UNO Website: TRIO Project Achieve Homepage

TRIO Project Achieve provides support to UNO undergraduate students who qualify as first-generation students, st udents who meet established income guidelines, or students with disabilities

Inside English/Language Arts Standards: What's in a Grade?

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/88058/1/RRQ.36.2.5.pd

What Students Say Versus What They Do Regarding Scientific Inquiry

Science Education, Vol. 98, No. 1, pp. 1–35We teach a course for elementary education undergraduates that gives students an opportunity to conduct open-ended scientific inquiry and pursue their own scientific questions in much the sameway that practicing research scientists do. In this study,we compared what our students say declaratively about the nature of science (NOS) in surveys and interviews with what they do procedurally when engaged in authentic scientific practice. Initially, we were surprised when our students showed very little change on two different validated NOS questionnaires, adhering to seemingly memorized definitions of key NOS vocabulary such as “science” and “experiment.” In contrast, on procedural measures of NOS understanding, students developed a decidedly sophisticated approach to answering scientific questions. Our data suggest that students’ declarative understandings about the NOS are not a reliable measure of students’ ability to engage productively in scientific practices and vice versa. We discuss why this might be and consider the implications of this disconnect on identifying the best approach to NOS instruction and on future science education research

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Efficiency of Reading Processes

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulatory technique that offers promise as an investigative method for understanding complex cognitive operations such as reading. This study explores the ability of a single session of tDCS to modulate reading efficiency and phonological processing performance within a group of healthy adults. Half the group received anodal or cathodal stimulation, on two separate days, of the left temporo-parietal junction while the other half received anodal or cathodal stimulation of the right homologue area. Pre- and post-stimulation assessment of reading efficiency and phonological processing was carried out. A larger pre-post difference in reading efficiency was found for participants who received right anodal stimulation compared to participants who received left anodal stimulation. Further, there was a significant post-stimulation increase in phonological processing speed following right hemisphere anodal stimulation. Implications for models of reading and reading impairment are discussed

Project ACHIEVE – Using Implementation Research to Guide the Evaluation of Transitional Care Effectiveness

Background: Poorly managed hospital discharges and care transitions between health care facilities can cause poor outcomes for both patients and their caregivers. Unfortunately, the usual approach to health care delivery does not support continuity and coordination across the settings of hospital, doctors’ offices, home or nursing homes. Though complex efforts with multiple components can improve patient outcomes and reduce 30-day readmissions, research has not identified which components are necessary. Also we do not know how delivery of core components may need to be adjusted based on patient, caregiver, setting or characteristics of the community, or how system redesign can be accelerated. Methods/design: Project ACHIEVE focuses on diverse Medicare populations such as individuals with multiple chronic diseases, patients with low health literacy/numeracy and limited English proficiency, racial and ethnic minority groups, low-income groups, residents of rural areas, and individuals with disabilities. During the first phase, we will use focus groups to identify the transitional care outcomes and components that matter most to patients and caregivers to inform development and validation of assessment instruments. During the second phase, we will evaluate the comparative effectiveness of multi-component care transitions programs occurring across the U.S. Using a mixed-methods approach for this evaluation, we will study historical (retrospective) and current and future (prospective) groups of patients, caregivers and providers using site visits, surveys, and clinical and claims data. In this natural experiment observational study, we use a fractional factorial study design to specify comparators and estimate the individual and combined effects of key transitional care components. Discussion: Our study will determine which evidence-based transitional care components and/or clusters most effectively produce patient and caregiver desired outcomes overall and among diverse patient and caregiver populations in different healthcare settings. Using the results, we will develop concrete, actionable recommendations regarding how best to implement these strategies. Finally, this work will provide tools for hospitals, community-based organizations, patients, caregivers, clinicians and other stakeholders to help them make informed decisions about which strategies are most effective and how best to implement them in their communities. Trial registration: Registered as NCT02354482 on clinicaltrials.gov on 1/29/201

Effect of hearing intervention on communicative function: A secondary analysis of the ACHIEVE randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: The Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) Study was designed to determine the effects of a best-practice hearing intervention on cognitive decline among community-dwelling older adults. Here, we conducted a secondary analysis of the ACHIEVE Study to investigate the effect of hearing intervention on self-reported communicative function. METHODS: The ACHIEVE Study is a parallel-group, unmasked, randomized controlled trial of adults aged 70-84 years with untreated mild-to-moderate hearing loss and without substantial cognitive impairment. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to a hearing intervention (audiological counseling and provision of hearing aids) or a control intervention of health education (individual sessions with a health educator covering topics on chronic disease prevention) and followed semiannually for 3 years. Self-reported communicative function was measured with the Hearing Handicap Inventory-Elderly Screening version (HHIE-S, range 0-40, higher scores indicate greater impairment). Effect of hearing intervention versus control on HHIE-S was analyzed through an intention-to-treat model controlling for known covariates. RESULTS: HHIE-S improved after 6-months with hearing intervention compared to control, and continued to be better through 3-year follow-up. We estimated a difference of -8.9 (95% CI: -10.4, -7.5) points between intervention and control groups in change in HHIE-S score from baseline to 6 months, -9.3 (95% CI: -10.8, -7.9) to Year 1, -8.4 (95% CI: -9.8, -6.9) to Year 2, and - 9.5 (95% CI: -11.0, -8.0) to Year 3. Other prespecified sensitivity analyses that varied analytical parameters did not change the observed results. CONCLUSIONS: Hearing intervention improved self-reported communicative function compared to a control intervention within 6 months and with effects sustained through 3 years. These findings suggest that clinical recommendations for older adults with hearing loss should encourage hearing intervention that could benefit communicative function and potentially have positive downstream effects on other aspects of health

A Historical Investigation into Item Formats of ACS Exams and Their Relationships to Science Practices

The release of the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards has important implications for classroom teaching and assessment. Of particular interest is the implementation of science practices in the chemistry classroom, and the definitions established by the NRC makes these objectives much more tangible. However, this still may leave some wondering about how to begin making these changes. Mid-twentieth century chemical educators and pioneers of the first ACS exams advocated for testing science thinking and skills as early as the 1930s, and this necessitates a discussion about how early ACS exams measured these attributes. More recent debates have seen arguments that multiple-choice questions cannot measure high levels of cognitive ability in chemistry, which leaves questions about how ACS exams or instructors who write tests for large scale classrooms might try to measure science practices. The possibility that an analysis of the item formats used on ACS exams from 1934 to 1970 would help inform the creation of improved item types in testing today is investigated and presented here.Reprinted (adapted) with permission from J. Chem. Educ., 2015, 92 (11), pp 1798–1806. Copyright 2015 American Chemical Society.</p

Hearing Impairment and Physical Activity and Physical Functioning in Older Adults: Baseline Results From the ACHIEVE Trial

BACKGROUND: Hearing loss is associated with restricted physical activity (PA) and impaired physical functioning, yet the relationship between severity of hearing impairment (HI) and novel PA measures in older adults with untreated HI is not well understood. METHODS: Analyses included 845 participants aged ≥70 years (mean = 76.6 years) with a better-hearing ear pure-tone average (PTA) ≥30 and &lt;70 dB in the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders (ACHIEVE) study who wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for 7 days. Physical functioning measures included grip strength and the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Linear regression models estimated the association by HI level (moderate or greater [PTA ≥ 40 dB] vs mild [PTA &lt; 40 dB]) and continuous hearing with total daily activity counts, active minutes/day, activity fragmentation, grip strength, and gait speed. Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of poor performance on the SPPB (≤6) and its subtests (≤2). Mixed-effects models estimated differences by HI level in activity by time of day. RESULTS: Participants with moderate or greater HI had poorer physical functioning, particularly balance (OR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.29-3.67), versus those with mild impairment. There was no association of HI level with activity quantities or fragmentation. For diurnal patterns of activity, participants with moderate or greater HI had fewer activity counts in the afternoon (12:00 pm -05:59 pm). CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with worse hearing had shifted diurnal patterns and poorer balance performance. Exercise programs should be tailored to older adults with different levels of HI to maintain PA and physical functioning, particularly balance control

The place of values in the aims of school science education

Debates about the aims of school science education are perennial (e.g., Reiss & White, 2014; see also Kidman & Fensham, Chapter “ Intended, Achieved and Unachieved Values of Science Education” this volume), particularly in Western cultures. In this chapter we review some of these arguments about the aims of school science education, and look at what has changed in the last decade since one of us (Michael) considered a similar debate (see Reiss, 2007). We have situated this review of arguments in current global circumstances including rapid technological advances, a continuing demand for workers with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) qualifications and the increasing acknowledgement of the deeply worrying effects that humans have on the Earth’s ecology, and indeed its future. Part of our argument is that decisions about the aims of school science education are inevitably decisions about values in education in general and values in school science education more specifically. This means that for a country, a group of schools, an individual school or a classroom teacher to come to a view about the aims of science education in the classroom is to have made a judgement, implicitly or explicitly, about values