same housing as those before the GEJE, the effect of change in γ-GTP was significantly higher in individuals who had moved to privately rented temporary housing/rental housing (b = 9.5, SE = 4.4, p housing/rental housing are at highest risk of negative health effects due to alcohol drinking. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Increasing the Use of Student-Centered Pedagogies from Moderate to High Improves Student Learning and Attitudes about Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Connell, Georgianne L.; Donovan, Deborah A.; Chambers, Timothy G.

2016-01-01

Student-centered strategies are being incorporated into undergraduate classrooms in response to a call for reform. We tested whether teaching in an extensively student-centered manner (many active-learning pedagogies, consistent formative assessment, cooperative groups; the Extensive section) was more effective than teaching in a moderately student-centered manner (fewer active-learning pedagogies, less formative assessment, without groups; the Moderate section) in a large-enrollment course. One instructor taught both sections of Biology 101 during the same quarter, covering the same material. Students in the Extensive section had significantly higher mean scores on course exams. They also scored significantly higher on a content postassessment when accounting for preassessment score and student demographics. Item response theory analysis supported these results. Students in the Extensive section had greater changes in postinstruction abilities compared with students in the Moderate section. Finally, students in the Extensive section exhibited a statistically greater expert shift in their views about biology and learning biology. We suggest our results are explained by the greater number of active-learning pedagogies experienced by students in cooperative groups, the consistent use of formative assessment, and the frequent use of explicit metacognition in the Extensive section. PMID:26865643

Expanding Opportunities for Students with Intellectual Disability

Science.gov (United States)

Giangreco, Michael F.

2017-01-01

Research and experience tell us a great deal about how to successfully educate students with intellectual disability, but unfortunately this knowledge remains underutilized and inconsistently applied, writes researcher Michael F. Giangreco. Students with intellectual disability who have virtually identical profiles but live in different locales…

Undergraduate Students as Promoters of Science Dissemination: A Strategy to Increase Students' Interest in Physiology

Science.gov (United States)

Borges, Sidnei; Mello-Carpes, Pâmela Billig

2015-01-01

Physiology teaching-learning methods have passed through several changes over the years. The traditional model of education appears to be linked to the teacher, who resists the use of tools and methods designed to provide something different to the student, depriving the student of new things or even the motivation to realize the applicability of…

Implementing Work Systems across the School Day: Increasing Engagement in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Hume, Kara; Reynolds, Beth

2010-01-01

Work systems provide visual information and organization for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and assist in increasing on-task behavior and productivity while simultaneously decreasing adult prompting. Work systems are a core component of the Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication-Handicapped Children…

Do Old Ladies Make World History?: Student Perceptions of Elder Female Agency

Science.gov (United States)

Woodbum, Stephen M.

2006-01-01

In this article, the author shares the views of his undergraduate students regarding elder female agency and their answers to the question: "Do old ladies make world history?" Because his undergraduate students mostly view the past in terms of the Great Man theory of history, which holds that those who make history are necessarily great,…

Medical students' and facilitators' experiences of an Early Professional Contact course: active and motivated students, strained facilitators.

Science.gov (United States)

von Below, Bernhard; Hellquist, Gunilla; Rödjer, Stig; Gunnarsson, Ronny; Björkelund, Cecilia; Wahlqvist, Mats

2008-12-02

Today, medical students are introduced to patient contact, communication skills, and clinical examination in the preclinical years of the curriculum with the purpose of gaining clinical experience. These courses are often evaluated from the student perspective. Reports with an additional emphasis on the facilitator perspective are scarce. According to constructive alignment, an influential concept from research in higher education, the learning climate between students and teachers is also of great importance. In this paper, we approach the learning climate by studying both students' and facilitators' course experiences.In 2001, a new "Early Professional Contact" longitudinal strand through term 1-4, was introduced at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. General practitioners and hospital specialists were facilitators.The aim of this study was to assess and analyse students' and clinical facilitators' experiences of the Early Professional Contact course and to illuminate facilitators' working conditions. Inspired by a Swedish adaptation of the Course Experience Questionnaire, an Early Professional Contact Questionnaire was constructed. In 2003, on the completion of the first longitudinal strand, a student and facilitator version was distributed to 86 students and 21 facilitators. In the analysis, both Chi-square and the Mann-Whitney tests were used. Sixty students (70%) and 15 facilitators (71%) completed the questionnaire. Both students and facilitators were satisfied with the course. Students reported gaining iiration for their future work as doctors along with increased confidence in meeting patients. They also reported increased motivation for biomedical studies. Differences in attitudes between facilitators and students were found. Facilitators experienced a greater workload, less reasonable demands and less support, than students. In this project, a new Early Professional Contact course was analysed from both student and facilitator

Medical students' and facilitators' experiences of an Early Professional Contact course: Active and motivated students, strained facilitators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunnarsson Ronny

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Today, medical students are introduced to patient contact, communication skills, and clinical examination in the preclinical years of the curriculum with the purpose of gaining clinical experience. These courses are often evaluated from the student perspective. Reports with an additional emphasis on the facilitator perspective are scarce. According to constructive alignment, an influential concept from research in higher education, the learning climate between students and teachers is also of great importance. In this paper, we approach the learning climate by studying both students' and facilitators' course experiences. In 2001, a new "Early Professional Contact" longitudinal strand through term 1–4, was introduced at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. General practitioners and hospital specialists were facilitators. The aim of this study was to assess and analyse students' and clinical facilitators' experiences of the Early Professional Contact course and to illuminate facilitators' working conditions. Methods Inspired by a Swedish adaptation of the Course Experience Questionnaire, an Early Professional Contact Questionnaire was constructed. In 2003, on the completion of the first longitudinal strand, a student and facilitator version was distributed to 86 students and 21 facilitators. In the analysis, both Chi-square and the Mann-Whitney tests were used. Results Sixty students (70% and 15 facilitators (71% completed the questionnaire. Both students and facilitators were satisfied with the course. Students reported gaining iiration for their future work as doctors along with increased confidence in meeting patients. They also reported increased motivation for biomedical studies. Differences in attitudes between facilitators and students were found. Facilitators experienced a greater workload, less reasonable demands and less support, than students. Conclusion In this project, a new Early

Teacher Research Experience Programs = Increase in Student Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Dubner, J.

2010-12-01

Columbia University's Summer Research Program for Science Teachers (SRP), founded in 1990, is one of the largest, best known university-based professional development programs for science teachers in the U.S. The program’s basic premise is simple: teachers cannot effectively teach science if they have not experienced it firsthand. For eight weeks in each of two consecutive summers, teachers participate as a member of a research team, led by a member of Columbia University’s research faculty. In addition to the laboratory experience, all teachers meet as a group one day each week during the summer for a series of pedagogical activities. A unique quality of the Summer Research Program is its focus on objective assessment of its impact on attitudes and instructional practices of participating teachers, on the performance of these teachers in their mentors’ laboratories, and most importantly, on the impact of their participation in the program on student interest and performance in science. SRP uses pass rate on the New York State Regents standardized science examinations as an objective measure of student achievement. SRP's data is the first scientific evidence of a connection between a research experience for teachers program and gains in student achievement. As a result of the research, findings were published in Science Magazine. The author will present an overview of Columbia's teacher research program and the results of the published program evaluation.

Langues-U: A digital campus to increase students' autonomy?

OpenAIRE

Chateau , Anne

2008-01-01

International audience; The aim of the digital campus Langues-U (http://www.langues-u.org) was to answer French universities' needs to prepare ESP students for the CLES (Certificat de Compétences en Langues de l'Enseignement Supérieur), providing the students with a self-study pedagogical tool. The online learning environment offers realistic activities and can be used by any learner working alone, either at home or in a language centre. In the form of blended learning the training can combin...

The Role of Facebook in Fostering Transfer Student Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Nehls, Kimberly

2014-01-01

Persistence of transfer students is greatly influenced by academic and social integration at receiving institutions. The purpose of this study was to examine how transfer students and student affairs professionals used Facebook during the initial transition to campus. Findings from 15 different institutional Facebook groups revealed that transfer…

Understanding the psychology of seeking support to increase Health Science student engagement in academic support services. A Practice Report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerard Francis Hoyne

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Increasing student engagement within higher education academic support services is a constant challenge. Whilst engagement with support is positively associated with successful retention, and non-engagement connected to attrition, the most vulnerable students are often the least likely to engage. Our data has shown that Health Science students are reluctant to engage with academic support services despite being made aware of their academic deficiencies. The “psychology of seeking support” was used as a lens to identify some of the multifaceted issues around student engagement. The School of Health Sciences made attendance at support courses compulsory for those students who were below the benchmark score in a post entrance literacy test. Since the policy change was implemented, there has been a 50% reduction in the fail rate of “at risk” students in a core literacy unit. These findings are encouraging and will help reduce student attrition in the long term.

[Significant increase in the colonisation of Staphylococcus aureus among medical students during their hospital practices].

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Avial, Carmen; Alvarez-Novoa, Andrea; Losa, Azucena; Picazo, Juan J

2013-10-01

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogen of major concern. The emergence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) has increasingly complicated the therapeutic approach of hospital-acquired infections. Surveillance of MRSA and control measures must be implemented in different healthcare settings, including screening programs for carriers. Our first aim was to determine the prevalence of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA nasal carriage in medical students from the Clínico San Carlos Hospital (Madrid). As the MRSA carrier rate in healthcare workers is higher than in the general population, we hypothesised that carrier rate could be increased during their clinical practice in their last three years. We performed an epidemiologic al study of the prevalence of S. aureus colonisation among a group of medical students, who were sampled in 2008 in their third-year, and in 2012 when this class was in its sixth year. We have found a significant increase in MSSA carriage, from 27% to 46%. There were no MRSA colonisations in the third-year, but one was found in the sixth-year group. The large majority of strains (89%) of strains were resistant to penicillin, and 27% to erythromycin and clindamycin. As 19 coagulase-negative Staphylococcus MR were also identified, a horizontal transfer of genes, such as mecA gene to S. aureus, could have occurred. Medical students are both, at risk for acquiring, and a potential source of nosocomial pathogens, mainly MSSA. Therefore, they should take special care for hygienic precautions, such as frequent and proper hand washing, while working in the hospital. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Graduate student driven efforts to increase diversity of department lecture series

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, R.; Keisling, B. A.

2017-12-01

It is well documented that women and people of color (and especially women of color) remain underrepresented in the geoscience community. As graduate students we noticed this underrepresentation in our department lecture series. Since 2013, 40% of the invited speakers were women and 5% URM, with the majority of the URM scientists coming to campus for an annual special lecture that highlights the work of black geoscientists. Our goals for the 2017-18 lecture series are the following: 1) to increase the percentage of women speakers from 40% to 50% or higher, 2) to increase the participation of URM scientists from one per year to at least one per semester, 3) to expand the established annual special lecture highlighting contributions from black geoscientists from one lecture to four, and 4) to motivate a department-wide conversation surrounding the issues and significance of inclusion and equity in our departmental geoscience community and beyond. Our focus on gender, race, and ethnicity in diversifying the lecture series unfortunately falls short of capturing the full range of perspectives from groups that are underrepresented as defined by the NSF. We see our work as a first step and hope to encourage more conversations about broader diversity. To accomplish our goals, we will seek advice and counsel from scholars in fields like Sociology and Education, as well as pursue external funding to bolster the budget allocated by our department. As graduate students, it is important for us to envision facets of our peers and ourselves reflected in the perspectives, experiences and narratives of prominent speakers brought to campus. We find it therefore important that our department lecture series, a highly visible venue, be more inclusive and representative. Our efforts show that seeking external support and setting achievable goals can lead to better representation of underrepresented groups in such spaces.

Extracurricular scientific production among medical students has increased in the past decade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech Andersen, Sofie; Østergaard, Lauge; Fosbøl, Philip Loldrup

2015-01-01

Introduction: Undergraduate research among medical students is essential in the education of future physicians and scientists. This study aimed to evaluate the scientific yield of extracurricular undergraduate research among medical students. Methods: Medical students at the University of Copenha...... in cardiology (14.1%). Car - diology was also associated with the greatest scientific yield with a median number of 0.8 publications per year after the students concluded their undergraduate research period. Three or more years after concluding their undergraduate research, 32.8% of the students had continued...... specialty and also the specialty with the greatest scientific yield. A third of the undergraduate re - search students continued doing research in the context of a PhD programme....

Marketing Communications Mix of Universities - Communication With Students in an Increasing Competitive University Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rašticová Martina

2011-09-01

Full Text Available In this period of increasing competition among universities and demographic decline in the Czech Republic, every manager working within the academic sphere must focus on optimizing the marketing activities of tertiary education. The aim of this study is to analyze the methods and styles of marketing communications universities and their faculties use when communicating with prospective students. The paper identifies procedures which help to optimize the choice, combination and connection of elements and activities of the marketing communications mix in relation with prospective students. A semi-structured interview and questionnaire method were used to achieve the research objective. The study concludes by discussing the research outcomes. Also, practical recommendations are discussed and interpreted and proposals are presented for further research into the marketing strategy of Czech universities and their faculties.

Great Men, Great Deeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Tait, Charles W.

1985-01-01

An excellent way to teach history is by focusing on the lives of individual historical figures. History is the story of living persons, who for good or ill have made history as it is. To understand history, students must learn about the men and women who shaped events. (RM)

Twenty Strategies to Increase Student Motivation. Information Capsule. Volume 0907

Science.gov (United States)

Blazer, Christie

2010-01-01

Keeping students interested in school and motivating them to succeed are challenges that even the most experienced teachers face every year. A host of student variables can lead to low levels of motivation, but research indicates that educational settings also influence motivation levels. Some studies have found that motivation is a stronger…

A Model For Teaching Advanced Neuroscience Methods: A Student-Run Seminar to Increase Practical Understanding and Confidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Theresa M; Ching, Christopher R K; Andrews, Anne M

2016-01-01

Neuroscience doctoral students must master specific laboratory techniques and approaches to complete their thesis work (hands-on learning). Due to the highly interdisciplinary nature of the field, learning about a diverse range of methodologies through literature surveys and coursework is also necessary for student success (hands-off learning). Traditional neuroscience coursework stresses what is known about the nervous system with relatively little emphasis on the details of the methods used to obtain this knowledge. Furthermore, hands-off learning is made difficult by a lack of detail in methods sections of primary articles, subfield-specific jargon and vague experimental rationales. We designed a student-taught course to enable first-year neuroscience doctoral students to overcome difficulties in hands-off learning by introducing a new approach to reading and presenting primary research articles that focuses on methodology. In our literature-based course students were encouraged to present a method with which they had no previous experience. To facilitate weekly discussions, "experts" were invited to class sessions. Experts were advanced graduate students who had hands-on experience with the method being covered and served as discussion co-leaders. Self-evaluation worksheets were administered on the first and last days of the 10-week course and used to assess students' confidence in discussing research and methods outside of their primary research expertise. These evaluations revealed that the course significantly increased the students' confidence in reading, presenting and discussing a wide range of advanced neuroscience methods.

Using an alternate reality game to increase physical activity and decrease obesity risk of college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Jeanne D; Massey, Anne P; Marker-Hoffman, Rickie Lee

2012-07-01

This quasi-experimental study investigated a game intervention--specifically, an alternate reality game (ARG)--as a means to influence college students' physical activity (PA). An ARG is an interactive narrative that takes place in the real world and uses multiple media to reveal a story. Three sections of a college health course (n = 115 freshman students) were assigned either to a game group that played the ARG or to a comparison group that learned how to use exercise equipment in weekly laboratory sessions. Pre- and post-intervention measures included weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), percentage body fat (PBF), and self-reported moderate physical activity (MPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA), and PA (steps/week). A significant group x time interaction (p = .001) was detected for PA, with a significant increase in PA for the game (p students--collaborative and social, experiential and media-rich. Our results provide preliminary evidence that a game intervention can positively influence PA within the college student population. © 2012 Diabetes Technology Society.

Understanding "The Great Gatsby" Online: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents.

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, Dalton; Gross, MaryJean

Today, more than 70 years after its publication, the novel "The Great Gatsby" seems as fresh and pertinent to American life as it did in the 1920s. The social, cultural, and historical milieu of the 1920s reflected in its pages is not so very different from that of today. This interdisciplinary collection of commentary and collateral…

Expectations of Parents of First-Year Students regarding Collegiate Teaching and Caring at a Public University

Science.gov (United States)

Spearman, Christina J.

2010-01-01

Parental involvement in higher education has greatly increased, specifically in the last 30 years. Some parents are hyper-involved in their children's lives, and educational leaders often spend almost as much time working with parents as they do students. The body of literature on parental involvement in higher education is limited. Therefore, the…

The Network of International Student Mobility (Working Title)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Voegtle, E.; Windzio, M.

2016-07-01

In a previous paper (see Vögtle and Windzio 2016) we investigated the impact of membership in the Bologna Process on patterns and driving forces of cross-national student mobility. Student exchange flows were analysed for almost all Bologna Process member states and nonBologna OECD members over a ten-year period (from 2000 to 2009). We applied a Social Network Approach focusing on outbound diploma-mobility to identify positions of countries in the network of cross-national student exchange. Based on social network analyses, we first visualized the exchange patterns between sampled countries. In doing so, we analysed the student exchange linkages to gain descriptive insights into the development of the network (see Figure 1). Second, we used Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGM) to test which factors determine patterns of transnational student mobility. The results of this network analyses reveal that cross-national student exchange networks are stable over time. At the core of these networks are the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany; they attract the highest shares of students from the remaining countries in our sample. Moreover, the results of the ERGM demonstrate that homophily between countries determines student exchange patterns. The most relevant ties exist between bordering countries. Moreover, membership in the Bologna Process impacts on mobility patterns, and the effect size increases over the periods investigated. (Author)

Students' Difficulties with Vector Calculus in Electrodynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Bollen, Laurens; van Kampen, Paul; De Cock, Mieke

2015-01-01

Understanding Maxwell's equations in differential form is of great importance when studying the electrodynamic phenomena discussed in advanced electromagnetism courses. It is therefore necessary that students master the use of vector calculus in physical situations. In this light we investigated the difficulties second year students at KU Leuven…

Lessons learned from a great master!

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wagner Seixas da Silva

2015-06-01

critical thinking as early as the their first semester was something revolutionary and very attractive. This teaching strategy was so well accepted that was common to find either students who had already approved the course of Biochemistry or students attending advanced semesters returning to attend the class and to see the beloved teacher once again! In class it was possible to both discuss biochemistry and learn history! To have the classroom invaded by "actors" playing the judgment and beheading of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier over 100 years after his death while discussing his experiments caused a whirlwind of emotions in the students. This was important to sensitize them to the challenges experienced by renowned scientists who paid with their lives to defend their ideas. Thus, students became protagonists of story and the biochemistry classes more interesting and challenging. This challenge was shared by the "actors", who actually were students of the Biological Chemistry program sharing the classroom with the great master. For these graduate students, it was an experience where they raised awareness of the importance of dedication to the teaching of Sciences.Prof. de Meis’ speech where he stated no one owns the truth or all knowledge was another point closing the relationship with the undergraduate students. In the modern world it is nearly impossible to keep yourself up to date, so we ended up specializing in something. De Meis used to cause some perplexity among the students by showing a picture with all copies of a single reputable scientific journal in the biochemistry field published over a year. Surprisingly, this stack of magazines was 1.5 meters tall! Could you imagine that all recent knowledge in biochemistry is compiled in few pages of a textbook? de Meis, then, revealed that we do not know everything, but we do need to learn how to interpret new facts, a new experiment, a new concept, a new technique, a new discovery. We need to develop critical thinking to

Great Lakes Science Center

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Since 1927, Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) research has provided critical information for the sound management of Great Lakes fish populations and other important...

Institutional Ethos: Replicating the Student Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Cynthia Howman

2011-01-01

International branch campuses (IBCs) have been established in significant numbers over the past ten years. A common criticism of IBCs is that they cannot recreate the student culture of the home campus. While this is true, some IBCs have gone to great lengths not only to create a comparable culture for their students, but also to integrate their…

Scaling Up: Adapting a Phage-Hunting Course to Increase Participation of First-Year Students in Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Staub, Nancy L; Poxleitner, Marianne; Braley, Amanda; Smith-Flores, Helen; Pribbenow, Christine M; Jaworski, Leslie; Lopatto, David; Anders, Kirk R

2016-01-01

Authentic research experiences are valuable components of effective undergraduate education. Research experiences during the first years of college are especially critical to increase persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) model provides a high-impact research experience to first-year students but is usually available to a limited number of students, and its implementation is costly in faculty time and laboratory space. To offer a research experience to all students taking introductory biology at Gonzaga University (n = 350/yr), we modified the traditional two-semester SEA-PHAGES course by streamlining the first-semester Phage Discovery lab and integrating the second SEA-PHAGES semester into other courses in the biology curriculum. Because most students in the introductory course are not biology majors, the Phage Discovery semester may be their only encounter with research. To discover whether students benefit from the first semester alone, we assessed the effects of the one-semester Phage Discovery course on students' understanding of course content. Specifically, students showed improvement in knowledge of bacteriophages, lab math skills, and understanding experimental design and interpretation. They also reported learning gains and benefits comparable with other course-based research experiences. Responses to open-ended questions suggest that students experienced this course as a true undergraduate research experience. © 2016 N. L. Staub et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Career motivations, perceptions of the future of dentistry and preferred dental specialties among saudi dental students.

Science.gov (United States)

Halawany, Hassan S

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the career motivations, perceptions of the future of dentistry and preferred postgraduate specialties of Saudi dental students. A pretested, self-administered, 16-item questionnaire was distributed to first- through fifth-year dental students at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and the level of significance was set at 5%. Of the 530 potential participants, 329 students (198 male and 131 female respondents) completed the questionnaire. High professional status (71.4%), a secure career (67.8%), a high income (78.1%), flexible working hours (54.4%), a wide range of career options after graduation (59.3%), opportunities for self-employment (69.3%) and good job opportunities abroad (65.3%) were endorsed to a great/considerable extent by the respondents. "It takes time to establish a practice" (62.3%), "Postgraduate education is a necessity" (72.4%) and "The increasing number of dental institutions is a threat to the profession" (59.3%) were endorsed to a great or considerable extent by the respondents. The most popular specialty among the male students was oral maxillofacial surgery (20.1%) and among female students was operative dentistry (23.4%). The career motivations of this group of dental students seemed to relate to socioeconomic aspects of dentistry and perceptions of the future of dentistry seemed to relate to the need for postgraduate education.

Student Privacy and Educational Data Mining: Perspectives from Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Sabourin, Jennifer; Kosturko, Lucy; FitzGerald, Clare; McQuiggan, Scott

2015-01-01

While the field of educational data mining (EDM) has generated many innovations for improving educational software and student learning, the mining of student data has recently come under a great deal of scrutiny. Many stakeholder groups, including public officials, media outlets, and parents, have voiced concern over the privacy of student data…

Citizen Science- Lessons learned from non-science majors involved in Globe at Night and the Great Worldwide Star Count

Science.gov (United States)

Browning, S.

2011-12-01

Non-science majors often misunderstand the process of science, potentially leading to a fear or mistrust of scientific inquiry and current scientific theory. Citizen science projects are a critical means of reaching this audience, as many will only take a limited number of science courses during their undergraduate careers. For the past three years, our freshman Earth Science students have participated in both Globe at Night and the Great Worldwide Star Count, citizen science programs that encourage simple astronomical observations which can be compiled globally to investigate a number of issues. Our focus has been introducing students to the effect of light pollution on observational astronomy in an effort to highlight the effect of increasing urbanization in the U.S. on amateur astronomy. These programs, although focused on astronomy, often awaken natural curiosity about the Earth and man's effect on the natural world, a concept that can easily be translated to other areas of Earth science. Challenges encountered include content specific issues, such as misinterpreting the location or magnitude of the constellation being observed, as well as student disinterest or apathy if the project is not seen as being vital to their performance in the course. This presentation reports on lessons learned in the past three years, and offers suggestions for engaging these students more fully in future projects.

Increasing URM Undergraduate Student Success through Assessment-Driven Interventions: A Multiyear Study Using Freshman-Level General Biology as a Model System

Science.gov (United States)

Carmichael, Mary C.; St. Clair, Candace; Edwards, Andrea M.; Barrett, Peter; McFerrin, Harris; Davenport, Ian; Awad, Mohamed; Kundu, Anup; Ireland, Shubha Kale

2016-01-01

Xavier University of Louisiana leads the nation in awarding BS degrees in the biological sciences to African-American students. In this multiyear study with ∼5500 participants, data-driven interventions were adopted to improve student academic performance in a freshman-level general biology course. The three hour-long exams were common and administered concurrently to all students. New exam questions were developed using Bloom’s taxonomy, and exam results were analyzed statistically with validated assessment tools. All but the comprehensive final exam were returned to students for self-evaluation and remediation. Among other approaches, course rigor was monitored by using an identical set of 60 questions on the final exam across 10 semesters. Analysis of the identical sets of 60 final exam questions revealed that overall averages increased from 72.9% (2010) to 83.5% (2015). Regression analysis demonstrated a statistically significant correlation between high-risk students and their averages on the 60 questions. Additional analysis demonstrated statistically significant improvements for at least one letter grade from midterm to final and a 20% increase in the course pass rates over time, also for the high-risk population. These results support the hypothesis that our data-driven interventions and assessment techniques are successful in improving student retention, particularly for our academically at-risk students. PMID:27543637

Urgency of increasing the quantity and quality of student creativity program

Science.gov (United States)

Sarmini; Prasetya, Ketut; Nadiroh, Ulin

2018-01-01

Student creativity is very important to improve the quality and quantity. The purpose of this paper is to identify the quality and quantity of the Student Creativity Program. The method in this research is exploratory study. The subjects taken are the leaders of deans and vice deans at the State University of Surabaya. Data collection techniques used are kusioner. The result of this research is creativity program in student is very important. Not only improve the quality and quantity of creativity, but also affect the image of the institution. It is necessary to have written rules on the regulations on the Student Creativity Program and to take a comprehensive and comprehensive approach, and to organize the budget is the main thing.

INCREASE PRESSURE IN CONTAINER WITH BALLOONS INSIDE: PREDICTIONS AND STUDENT EXPLANATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ladislao Romero-Bojórquez

2014-07-01

Full Text Available From a Predict, Observe, Explain (POE strategy, students’ existing ideas are explored to promote a conceptual change as a process of meaningful learning. The study population included 140 students from the 2nd common term of College, at the Faculty of Chemical and Biological Sciences of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Mexico. A mixed questionnaire with open–ended and multiple choice questions was used; asking students to justify their answers, with the alternative to support them with drawings. Students responded while attended an experimental demonstration. The questionnaire involves activities of metacognition and cognitive conflict, managing to make students aware of scientific misconceptions, and to adopt attitudes that facilitate their understanding, influencing a significant conceptual change in this study population.

Increasing the Use of Student-Centered Pedagogies from Moderate to High Improves Student Learning and Attitudes about Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Connell, Georgianne L; Donovan, Deborah A; Chambers, Timothy G

2016-01-01

Student-centered strategies are being incorporated into undergraduate classrooms in response to a call for reform. We tested whether teaching in an extensively student-centered manner (many active-learning pedagogies, consistent formative assessment, cooperative groups; the Extensive section) was more effective than teaching in a moderately student-centered manner (fewer active-learning pedagogies, less formative assessment, without groups; the Moderate section) in a large-enrollment course. One instructor taught both sections of Biology 101 during the same quarter, covering the same material. Students in the Extensive section had significantly higher mean scores on course exams. They also scored significantly higher on a content postassessment when accounting for preassessment score and student demographics. Item response theory analysis supported these results. Students in the Extensive section had greater changes in postinstruction abilities compared with students in the Moderate section. Finally, students in the Extensive section exhibited a statistically greater expert shift in their views about biology and learning biology. We suggest our results are explained by the greater number of active-learning pedagogies experienced by students in cooperative groups, the consistent use of formative assessment, and the frequent use of explicit metacognition in the Extensive section. © 2016 G. L. Connell, D. A. Donovan, and T. G. Chambers. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Teacher Research Programs = Increased Student Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Dubner, J.

2011-12-01

Columbia University's Summer Research Program for Science Teachers (SRP), founded in 1990, is one of the largest, best known university professional development programs for science teachers in the U.S. For eight weeks in each of two consecutive summers, teachers participate as a member of a research team, led by a member of Columbia University's research faculty. In addition to the laboratory experience, all teachers meet weekly during the summer for a series of pedagogical activities to assist them in transferring the experience to their classrooms. The primary goal of the program is to provide K-12 science teachers with opportunities to work at the cutting edge of science and engineering, and thus to revitalize their teaching and help them to appreciate the use of inquiry-based methods in their classroom instruction. The secondary goals of the program are to give the pre-college teacher the ability to guide their students toward careers in science and engineering, to develop new teaching strategies, and to foster long-term scholarly collaborations. The last is especially important as it leads to a model of the teacher as active in science yet committed to the pre-college classroom. Since its inception, SRP has focused on an objective assessment of the program's impact on attitudes and instructional practices of participating teachers, on the performance of these teachers in their mentors' laboratories, and most importantly, on the impact of their participation in the program has on student interest and performance in science. Our research resulted in a paper published in the journal Science. SRP also facilitates a multi-site survey-based evaluation of other teacher research programs around the country. The author will present the findings of both studies.

Increasing student engagement in science through field-based research: University of Idaho's WoW STEMcore Program

Science.gov (United States)

Squires, A. L.; Boylan, R. D.; Rittenburg, R.; Boll, J.; Allan, P.

2013-12-01

A recent statewide survey assessing STEM perceptions in Idaho showed that high school student interest in science and preparation for college are declining. To address this decline we are piloting an interdisciplinary, community and field-based water science education approach for 10th - 12th grade science courses during the 2013-14 school year called WoW STEMcore. The program is led by graduate students in the University of Idaho (UI) Waters of the West (WoW) program. Our methods are based on proven best practices from eight years of NSF GK-12 experience at UI and over a decade of GK-12 experience at more than 300 programs in the U.S. WoW STEMcore works to strengthen partnerships between WoW graduate students, high school teachers, and regional organizations that work on natural resource management or place-based science education with the intent of sustaining and merging efforts to increase scientific literacy among high school students and to better prepare them for higher education. In addition, graduate students gain outreach, education and communication experience and teachers are exposed to new and relevant research content and methods. WoW STEMcore is fostering these partnerships through water themed projects at three northern Idaho high schools. The pilot program will culminate in Spring 2014 with a regional Water Summit in which all participating students and partners will converge at a two-day youth scientific conference and competition where they can showcase their research and the skills they gained over the course of the year. We hypothesize that through a graduate student-led, field-based program that gets students out of the classroom and thinking about water resource issues in their communities, we will 1) fuel high school students' interest in science through hands on and inquiry-based pedagogy and 2) improve preparation for higher education by providing graduate student mentors to discuss the pathway from high school to college to a career. In

Information and communication strategies for increasing information literacy in students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haddadian, F

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The study reviews the effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT on learning and information literacy of students. Experimental method involving experimental and control groups was used. Pre-test and post-test were run to investigate the effectiveness of ICT. The statistical population of the research consisted of all male third year students of middle school (school year 89-90 in the city of Arak. After pre-certification testing and applying random cluster sampling, 64 students were selected and placed into two experimental and control groups. Data collection instruments were Educational Improvement Test and Standardized Information Literacy Questionnaire. Collected data were analysed using analysis of covariance method, t-test, and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test. Findings showed that general hypotheses of the research were true: ICT has a significant effect on learning rate of students, and there is a significant difference between the experimental group and control group regarding information literacy and its features. Based on the results of this study, we recommend educational authorities to apply ICT in educational canters in order to improve students’ learning and educational quality.

Native plant development and restoration program for the Great Basin, USA

Science.gov (United States)

N. L. Shaw; M. Pellant; P. Olweli; S. L. Jensen; E. D. McArthur

2008-01-01

The Great Basin Native Plant Selection and Increase Project, organized by the USDA Bureau of Land Management, Great Basin Restoration Initiative and the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station in 2000 as a multi-agency collaborative program (http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/boise/research/shrub/greatbasin.shtml), has the objective of improving the availability of...

Impact of Interventions to Increase the Proportion of Medical Students Choosing a Primary Care Career: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfarrwaller, Eva; Sommer, Johanna; Chung, Christopher; Maisonneuve, Hubert; Nendaz, Mathieu; Junod Perron, Noëlle; Haller, Dagmar M

2015-09-01

Increasing the attractiveness of primary care careers is a key step in addressing the growing shortage of primary care physicians. The purpose of this review was to (1) identify interventions aimed at increasing the proportion of undergraduate medical students choosing a primary care specialty, (2) describe the characteristics of these interventions, (3) assess the quality of the studies, and (4) compare the findings to those of a previous literature review within a global context. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, ERIC, CINAHL, PsycINFO, The Cochrane Library, and Dissertations & Theses A&I for articles published between 1993 and February 20, 2015. We included quantitative and qualitative studies reporting on primary care specialty choice outcomes of interventions in the undergraduate medical curriculum, without geographic restrictions. Data extracted included study characteristics, intervention details, and relevant outcomes. Studies were assessed for quality and strength of findings using a five-point scale. The review included 72 articles reporting on 66 different interventions. Longitudinal programs were the only intervention consistently associated with an increased proportion of students choosing primary care. Successful interventions were characterized by diverse teaching formats, student selection, and good-quality teaching. Study quality had not improved since recommendations were published in 1995. Many studies used cross-sectional designs and non-validated surveys, did not include control groups, and were not based on a theory or conceptual framework. Our review supports the value of longitudinal, multifaceted, primary care programs to increase the proportion of students choosing primary care specialties. Isolated modules or clerkships did not appear to be effective. Our results are in line with the conclusions from previous reviews and add an international perspective, but the evidence is limited by the overall low methodological quality of the included

Increasing access of female students to vocational education : a study of the Agricultural School LAMS, Benin

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bio Yara, O.G.J.P.

2008-01-01

This research sets out to identify the factors that are enforcing gender inequality and influencing the increase of access of female students to vocational education. The study specifically sought to explore the external and internal factors influencing access of girls to agricultural education in

Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Edsall, Thomas A.; Mac, Michael J.; Opler, Paul A.; Puckett Haecker, Catherine E.; Doran, Peter D.

1998-01-01

The Great Lakes region, as defined here, includes the Great Lakes and their drainage basins in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. The region also includes the portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the 21 northernmost counties of Illinois that lie in the Mississippi River drainage basin, outside the floodplain of the river. The region spans about 9º of latitude and 20º of longitude and lies roughly halfway between the equator and the North Pole in a lowland corridor that extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean.The Great Lakes are the most prominent natural feature of the region (Fig. 1). They have a combined surface area of about 245,000 square kilometers and are among the largest, deepest lakes in the world. They are the largest single aggregation of fresh water on the planet (excluding the polar ice caps) and are the only glacial feature on Earth visible from the surface of the moon (The Nature Conservancy 1994a).The Great Lakes moderate the region’s climate, which presently ranges from subarctic in the north to humid continental warm in the south (Fig. 2), reflecting the movement of major weather masses from the north and south (U.S. Department of the Interior 1970; Eichenlaub 1979). The lakes act as heat sinks in summer and heat sources in winter and are major reservoirs that help humidify much of the region. They also create local precipitation belts in areas where air masses are pushed across the lakes by prevailing winds, pick up moisture from the lake surface, and then drop that moisture over land on the other side of the lake. The mean annual frost-free period—a general measure of the growing-season length for plants and some cold-blooded animals—varies from 60 days at higher elevations in the north to 160 days in lakeshore areas in the south. The climate influences the general distribution of wild plants and animals in the region and also influences the activities and distribution of the human

International design competition - Formula student Germany; Internationaler Konstruktionswettbewerb - Formula Student Germany

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Basshuysen, R. van; Siebenpfeiffer, W. (eds.)

2007-11-15

Following its great success last year, Formula Student Germany made an even more impressive impact at the second competition held at the Hockenheimring in 2007. This time, 1400 students from 14 nations came together to present the results of their development work to 5000 visitors and sponsors. At the end, the competition was won by the team from the University of Stuttgart - and ATZ/MTZ would like to congratulate them on their victory. The special character of Formula Student, however, means that everyone has something to celebrate. The enthusiasm and commitment of the teams not only resulted in exciting racing cars and innovative overall designs but also in a fantastic atmosphere. (orig.)

International Students' Networks: A Case Study in a UK University

Science.gov (United States)

Taha, Nashrawan; Cox, Andrew

2016-01-01

The great influx of international students into UK universities has led to internationalisation becoming an important issue. Previous studies have focused on the integration of home and international students, illustrating a lack of intercultural interaction. Yet there has been a lack of research investigating international students' networks and…

Tapping into the teaching experiences of final year education students to increase support for students in their first year

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gretchen Geng

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the mentorship of pairing first year and final year teacher education students during their school placements or practicum. Participating students were studied using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA approach and undertaking Perceived Stress Scale (PSS to interpret their experience and their stress levels in the peer mentorship program. This peer mentoring program offered benefits for the first year education students by reducing their stress levels significantly and providing reassurance about their performance during school practicum. It also prepared the final year students for taking on teacher mentor roles. While the student mentorship program cannot replace the support provided by schools and universities, it does offer first year students reassurance as to their practical teaching abilities and performance. In addition, this study provides several perspectives on student mentorship during teaching practicum that are worthy of further research.

Increasing student diversity and cultural competence as part of Loma Linda University School of Dentistry's service mission.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnett, Margie R; Forde, Ron

2012-06-01

For many years, studies have identified a need for greater racial and ethnic diversity among dental professionals. However, the ability of the field to collectively address the problem has been hindered by the low numbers of underrepresented minority students who apply to dental school. Over the past two decades, college attendance rates have increased and U.S. dental school applications have tripled, but the number of underrepresented minority dental applicants has remained about the same. With the increasing diversity of the U.S. population and specifically that of the state of California, the dental workforce would be enhanced by the presence of more underrepresented minority dentists. Additionally, curricular changes should be implemented to better prepare dental students to meet the oral health care needs of diverse populations. There is general agreement that these workforce and curricular changes would enhance access to care for underserved populations. For seven years, Loma Linda University School of Dentistry participated in the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental Education program. The first phase of this national program addressed deficiencies in diversity in dentistry and in access to oral health care. In the second phase, Loma Linda University continued to collaborate with other California dental schools on specific state initiatives. This article provides an overview of the school's efforts to enroll a more diverse student body, enhance all its students' cultural competence, and expand care to underserved populations.

The implementation of discovery learning model based on lesson study to increase student's achievement in colloid

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Suyanti, Retno Dwi; Purba, Deby Monika

2017-03-01

The objectives of this research are to get the increase student's achievement on the discovery learning model based on lesson study. Beside of that, this research also conducted to know the cognitive aspect. This research was done in three school that are SMA N 3 Medan. Population is all the students in SMA N 11 Medan which taken by purposive random sampling. The research instruments are achievement test instruments that have been validated. The research data analyzed by statistic using Ms Excell. The result data shows that the student's achievement taught by discovery learning model based on Lesson study higher than the student's achievement taught by direct instructional method. It can be seen from the average of gain and also proved with t-test, the normalized gain in experimental class of SMA N 11 is (0.74±0.12) and control class (0.45±0.12), at significant level α = 0.05, Ha is received and Ho is refused where tcount>ttable in SMA N 11 (9.81>1,66). Then get the improvement cognitive aspect from three of school is C2 where SMA N 11 is 0.84(high). Then the observation sheet result of lesson study from SMA N 11 92 % of student working together while 67% less in active using media.

Top Textbooks on Reserve: Creating, Promoting, and Assessing a Program to Help Meet Students' Need for Affordable Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Hilary H.; Cotton, Jennifer E. M.

2017-01-01

In Fall 2014 the University of Maryland Libraries launched a textbook reserves program to help relieve the burden of high textbook costs on students. Although its initial performance was lackluster, workflow refinements and expanded promotion greatly improved usage, resulting in a tenfold increase in circulation and expansion of the program. This…

Fully Integrating Academic Advising with Career Coaching to Increase Student Retention, Graduation Rates and Future Job Satisfaction: An Industry Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Tudor, Thomas R.

2018-01-01

Higher education institutions in the United States are under increasing pressure to retain and graduate more students. Traditionally, the academic advisor helps students to meet degree graduation requirements and may also do some minor career advising. A new approach is proposed, in which career coaching with industry help becomes just as…

Increasing Student Engagement, Self-Efficacy, and Meta-Cognitive Self-Regulation in the High School Geometry Classroom: Do iPads Help?

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Perry, David R.; Steck, Andy K.

2015-01-01

Teachers are increasingly integrating mobile digital technology into the classroom. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of incorporating iPads in a secondary-level geometry course on academic achievement, student engagement, self-efficacy, and meta-cognitive self-regulation. Students in the iPad-using classroom experienced lower…

Comparison of oral health behavior among dental students, students of other disciplines, and fashion models in Switzerland.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirchhoff, Julien; Filippi, Andreas

Self-reliant oral health behavior exert great influence on the oral health of our society. The aim of the present study was to find out whether there is an occupation-related difference in the oral health behavior between dental students, students of other disciplines, and fashion models in German-speaking Switzerland. The survey comprised 19 questions which were asked using a web-based anonymous questionnaire. The investigation particularly inquired about employed auxiliaries and their application for an improvement of oral hygiene. In addition, the satisfaction with the own teeth and smile as well as the influence of the occupation or the study on oral hygiene were examined. Included in this evaluation were 204 dental students, 257 students of other disciplines, and 117 fashion models aged between 21 and 25 years. The evaluation reveals that the state of knowledge and the professional relationship affect the practice of oral hygiene, in particular among dental students. Fashion models, however, are most intensively concerned with body care and oral hygiene. Their attention is directed particularly to means supposed to improve the smile as well as to ensure fresh breath. Dental students and fashion models constitute a selected minority clearly demarcated from students of other disciplines regarding a higher awareness of self-reliant oral hygiene. The comparatively minor rating of oral health in a group of basically well-trained individuals suggests great need of educational work in the general population.

Credit spread variability in U.S. business cycles: the Great Moderation versus the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Hylton Hollander; Guangling Liu

2014-01-01

This paper establishes the prevailing financial factors that influence credit spread variability, and its impact on the U.S. business cycle over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods. To do so, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium framework with a central role of financial intermediation and equity assets. Over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods, we find an important role for bank market power (sticky rate adjustments and loan rate markups) on credit spread variab...

Credit spread variability in U.S. business cycles: The Great Moderation versus the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Hylton Hollander and Guangling Liu

2014-01-01

This paper establishes the prevailing financial factors that influence credit spread variability, and its impact on the U.S. business cycle over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods. To do so, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium framework with a central role of financial intermediation and equity assets. Over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods, we find an important role for bank market power (sticky rate adjustments and loan rate markups) on credit spread variab...

Does private tutoring increase students' academic performance? Evidence from Turkey

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Berberoğlu, Giray; Tansel, Aysit

2014-10-01

This paper investigates the effectiveness of private tutoring in Turkey. The authors introduce their study by providing some background information on the two major national examinations and three different kinds of tutoring. They then describe how they aimed to analyse whether attending private tutoring centres (PTCs) enhances Turkish students' academic performance. By way of multiple linear regression analysis, their study sought to evaluate whether the impact of private tutoring varies in different subject areas, taking into account several student-related characteristics such as family and academic backgrounds as well as interest in and perception of academic success. In terms of subject areas, the results indicate that while private tutoring does have a positive impact on academic performance in mathematics and Turkish language, this is not the case in natural sciences. However, as evidenced by the effect sizes, these impacts are rather small compared to the impacts of other variables such as interest in and perception of academic success, high school graduation fields of study, high school cumulative grade point average (CGPA), parental education and students' sociocultural background. While the authors point out that more research on the impact of further important variables needs to be done, their view is that school seems to be an important factor for determining students' academic performance.

Nursing students' critical thinking disposition according to academic level and satisfaction with nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dong Hee; Moon, Seongmi; Kim, Eun Jung; Kim, Young-Ju; Lee, Sunhee

2014-01-01

The development of critical thinking dispositions has become an important issue in nursing education in Korea. Nursing colleges in Korea have developed teaching strategies and curricula that focus on developing critical thinking dispositions. It is an imperative step that evaluates the changing pattern and development of students' critical thinking dispositions. This study identified critical thinking dispositions of Korean nursing students according to academic level and satisfaction with nursing. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 1074 students in four colleges who completed the self-reported Critical Thinking Disposition Scale. Descriptive and univariate general linear model analyses were performed. The critical thinking disposition score increased according to academic level until junior year, after which it decreased in the senior year. Nursing students who were satisfied with nursing reported higher levels of critical thinking than those who were not satisfied or who responded neutrally. The critical thinking scores of nursing students not satisfied with nursing dropped greatly in the senior year. These results suggest the importance of targeting the development of curriculum and teaching methods for seniors and students who have a lower level of satisfaction with nursing to increase their critical thinking dispositions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predicting Great Lakes fish yields: tools and constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, C.A.; Schupp, D.H.; Taylor, W.W.; Collins, J.J.; Hatch, Richard W.

1987-01-01

Prediction of yield is a critical component of fisheries management. The development of sound yield prediction methodology and the application of the results of yield prediction are central to the evolution of strategies to achieve stated goals for Great Lakes fisheries and to the measurement of progress toward those goals. Despite general availability of species yield models, yield prediction for many Great Lakes fisheries has been poor due to the instability of the fish communities and the inadequacy of available data. A host of biological, institutional, and societal factors constrain both the development of sound predictions and their application to management. Improved predictive capability requires increased stability of Great Lakes fisheries through rehabilitation of well-integrated communities, improvement of data collection, data standardization and information-sharing mechanisms, and further development of the methodology for yield prediction. Most important is the creation of a better-informed public that will in turn establish the political will to do what is required.

Great Expectations? Variation in Educational Plans of Students in Post-Socialist Eastern Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Chykina, Volha; Chung, Hee Jin; Bodovski, Katerina

2016-01-01

Using all available waves of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) from 1995 to 2011, this study examines the factors influencing educational expectations of students in five Eastern European countries (Hungary, Lithuania, the Russian Federation, Romania, and Slovenia). We consistently find across countries and waves…

A student's perspective: are medical students adequately trained in BLS?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oyewole T

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Tobi Oyewole,1 Folashade Oyewole2 1University of Liverpool – The School of Medicine, Liverpool, 2Imperial College London, London, UK We read with great interest the article by Lami et al regarding improving basic life support (BLS training for medical students.1 We agree that BLS skills are vital for junior doctors. The days of trial by fire have long gone away, and junior doctors and medical students need to feel that they are adequately trained to handle emergency situations they may face in hospital.  Read the original article

Point-of-view writing: A method for increasing medical students' empathy, identification and expression of emotion, and insight.

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro, Johanna; Rucker, Lloyd; Boker, John; Lie, Desiree

2006-03-01

Although interest exists among medical educators in using writing that reflects on clinical experience to enhance medical students' communication skills, empathy, and overall professionalism, little empirical research documents the value of this approach. This study explored whether students trained in one type of writing would first demonstrate increased awareness of emotional aspects of a clinical encounter in their writing; and second, be evaluated more positively in an OSCE situation by standardized patients. Ninety-two students were assigned to either a point-of-view writing or a clinical reasoning condition as part of a second year doctoring course. At the end of the year, students were evaluated in an OSCE format on 3 cases, and completed a writing assignment about an ER death from cardiac arrest. Student essays were scored according to presence or absence of various themes. A linguistic analysis of the essays was also performed. Point-of-view and clinical reasoning group scores were compared on both measures, as well as on the standardized patient OSCE ratings. Students trained in point-of-view writing demonstrated significantly more awareness of emotional and spiritual aspects of a paper case in a writing assignment than did students trained in clinical reasoning. By contrast, students in the clinical reasoning group were more likely to distance from the scenario. The two groups did not differ on SP OSCE ratings. Training in point-of-view writing can improve medical students' written skills on certain affective dimensions. It is not clear that these skills can translate into clinical behavior.

Perceptions and Expectations of Medical Students towards the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Students are the primary customers of high education service, and are becoming more aware of their consumer rights and of gaps between their ... This large gap constitutes a great challenge to the administrators and educational policy makers, who are recommended to consider students feedback as a quality ...

Enhancing the learning experience of embryology for medical students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patel CR

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Chandni Rajesh Patel, Aryan Maleki, Sagar KulkarniFaculty of Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UKWe read with great interest the paper by Kazzazi and Bartlett demonstrating the ability to successfully teach a 2-hour embryology program to first-year medical students in a chronological systems-based manner.1 Birth defects are a leading cause of infant mortality, accounting for around 25% of infant deaths,2 justifying the inclusion of embryological education into medical training. As medical students in our clinical years, we have experienced firsthand the use of text and static images to teach embryology in our increasingly crowded curriculum. However, unlike topics such as anatomy that require more factual recall, embryology necessitates a deeper understanding of the physiological processes. Accordingly, teaching styles should reflect this difference as students might struggle to adapt to an unfamiliar form of learning.View the original paper by Kazzazi and Bartlett.

HOW SFG INCREASE STUDENTS ABILITY TO PRODUCE AND ANALYSE TEXT MEDIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abd. Ghofur

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This article explores the use of Systemic Functional Grammar for students of english language teaching entitled Analysing Media Texts. This is aims at assisting students to produce their own texts and to help them develop an understanding of the linguistic choices they make. Students are introduced to the key principles of CDA and to Halliday’s SFG to provide them with tools to assist them to understand the social and constructed nature of discourses, especially those typically found in media texts. This article focuses on students’ interpretation of media texts, their ability to read with greater understanding and to apply key concepts that they had learnt to their analyses. The students demonstrated clearly that they had developed an understanding of CDA, acquired the basic metalanguage necessary for Hallidayan analysis and some of them could produce much more rigorous textual analyses than before.

The Use of Facebook as a Tool to Increase the Interest of Undergraduate Students in Physiology in an Interdisciplinary Way

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva de Vargas, Liane; Soares de Lara, Marcus Vinícius; Gonçalves, Rithiele; Souto das Neves, Ben-Hur; Mello-Carpes, Pâmela Billig

2014-01-01

The process of teaching and learning at the undergraduate level is challenged by an increasing amount of content. Now it's not enough to convey knowledge; it's also necessary to seek alternative ways to motivate and capture the interest of students both during class and outside of class. Currently, social networks are popular among students and…

Open Textbooks and Increased Student Access and Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Feldstein, Andrew; Martin, Mirta; Hudson, Amy; Warren, Kiara; Hilton, John, III; Wiley, David

2012-01-01

This study reports findings from a year-long pilot study during which 991 students in 9 core courses in the Virginia State University School of Business replaced traditional textbooks with openly licensed books and other digital content. The university made a deliberate decision to use open textbooks that were copyrighted under the Creative…

[Medical students and psychiatry. A survey of students' opinion].

Science.gov (United States)

Giberti, F; Corsini, G; Rovida, S

1994-06-01

In the last years research on the didactics of Psychiatry and opinions of medical students on Psychiatry has gained great interest. The authors think that this research could be useful for the improvement of didactics, for better understanding the meanings of professional choice, the identity of psychiatrist and their relationship with colleagues in other medical field. The goal of this research work was a preliminary survey of Genoese University Medical Student's opinions about psychiatry didactics, and choice of specialization. A questionnaire was submitted to all the students who passed Clinical Psychiatry examination in the period from November 1987 to December 1988. The students were divided in two randomized groups: the first group of students (224) was submitted to the questionnaire immediately after Clinical Psychiatry examination; while to the second group of students (66) the questionnaire was mailed. The aim of the questions was to assess the student's opinions on psychiatry, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, the career they wanted to take up, and the difficulties of studying psychiatry: 69% of the students of the first group and 42% of the students of the second group answered the questionnaire. Female students answered that they preferred psychiatric specialization more than their male colleagues did, but the difference has no statistical importance. In most cases, the students who answered that they have taken into account psychiatry as a choice of specialisation, are more interested in medical specialties (primary care, etc.) than in surgical specialties. Most of the medical students declare some emotional troubles (anxiety, sleeplessness, problem in social relations).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Leading Inclusive Reform for Students with Disabilities: A School- and Systemwide Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Theoharis, George; Causton, Julie

2014-01-01

It is of great importance to maximize access to general education for all students with disabilities. This article focuses on how leaders create inclusive schools for all students--inclusive school reform. Inclusive school reform can result in all students with disabilities being placed into general education settings (including students with…

What Effective Principals Do to Improve Instruction and Increase Student Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Elizabeth Anne

2013-01-01

The purposes of this mixed method study were to (a) Examine the relationships among principal effectiveness, principal instructional leadership, and student achievement; (b) examine the differences among principal effectiveness, principal instructional leadership and student achievement; and (c) investigate what effective principals do to improve…

Question answer relationship strategy increases reading comprehension among Kindergarten students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leena Furtado

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The Question Answer Relationship (QAR strategy equips students with tools to successfully decode and comprehend what they read. An action research project over 18 days with twenty-three kindergarteners adapted exposure to QAR’s "In the Book" and "In my Head" categories with similar questions for each of two popular Aesop’s fables. The challenges and outcomes are presented with special emphasis on teacher-preparation, teacher-reflections, and a hands-on, day-by-day project-implementation. An oral pre-test, after reading The Tortoise and the Hare, served as a baseline assessment for student-comprehension levels. The QAR strategy was then explicitly taught, with opportunities to practice the comprehension skills in small and large groups with parental assistance. Students overwhelmingly scored higher on the post-test reading comprehension after the read-aloud of The Jay and the Peacock with some receiving perfect scores.

Increasing fruit and vegetable intake among male university students in an ad libitum buffet setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kongsbak, Ida; Skov, Laurits Rohden; Køpke Nielsen, Brit

2016-01-01

one-day lunch meal study was conducted in a FoodScape Laboratory where an Intelligent Buffet was used to register the exact weight of each meal component self-served by each participant. A convenience sample of 65 men was divided to a control group (n= 32) and an intervention group (n= 33). The choice......-served fruit and vegetables and decrease consumption of other meal components among male university students. Such simple choice architecture interventions could be used as a supplement to already existing strategies in the promotion of healthy eating....... due to the complexity of determinants for food choices and more research is therefore needed. This study assessed the of a choice architectural intervention aimed at reducing energy density of meals consumed by male university students, by proportionally increasing their vegetable consumption.A single...

Stroke-attributable death among older persons during the great recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Falconi, April; Gemmill, Alison; Karasek, Deborah; Goodman, Julia; Anderson, Beth; Lee, Murray; Bellows, Benjamin; Catalano, Ralph

2016-05-01

Epidemiological evidence indicates an elevated risk for stroke among stressed persons, in general, and among individuals who have lost their job, in particular. We, therefore, tested the hypothesis that stroke accounted for a larger fraction of deaths during the Great Recession than expected from other deaths and from trends, cycles, and other forms of autocorrelation. Based on vital statistics death data from California spanning 132 months from January 2000 through December 2010, we found support for the hypothesis. These findings appear attributable to non-Hispanic white men, who experienced a 5% increase in their monthly odds of stroke-attributable death. Total mortality in this group, however, did not increase. Findings suggest that 879 deaths among older white men shifted from other causes to stroke during the 36 months following the start of the Great Recession. We infer the Great Recession may have affected social, biologic, and behavioral risk factors that altered the life histories of older white men in ways that shifted mortality risk toward stroke. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Restraint use by car occupants: Great Britain, 1982-91.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broughton, J.

1992-01-01

One of the major developments in road safety in Great Britain during the last decade has been the increasing use of seat belts by people travelling in cars. This has been achieved by legislation, with supporting publicity.

Discovering Student Web Usage Profiles Using Markov Chains

Science.gov (United States)

Marques, Alice; Belo, Orlando

2011-01-01

Nowadays, Web based platforms are quite common in any university, supporting a very diversified set of applications and services. Ranging from personal management to student evaluation processes, Web based platforms are doing a great job providing a very flexible way of working, promote student enrolment, and making access to academic information…

From Good to Great: Exemplary Teachers Share Perspectives on Increasing Teacher Effectiveness across the Career Continuum

Science.gov (United States)

Behrstock-Sherratt, Ellen; Bassett, Katherine; Olson, Derek; Jacques, Catherine

2014-01-01

For well over a decade, teachers have been recognized as the single most important school-level factor influencing student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000; McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz, & Hamilton, 2003; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2000; Rowan, Correnti & Miller, 2002; Wright, Horn, & Sanders, 1997). Tremendous public resources…

Strategies for increasing student knowledge and understanding about conflict minerals in a mineralogy class

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, G. W.

2014-12-01

Conflict minerals, including their uses and methods of extraction, are associated with significant societal and environmental issues in today's world. Minerals such as columbite-tantalite (also referred to as COLTAN), wolframite, cassiterite and gold are important in electronics manufacturing and have a wide variety of other usages. Mining practices are frequently unsustainable and have significant impacts on the environment; moreover, in many locations, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo—the epicenter of the conflict mineral trade—major human rights violations are associated with the extraction and production of these minerals. Because conflict minerals represent a relatively new issue, students in geology classes are frequently unfamiliar with the topic and commonly have little understanding of the concerns. In some cases they are completely unaware of the issues. In an introductory mineralogy class at the University of California, San Diego I have introduced a content module into my otherwise traditional curriculum that introduces students to conflict minerals, explains the issues, and delineates the problems our society will face with the continued uses of these natural resources. Most significantly, an assignment has been created and implemented in class that is paired with the content module and is designed to enhance and reinforce student learning. Its goal is to increase awareness of the societal and environmental issues surrounding conflict minerals. Initial results suggest (based on pre and post-tests) that our students have learned significantly from the combination of content, exercise, and assessment and that they are much better informed on the issues of conflict minerals. This model, including the exercise, can be modified and adapted for other introductory classes and learning settings.

Career Motivations, Perceptions of the Future of Dentistry and Preferred Dental Specialties Among Saudi Dental Students

Science.gov (United States)

Halawany, Hassan S

2014-01-01

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the career motivations, perceptions of the future of dentistry and preferred postgraduate specialties of Saudi dental students. Methods: A pretested, self-administered, 16-item questionnaire was distributed to first- through fifth-year dental students at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and the level of significance was set at 5%. Results: Of the 530 potential participants, 329 students (198 male and 131 female respondents) completed the questionnaire. High professional status (71.4%), a secure career (67.8%), a high income (78.1%), flexible working hours (54.4%), a wide range of career options after graduation (59.3%), opportunities for self-employment (69.3%) and good job opportunities abroad (65.3%) were endorsed to a great/considerable extent by the respondents. “It takes time to establish a practice” (62.3%), “Postgraduate education is a necessity” (72.4%) and “The increasing number of dental institutions is a threat to the profession” (59.3%) were endorsed to a great or considerable extent by the respondents. The most popular specialty among the male students was oral maxillofacial surgery (20.1%) and among female students was operative dentistry (23.4%). Conclusion: The career motivations of this group of dental students seemed to relate to socioeconomic aspects of dentistry and perceptions of the future of dentistry seemed to relate to the need for postgraduate education. PMID:25246989

Digital Storytelling: A Method for Engaging Students and Increasing Cultural Competency

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, Natalie S.; Bolin, Brien L.

2016-01-01

Digital storytelling is explored as a method of engaging students in the development of media literacy and cultural competency. This paper describes the perceptions and experiences of 96 undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university, after completing a digital storytelling project in a semester-long diversity course. Digital storytelling…

Do invasive quagga mussels alter CO2 dynamics in the Laurentian Great Lakes?

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Peng; Guo, Laodong

2016-12-01

The Laurentian Great Lakes have experienced unprecedented ecological and environmental changes, especially after the introduction of invasive quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis). While impacts on ecological functions have been widely recognized, the response of carbon dynamics to invasive species remains largely unknown. We report new CO2 data showing significant increases in pCO2 (up to 800 μatm in Lake Michigan) and CO2 emission fluxes in most of the Great Lakes compared to those prior to or during the early stage of the colonization of invasive quagga mussels. The increased CO2 supersaturation is most prominent in Lakes Huron and Michigan, followed by Lakes Ontario and Erie, but no evident change was observed in Lake Superior. This trend mirrors the infestation extent of invasive quagga mussels in the Great Lakes and is consistent with the decline in primary production and increase in water clarity observed pre- and post-Dreissena introduction, revealing a close linkage between invasive species and carbon dynamics. The Great Lakes have become a significant CO2 source to the atmosphere, emitting >7.7 ± 1.0 Tg-C annually, which is higher than the organic carbon burial rate in global inland-seas and attesting to the significant role of the Laurentian Great Lakes in regional/global CO2 budget and cycling.

Can Teacher Self-Disclosure Increase Student Cognitive Learning?

Science.gov (United States)

Stoltz, Molly; Young, Raymond W.; Bryant, Kevin L.

2014-01-01

Students (N =102) from communication courses at a Southern regional university was divided into two groups. Each group listened to a 10-minute taped lecture about personality types. One group listened to a lecture that included self-disclosures by the lecturer. The other group listened to a lecture that covered the same material but without the…

What Makes a Great Journal Great in Economics? The Singer Not the Song.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C-L. Chang (Chia-Lin); M.J. McAleer (Michael); L. Oxley (Les)

2010-01-01

textabstractThe paper is concerned with analysing what makes a great journal great in economics, based on quantifiable measures. Alternative Research Assessment Measures (RAM) are discussed, with an emphasis on the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database (hereafter ISI). The various ISI RAM that

Great Basin Experimental Range: Annotated bibliography

Science.gov (United States)

E. Durant McArthur; Bryce A. Richardson; Stanley G. Kitchen

2013-01-01

This annotated bibliography documents the research that has been conducted on the Great Basin Experimental Range (GBER, also known as the Utah Experiment Station, Great Basin Station, the Great Basin Branch Experiment Station, Great Basin Experimental Center, and other similar name variants) over the 102 years of its existence. Entries were drawn from the original...

Reducing Teacher Burnout by Increasing Student Engagement: A Children's Rights Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Covell, Katherine; McNeil, Justin K.; Howe, R. Brian

2009-01-01

Teacher burnout has long been understood to have significant negative effects on teaching efficacy. Research has indicated that student misbehaviour, often a result of disengagement, is a major predictor of teacher burnout. In part to address student disengagement, Hampshire County in England has undertaken a whole-school rights-based reform…

The GREAT3 challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyatake, H; Mandelbaum, R; Rowe, B

2014-01-01

The GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 3 (GREAT3) challenge is an image analysis competition that aims to test algorithms to measure weak gravitational lensing from astronomical images. The challenge started in October 2013 and ends 30 April 2014. The challenge focuses on testing the impact on weak lensing measurements of realistically complex galaxy morphologies, realistic point spread function, and combination of multiple different exposures. It includes simulated ground- and space-based data. The details of the challenge are described in [1], and the challenge website and its leader board can be found at http://great3challenge.info and http://great3.projects.phys.ucl.ac.uk/leaderboard/, respectively

[Factors contributing to smoking among students in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)].

Science.gov (United States)

Koueta, F; Dao, L; Yé, D; Koura, M; Sawadogo, A

2009-03-01

Smoking is of great concern to the international community because of the sharp increase in tobacco consumption among adolescents. We conducted a transverse descriptive study on 23 to 27 May 2006, on a sample of 500 smoking students randomly selected from secondary schools in the city of Ouagadougou, to identify their motivation with the aim of prevention. The main factors encouraging smoking among students were: *Economic conditions: 64% came from a favourable economic environment with daily pocket money (100%) and a means of travel (74.8%). *Difficulties with their studies: 57.2% of smoking students had repeated at least one class and half had a class average lower than 10/20. *A smoking environment: 72% of smokers lived away from their parents, 46% of students had smoked in imitation of their colleagues. School was the preferred place for the consumption of cigarettes (67.9%). *The influence of the media: 80.8% were drawn into smoking by the influence of advertising. Prevention programmes must take all these factors into account.

Alcohol use during the great recession of 2008-2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Bor, Jacob; Basu, Sanjay; Coutts, Adam; McKee, Martin; Stuckler, David

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess changes in alcohol use in the USA during the Great Recession. Drinking participation, drinking frequency, drinking intensity, total alcohol consumption and frequency of binge drinking were assessed in a nationally representative sample of 2,050,431 US women and men aged 18 and older, interviewed between 2006 and 2010. The prevalence of any alcohol use significantly declined during the economic recession, from 52.0% in 2006-2007 to 51.6% in 2008-2009 (P Great Recession there was an increase in abstention from alcohol and a rise in frequent binging.

The great ideas of biology: Exploration through experimentation in an undergraduate lab course

OpenAIRE

Finch, L.; Horii, C. V.; Phillips, R.; Bois, J. S.

2016-01-01

We developed an introductory laboratory course to provide a visceral experience that aims at getting students truly excited about scientific study of the living world. Our vehicle to do that was to focus on what Paul Nurse dubbed “the great ideas of biology” rather than an approach to biology that celebrates specific factual knowledge. To that end, we developed eight diverse experimental modules, each of which highlights a key biological concept and gives an opportunity to use theory to g...

Student Perspectives on Burnout

Science.gov (United States)

Mazerolle, Stephanie M.; Pagnotta, Kelly D.

2011-01-01

Context: While burnout has received a great deal of attention within the athletic training profession, there is little data on how it affects athletic training students (ATSs). Objective: To determine what factors influence burnout among ATSs enrolled in accredited athletic training education programs. Design and Setting: Basic, interpretive…

Increasing Employability by Implementing a Work-Integrated Learning Partnership Model in South Africa--A Student Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Susanne; Govender, Cookie M.

2017-01-01

In South Africa, 70 per cent of the population is under 35 years old. South Africa has a vision to increase youth employment by focusing on education, training and skills development that will promote employment opportunities. A work-integrated learning (WIL) partnership model was developed to provide students with work experience and to increase…

Student-on-Student Sexual Harassment

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Frances E.

2011-01-01

No school board member, administrator, or teacher wants to see a student suffering from taunts of the student's peers, but with budget cutbacks, reductions in force, and increased class size, teachers and administrators are stretched too thin to easily identify, investigate, and remedy student-on-student harassment. But school districts must…

Teaching Learning Strategies to Increase Success of First-Term College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Tuckman, Bruce W.; Kennedy, Gary J.

2011-01-01

In this study, the authors examined the effect of taking a learning strategies course on grade point average, retention, and graduation rate of 351 first-year students over their first 4 terms in comparison with 351 matched non-course takers. The course taught 4 learning strategies and 8 substrategies to help students overcome procrastination,…

Mobile App Development to Increase Student Engagement and Problem Solving Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Dekhane, Sonal; Xu, Xin; Tsoi, Mai Yin

2013-01-01

This paper describes a project designed to promote problem solving and critical thinking skills in a general education, computing course at an open access institution. A visual programming tool, GameSalad, was used to enable students to create educational apps for mobile platforms. The students worked on a game development project for the entire…

PhD students share their work

CERN Multimedia

Joannah Caborn Wengler

2012-01-01

Last week, the second Doctoral Student Assembly gave students in the final stages of their PhD at CERN the chance to meet and present their work.   On 9 May, 24 students who are completing their PhD under the CERN Doctoral Student Programme were joined by their CERN supervisors and some of their university supervisors at an event organised by HR and the Technical Students Committee (TSC). After an address by the Director-General Rolf Heuer and short presentations by Ingrid Haug from HR and TSC Chair Stephan Russenschuck, the students presented their work in a poster session. Held in a packed Council Chamber, the event was a great opportunity for the doctoral students to get to know each other and to share their work in fields as diverse as radiation protection, computing, physics and engineering.

MANAGING DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR OF STUDENTS IN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Khasinah

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This article describes students’ disruptive behaviors in language classroom that may greatly affect language teaching and learning process, especially in ESL or EFL classes. Teachers should know what disruptive behavior is to enable them to deal with problems occurred in their classroom or to take preventive actions to keep their students well-behaved during the class. This can reduce the occurrence of misbehavior of students in their classroom. To prevent disruption in the classroom, teachers should establish behavioral expectations in the first day of the semester and the expectations can be based on students attendance, arrivals and departures, class participation, full English speaking, and other appropriate conducts in the syllabus and discuss them at the outset of the term. The agreement is then assigned as a learning contract or a code of conducts with which bounds the whole class. Consequently, whenever students are misbehaved, teachers and other students will directly know and recognize that the behaviors are out of the code. There are factors reasoning students to behave badly, so teachers as trouble solvers have to find appropriate strategies that are effective in helping students keep the code. Otherwise, the disruptions will escalate quickly and the problems will increase in numbers rapidly and finally, teachers will have to work very hard to avoid teaching failure and “losing face” when they cannot manage the disruption as listed in the expectation.

75 FR 6354 - NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project Grants under the Great Lakes Restoration...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-09

...-04] RIN 0648-ZC10 NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project Grants under the Great Lakes... Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of funding availability; Date... on January 19, 2010. That notice announced the NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project...

The Next Great Generation?

Science.gov (United States)

Brownstein, Andrew

2000-01-01

Discusses ideas from a new book, "Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation," (by Neil Howe and William Strauss) suggesting that youth culture is on the cusp of a radical shift with the generation beginning with this year's college freshmen who are typically team oriented, optimistic, and poised for greatness on a global scale. Includes a…

The Great Recession and the risk for child maltreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; Schneider, William; Waldfogel, Jane

2013-10-01

This study draws on the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=2,032), a birth cohort study of families with children from 20 U.S. cities. Interviews occurred between August 2007, and February 2010, when the children were approximately 9 years old. Macro-economic indicators of the Great Recession such as the Consumer Sentiment Index and unemployment and home foreclosure rates were matched to the data to estimate the links between different measures of the Great Recession and high frequency maternal spanking. We find that the large decline in consumer confidence during the Great Recession, as measured by the Consumer Sentiment Index, was associated with worse parenting behavior. In particular, lower levels of consumer confidence were associated with increased levels of high frequency spanking, a parenting behavior that is associated with greater likelihood of being contacted by child protective services. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

University Students' Opinions Concerning Science-Technology-Society Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Dolu, Gamze

2016-01-01

Determining what students think about science, technology, and society (STS) is of great importance. This also provides the basis for scientific literacy. As such, this study was conducted with a total of 102 senior students attending a university located in western Turkey. This study utilized the survey model as a research model and the…

Providing a Safe Environment for Students with Diabetes

Science.gov (United States)

Silverstein, Janet H.; Jackson, Crystal C.; Bobo, Nichole; Kaufman, Francine R.; Butler, Sarah; Marschilok, Katie

2009-01-01

Current diabetes regimens require more effort than ever before. The level of diabetes control students are able to maintain is affected greatly by their ability to care for their diabetes during the school day. This article reviews use of School Health Plans and Diabetes Medical Management Plans in schools. Students with diabetes, their families,…

Estimating Spring Condensation on the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, A.; Welp, L.

2017-12-01

The Laurentian Great Lakes region provides opportunities for shipping, recreation, and consumptive water use to a large part of the United States and Canada. Water levels in the lakes fluctuate yearly, but attempts to model the system are inadequate because the water and energy budgets are still not fully understood. For example, water levels in the Great Lakes experienced a 15-year low period ending in 2013, the recovery of which has been attributed partially to decreased evaporation and increased precipitation and runoff. Unlike precipitation, the exchange of water vapor between the lake and the atmosphere through evaporation or condensation is difficult to measure directly. However, estimates have been constructed using off-shore eddy covariance direct measurements of latent heat fluxes, remote sensing observations, and a small network of monitoring buoys. When the lake surface temperature is colder than air temperature as it is in spring, condensation is larger than evaporation. This is a relatively small component of the net annual water budget of the lakes, but the total amount of condensation may be important for seasonal energy fluxes and atmospheric deposition of pollutants and nutrients to the lakes. Seasonal energy fluxes determine, and are influenced by, ice cover, water and air temperatures, and evaporation in the Great Lakes. We aim to quantify the amount of spring condensation on the Great Lakes using the National Center for Atmospheric Prediction North American Regional Reanalysis (NCEP NARR) Data for Winter 2013 to Spring 2017 and compare the condensation values of spring seasons following high volume, high duration and low volume, low duration ice cover.

Fair Play Game: A Group Contingency Strategy to Increase Students' Active Behaviours in Physical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Vidoni, Carla; Lee, Chang-Hung; Azevedo, L. B.

2014-01-01

A dependent group contingency strategy called Fair Play Game was applied to promote increase in number of steps during physical education classes for sixth-grade students. Results from a multiple baseline design across three classes showed that the mean number of steps for baseline vs. intervention were: Class 1: 43 vs. 64 steps/minute; Class 2:…

Can schoolyard improvements increase physical activity for the least active students, or just provide better opportunities for the most active?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breum, Lars; Toftager, M.; Troelsen, J.

2014-01-01

at the school had equal impact on all students regardless of their PA at baseline [1]. Method The SPACE-study used a cluster randomized controlled study design with a 2-year follow-up, and enrolled 1348 students aged 11–13 years from 14 schools in Denmark. A web-based questionnaire was used to obtain knowledge...... as “the most active”. At the intervention schools the proportion of student who reported good possibilities for outdoor PA increased (71% to 75%), while the proportion decreased at the comparison schools (87% to 68%). The proportion of students reporting to be active daily during recess decreased for all...... of PA during recess and in leisure time. The multicomponent intervention comprised 11 components, and included a combination of changes to the physical environment and organizational changes. Results At baseline, 73% of the students reported to engage in sport outside school and were characterized...

Patient Safety Based Knowledge Management SECI to Improve Nusrsing Students Competency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanggi Wiriatarina Harianto

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Patient safety is an important component of health services quality,and  basic principles of patient care. Nursing students also have a great potential to make an action that could endanger the patient, because hospital is one of student practice area. The purpose of this study was to improve the nursing students competency in patient safety by using knowledge management SECI approached. Method: The study used exploratory survey, and quasy experiment. The samples were some of nursing students of STIKes Muhammadiyah Samarinda who were on internship programme that selected using simple random sampling technique, in total of 54 students. This research’s variables were the knowledge management SECI based-patient safety and nursing student’s competency. The data were collected by using questionnaires and observation. The data were analyze by using Partial Least Square (PLS. Result: The result showed that there were significant influence the implementation of a model patient safety based knowledge management seci on increased competence nursing students. Discussion: Improved student competency in patient safety using SECI knowledge management was carried out in four phases, that is Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization. The result was a new knowledge related to patient safety that able to improve the student’s competency.. Keywords: Patient safety, Knowledge management, SECI, competency

An Empirical Investigation on Chinese High School Students' Choice of Pursuing Undergraduate Education Abroad

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jiankun

2014-01-01

Globalization has greatly promoted student mobility around the world. Being a developing economy, China witnessed significant growth of students studying internationally, especially with the number of students study at undergraduate programs. However, empirical research on high school students' choice and the decision-making process of pursuing…

Rethinking the Structure of Student Recruitment and Efforts to Increase Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Doctoral Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kimberly A. Griffin

2015-07-01

Full Text Available While researchers, institutional leaders, and policymakers have made significant progress towards increasing undergraduate student diversity in the United States, diversity in graduate education has been less often studied and a more challenging goal on which to make progress. This qualitative study explores the roles and work of graduate diversity officers (GDOs in student recruitment activities with a focus on how race and issues of diversity manifest and influence this process. Interviews with fourteen GDOs at 11 different research universities in the United States highlight the phases in the graduate recruitment process, the manner in which diversity is considered at each stage, and GDOs’ perceptions of their ability to shape this process. Findings suggest that GDOs are important institutional agents in diversification efforts; however, faculty engagement and broad institutional commitment are required to increase diversity in graduate education due to GDOs’ often limited involvement in the admissions stage of the recruitment process, where race becomes the most salient in decision making.

Investigating a 21st Century Paradox: As the Demand for Technology Jobs Increases Why Are Fewer Students Majoring in Information Systems?

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Timothy; Gao, Yuan; Sherman, Cherie; Vengerov, Alexander; Klein, Stephen

2014-01-01

This paper reports the results of a survey administered to 322 undergraduate business students enrolled in an introductory Information Systems course at a public liberal arts college located in the northeast US. The goal of this research was to learn, given the increased demand for technology oriented jobs, why fewer students are choosing the…

The Great Recession and Mother’s Health

Science.gov (United States)

Currie, Janet; Duque, Valentina; Garfinkel, Irwin

2016-01-01

We use longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study to investigate the impacts of the Great Recession on the health of mothers. We focus on a wide range of physical and mental health outcomes, as well as health behaviors. We find that increases in the unemployment rate decrease self-reported health status and increase smoking and drug use. We also find evidence of heterogeneous impacts. Disadvantaged mothers—African-American, Hispanic, less educated, and unmarried–experience greater deterioration in their health than advantaged mothers—those who are white, married, and college educated. PMID:27212714

Increasing student success in STEM through geosciences based GIS curriculum, interdisciplinary project based learning, and specialized STEM student services

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, W.

2012-12-01

Under the auspices of the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education Grant and the Department of Education's Title V/HSI Grant, Palomar College students from a variety of disciplines have not only been exposed to the high growth field of geospatial technologies, but have also been exposed to the geosciences and regional environmental issues in their GIS courses. By integrating introductory Physical Geography topics such as liquefaction, subsidence, ozone depletion, plate tectonics, and coastal processes in the introductory GIS curriculum, GIS students from fields ranging from Archaeology to Zoology were exposed to basic geosciences theories in a series of hands-on interactive exercises, while gaining competency in geospatial technologies. Additionally, as students undertake interdisciplinary service learning projects under the supervision of experts in the private, governmental, and nonprofit sectors, students were introduced to the STEM workplace, forged invaluable professional connections, applied their classroom knowledge to advance research (e.g. analyzing migration patterns of cephalopod), and analyzed regional environmental issues (e.g. distribution of invasive plants in state natural preserves). In order to further the retention and completion of students in GIS, Earth Science, and other STEM courses, a STEM Student Learning Center was constructed, whereby students can receive services such as supplemental instruction, walk-in tutoring, STEM counseling and transfer advising, as well as faculty and peer mentoring.

Student Perceptions of the Use of Multimedia for Online Course Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Krause, Jaclyn; Portolese, Laura; Bonner, Julie

2017-01-01

A great deal of research exists in the use of multimedia communications in online classrooms as a means of furthering student engagement. However, little research exists that examines the perceptions of students when such technologies are used. Additionally, it is unclear that students are likely to engage in the use of such technologies when…

A Comparison of State Assessment Scores between Music and Nonmusic Students

Science.gov (United States)

Thornton, Linda

2013-01-01

For several years, an emphasis on standardized testing in certain subjects has often resulted in competition for student time and scheduling choices that may not favor music classes. However, a great deal of literature exists to indicate that music students achieve more success than nonmusic students on a variety of academic measures. The purpose…

Are today's automotive technician students ready for the increased use of ethanol fuels: A study of students' perceptions of ethanol and the effects of E20

Science.gov (United States)

Mead, Gary R.

As the price of petroleum rises, the use of alternative fuels such as ethanol will continue to increase. As ethanol use increases, consumers are asking automotive technicians questions about the fuel. But how much do automotive technicians know about ethanol? In order to answer this question, a study was conducted to describe automotive technician students' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of ethanol as a vehicle fuel. Automotive students were chosen because they will be tomorrow's generation of technicians who will be working on vehicles that have used ethanol fuels along with flex fuel vehicles. The students were selected from six two-year technical colleges located in southern Minnesota. The six schools were chosen because they are located in areas where ethanol use is prevalent. The study used a 33-question pencil-and-paper survey to measure 184 automotive students' perceptions of ethanol. The survey revealed that students' knowledge of ethanol is very superficial. They know well advertised terms and facts, but lack an in-depth knowledge of the fuel. Also, it was discovered that several myths about ethanol still exist. Because of the lack of knowledge on technical aspects of the fuel, it is recommended that instructors in automotive programs incorporate a one to two hour class covering ethanol fuels into their courses. The second part of this study was a review of several material compatibility studies conducted at Minnesota State University, Mankato on 20% ethanol blends. The studies were conducted on fuel system rubbers, plastics, and metals. Minnesota recently enacted a law that will require all gasoline sold in the state to contain 20% ethanol. These studies were reviewed to see if 20% ethanol, E20, will cause any vehicle fuel system problems that automotive technicians should know about. After reviewing the studies it was determined that the likelihood of fuel system problems from E20 would be very small and isolated. Even though the potential for

Great Lakes Environmental Database (GLENDA)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Great Lakes Environmental Database (GLENDA) houses environmental data on a wide variety of constituents in water, biota, sediment, and air in the Great Lakes area.

Oil Price Rise and the Great Recession of 2008

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Siamak MONADJEMI

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The financial crises of 2007-2008, caused wide-spread falling output and unemployment, in the affected countries and also globally. The severity of the recession was such that it was called the “Great Recession”. As a result of an increase in demand from China and India, at the same time, oil prices rose significantly. The empirical results from this study show that oil price changes negatively affected global growth rate in the 1970s but not in the 1990s and 2000s. These results suggest that the Great Recession in 2008 that initiated by the financial crises, was independent of a significant rise in oil prices.

Accreditation and Educational Quality: Are Students in Accredited Programs More Academically Engaged?

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, James S.; Cole, Shu T.

2008-01-01

There has been a great deal of debate regarding the value of program accreditation. Two research questions guided this study: 1) are students enrolled in accredited parks, recreation, and leisure programs more academically engaged than students enrolled in non-accredited programs, and 2) do students enrolled in accredited parks, recreation, and…

ROPES Learning Model Modification to Increase Proficiency Students of Rational Thingking

OpenAIRE

Nizaruddin

2010-01-01

Mathematics teachers should have the ability mathematics, mathematical methodology skills, and ability to package the science and methodology of mathematics is a subject matter learning in school. To achieve mathematical skills that students should be equipped with skills of deductive thinking, rational, analytical, and creative. These skills are necessary for students so that they have the skills in understanding and problem-solving perspective to the prospective teacher / mathematics teache...

The impact of the Great Recession on mental health and its inequalities: the case of a Southern European region, 1997-2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Bacigalupe, Amaia; Esnaola, Santiago; Martín, Unai

2016-01-26

Numerous studies have shown that macroeconomic changes have a great influence on health, prompting different concerns in recent literature about the effects of the current recession. The objective of the study was to assess the changes in the mental health of the working-age population in the Basque Country (Spain) and its social inequalities following the onset of the 2008 recession, with special focus on the role of unemployment. Repeated cross-sectional study on the population aged 16-64, using four Basque Health Surveys (1997-2013). Age-adjusted prevalences of poor mental health and incremental prevalence ratios (working status and social class adjusted) between years were calculated. Absolute/relative measures of social inequalities were also calculated. From 2008, there was a clear deterioration in the mental health, especially among men. Neither changes in employment status nor social class accounted for these changes. In men, the deterioration affected all working status categories, except the retired but significant changes occurred only among the employed. In women, poor mental health significantly increased among the unemployed. Students were also especially affected. Relative inequalities increased only in men. The Great Recession is being accompanied by adverse effects on mental health, which cannot be fully explained by the increase of unemployment. Public health professionals should closely monitor the medium and long-term effects of the crisis as these may emerge only many years after the onset of recessions.

Individual Educational Paths in the Universities of Russia and Great Britain (Theoretical Aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalya Yu. Shaposhnikova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The author highlights the necessity for higher education institutions to form and realize students' individual educational paths in the learning process, which is stated in the Federal Law on Education and FSES HPE of the third generation. The article presents an overview of the different approaches to the definition of the term «individual educational path» (IEP. It also gives a brief overview of the existing terms in the Russian terminological system, which are close in meaning to the term above. The author formulates her own tentative definition of the term «IEP» which is based on the analysis made. The article further addresses the solution to the problem of the individualization of higher education learning process in Great Britain, which is described through the term «Personal Development Planning». The meaning of the term is shown through the set of actions: planning, doing things, recording of the self experience, reviewing and evaluating, using the personal knowledge derived from reflection and self understanding as well as own learning abilities to plan future actions. In conclusion, the meanings of the terms «IEP» and «PDP» are compared. The author emphasires the importance of studying Great Britain's experience - the practice of solving problems connected with the individualization of the university learning process and the possibilities to use it to facilitate the implementation of students' individual educational paths in Russian higher education institutions.

This is a great book! 101 events for building enthusiastic readers inside and outside the classroom : from chapter books to young adult novels

CERN Document Server

Swartz, Larry

2015-01-01

Based on extensive research, this highly readable book champions the belief that having a wide range of "great" books to read is essential to students' becoming readers, both inside the classroom and out.

An Argument against Using Standardized Test Scores for Placement of International Undergraduate Students in English as a Second Language (ESL) Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Kokhan, Kateryna

2013-01-01

Development and administration of institutional ESL placement tests require a great deal of financial and human resources. Due to a steady increase in the number of international students studying in the United States, some US universities have started to consider using standardized test scores for ESL placement. The English Placement Test (EPT)…

Impacts of climate change on freshwater fisheries of the Great Plains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Regier, H.A.; Holmes, J.A.

1991-01-01

The diversity and habitats of fish in Great Plains hydrologic systems are described. Fisheries on the Great Plains consist of commercial, subsistence, and recreational. Direct effects of climate change on Great Plains fisheries will involve temperature and hydrology. Increased temperature could expand suitable habitat for fish with preferred temperatures between 10 and 27.5 degree C by 2.5 times base conditions. Reductions in precipitation will reduce river flows and lake levels, and an overall reduction in habitat for the most preferred species is expected. Indirect effects stem from human responses to climate change, and streams, wetlands and coastal zones will likely bear the brunt of such activity. More river systems may be damned or channelized, which could lead to increases in eutrophication or pollution, most severely affecting the preferred white fishes. Geographical shifts of species in response to climate change will likely favour black fish over grey fish over white fish, and when longitudinal or lateral movement is blocked, local extinctions may occur. 22 refs., 1 tab

33 CFR 100.124 - Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York. 100.124 Section 100.124 Navigation and Navigable... NAVIGABLE WATERS § 100.124 Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York...

Examining Pre-Service Teachers’ Preference for Student Classroom Behavior and use of Discipline.

OpenAIRE

Cervantes, Laura A.

2015-01-01

Recently, a great deal of attention has been paid to the disproportionate incarceration of people of color, and the role schools play in perpetuating this pattern. This phenomenon, known as “the school-to-prison pipeline,” is characterized by school actions and policies which significantly increase a student’s likelihood of becoming involved in the criminal justice system. Students of color, particularly African American males, are more likely to be referred for school discipline than their w...

Increasing Diversity in STEM through Ka Hikina O Ka Lā Summer Bridge Program for Native Hawaiian Students

Science.gov (United States)

Coopersmith, A.; Cie, D. K.; Calder, S.; Naho`olewa, D.; Rai, B.

2014-12-01

The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) Mitigation Initiative and the Kahikina O Ka Lā Program are NSF-funded projects at the University of Hawai`i Maui College. These projects offer instruction and activities intended to increase diversity in STEM careers. Ke Alahaka, the 2014 summer bridge program, was offered to Native Hawaiian high-school students who indicated an interest in STEM areas. Content workshops were offered in Marine Science, Physics, Biotechnology, and Computer Science and Engineering as well as a Hawaiian Studies course designed to provide a cultural context for the STEM instruction. Focus groups and other program assessments indicate that 50% of the students attending the workshops intend to pursue a STEM major during their undergraduate studies.

The Cal-Bridge Program: Increasing the Gender and Ethnic Diversity of Astrophysics Students in Southern California

Science.gov (United States)

Smecker-Hane, Tammy A.; Rudolph, Alexander L.

2016-06-01

The mission of the Cal-Bridge program is to increase the number of underrepresented minority and women students completing a bachelor’s degree and entering a PhD program in astronomy, physics, or closely-related fields. The program has created a network of faculty at diverse higher education institutions, including 5 University of California (UC) campuses, 9 California State Universities (CSUs), and 10 community colleges in southern California, dedicated to this goal. Students selected for the program are know as “Cal-Bridge Scholars” and they are given a wide variety of support: (1) scholarships in their junior/senior years at CSU and their first year of graduate school at a UC, (2) intensive mentoring by a pair of CSU and UC faculty members, (3) tutoring, when needed, (4) professional development workshops, (5) exposure to research opportunities at various universities, and (6) membership in a growing cohort of like-minded students. We report on the structure of our program, lessons learned with our current 12 Cal-Bridge scholars, and the results of our first two years of operation. Funding for this program is provided by NSF-SSTEM Grant #1356133.

40 CFR Appendix E to Part 132 - Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative Antidegradation Policy

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... most cost effective pollution prevention and treatment techniques available, and minimizes the... shall adopt an antidegradation standard applicable to all waters of the Great Lakes System and identify... result in an increased loading of BCCs to surface waters of the Great Lakes System and for which...

The effects of three concept mapping strategies on seventh-grade students' science achievement at an urban middle school

Science.gov (United States)

Dosanjh, Navdeep Kaur

2011-12-01

There is great concern over students' poor science achievement in the United States. Due to the lack of science achievement, students are not pursing science related careers resulting in an increase in outsourcing to other countries. Learning strategies such as concept mapping may ameliorate this situation by providing students with tools that encourage meaningful learning. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to measure the effects of three concept mapping learning strategies (concept identifying, proposition identifying, student generated) on urban middle school students' understanding of the circulatory system. Three intact classes of seventh-grade students were assigned to one of the three concept mapping strategies. The students were given a pretest on the circulatory system then learned and used their respective concept mapping strategies while learning about the circulatory system. At the conclusion of the study, students' science achievement was measured by performance on an achievement test and rubric scores of their respective concept identifying, proposition identifying, and student generated concept maps. The results of the study suggest that all three of the concept mapping strategies are effective in increasing students' science achievement. Additionally, the moderate significant correlations between the posttest and concept map scores of the current study established that concept maps are a useful measure of student knowledge. Lastly, the results of the current study also suggest that the concept identifying mapping strategy may be a useful scaffold in instructing students how to develop student generated concept maps.

Examining Experienced Teachers' Noticing of and Responses to Students' Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Aaron W.; Wendell, Kristen B.; Watkins, Jessica

2017-01-01

Engineering design places unique demands on teachers, as students are coming up with new, unanticipated ideas to problems along often unpredictable trajectories. These demands motivate a responsive approach to teaching, in which teachers attend their students' thinking and flexibly adapt their instructional plans and objectives. A great deal of…

Using Physical Education to Improve Literacy Skills in Struggling Students

Science.gov (United States)

Wachob, David A.

2014-01-01

Literacy skills are an essential part of academic performance. When physical educators collaborate with classroom teachers to address these skills, student engagement in the learning process can greatly improve. This article begins by reviewing the growing issues surrounding student literacy and its impact on academic performance. The discussion…

Food insecurity and Mediterranean diet adherence among Greek university students.

Science.gov (United States)

Theodoridis, X; Grammatikopoulou, M G; Gkiouras, K; Papadopoulou, S E; Agorastou, T; Gkika, I; Maraki, M I; Dardavessis, T; Chourdakis, M

2018-05-01

To assess Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence and food insecurity (FI) among university students in Greece. A non-probability sample of 236 students was recruited from Athens and Thessaloniki during 2016. FI was assessed with the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and MD adherence with the MEDAS questionnaire. Mean MEDAS score of the sample was 6.4 ± 1.9, with women demonstrating greater MD adherence compared to men (p = 0.016) and Dietetics students exhibiting increased score compared to the rest (p ≤ 0.001). A low proportion of participants were food-secure (17.8%), 45.3% were severely food-insecure, 22.0% experienced moderate FI and the remaining 14.8% had low FI. Participants studying in the city they grew up exhibited lower FI compared to those studying in other cities (p = 0.009), while, additionally, a trend was noted for increased FI among students with an unemployed family member (p = 0.05). Students working night shifts had lower MD adherence and increased FI compared to the rest (p = 0.004 and p = 0.003, respectively). The same pattern was observed among participants who smoked (p = 0.003 for MD adherence and p = 0.009 for FI, respectively). Multivariate regression analyses did not reveal any connections between FI categories, waist circumference or BMI, but showed an inverse relationship between severe FI and MD adherence. The majority of the surveyed university students from Greece demonstrate some degree of FI, with a great proportion being severely food-insecure. Increased FI is inversely associated with MD adherence. Copyright © 2018 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Great Expectations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dickens, Charles

2005-01-01

One of Dickens's most renowned and enjoyable novels, Great Expectations tells the story of Pip, an orphan boy who wishes to transcend his humble origins and finds himself unexpectedly given the opportunity to live a life of wealth and respectability. Over the course of the tale, in which Pip

Job Loss at Home: Children's School Performance during the Great Recession in Spain. CEP Discussion Paper No. 1364

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz-Valenzuela, Jenifer

2015-01-01

This paper studies the effect of parental job loss on children's school performance during the Great Recession in Spain, using an original panel dataset for students observed since the beginning of the crisis in a school in the province of Barcelona. By using fixed effects, this paper is more likely to deal with the problem of selection into…

The Great Recession and Workers' Health Benefits.

Science.gov (United States)

Koh, Kanghyock

2018-03-01

During a recession, cost-sharing of employer-sponsored health benefits could increase to reduce labor costs in the U.S. Using a variation in the severity of recession shocks across industries, I find evidence that the enrollment rate of high deductible health plans (HDHPs) among workers covered by employer-sponsored health benefits increased more among firms in industries that experienced severe recession shocks. As potential mechanisms, I study employer-side and worker-side mechanisms. I find that employers changed health benefit offerings to force or incentivize workers to enroll in HDHPs. But I find little evidence of an increase in workers' demand for HDHPs due to a reduction in income. These results suggest that the HDHP enrollment rate increased during the Great Recession, as employers tried to save costs of offering health benefits. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Does increasing student activity and reducing lecturing improve learning outcome in courses?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Lars Peter

2014-01-01

learnt. The setup of the traditional and the new version of the course is explained and the effects of the change analyzed by comparing two cohorts of first semester Software Engineering and Computer Science students. The course is aimed at improving the potential of freshmen students project work...... helping them to develop their skills in cooperation, learning and project management. After the semester each student group write a process analysis where they reflect on these issues and come up with ideas to improve their performance in the next project. The effect of the changes in the course...

Using Self-Monitoring with Guided Goal Setting to Increase Academic Engagement for a Student with Autism in an Inclusive Classroom in China

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Sheng; Wang, Jie; Lee, Gabrielle T.; Luke, Nicole

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether using self-monitoring with guided goal setting was effective in increasing academic engagement for a student with autism who frequently displayed disruptive behaviors in an inclusive classroom in China. A 9-year-old male student with autism participated in this study. A changing criterion…

The Accessibility of Learning Content for All Students, Including Students with Disabilities, Must Be Addressed in the Shift to Digital Instructional Materials. SETDA Policy Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Fletcher, Geoff; Levin, Doug; Lipper, Katherine; Leichty, Reg

2014-01-01

This is a time of rapid technological advancement, with innovations in education holding great promise for improving teaching and learning, particularly for students with unique needs. High-quality digital educational materials, tools, and resources offer students relevant, up-to-date, and innovative ways to acquire knowledge and skills. Created…

Method to Increase Undergraduate Laboratory Student Confidence in Performing Independent Research?

OpenAIRE

Kempton, Colton E.; Weber, K. Scott; Johnson, Steven M.

2017-01-01

The goal of an undergraduate laboratory course should be not only to introduce the students to biology methodologies and techniques, but also to teach them independent analytical thinking skills and proper experiment design.  This is especially true for advanced biology laboratory courses that undergraduate students typically take as a junior or senior in college.  Many courses achieve the goal of teaching techniques, but fail to approach the larger goal of teaching critical thinking, experim...

Hospital Capital Investment During the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sung

2017-01-01

Hospital capital investment is important for acquiring and maintaining technology and equipment needed to provide health care. Reduction in capital investment by a hospital has negative implications for patient outcomes. Most hospitals rely on debt and internal cash flow to fund capital investment. The great recession may have made it difficult for hospitals to borrow, thus reducing their capital investment. I investigated the impact of the great recession on capital investment made by California hospitals. Modeling how hospital capital investment may have been liquidity constrained during the recession is a novel contribution to the literature. I estimated the model with California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development data and system generalized method of moments. Findings suggest that not-for-profit and public hospitals were liquidity constrained during the recession. Comparing the changes in hospital capital investment between 2006 and 2009 showed that hospitals used cash flow to increase capital investment by $2.45 million, other things equal.

Hospital Capital Investment During the Great Recession

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sung

2017-01-01

Hospital capital investment is important for acquiring and maintaining technology and equipment needed to provide health care. Reduction in capital investment by a hospital has negative implications for patient outcomes. Most hospitals rely on debt and internal cash flow to fund capital investment. The great recession may have made it difficult for hospitals to borrow, thus reducing their capital investment. I investigated the impact of the great recession on capital investment made by California hospitals. Modeling how hospital capital investment may have been liquidity constrained during the recession is a novel contribution to the literature. I estimated the model with California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development data and system generalized method of moments. Findings suggest that not-for-profit and public hospitals were liquidity constrained during the recession. Comparing the changes in hospital capital investment between 2006 and 2009 showed that hospitals used cash flow to increase capital investment by $2.45 million, other things equal. PMID:28617202

The great intimidators.

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, Roderick M

2006-02-01

After Disney's Michael Eisner, Miramax's Harvey Weinstein, and Hewlett-Packard's Carly Fiorina fell from their heights of power, the business media quickly proclaimed thatthe reign of abrasive, intimidating leaders was over. However, it's premature to proclaim their extinction. Many great intimidators have done fine for a long time and continue to thrive. Their modus operandi runs counter to a lot of preconceptions about what it takes to be a good leader. They're rough, loud, and in your face. Their tactics include invading others' personal space, staging tantrums, keeping people guessing, and possessing an indisputable command of facts. But make no mistake--great intimidators are not your typical bullies. They're driven by vision, not by sheer ego or malice. Beneath their tough exteriors and sharp edges are some genuine, deep insights into human motivation and organizational behavior. Indeed, these leaders possess political intelligence, which can make the difference between paralysis and successful--if sometimes wrenching--organizational change. Like socially intelligent leaders, politically intelligent leaders are adept at sizing up others, but they notice different things. Those with social intelligence assess people's strengths and figure out how to leverage them; those with political intelligence exploit people's weaknesses and insecurities. Despite all the obvious drawbacks of working under them, great intimidators often attract the best and brightest. And their appeal goes beyond their ability to inspire high performance. Many accomplished professionals who gravitate toward these leaders want to cultivate a little "inner intimidator" of their own. In the author's research, quite a few individuals reported having positive relationships with intimidating leaders. In fact, some described these relationships as profoundly educational and even transformational. So before we throw out all the great intimidators, the author argues, we should stop to consider what

Investigating Strategies to Increase Persistence and Success Rates among Anatomy & Physiology Students: A Case Study at Austin Community College District

Science.gov (United States)

Vedartham, Padmaja B.

Community colleges train 60% of healthcare workers nationwide. Human anatomy and physiology (A&P) courses are considered prerequisite courses for all students who aspire to enter health-related programs. The attrition rates for A&P students at community colleges nationally are close to 50%. Community colleges with open-door policies admit nontraditional students who have historically been educationally and economically disadvantaged and are labeled at risk. At-risk students offer a challenge to the colleges and in particular to allied health programs with their mathematical and science oriented requirements. This case study was designed to determine the strategies used to increase the success rates and retention rates among A&P students at Austin Community College District (ACC) in Texas. Data show that ACC has almost 100% retention and higher success rates among A&P students as compared to other colleges. Qualitative data were collected from eight full-time faculty, three administrators, three administrative staff, one director, and two advisors. The findings linked both academic and nonacademic variables to high retention and success rates. The key strategies that helped the A&P students to overcome the challenges to persist and succeed were an assessment test, two preparatory biology courses, technology, and teaching strategies. Taking an assessment test before being permitted to access the class helped students prepare themselves for the rigors of A&P. These strategies provided the students with the foundation of knowledge in the basic biological principles and processes, study skills, and time management skills that would prepare them for the material presented in A&P courses and later in the allied health programs. The principle themes identified in this research--namely requiring students to take the assessment test, providing materials (BIOL.1308, CE4000, and online modules) to prepare students for taking the test, a $2 million grant awarded by the

Using Information Gap Activity to Increase Students' speaking Skill at the Twelve Grade of MAN 1 Pamekasan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ansharul Fuqaha

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Based on the researchers’ observation on the preliminary study on the teachingof speaking, the problem was found that the students’ speaking skill in the teaching and learning was very low. It was because the class was heterogeneousand the teacher used monotonous teaching activity. To cope of this problem, theresearcher employed the Information gap activity. This study tries to prove how the Information-gap activity can increase students’ speaking skill at the thirdgrade of MAN 1 Pamekasan. The study was design to increase the students’speaking skill by using Information gap activity at MAN 1 Pamekasan. Thestudy was collaborative classroom action research in which the researcher andthe collaborator worked together, the researcher acted as the teacher while thecollaborator observed the students during the implementation of the strategy. This study was conducted in one cycle consisting of six meetings using thefollowing procedures; planning, implementing, observing and reflecting. The data of the study were collected through the observation checklists, field notes,and questionnaires. The subject of the study were 41 students of third grade on science 3 program MAN 1 Pamekasan. 

Building Models to Predict Hint-or-Attempt Actions of Students

Science.gov (United States)

Castro, Francisco Enrique Vicente; Adjei, Seth; Colombo, Tyler; Heffernan, Neil

2015-01-01

A great deal of research in educational data mining is geared towards predicting student performance. Bayesian Knowledge Tracing, Performance Factors Analysis, and the different variations of these have been introduced and have had some success at predicting student knowledge. It is worth noting, however, that very little has been done to…

Presentations of scientific research results as a strategy to increase the interest of students in physiology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline Dalla Colletta Altermann

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the search for strategies to arouse the interest of undergraduate students in science, it was proposed the project "Colloquiums in Physiology" in order to disseminate and discuss scientific discoveries and improve the students’ interest in Physiology. This work aimed to verify the perception of participants about the impact of this activity. The activity included lectures throughout the semester and at the end of each lecture, a questionnaire was applied to listeners. Among the 171 students who answered the questionnaire, 81% (n=139 considers that this proposal increased their interest in physiology, 96% (n=164 believes that it is an important activity and achieved its goal of promote science disclosure, and 83% (n=142 stated that the project promotes interaction between research, teaching and outreach activities. Thus, it highlights the importance of this type of event for the academic formation.

The Great Recession and risk for child abuse and neglect.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, William; Waldfogel, Jane; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

2017-01-01

This paper examines the association between the Great Recession and four measures of the risk for maternal child abuse and neglect: (1) maternal physical aggression; (2) maternal psychological aggression; (3) physical neglect by mothers; and (4) supervisory/exposure neglect by mothers. It draws on rich longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal birth cohort study of families in 20 U.S. cities (N = 3,177; 50% African American, 25% Hispanic; 22% non-Hispanic white; 3% other). The study collected information for the 9-year follow-up survey before, during, and after the Great Recession (2007-2010). Interview dates were linked to two macroeconomic measures of the Great Recession: the national Consumer Sentiment Index and the local unemployment rate. Also included are a wide range of socio-demographic controls, as well as city fixed effects and controls for prior parenting. Results indicate that the Great Recession was associated with increased risk of child abuse but decreased risk of child neglect. Households with social fathers present may have been particularly adversely affected. Results also indicate that economic uncertainty during the Great Recession, as measured by the Consumer Sentiment Index and the unemployment rate, had direct effects on the risk of abuse or neglect, which were not mediated by individual-level measures of economic hardship or poor mental health.

Sleep complaints and daytime sleepiness among pharmaceutical students in Tripoli

OpenAIRE

Taher, Yousef A.; Samud, Awatef M.; Ratimy, Aya H.; Seabe, Areeje M.

2012-01-01

Background: The effect of sleep difficulties has achieved a great deal of attention recently, with university students considered as a homogenized population, particularly affected by sleep habits.Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate whether Libyan college students experience sleep disturbance during their academic programmes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the college of Pharmacy, Tripoli University, during February 2010. A total of 201 students, including ...

Innovative Approaches to Increasing the Student Assessment Procedures Effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Dorozhkin, Evgenij M.; Chelyshkova, Marina B.; Malygin, Alexey A.; Toymentseva, Irina A.; Anopchenko, Tatiana Y.

2016-01-01

The relevance of the investigated problem is determined by the need to improving the evaluation procedures in education and the student assessment in the age of the context of education widening, new modes of study developing (such as blending learning, e-learning, massive open online courses), immediate feedback necessity, reliable and valid…

Stakeholder Perceptions of Barriers and Solutions to Significant Expansion of Postsecondary Enrollment Options for High School Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carl Wozniak

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Post-secondary experiences for students still in high school have been promoted as a means to increase academic rigor and create a better-trained workforce. Yet little is known regarding supports needed to significantly increase such options. This study obtained input from 411 stakeholders in one Midwestern state, including 201 district superintendents, 181 high school principals, and 23 college dual enrollment officers regarding their use of these options, their perceptions of barriers to program expansion, and their ranking of possible solutions to overcome the barriers. Findings demonstrate that all parties find postsecondary options of value, with traditional dual enrollment the most used option. Although all groups identified funding as a primary barrier, other systemic barriers were of great concern. Participants suggest that expansion of Advanced Placement and early and middle college programs, financial assistance for dually enrolled students, and increased program availability for career and technical options would be beneficial.Wozniak, Carl, (2012. Stakeholder Perceptions of Barriers and Solutions to Significant Expansion of Postsecondary Enrollment Options for High School Students. 8(2. Retrieved from www.ijepl.org .

Impact of Alcohol Tax Increase on Maryland College Students' Alcohol-Related Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Smart, Mieka J; Yearwood, Safiya S; Hwang, Seungyoung; Thorpe, Roland J; Furr-Holden, C Debra

2018-05-12

This study A) assessed whether levels of alcohol-related disciplinary actions on college campuses changed among MD college students after the 2011 Maryland (MD) state alcohol tax increase from 6% to 9%, and B) determined which school-level factors impacted the magnitude of changes detected. A quasi-experimental interrupted time series (ITS) analysis of panel data containing alcohol-related disciplinary actions on 33 MD college campuses in years 2006-2013. Negative binomial regression models were used to examine whether there was a statistically significant difference in counts of alcohol-related disciplinary actions comparing time before and after the tax increase. The ITS anaysis showed an insignificant relationship between alcohol-related disciplinary actions and tax implementation (β = -.27; p =.257) but indicated that alcohol-related disciplinary actions decreased significantly over the time under study (β = -.05; p =.022). Alcohol related disciplinary actions did decrease over time in the years of study, and this relationship was correlated with several school-level characteristics, including school price, school funding type, types of degrees awarded, and specialty. School price may serve as a proxy mediator or confounder of the effect of time on disciplinary actions.

university students` perception and utilization of technology

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2018-02-01

Feb 1, 2018 ... university students` perceptions and utilization of technology for learning at Haramaya University in. Ethiopia (as a ... teaching and learning in classroom can greatly enhance the ..... benefits that it should be deliver. Looking at ...

What great managers do.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckingham, Marcus

2005-03-01

Much has been written about the qualities that make a great manager, but most of the literature overlooks a fundamental question: What does a great manager actually do? While there are countless management styles, one thing underpins the behavior of all great managers. Above all, an exceptional manager comes to know and value the particular quirks and abilities of her employees. She figures out how to capitalize on her staffers' strengths and tweaks her environment to meet her larger goals. Such a specialized approach may seem like a lot of work. But in fact, capitalizing on each person's uniqueness can save time. Rather than encourage employees to conform to strict job descriptions that may include tasks they don't enjoy and aren't good at, a manager who develops positions for his staff members based on their unique abilities will be rewarded with behaviors that are far more efficient and effective than they would be otherwise. This focus on individuals also makes employees more accountable. Because staffers are evaluated on their particular strengths and weaknesses, they are challenged to take responsibility for their abilities and to hone them. Capitalizing on a person's uniqueness also builds a stronger sense of team. By taking the time to understand what makes each employee tick, a great manager shows that he sees his people for who they are. This personal investment not only motivates individuals but also galvanizes the entire team. Finally, this approach shakes up existing hierarchies, which leads to more creative thinking. To take great managing from theory to practice, the author says, you must know three things about a person: her strengths, the triggers that activate those strengths, and how she learns. By asking the right questions, squeezing the right triggers, and becoming aware of your employees' learning styles, you will discover what motivates each person to excel.

A comparative study: do "clickers" increase student engagement in multidisciplinary clinical microbiology teaching?

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Niall T; McDermott, Hélène; Boland, Fiona; Pawlikowska, Teresa; Humphreys, Hilary

2017-04-08

Audience response devices, or "clickers", have been used in the education of future healthcare professionals for several years with varying success. They have been reported to improve the learning experience by promoting engagement and knowledge retention. In 2014, our department evaluated the use of "clickers" in a newly introduced multidisciplinary approach to teaching large groups of third year medical students clinical cases developed around a microbiology theme. Six multidisciplinary teaching sessions covering community-acquired pneumonia, tuberculosis, infective endocarditis, peritonitis, bloodstream infection with pyelonephritis and bacterial meningitis were included in the study. Three involved the use of the "clickers" and three did not. Consenting undergraduate students attended the designated classes and afterwards answered a short online quiz relating to the session. Students also answered a short questionnaire about the "clickers" to gauge their attitudes on the use of these devices. Of 310 students, 294 (94.8%) agreed to participate in the study. Interestingly, the grades of online quizzes after a session where a "clicker" was used were slightly lower. Looking only at the grades of students who engaged completely with the process (n = 19), there was no statistical difference to suggest that the devices had a positive or negative impact on knowledge retention. However, student attitudes to using the devices were positive overall. Fifty-five percent strongly agreed and 27% agreed that teaching sessions where the "clickers" were used were more engaging. Thirty-four percent strongly agreed and 36% agreed that the "clickers" made important concepts more memorable and 54% felt the device enhanced their understanding of the topic being covered. Overall, it appears that "clickers" help in improving student engagement in large classroom environments, enhance the learning experience, and are received positively by medical students but their impact on

Increasing Student Achievement and Improving Self-Esteem through a Community Building Intervention

Science.gov (United States)

Lupo, Concetta M.

2012-01-01

This study focused on improving students' self-esteem through community building at an elementary school in a low socioeconomic community where over 55% of the students live below the poverty line. Orefield and Yun state in their 1999 article, "Resegregation of America's schools," "school level poverty is related to many…

How Students Circumvent Problem-Solving Strategies that Require Greater Cognitive Complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Niaz, Mansoor

1996-01-01

Analyzes the great diversity in problem-solving strategies used by students in solving a chemistry problem and discusses the relationship between these variables and different cognitive variables. Concludes that students try to circumvent certain problem-solving strategies by adapting flexible and stylistic innovations that render the cognitive…

Tweets from the forest: using Twitter to increase student engagement in an undergraduate field biology course [v1; ref status: indexed, http://f1000r.es/56w

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren Soluk

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Twitter is a cold medium that allows users to deliver content-rich but small packets of information to other users, and provides an opportunity for active and collaborative communication. In an education setting, this social media tool has potential to increase active learning opportunities, and increase student engagement with course content. The effects of Twitter on learning dynamics was tested in a field biology course offered by a large Canadian University: 29 students agreed to take part in the Twitter project and quantitative and qualitative data were collected, including survey data from 18 students. Students published 200% more public Tweets than what was required, and interacted frequently with the instructor and teaching assistant, their peers, and users external to the course. Almost 80% of students stated that Twitter increased opportunities for among-group communication, and 94% of students felt this kind of collaborative communication was beneficial to their learning. Although students did not think they would use Twitter after the course was over, 77% of the students still felt it was a good learning tool, and 67% of students felt Twitter had a positive impact on how they engaged with course content. These results suggest social media tools such as Twitter can help achieve active and collaborative learning in higher education.

Increasing Reasoning Awareness: Video Analysis of Students' Two-Party Virtual Patient Interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Edelbring, Samuel; Parodis, Ioannis; Lundberg, Ingrid E

2018-02-27

Collaborative reasoning occurs in clinical practice but is rarely developed during education. The computerized virtual patient (VP) cases allow for a stepwise exploration of cases and thus stimulate active learning. Peer settings during VP sessions are believed to have benefits in terms of reasoning but have received scant attention in the literature. The objective of this study was to thoroughly investigate interactions during medical students' clinical reasoning in two-party VP settings. An in-depth exploration of students' interactions in dyad settings of VP sessions was performed. For this purpose, two prerecorded VP sessions lasting 1 hour each were observed, transcribed in full, and analyzed. The transcriptions were analyzed using thematic analysis, and short clips from the videos were selected for subsequent analysis in relation to clinical reasoning and clinical aspects. Four categories of interactions were identified: (1) task-related dialogue, in which students negotiated a shared understanding of the task and strategies for information gathering; (2) case-related insights and perspectives were gained, and the students consolidated and applied preexisting biomedical knowledge into a clinical setting; (3) clinical reasoning interactions were made explicit. In these, hypotheses were followed up and clinical examples were used. The researchers observed interactions not only between students and the VP but also (4) interactions with other resources, such as textbooks. The interactions are discussed in relation to theories of clinical reasoning and peer learning. The dyad VP setting is conducive to activities that promote analytic clinical reasoning. In this setting, components such as peer interaction, access to different resources, and reduced time constraints provided a productive situation in which the students pursued different lines of reasoning. ©Samuel Edelbring, Ioannis Parodis, Ingrid E Lundberg. Originally published in JMIR Medical Education (http

Efficacy of Peer Networks to Increase Social Connections among High School Students with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Hochman, Julia M.; Carter, Erik W.; Bottema-Beutel, Kristen; Harvey, Michelle N.; Gustafson, Jenny R.

2015-01-01

Although peer interaction takes on increased salience during adolescence, such social connections remain elusive for many high school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This social isolation can be particularly prevalent within unstructured school contexts. In this study, we examined the effects of a lunchtime peer network intervention…

Great aspirations: the postwar American college counseling center.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Tom

2014-02-01

In the decade after World War II, psychologists, eager to bring the benefits of counseling to larger numbers, convinced hundreds of American colleges and universities to establish counseling centers. Inspired by the educational-vocational counseling center founded by psychologists at the University of Minnesota in 1932, Carl R. Rogers's "client-centered" methods of personal adjustment counseling, and the 400-plus college counseling centers created by the Veterans Administration to provide the educational-vocational counseling benefit promised to returning World War II servicemen under the 1944 GI Bill, these counseling psychologists created a new place to practice where important currents in psychology, higher education, and federal policy converged and where they attempted to integrate educational-vocational counseling with personal adjustment counseling based on techniques from psychotherapy. By the mid-1960s, half of America's colleges and universities had established counseling centers, and more than 90% offered students educational, vocational, and psychological counseling services, a great achievement of the first generation of counseling psychologists.

The flipped classroom: A learning model to increase student engagement not academic achievement

OpenAIRE

Masha Smallhorn

2017-01-01

A decrease in student attendance at lectures both nationally and internationally, has prompted educators to re-evaluate their teaching methods and investigate strategies which promote student engagement. The flipped classroom model, grounded in active learning pedagogy, transforms the face-to-face classroom. Students prepare for the flipped classroom in their own time by watching short online videos and completing readings. Face-to-face time is used to apply learning through problem-solving w...

A day of immersive physiology experiments increases knowledge and excitement towards physiology and scientific careers in Native American students.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Bryan K; Schiller, Alicia M; Zucker, Irving H; Eager, Eric A; Bronner, Liliana P; Godfrey, Maurice

2017-03-01

Underserved minority groups are disproportionately absent from the pursuit of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. One such underserved population, Native Americans, are particularly underrepresented in STEM fields. Although recent advocacy and outreach designed toward increasing minority involvement in health care-related occupations have been mostly successful, little is known about the efficacy of outreach programs in increasing minority enthusiasm toward careers in traditional scientific professions. Furthermore, very little is known about outreach among Native American schools toward increasing involvement in STEM. We collaborated with tribal middle and high schools in South Dakota and Nebraska through a National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Award to hold a day-long physiology, activity-based event to increase both understanding of physiology and enthusiasm to scientific careers. We recruited volunteer biomedical scientists and trainees from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Nebraska Wesleyan University, and University of South Dakota. To evaluate the effectiveness of the day of activities, 224 of the ~275-300 participating students completed both a pre- and postevent evaluation assessment. We observed increases in both students self-perceived knowledge of physiology and enthusiasm toward scientific career opportunities after the day of outreach activities. We conclude that activity-based learning opportunities in underserved populations are effective in increasing both knowledge of science and interest in scientific careers. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Diagnostic Tests for Entering and Departing Undergraduate Students

Science.gov (United States)

Waltham, Chris; Kotlicki, A.

2006-12-01

A diagnostic test administered at the start of a class should test basic concepts which are recognized as course prerequisites. The questions should not be over-packaged: e.g. students should be required to create models, rather than this being done for them each time. Students should be allowed great latitude in their answers, so we can discover what they are thinking. When administered at the end of a class the goals should be similar: testing concepts taught in the class itself and the retention of necessary concepts from previous classes. Great care has to be taken to avoid teaching to the test. In assessing an entire program, for example an undergraduate majors degree in physics, then one looks for very general skills and knowledge not specific to any one course. The purpose of an undergraduate degree in physics (or indeed any science) is to equip the students with a set of problem-solving skills and basic knowledge which can be applied in a large variety of workplace settings and to allow that student to contribute to civic society as a science-literate person. The creator of any diagnostic test should always have these big goals in mind. We have developed a set of questions which we think fulfill these criteria, yet are not specific to any particular level of science education. They have been administered to students in secondary schools across Canada, incoming first-year science students and final-year physics students at the University of British Columbia. The results will be presented.

Original Research by Young Twinkle Students (ORBYTS): When Can Students Start Performing Original Research?

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Sousa-Silva, Clara; McKemmish, Laura K.; Chubb, Katy L.; Gorman, Marie N.; Baker, Jack S.; Barton, Emma J.; Rivlin, Tom; Tennyson, Jonathan

2018-01-01

Involving students in state-of-the-art research from an early age eliminates the idea that science is only for the scientists and empowers young people to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects. It is also a great opportunity to dispel harmful stereotypes about who is suitable for STEM careers, while leaving students…

Weed suppression greatly increased by plant diversity in intensively managed grasslands: A continental-scale experiment.

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Connolly, John; Sebastià, Maria-Teresa; Kirwan, Laura; Finn, John Anthony; Llurba, Rosa; Suter, Matthias; Collins, Rosemary P; Porqueddu, Claudio; Helgadóttir, Áslaug; Baadshaug, Ole H; Bélanger, Gilles; Black, Alistair; Brophy, Caroline; Čop, Jure; Dalmannsdóttir, Sigridur; Delgado, Ignacio; Elgersma, Anjo; Fothergill, Michael; Frankow-Lindberg, Bodil E; Ghesquiere, An; Golinski, Piotr; Grieu, Philippe; Gustavsson, Anne-Maj; Höglind, Mats; Huguenin-Elie, Olivier; Jørgensen, Marit; Kadziuliene, Zydre; Lunnan, Tor; Nykanen-Kurki, Paivi; Ribas, Angela; Taube, Friedhelm; Thumm, Ulrich; De Vliegher, Alex; Lüscher, Andreas

2018-03-01

Grassland diversity can support sustainable intensification of grassland production through increased yields, reduced inputs and limited weed invasion. We report the effects of diversity on weed suppression from 3 years of a 31-site continental-scale field experiment.At each site, 15 grassland communities comprising four monocultures and 11 four-species mixtures based on a wide range of species' proportions were sown at two densities and managed by cutting. Forage species were selected according to two crossed functional traits, "method of nitrogen acquisition" and "pattern of temporal development".Across sites, years and sown densities, annual weed biomass in mixtures and monocultures was 0.5 and 2.0 t  DM ha -1 (7% and 33% of total biomass respectively). Over 95% of mixtures had weed biomass lower than the average of monocultures, and in two-thirds of cases, lower than in the most suppressive monoculture (transgressive suppression). Suppression was significantly transgressive for 58% of site-years. Transgressive suppression by mixtures was maintained across years, independent of site productivity.Based on models, average weed biomass in mixture over the whole experiment was 52% less (95% confidence interval: 30%-75%) than in the most suppressive monoculture. Transgressive suppression of weed biomass was significant at each year across all mixtures and for each mixture.Weed biomass was consistently low across all mixtures and years and was in some cases significantly but not largely different from that in the equiproportional mixture. The average variability (standard deviation) of annual weed biomass within a site was much lower for mixtures (0.42) than for monocultures (1.77). Synthesis and applications . Weed invasion can be diminished through a combination of forage species selected for complementarity and persistence traits in systems designed to reduce reliance on fertiliser nitrogen. In this study, effects of diversity on weed suppression were

Impromptu: great impromptu speaking is never just impromptu

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramlah A. Nawi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Great impromptu speaking, reciting and singing are never just an isolated impromptu act. It is the result of endless practice to perfect performance that can then be given impromptu. One of the main objectives of learning English as a Second Language (ESL is to be able to speak English impromptu, not just on the stage or in front of an audience but also in a casual meeting, on the street or during a formal meeting in a board-room. In fact to be able to speak “impromptu” should be the Holy Grail of teaching and learning ESL, more important than reading, writing and listening. So how come it is not given the priority it deserves – and how come it seems such a difficult goal? We believe it is because teachers and learners neglect to emphasize and practice the key to learning impromptu speaking. That key we believe is practice, practice and more practice. We can remember songs from our kindergarten years and we can still sing them because we practiced, practiced and practiced them. We believe that the teaching of ESL often overlooks the critical importance of lots of practice to create depth of learning and that creative methods of practicing need to be taught and practiced in ESL courses until such methods become deeply habitual, in fact they become a new personal paradigm. If our students aim to become great at ESL, they, too, must take continuous never-ending practice to heart.

Sleep complaints and daytime sleepiness among pharmaceutical students in Tripoli.

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Taher, Yousef A; Samud, Awatef M; Ratimy, Aya H; Seabe, Areeje M

2012-01-01

The effect of sleep difficulties has achieved a great deal of attention recently, with university students considered as a homogenized population, particularly affected by sleep habits. The objective of this study was to investigate whether Libyan college students experience sleep disturbance during their academic programmes. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the college of Pharmacy, Tripoli University, during February 2010. A total of 201 students, including 179 females (89.05%) and 22 males (10.95%), were recruited from different academic levels. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and included a number of life-style variables. Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was used for the assessment of daytime sleepiness. This study showed that the total sleep time (TST) on a weeknight was 6.40 h and 67 students reported napping during daytime. The TST plus naps totalled 7.39 h. Out of eight possible dozing situations, we found that the mean score for ESS was 8.78. In addition, 79 students showed an ESS score of >10. Furthermore, our results showed that the majority of students (>92%) reported poor sleep satisfaction with quality and duration of sleep hours. Thinking about difficulty of study but not increasing education programs or tea/coffee consumption is associated with sleep difficulties reported. Moreover, 77.6% of students reported an irregular sleep-wake schedule. These findings indicate that students experienced excessive daytime sleepiness. The TST of pharmaceutical students in Libya, as in other developing countries, is less than those reported by Western students. Students experienced various environmental demands during their college years and, their quality of sleep was negatively affected.

Sleep complaints and daytime sleepiness among pharmaceutical students in Tripoli

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yousef A. Taher

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Background: The effect of sleep difficulties has achieved a great deal of attention recently, with university students considered as a homogenized population, particularly affected by sleep habits. Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate whether Libyan college students experience sleep disturbance during their academic programmes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the college of Pharmacy, Tripoli University, during February 2010. A total of 201 students, including 179 females (89.05% and 22 males (10.95%, were recruited from different academic levels. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and included a number of life-style variables. Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS was used for the assessment of daytime sleepiness. Results: This study showed that the total sleep time (TST on a weeknight was 6.40 h and 67 students reported napping during daytime. The TST plus naps totalled 7.39 h. Out of eight possible dozing situations, we found that the mean score for ESS was 8.78. In addition, 79 students showed an ESS score of >10. Furthermore, our results showed that the majority of students (>92% reported poor sleep satisfaction with quality and duration of sleep hours. Thinking about difficulty of study but not increasing education programs or tea/coffee consumption is associated with sleep difficulties reported. Moreover, 77.6% of students reported an irregular sleep–wake schedule. Conclusion: These findings indicate that students experienced excessive daytime sleepiness. The TST of pharmaceutical students in Libya, as in other developing countries, is less than those reported by Western students. Students experienced various environmental demands during their college years and, their quality of sleep was negatively affected.

"The Great Gatsby" and the Twenties: The Notion of Structure as a Unifying Device in an Interdisciplinary Unit.

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Peale, Lydia

An effective, 3-week unit on the 1920's in America, inspired by a reading of "The Great Gatsby," is designed around the idea of structure in history, government, literature, and writing. It has the following aims for students: (1) to understand the history of the 1920s, (2) to see literature as a creative shaping of the experience of the…

Great Ellipse Route Planning Based on Space Vector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIU Wenchao

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Aiming at the problem of navigation error caused by unified earth model in great circle route planning using sphere model and modern navigation equipment using ellipsoid mode, a method of great ellipse route planning based on space vector is studied. By using space vector algebra method, the vertex of great ellipse is solved directly, and description of great ellipse based on major-axis vector and minor-axis vector is presented. Then calculation formulas of great ellipse azimuth and distance are deduced using two basic vectors. Finally, algorithms of great ellipse route planning are studied, especially equal distance route planning algorithm based on Newton-Raphson(N-R method. Comparative examples show that the difference of route planning between great circle and great ellipse is significant, using algorithms of great ellipse route planning can eliminate the navigation error caused by the great circle route planning, and effectively improve the accuracy of navigation calculation.

[Profile and professional expectations for nursing students].

Science.gov (United States)

Antonín, M; Ballester, D; Esteve, J; Guilera, A; Pérez, I; Ortega, O; Tarruella, M; Peya, M; Guitard, M L; Ricomà, R; Teixidor, M; Ubiergo, I; Valls, M; Zabalegui, A

2009-01-01

The authors describe the profile corresponding to students enrolled in first, second and third year courses to become registered nurses in Catalonia, along with their professional and job expectations; the authors examine students' perceptions of the university environment. This information will be a great aid to, on the one hand, update the performances and initiatives taken by those responsible for nursing schools, and on the other hand, to obtain a preliminary view on future nursing professionals. At the same time, this information will provide useful elements for students themselves to reflect on their studies and their future as professionals.

Student difficulties regarding symbolic and graphical representations of vector fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurens Bollen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The ability to switch between various representations is an invaluable problem-solving skill in physics. In addition, research has shown that using multiple representations can greatly enhance a person’s understanding of mathematical and physical concepts. This paper describes a study of student difficulties regarding interpreting, constructing, and switching between representations of vector fields, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. We first identified to what extent students are fluent with the use of field vector plots, field line diagrams, and symbolic expressions of vector fields by conducting individual student interviews and analyzing in-class student activities. Based on those findings, we designed the Vector Field Representations test, a free response assessment tool that has been given to 196 second- and third-year physics, mathematics, and engineering students from four different universities. From the obtained results we gained a comprehensive overview of typical errors that students make when switching between vector field representations. In addition, the study allowed us to determine the relative prevalence of the observed difficulties. Although the results varied greatly between institutions, a general trend revealed that many students struggle with vector addition, fail to recognize the field line density as an indication of the magnitude of the field, confuse characteristics of field lines and equipotential lines, and do not choose the appropriate coordinate system when writing out mathematical expressions of vector fields.

Student difficulties regarding symbolic and graphical representations of vector fields

Science.gov (United States)

Bollen, Laurens; van Kampen, Paul; Baily, Charles; Kelly, Mossy; De Cock, Mieke

2017-12-01

The ability to switch between various representations is an invaluable problem-solving skill in physics. In addition, research has shown that using multiple representations can greatly enhance a person's understanding of mathematical and physical concepts. This paper describes a study of student difficulties regarding interpreting, constructing, and switching between representations of vector fields, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. We first identified to what extent students are fluent with the use of field vector plots, field line diagrams, and symbolic expressions of vector fields by conducting individual student interviews and analyzing in-class student activities. Based on those findings, we designed the Vector Field Representations test, a free response assessment tool that has been given to 196 second- and third-year physics, mathematics, and engineering students from four different universities. From the obtained results we gained a comprehensive overview of typical errors that students make when switching between vector field representations. In addition, the study allowed us to determine the relative prevalence of the observed difficulties. Although the results varied greatly between institutions, a general trend revealed that many students struggle with vector addition, fail to recognize the field line density as an indication of the magnitude of the field, confuse characteristics of field lines and equipotential lines, and do not choose the appropriate coordinate system when writing out mathematical expressions of vector fields.

Knowledge and awareness of ocular allergy among undergraduate students of public universities in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Kyei, Samuel; Tettey, Bernard; Asiedu, Kofi; Awuah, Agnes

2016-10-28

Ocular allergy is a growing public health problem that greatly impacts the day-to-day life of sufferers and their families. Other aspects of their activities of daily living such as schooling, professional, and social life are affected hence an increased awareness and knowledge of ocular allergies, their detection and treatment is paramount. This study was to assess the level of knowledge and awareness of ocular allergy among undergraduate students of public universities in Ghana. A descriptive cross sectional survey was conducted among 1000 students from three selected public universities in Ghana. Each respondent completed a questionnaire that had questions concerning awareness and knowledge of ocular allergy. Out of the 1000 students, 347 (34.7 %) were aware of ocular allergy. Of these 347 students, the level of knowledge of ocular allergy was generally low. Majority of the students had their source of information about ocular allergy from the media and the internet. There was statistical significant association among awareness of ocular allergy, sources of information and programme of study (p students is generally low. Students' programmes of study influenced their knowledge of ocular allergy. Public health measures are recommended to help educate students on the prevention and control of ocular allergy as well as the complications associated with this condition.

Increasing College Students' Interest and Engagement in STEM: A Comparison of Strategies for Challenging STEM Stereotypes

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Jiyun Elizabeth L.

Increasing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates has become an important part of the education agenda in the U.S. in recent years. Stereotypes about STEM (i.e., belief that STEM abilities are innate, and that European American men are best suited for STEM) have been identified as one of the critical factors that may contribute to low recruitment and retention of STEM students. Drawing from the literatures on biological essentialism and role models, this study compared different strategies for challenging STEM stereotypes among undergraduate students in STEM and non-STEM fields. STEM stereotypes were challenged directly with research articles that provided non-biological explanations for STEM success and interest (a strategy used in the essentialism research) and indirectly with biographies of successful STEM role models who are underrepresented in their field and who succeeded through hard work (a strategy used in the role model research). Contrary to the predictions, exposure to the role model biographies, research articles, or combination of both did not have statistically significant effects on participants' reported STEM interest and academic intentions. Possible explanations for the lack of significant findings as well as suggestions for developing effective interventions to promote STEM engagement among students are discussed.

From Great to Good: Principals' Sensemaking of Student Performance Decline in Formerly High Achieving High Poverty Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Darbonne, Deborah

2016-01-01

School level leadership is second only to effective instruction as essential to high student achievement (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson & Wahlstrom, 2004). Although factors such as socioeconomic levels and parental involvement contribute to the academic success of students, school leadership outweighs the impact of those factors. In the era of…

Student Use of Technology in Class: Engaged or Unplugged?

Science.gov (United States)

La Roche, Claire R.; Flanigan, Mary A.

2013-01-01

In recent years, there has been a great deal of discussion about the need for student engagement and a meaningful connection in the classroom. With the advent of cell phones, computers and the Internet, students are more connected to, and, at the same time, more disconnected from each other than ever before. We are living in the age of exponential…

Nothing Great Is Easy

OpenAIRE

Stansbie, Lisa

2014-01-01

A solo exhibition of 13 pieces of art work.\\ud \\ud Nothing Great is Easy is an exhibition of sculpture, film, drawing and photography that proposes reconstructed narratives using the sport of swimming and in particular the collective interaction and identity of the channel swimmer. The work utilises the processes, rituals/rules, language and the apparatus of sport.\\ud \\ud “Nothing great is easy” are the words on the memorial to Captain Matthew Webb who was the first man to swim the English ch...

Increasing students' physical activity during school physical education: rationale and protocol for the SELF-FIT cluster randomized controlled trial.

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Ha, Amy S; Lonsdale, Chris; Lubans, David R; Ng, Johan Y Y

2017-07-11

The Self-determined Exercise and Learning For FITness (SELF-FIT) is a multi-component school-based intervention based on tenets of self-determination theory. SELF-FIT aims to increase students' moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during physical education lessons, and enhance their autonomous motivation towards fitness activities. Using a cluster randomized controlled trial, we aim to examine the effects of the intervention on students' MVPA during school physical education. Secondary 2 students (approximately aged 14 years) from 26 classes in 26 different schools will be recruited. After baseline assessments, students will be randomized into either the experimental group or wait-list control group using a matched-pair randomization. Teachers allocated to the experimental group will attend two half-day workshops and deliver the SELF-FIT intervention for 8 weeks. The main intervention components include training teachers to teach in more need supportive ways, and conducting fitness exercises using a fitness dice with interchangeable faces. Other motivational components, such as playing music during classes, are also included. The primary outcome of the trial is students' MVPA during PE lessons. Secondary outcomes include students' leisure-time MVPA, perceived need support from teachers, need satisfaction, autonomous motivation towards physical education, intention to engage in physical activity, psychological well-being, and health-related fitness (cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness). Quantitative data will be analyzed using multilevel modeling approaches. Focus group interviews will also be conducted to assess students' perceptions of the intervention. The SELF-FIT intervention has been designed to improve students' health and well-being by using high-intensity activities in classes delivered by teachers who have been trained to be autonomy needs supportive. If successful, scalable interventions based on SELF-FIT could be applied in physical

Student Perceptions of Using Tablet Technology in Post-Secondary Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Mang, Colin F.; Wardley, Leslie J.

2013-01-01

This paper assesses students' attitudes towards using tablets, such as the Apple iPad, in university classes. Tablets are found to be a substitute for laptop computers. Students initially expressed a great deal of optimism regarding the technology, and, although their views diminished slightly as they gained experience with using a tablet,…

Pharmacy student engagement, performance, and perception in a flipped satellite classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

McLaughlin, Jacqueline E; Griffin, LaToya M; Esserman, Denise A; Davidson, Christopher A; Glatt, Dylan M; Roth, Mary T; Gharkholonarehe, Nastaran; Mumper, Russell J

2013-11-12

To determine whether "flipping" a traditional basic pharmaceutics course delivered synchronously to 2 satellite campuses would improve student academic performance, engagement, and perception. In 2012, the basic pharmaceutics course was flipped and delivered to 22 satellite students on 2 different campuses. Twenty-five condensed, recorded course lectures were placed on the course Web site for students to watch prior to class. Scheduled class periods were dedicated to participating in active-learning exercises. Students also completed 2 course projects, 3 midterm examinations, 8 graded quizzes, and a cumulative and comprehensive final examination. Results of a survey administered at the beginning and end of the flipped course in 2012 revealed an increase in students' support for learning content prior to class and using class time for more applied learning (p=0.01) and in the belief that learning key foundational content prior to coming to class greatly enhanced in-class learning (p=0.001). Significantly more students preferred the flipped classroom format after completing the course (89.5%) than before completing the course (34.6%). Course evaluation responses and final examination performance did not differ significantly for 2011 when the course was taught using a traditional format and the 2012 flipped-course format. Qualitative findings suggested that the flipped classroom promoted student empowerment, development, and engagement. The flipped pharmacy classroom can enhance the quality of satellite students' experiences in a basic pharmaceutics course through thoughtful course design, enriched dialogue, and promotion of learner autonomy.

Perception of social networking benefits in the support of a PBL module according to students' performance levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekarattanawong, Sophapun; Thuppia, Amornnat; Chamod, Pholasit; Pattharanitima, Pattharawin; Suealek, Nuchanart; Rojpibulstit, Panadda

2015-03-01

The use ofsocial networking to all levels of medical teaching as a communication tool between instructors and students has drawn much interest and increased usage. As Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites among students, a Facebook page has been used in the Genitourinary System problem-based learning (PBL) course at the Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University in the year 2014. The objective of this work is to study the perception ofusing a Facebook page to support PBL in an integrated pre- clinical year course. The Genitourinary System course committee introduced Facebook page to the 2"d year medical students who enrolled and instructors involved in the course. At the beginning ofthe course, the objectives ofFacebook page setting were informed as follows: 1) public relations, 2) channelfor questions and responses to address curiosities between students and instructors, 3) learning stimulation and 4) supporting good relationship between course coordinators and students. The participants consisted of 177 students who voluntarily allowed their opinion to be used in analysis and dissemination after completing a questionnaire about using the Facebook page in PBL at the end. A Likert scale was used to determine satisfaction scores for nine questions. Finally, the mean satisfaction was compared for each question and for students with different academic performances (great, good, fine, weak). The students liked the page (averaged satisfaction score 4.64) and wanted it to continue to be used in coursework (4.63), especiallyfor students at mid-level when compared to students with great performances (psocial networking, particularly Facebook pages, achieved all the four the stated objectives. Since this was the first time social networking was applied, some of faculty members had concern that their personal information would be disseminated to the public. Moreover there was still minimal knowledge of sharing among students. The Facebook "closed group