Survival Stories [6th grade]

In this unit students will read historical fiction and nonfiction texts focusing on the tragedy of the Titanic. The readings will provide them with the opportunity to uncover the understandings that the genre of a text not only determines its purpose but also informs our approach to reading and that survivors make adjustments or adaptations in their lives in order to overcome significant challenges or difficulties. As students read the historical fiction book Voyage on the Great Titanic accompanied by various newspaper articles and nonfiction sources on the sinking of the ship, they will answer the question why does genre matter? Through the story of Margaret Ann Brady, students will explore the questions what makes a person a survivor? and to what extent does our ability to change or adapt affect our chances of becoming a survivor? The unit will conclude with two projects in which students will apply what they have learned. For the first project, students will choose a book to read outside of class from a pre-selected group. After they have read the book, they will create both nonfiction and historical fiction texts to apply their understanding of what it means to be a survivor to another fictional character. The second project will require the students to see themselves as survivors and to reflect back upon their surviving the transition from elementary to middle school in order to help future sixth graders survive the transition successfully

Holocaust [8th grade]

In this unit students will read Night by Elie Wiesel as a means for discovering the atrocities of the Holocaust. Our study will provide them with the opportunity to uncover the following understandings: prejudice generates powerful feelings which can lead to violent consequences and human suffering, suffering produces significant change in humans, and effective communication of the change in an individual can promote the growth of human society. As students read the nonfiction book and conduct research on the historical events surrounding the Holocaust they will answer the questions why does different matter? and can hope and despair coexist? Through a study of atrocities recently committed which have caused significant human suffering, students will explore the question is it ever right to do the wrong thing? The unit will conclude with a project which will allow students to apply what they have learned. After our study of current events which have been compared to the Holocaust, students will have the freedom to create a product which applies their understanding of prejudice, suffering, and effective change to one of these situations. Their projects will be constructed for the purpose of expressing the prejudice and suffering which has been silenced by others, educating people about current atrocities committed against humanity, and fulfilling the call to moral activism which Elie Wiesel makes in his most famous work

Discovery Through Nonfiction [6th grade]

In this unit students will read a variety of informative and literary nonfiction texts focusing on the tragedy and discovery of the Titanic. The readings will provide them with the opportunity to uncover the understandings that discovery is the illumination of information, discovery leads us to understand the truth, and discovering types and features of nonfiction makes us more effective readers. Through discussion with their classmates and creation of several graphic organizers, students will answer the question “what is discovery and what is it not?” As students read the nonfiction books 882 ½ Amazing Answers to Your Questions About the Titanic and Exploring the Titanic accompanied by various newspaper articles, biographies, autobiographies and essays, they will explore the questions “how does discovery affect our understanding?” and “to what extent is reading nonfiction different from reading fiction and to what extent is it the same?” The unit will conclude with a project in which students will apply what they have learned to create an informational and a literary nonfiction text. The texts will be intended for a time capsule to help people in the future discover the people and place of the student’s middle school in the current year

Goal orientation and alcohol use during the transition to college

2021 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Alcohol use peaks in early adulthood and rates are significantly higher among college students than their non-college attending peers. Negative alcohol-related outcomes are common among college drinkers. This longitudinal study aimed to reduce negative alcohol-related outcomes, indirectly, by promoting the salience of first-year students' academic goals. Students were randomly assigned to set academic goals or no goals (control) at the start of the fall 2014 semester. Alcohol-related cognitions, past-month alcohol use, negative consequences of drinking, self-control, goal importance, and goal commitment were measured at baseline. Students revisited their goals and completed the alcohol measures in three follow-up surveys. The Motivational Model of Alcohol Use provided structure for testing hypotheses that setting academic goals would be associated with reduced negative alcohol-related outcomes via the effect of condition on drinking motives (H1), self-control would moderate the associations between goal condition, alcohol-related cognitions, and negative alcohol-related outcomes (H2), and goal covariates would moderate the association between self-control, alcohol-related cognitions, and negative alcohol-related outcomes (H3). Longitudinal path models were estimated in Mplus using Bayesian methods. All models fit the data well, but provided limited support for the hypotheses. Setting academic goals did not influence negative alcohol-related outcomes, indirectly, however a meaningful and negative direct effect on negative alcohol-related outcomes was found. Self-control did not moderate the association between goal condition and negative alcohol-related outcomes. Finally, goal importance did not moderate the association between self-control and negative outcomes via drinking motives. Setting academic goals represents a promising, but complex tool for preventing college alcohol misuse

The Handoff Culture: Can we change how an ICU to floor transfer works?

Handoffs between providers have increased following the implementation of the 2011 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) work hour restrictions. Properly structured and timed handoffs are essential to patient safety.1 Despite this, studies have shown that errors in code status, medication allergies, and important updates to the problem list are common, all of which can lead to adverse outcomes to patients.2 At Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) the 2016 Safety Culture Survey revealed that across all specialties, 37% of residents felt that things “fall through the cracks” when transferring patients from one unit to another. Our interdepartmental Housestaff Quality and Safety Leadership Council (HQSLC) sought to evaluate and modify the TJUH ICU to floor handoff process. Through engaging our diverse membership, we realized that the ICU to floor handoff process at TJUH lacks standardization. The following areas demonstrated a high degree of variation, and were seen as targets for improvement: ● Timing of handoff: Some departments give the handoff at the time of transfer order, and others at bed assignment. ● Incorporation of best practices: Both verbal and written handoffs should be performed with time for follow up questions by the receiving team ● Closed loop communication: Both sending and receiving teams should clearly communicate the plan of care, and the receiving team should clearly indicate when they have taken over primary responsibility. Poster presented at: House Staff Quality and Safety Leadership Council conference at Thomas Jefferson University.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/patientsafetyposters/1073/thumbnail.jp

An ESL Instructor\u27s Guidebook for Reducing Test Anxiety at the Community College Level Through Exploring Alternatives in Assessment

The purpose of this project is to decrease test anxiety within ESL community college students by providing their instructors with a guidebook for implementing alternatives in assessment. Chapter one dives right into the problem of ESL students experiencing test anxiety. At the community college level, there are added pressures from family needs, work, legal issues, adjusting to a new culture, and more. Teachers could offset this external anxiety by eliminating test anxiety in their classrooms. Chapter two outlines much of the relevant literature dealing with the topics of test anxiety, foreign language anxiety, ESL testing practices, ESL at the community college level and alternatives in assessment. The literature review also analyzes the gaps in the literature that this project will strive to fill. The third chapter includes the project itself, which consists of nine parts. Part one is a sample syllabus for teachers to use as a guide for when to implement alternatives in assessment throughout a semester. The next eight chapters describe the alternatives in assessment in detail and how to use each of them in the classroom. The appendix includes sample checklists, questionnaires and rubrics for teachers to use and adapt in congruence with the alternatives in assessment. The fourth and final chapter consists of the conclusions and recommendations. This chapter speaks directly to teachers and explores possible ways to use the project in different teaching environments. The project concludes with future areas to be explored within the realm of alternatives in assessment

The development of peer coaching skills in primary school children in years 5 and 6

Can peer coaching skills be developed through ‘non academic’ tasks? The enquiry also aims to answer the following question: Can children give and receive feedback? The research methods reported are ethnographic combined with pre- and post- responses to the drawing task. The categorisation of the children’s drawings and their use of feedback were analysed and for the majority of children the quality of the feedback did not affect their choice of accepting the feedback or ignoring the suggestions made, which appeared counter to our initial hypothesis

Intraoperative Glycemic Management

Background: Hospitals have protocols in place to provide safe and high quality care for clients. One of these protocols involves monitoring blood glucose levels by anesthesiologists every two hours during surgery if the client had subcutaneous insulin prior to surgery. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if anesthesiologists at a specific hospital are following a new glycemic management protocol during surgeries. Method(s): Anesthesia surgery records were audited for the day of surgery on all clients whose medication administration records indicated they had received subcutaneous insulin prior to surgery. Data was gathered during the months of December 2013 through February 2014. Results: 46% (13 of 28) of clients that fell under protocol parameters were not monitored. Conclusions: Action needs to be taken to ensure the protocol is being followed. Possible actions might include posting the protocol in the surgical area and providing in-service education to appropriate staff

Adaptive Golf Device

Our primary objective was to design a golf device that enables its user, who has limited leg movement and control, to be able to produce a balanced golf swing. Ultimately, the device maximizes the golfer\u27s independence, and increases the accuracy of and power behind each shot. Specifically, the device was designed around the needs and requirements of Dr. Joshua Pate, Professor of Adapted Recreation at James Madison University. Dr. Pate has cerebral palsy limiting his lower body mobility and making it difficult for him to produce a balanced golf swing