Physical to Virtual: A Model for Future Virtual Classroom Environments

Virtual reality is a technology that has seen unprecedented growth since the turn of the century with increasing applications within business, entertainment, and educational applications. As virtual reality technologies continue to develops and markets expand, the world may see an increased demand for virtual classrooms: virtual environments (VEs) that students may access through immersive virtual reality technologies to receive guided instruction, conduct simulations, or perform tasks typical in a classroom setting. While many studies document how virtual reality is beneficial to educational processes, there is little discussion on how virtual environments should be architecturally designed. Thus one may hypothesize that physical design strategies translated to virtual environments may have similar results. This thesis investigates virtual environments for education by creating several virtual classrooms embedded within a selective digital twin of the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. The design of the virtual classrooms was influenced by current architectural trends in classroom design while capturing unique abilities present within a virtual context. A physical teaching module was also designed to create a platform for educators within the university to deliver instruction within the virtual campus

Factors Affecting Female Secondary Agricultural Educator Job Satisfaction in Arizona

The purpose of this applied action research was to identify factors that contribute both to Arizona female secondary agricultural educator job satisfaction and to their decisions to remain in the profession. The research questions used to direct this study were: 1. Which job responsibilities generate the greatest and least levels of job satisfaction in female secondary agricultural educators in Arizona? 2. What supporting structures (people and practices) influence retention decisions among female secondary agricultural educators in Arizona? 3. Which factors generate the greatest and least levels of female agricultural educator satisfaction with the AATA Mentoring Program? 4. Do personal and professional characteristics (degree type, certification type, years of experience, race, marital status, and children) influence job satisfaction among female secondary agricultural educators in Arizona? This mixed methods study was comprised of two parts: qualitative in-depth interviews with 12 female agricultural educators in Arizona and a quantitative questionnaire disseminated to all female agricultural educators in Arizona (n = 30). The interview findings revealed that external, motivator, and hygiene factors play a role in overall job satisfaction with Classroom Instruction, FFA, and SAE job responsibilities, recognition of support structures (people and practices), and AATA New Teacher Mentoring Program experience. The results of the questionnaire revealed which Classroom Instruction, FFA, and SAE job responsibilities brought female agricultural educators the greatest and least amounts of satisfaction. AATA New Teacher Mentoring Program mentor and mentee experience factors were also ranked by level of satisfaction. Lastly, descriptive statistics calculated on the demographic data (degree type, certification type, years of experience, race, marital status, and children) yielded information about the influence of those demographic factors on Classroom Instruction, FFA, and SAE job responsibility satisfaction. Both the findings and results indicate that professional relationships with others in the Arizona agricultural education community play a positive role in female agricultural educator retention. The information acquired through this research may aid in developing a framework for an improvement plan to create a teacher support system within the AATA. There are also implications to use the findings in the University of Arizona’s agricultural education teacher preparation program

The Lumberjack, October 19, 2011

The student newspaper of Humboldt State University.https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/studentnewspaper/2513/thumbnail.jp

GVSU Press Releases, 2010

A compilation of press releases for the year 2010 submitted by University Communications (formerly News & Information Services) to news agencies concerning the people, places, and events related to Grand Valley State University

Co-designing the inflammatory arthritis self-management (aiM) intervention.

Self-management is an integral part of care for people living with inflammatory arthritis. The benefits of self-management interventions for people living with long-term conditions are well established. To date, most of the inflammatory arthritis self-management interventions have targeted only rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, there is a need for a self-management intervention that reaches beyond just people living with rheumatoid arthritis. The overarching aim of this project was to co-design a self-management intervention for people across the inflammatory arthritis spectrum, based on the needs and preferences of co-designers (i.e. both people living with IA and healthcare professionals), as well as on the scientific literature. This project commenced with a mixed-method systematic review exploring the effectiveness and acceptability of existing inflammatory arthritis self-management interventions. Then, a two-phase, sequential multi-methods approach was employed. The first phase involved five asynchronous co-design workshops, guided by the Intervention Mapping Framework (Bartholomew et al. 2016). The second phase then explored participants' experience in participating in co-design research, including the barriers and facilitators to co-design. The mixed-method systematic review demonstrated that inflammatory arthritis self-management interventions produced a clinically meaningful reduction in fatigue and pain in people living with inflammatory arthritis. There was also some data to suggest that inflammatory arthritis self-management interventions have a beneficial effect on self-efficacy; knowledge; communication; health- related quality of life; and engagement with self-management behaviours. Additionally, the review found that inflammatory arthritis self-management interventions are generally acceptable to people living with inflammatory arthritis and healthcare professionals. Workshop findings provided important insight into the health problems and self-management needs of people living with inflammatory arthritis. The workshops also helped to identify the key content and features of the developed self-management intervention - i.e. the inflAmmatory arthrItis self-Management (aiM) intervention. Participants reported having an overall positive experience participating in the workshops, which provided them with an opportunity to meet others living with IA. The use of asynchronous workshops was felt to contribute to the participants' high attendance rate and the study's low attrition, despite IT-issues that were reported as a barrier to the participants' ability to fully participate in the workshops. This project developed a novel self-management intervention, which aims to improve the health status of people living with inflammatory arthritis through increased engagement with self-management strategies. The aiM intervention is based on the needs and preferences of the co-designers, and is grounded in theory and evidence. The findings have also provided new knowledge regarding the health problems related to people living with inflammatory arthritis, their self-management needs, and mechanisms that facilitate and inhibit co-design processes in an asynchronous remote context. Moving forward, it is recommended that the aiM intervention be tested for its feasibility and acceptability

Wooster Magazine: Fall 2006

This edition of the Wooster Magazine was published in the Fall of 2006. Photos and information from before and after the Kauke renovation are from page eleven to fifteen. The Wooster Magazine celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2006. A section on foods in the Wooster community is from page eighteen to twenty-five. The difference in messaging from 1882 and now is discussed in the following section. The Class Notes section is from page twenty-eight to sixty-three.https://openworks.wooster.edu/wooalumnimag_2001-2010/1018/thumbnail.jp

GVSU Press Releases, 2011

A compilation of press releases for the year 2011 submitted by University Communications (formerly News & Information Services) to news agencies concerning the people, places, and events related to Grand Valley State University

Town of Salem, New Hampshire annual report for the year 2013.

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire

Absent voting, the Help America Vote Act 2002, and the American overseas voter :an analysis of policy effectiveness and political participation

PhD ThesisThe 2000 Presidential Election demonstrated that the rules that dictate the conduct of elections are fundamental in legitimating electoral processes and outcomes. For the United States, these election rules extend beyond borders, impacting millions of Americans resident overseas. Following the 2000 Election, a number of policy initiatives directed at improving the voting process for American overseas voters were undertaken. However the effectiveness of those policies was not clear. This thesis represents the first scholarly study assessing the effectiveness of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) and the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act of 2009 (MOVE). This assessment will show that neither HAVA nor the MOVE Act have improved the electoral participation of American overseas voters. Through a comprehensive review of the historical development of absent voting legislation in the United States, it will be shown that the events of the 2000 Election should not have been surprising to anyone. This historical review will demonstrate that problems associated with ensuring the franchise for absent voters have been recurring and highly political. In this partisan atmosphere, effective solutions to ensure the franchise of American overseas voters have not emerged. The 2000 Presidential Election also highlighted the potential impact of the political activity of Americans resident overseas on political outcomes in the continental United States. Previous research has not collected or analysed data regarding the demographics, associational involvement or the political attitudes and ideological self-identification of this group. Using data collected on a survey of American voters overseas, the thesis attempts to fill this research gap by analysing how this group relate to the United States political system from abroad and their propensity to participate