Long range inhabited surface transportation system power source for the exploration of Mars (manned Mars mission)

A hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell system is identified as a viable power source for a long range inhabited surface transportation system for the exploration of Mars. Power system weights and power requirements are determined as a function of vehicle weight. For vehicles weighing from 2700 to 7300 kg in LEO, the total power system weight ranges from 1140 to 1860 kg, with the reactants and energy conversion hardware (fuel cells, reactant storage, and radiator) weighing 430 to 555 kg and 610 to 1110 kg, respectively. Vehicle power requirements range from 45 kW for a 2700 kg vehicle to 110 kW for a 7300 kg vehicle. Power system specific weights and power profiles for housekeeping and the operation of scientific equipment such as coring drills and power tools are also specified

Supporting Teacher Retention in Diverse Educational Settings (STRIDES)

The United States faces a continuing shortage of well-prepared secondary mathematics teachers, among the worst of any subject (Malkus, Hoyer, & Sparks, 2015). To address this issue, schools often rely on both inservice professional development, which not all teachers may opt to participate in, as well as initial teacher preparation programs, to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers. The quality of teacher preparation, particularly related to pedagogical practice, significantly impacts new teacher attrition (Ingersoll, Merrill, & May, 2014). Studies find that 50% of all teachers leave the profession within the first five years (Foster, 2010), and the rate of departure for mathematics teachers is highest in high-poverty schools (e.g., Goldring, Taie, & Riddles, 2014). According to the Learning Policy Institute, 40% of newly hired mathematics or science teachers are underprepared, and underprepared teachers are far more likely to teach in schools serving students of color and low-income students (Carver-Thomas, 2018). These studies speak to the urgency of both training highly qualified mathematics teachers and providing ongoing support during their induction years to ensure new teachers find the success and job satisfaction needed to retain them in the profession. The Secondary Teacher Recruitment and Induction in Diverse Educational Settings (STRIDES) RAC members strive to create a sustainable and cohesive system of professional support (from pre-service through early years in the profession) to retain high-quality secondary mathematics teachers in the field. This report highlights the current work of the STRIDES team to develop timely interventions and supports through which to meet this goal

Cultivating an Online Network for Mentoring Preservice and In-Service Teachers

This report details the work of two initial teacher certification programs at a major university in Kentucky that are implementing two innovative strategies for preservice teachers to network, build community, and grow in their practice. The utilization of Slack, a free online communication platform, has proven successful in getting preservice teachers to share ideas, pose and respond to professional questions, and program information dissemination. The use of a NIC (Networked Improvement Community) is a grant funded endeavor that brought together preservice teachers, their cooperating teachers, and university faculty members to create a professional learning community where a problem of practice was identified and PDSA (plan, do, study, act) cycles were utilized to improve classroom practices

Supporting and Retaining Early Career Mathematics Teachers Using an Online Community of Practice

This study reports on efforts over several years to design and implement a yearlong intervention intended to support secondary mathematics teachers in their early years of teaching. The intervention is designed to retain early career mathematics teachers in the professions by engaging them in the development of meaningful professional relationships with a school-based mentors, and by creating an online community of practice for support with other professionals. The intervention itself consists of early career teachers and their mentors participating in monthly professional learning activities such as online meetings, videoconferencing panels with experts, and collaborative reading and discussing timely, purposeful, and relevant content. The intervention is designed to not over burden the participants and to be feasible for national implementation with little to no funding. This article presents the purpose, design, and implementations of the intervention, as well as a discussion of challenges faced and potential next steps and future directions for similar work

Supporting and Retaining Early Career Mathematics Teachers Using an Online Community of Practice

This study reports on efforts over several years to design and implement a yearlong intervention intended to support secondary mathematics teachers in their early years of teaching. The intervention is designed to retain early career mathematics teachers in the professions by engaging them in the development of meaningful professional relationships with a school-based mentors, and by creating an online community of practice for support with other professionals. The intervention itself consists of early career teachers and their mentors participating in monthly professional learning activities such as online meetings, videoconferencing panels with experts, and collaborative reading and discussing timely, purposeful, and relevant content. The intervention is designed to not over burden the participants and to be feasible for national implementation with little to no funding. This article presents the purpose, design, and implementations of the intervention, as well as a discussion of challenges faced and potential next steps and future directions for similar work

THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INTERVENTION TO SUPPORT AND RETAIN EARLY CAREER MATHEMATICS TEACHERS

This study reports on efforts over several years to design and implement a yearlong intervention intended to support secondary mathematics teachers in their early years of teaching. The intervention is designed to support these teachers’ development of meaningful professional relationships with a school-based mentor and to create an online community of practice for support with other professionals. The intervention itself consists of early career teachers and their mentors participating in monthly professional development sessions such as online meetings, Zoom panels with experts, and collaboratively reading and discussing timely, purposeful, and relevant content. The intervention is designed to not over burden the participants and to be feasible for national implementation with little funding. The goal of the intervention is to try to retain secondary mathematics teachers in the profession by providing them with meaningful and targeted support Half of all teachers leave the profession within the first five years, and this rate is highest for mathematics positions in high poverty schools (Fantilli & McDougall, 2009; Goldring et al., 2014). Furthermore, half of all current teachers in the U.S. retiring in the next five years (Foster, 2010), enrollment in teacher preparation programs declining, and teacher turnover is costing America $7.3 billion annually (National Math + Science Initiative, 2013), which represents a crisis for public education in the U.S. These conditions lead to classrooms staffed with underprepared/unqualified teachers, which profoundly affects the mathematical preparation of students in high school, college, and beyond. Experts agree that addressing the mathematics-teaching crisis meaningfully will require building a more cohesive system of teacher preparation, support, and development (Mehta, TheisenHomer, Braslow, & Lopatin 2015). The purpose of this study is to report on the design and implementation of a cost effective, easily replicable intervention for early career secondary mathematics teachers with the goal of positively impacting teacher retention. We also present lessons learned over two years of implementing the intervention and provide suggestions for future research

Teaching Mathematics with Technology: TPACK and Effective Teaching Practices

This paper examines how 17 secondary mathematics teacher candidates (TCs) in four university teacher preparation programs implemented technology in their classrooms to teach for conceptual understanding in online, hybrid, and face to face classes during COVID-19. Using the Professional Development: Research, Implementation, and Evaluation (PrimeD) framework, TCs, classroom mentor teachers, field experience supervisors, and university faculty formed a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) to discuss a commonly agreed upon problem of practice and a change idea to implement in the classroom. Through Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, participants documented their improvement efforts and refinements to the change idea and then reported back to the NIC at the subsequent monthly meeting. The Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework (TPACK) and the TPACK levels rubric were used to examine how teacher candidates implemented technology for Mathematics conceptual understanding. The Mathematics Classroom Observation Protocol for Practices (MCOP2) was used to further examine how effective mathematics teaching practices (e.g., student engagement) were implemented by TCs. MCOP2 results indicated that TCs increased their use of effective mathematics teaching practices. However, growth in TPACK was not significant. A relationship between TPACK and MCOP2 was not evident, indicating a potential need for explicit focus on using technology for mathematics conceptual understanding

Supporting and Retaining Early Career Mathematics Teachers Using an Online Community of Practice

This study reports on efforts over several years to design and implement a yearlong intervention intended to support secondary mathematics teachers in their early years of teaching. The intervention is designed to retain early career mathematics teachers in the professions by engaging them in the development of meaningful professional relationships with a school-based mentors, and  by creating an online community of practice for support with other professionals. The intervention itself consists of early career teachers and their mentors participating in monthly professional learning activities such as online meetings, videoconferencing panels with experts, and collaborative reading and discussing timely, purposeful, and relevant content. The intervention is designed to not over burden the participants and to be feasible for national implementation with little to no funding. This article presents the purpose, design, and implementations of the intervention, as well as a discussion of challenges faced and potential next steps and future directions for similar work.

Characteristics of Patients with Non-Cancer Pain and Perceived Severity of COVID-19 Related Stress

UNLABELLED: Synopsis Patients with non-cancer pain reported increased pain and pain interference during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We determined if pain, prescription opioid use, and comorbidities were associated with perceived COVID-19-related stress as the pandemic peaked. Analysis of survey data revealed that depression/anxiety, pain severity, and pain interference were most strongly and consistently associated with greater stress due to COVID-19 related changes in lifestyle, worsening of emotional/mental health and worsening pain. Identifying specific stressful experiences that most impacted patients with non-cancer pain may help target public health and treatment interventions. BACKGROUND: During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with chronic pain reported increased pain severity and interference. This study measured the association between pain, prescription opioid use, and comorbidities with perceived COVID-19-related stress as the pandemic peaked in the United States. METHODS: From 9/2020 to 3/2021, the first 149 subjects from a prospective cohort study of non-cancer pain, completed a survey which contained the Complementary and Integrative Research (CAIR) Pandemic Impact Questionnaire (C-PIQ). Respondents also reported whether the pandemic has contributed to their pain or opioid use. Bivariate comparisons explored patient characteristics with each CAIR domain. RESULTS: Respondents mean age was 54.6 (±11.3) years, 69.8% were female, 64.6% were White. Respondent characteristics were not associated with reading/watching/thinking about the pandemic or with worry about health. Depression/anxiety (p=0.003), using any prescription opioid in the prior three months (p=0.009), higher morphine milligram equivalent used (p=0.005), higher pain severity (p=0.011), and higher pain interference (p=0.0004) were all positively and significantly associated with moderate to severe stress due to COVID-19 related lifestyle changes. Depression/anxiety, pain severity, and pain interference were positively associated with COVID-19-related worsening emotional/mental health. Depression/anxiety were significantly (p CONCLUSION: Depression, anxiety, pain severity, and pain interference were most strongly and consistently associated with COVID-19 changes in way of life, worsening of emotional/mental health, and worsening pain. Identifying specific stressful experiences that most impacted patients with noncancer pain may inform public health and treatment interventions