Student Satisfaction and/or Dissatisfaction in Blended Learning Environments

Research exists in blended learning environments as a means of online or distance learning. However, few researchers focused on student satisfaction or dissatisfaction in these environments. This mixed methods study addressed this gap in literature by focusing on how student satisfaction or dissatisfaction is viewed in blended learning environments. The conceptual framework is based upon research that discussed both face-to-face and online environments, which make a key argument for blended learning. This framework is community and inquiry. In conjunction with this, the study relied on the multimodal model that examines different learning environments. A mixed methods study design was conducted using open and closed ended questions for triangulation of the results to be completed. A sample of 23 students from blended undergraduate courses were used. Data was analyzed using open and axial coding to identify emergent themes. The main findings indicated that students were satisfied with blended learning environments because they are flexible and convenient. Some of the areas that participants indicated there was dissatisfaction were: disconnection and technology

The story of mentoring novice teachers in New York

This case study addressed a gap in literature by focusing on how teachers perceived the impact of mentoring programs on the support and collaboration of teachers. A qualitative case study design was conducted using semistructured interviews and documents. A sample of 16 teachers from two different school districts in New York State participated. The main findings indicated that mentoring benefitted all of those involved in the program. Mentees and mentors in both school districts benefitted from lesson planning, collaborating, and supporting each other. Findings of this study may foster additional support and collaboration for mentees and mentors and possible improvements to existing mentoring programs. These improvements may promote social change by providing teachers with a positive environment where collaboration among all educators is encouraged

Students' perceptions of the learning environment in two Nigerian medical schools offering different curricula

Objective: Compare the results of administering the DREEM questionnaire in two Nigerian medical schools offering traditional and student-centred curricular respectively, to identify any differences in the learning environment and appreciate advantages of the more modern curriculum.Methods: A survey design was used. Data was analysed using the DREEM scoring rubric. The independent t-test was used to compare results. Setting: The DREEM questionnaire was administered to final year medical students at two participating centres. Participants: Final year students of a teacher-centred and a student-centred medical school. Results: There were 138 respondents – 50 (96.2% of the final year students) from the teacher centred school and 88 (59.1% of the final year students) from the student-centred school. The mean total DREEM score was 117+22.3 in the former and 119 +23.6 in the latter (p = 0.798). Mean age of students in the teacher centred school was 28 ± 5.28 years, while that of the student-centred school was 23 ± 1.83 years (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The mean total DREEM score proximity between the schools suggests that the younger students using a more student-centred curriculum have less of an appreciation of their improved learning environment than is expected. Thus, the hidden curriculum could be lagging behind the written one. The older students in the teacher centred environment have a more mature appreciation of their learning climate.  Funding: Personal sourcesKeywords: medical education, Nigeria, curriculum, DREE

Birds and people in Europe

At a regional scale, species richness and human population size are frequently positively correlated across space. Such patterns may arise because both species richness and human density increase with energy availability. If the species-energy relationship is generated through the 'more individuals' hypothesis, then the prediction is that areas with high human densities will also support greater numbers of individuals from other taxa. We use the unique data available for the breeding birds in Europe to test this prediction. Overall regional densities of bird species are higher in areas with more people; species of conservation concern exhibit the same pattern. Avian density also increases faster with human density than does avian biomass, indicating that areas with a higher human density have a higher proportion of small-bodied individuals. The analyses also underline the low numbers of breeding birds in Europe relative to humans, with a median of just three individual birds per person, and 4 g of bird for every kilogram of human

Connecting species’ geographical distributions to environmental variables: range maps versus observed points of occurrence

Connecting the geographical occurrence of a species with underlying environmental variables is fundamental for many analyses of life history evolution and for modeling species distributions for both basic and practical ends. However, raw distributional information comes principally in two forms: points of occurrence (specific geographical coordinates where a species has been observed), and expert-prepared range maps. Each form has potential short-comings: range maps tend to overestimate the true occurrence of a species, whereas occurrence points (because of their frequent non-random spatial distribution) tend to underestimate it. Whereas previous comparisons of the two forms have focused on how they may differ when estimating species richness, less attention has been paid to the extent to which the two forms actually differ in their representation of a species’ environmental associations. We assess such differences using the globally distributed avian order Galliformes (294 species). For each species we overlaid range maps obtained from IUCN and point-of-occurrence data obtained from GBIF on global maps of four climate variables and elevation. Over all species, the median difference in distribution centroids was 234 km, and median values of all five environmental variables were highly correlated, although there were a few species outliers for each variable. We also acquired species’ elevational distribution mid-points (mid-point between minimum and maximum elevational extent) from the literature; median elevations from point occurrences and ranges were consistently lower (median −420 m) than mid-points. We concluded that in most cases occurrence points were likely to produce better estimates of underlying environmental variables than range maps, although differences were often slight. We also concluded that elevational range mid-points were biased high, and that elevation distributions based on either points or range maps provided better estimates

Parasite infections in a social carnivore: Evidence of their fitness consequences and factors modulating infection load

There are substantial individual differences in parasite composition and infection load in wildlife populations. Few studies have investigated the factors shaping this heterogeneity in large wild mammals or the impact of parasite infections on Darwinian fitness, particularly in juveniles. A host's parasite composition and infection load can be shaped by factors that determine contact with infective parasite stages and those that determine the host's resistance to infection, such as abiotic and social environmental factors, and age. Host–parasite interactions and synergies between coinfecting parasites may also be important. We test predictions derived from these different processes to investigate factors shaping infection loads (fecal egg/oocyte load) of two energetically costly gastrointestinal parasites: the hookworm Ancylostoma and the intracellular Cystoisospora, in juvenile spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in the Serengeti National Park, in Tanzania. We also assess whether parasite infections curtail survival to adulthood and longevity. Ancylostoma and Cystoisospora infection loads declined as the number of adult clan members increased, a result consistent with an encounter‐reduction effect whereby adults reduced encounters between juveniles and infective larvae, but were not affected by the number of juveniles in a clan. Infection loads decreased with age, possibly because active immune responses to infection improved with age. Differences in parasite load between clans possibly indicate variation in abiotic environmental factors between clan den sites. The survival of juveniles (<365 days old) to adulthood decreased with Ancylostoma load, increased with age, and was modulated by maternal social status. High‐ranking individuals with low Ancylostoma loads had a higher survivorship during the first 4 years of life than high‐ranking individuals with high Ancylostoma loads. These findings suggest that high infection loads with energetically costly parasites such as hookworms during early life can have negative fitness consequences

Implementing innovations in organisations.

Initial investigations with six small and medium sized firms were carried out where innovation of products and processes played a major role. On the basis of preliminary analysis one company was chosen for an in-depth investigation and analysis through participant observation. Innovation implementation situations were identified in the manufacturing unit of a small engineering firm and studied through observation of the process and in-depth interviews with participants. The concept of technological innovation was widened to include structural innovation and a theoretical framework was developed to describe and promote the innovation implementation process. This linked a classification of innovation with organisation structure and appropriate decision making process. As a result it was found that the innovation process was only influenced marginally by overall structural characteristics of organisation. It was more influenced by the local structures made up of the individuals actively involved in the process - their decision making and communication patterns with each other and other parts of the organisation.As these local structures were composed of different people for different innovations or changed in composition as the innovation implementation process proceeded, a need for one person to act as overseer --- interpreter and integrator emerged. The researcher found herself fulfilling this role. Further work was carried out in examining this key role through an analysis of the researcher's own contribution and role within the company in innovation situations. This also contributed to the research process in its implications for research methodology, particular the Action Research model where the researcher is actively involved in learning and change

Senescence and costs of reproduction in the life history of a small precocial species

Trillmich F, Geißler E, Günther A. Senescence and costs of reproduction in the life history of a small precocial species. Ecology and Evolution. 2019;9(12):7069-7079.Species following a fast life history are expected to express fitness costs mainly as increased mortality, while slow-lived species should suffer fertility costs. Because observational studies have limited power to disentangle intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing senescence, we manipulated reproductive effort experimentally in the cavy (Cavia aperea) which produces extremely precocial young. We created two experimental groups: One was allowed continuous reproduction (CR) and the other intermittent reproduction (IR) by removing males at regular intervals. We predicted that the CR females should senesce (and die) earlier and produce either fewer and/or smaller, slower growing offspring per litter than those of the IR group. CR females had 16% more litters during three years than IR females. CR females increased mass and body condition more steeply and both remained higher until the experiment ended. Female survival showed no group difference. Reproductive senescence in litter size, litter mass, and reproductive effort (litter mass/maternal mass) began after about 600 days and was slightly stronger in CR than IR females. Litter size, litter mass, and offspring survival declined with maternal age and were influenced by seasonality. IR females decreased reproductive effort less during cold seasons and only at higher age than CR females. Nevertheless, offspring winter mortality was higher in IR females. Our results show small costs of reproduction despite high reproductive effort, suggesting that under ad libitum food conditions costs depend largely on internal regulation of allocation decisions