Birds of a Feather

The noble crane pervades in April Gruber's MFA concert Birds of a Feather. Drawing movement from the majestic creature's aerial rituals and organic rhythms, the evening provides a bird's eye view of life's transient nature and the foundational roots that call us homeward. The concert features Gruber's performance in her own choreography, entitled Nestling, as well as Dawn Springer's work Dreams of Flight

A 'New' preschool curriculum that puts play on top: Déjà vu or second chance?

This thesis examines explanatory theories of play and an empirical study of preschoolers' play. It aims to provide an understanding of the educational purpose, value and extent of play in children’s lives. Understanding the interrelationship between play, development and learning, the writer hopes to be better equipped to facilitate and organize a meaningful play environment during the preschool years of young children to guide them into realising their potential of becoming confident and communicative beings; never mind the neat handwriting or colouring that preschool education focuses so much upon in Singapore. Considering explanations, the dominant theories of Piaget and Vygotsky's ideas in the play field are discussed. A framework towards an integrated perspective of a play- centred curriculum is presented. Considering evidence, studies of children’s play development in the domains of cognitive, language, social and emotional development are reviewed and summarized. Propelled earlier in the year 2003 by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, to accord play at the top of a new preschool curriculum, a battery of simple play experiments and tests were carried out to establish the interdependence of play, learning and development of preschoolers. Answers to two research questions regarding play in the local preschool context were processed: (1) does thematic fantasy play training conducted during English Language Arts lessons increase preschoolers' incidences of fantasy play during free play periods? (2) Will thematic fantasy play training improve preschoolers' perspective- taking ability in the domains of cognition, perception and affection? The findings (N= 28) are presented. Their implications for Singapore preschool teacher training in a play- centred curriculum are discussed. The thesis concludes with a reconciliation of understanding amongst all the high- stakes players of preschool education: parents of preschool children, preschool teachers and of course, the preschoolers themselves. The ultimate purpose of this thesis is to lay out and execute a local yet truly new preschool curriculum that puts Play at the top

Investigation of a Statistical Metric for Validation of a Structural Dynamics Model

Structural vibration is an important component of spacecraft launch and operation. Consequently, improved models have been developed to predict physical system responses during launch and operation. However, because model errors can be significant they are typically not used without first being accredited via validation methods. Model validation is the act of demonstrating the adequacy or accuracy of predictions of mathematical models for use within a specific area. This project investigates the effectiveness of a general statistical technique used to validate structural vibration models. To carry out this analysis we compare experimental and numerical responses by forming probabilistic representations for model predicted structural behaviors. From these distributions we calculate P-valued probability intervals used to recast the problem as a serious of Bernoulli experiments from which a minimum and actual validation score are derived. In order to execute this algorithm and determine the effectiveness of our vibration model a MATLAB module will be developed and implemented for a selected set of test data. The results will be compared to the conclusions of a more routine modal analysis comparison

Forgiveness: Healing Old Wounds

Because life in community will sometimes involve harmful words and actions, forgiveness may be one of the most important processes to heal and restore relationships. The ability to forgive involves healing in some combination of mind, heart and spirit and each of the dimensions may affect the others. This article explores the behaviors that must be present for genuine forgiveness to occur including the role of apology, and how these behaviors contribute to transforming broken spirits and restoring relationships

One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations

Proposes a framework for meeting patients' cultural and linguistic needs: policies and procedures that support cultural competence, data collection, population-tailored services, and internal and external collaborations. Includes a self-assessment tool

Using iWorx 214 System to Stimulate Innovative Learning in a Medical Science Laboratory

From traditional lecture and lab teaching to computerbasedactivities, technological advances have been applied tohealth care sciences education in an effort to enhance studentlearning. As educators, we facilitate the students’ journeytowards independent learning in accordance with currentstandards in science pedagogy, but must also help students learnhow to use technologies in order to seek, organize, analyze, andapply information appropriately. We implemented iWorx whichprovides computerized data recording and analysis using multipletransducers into the anatomy and physiology course to meet thepedagogical objective of providing students with active learningexercises that extend beyond topics covered in the lecture portionof the course, while circumventing problems encountered whencreating an introductory-level medical science lab. We found thatperforming simple activities such as ECG, EEG, EMG, andspirometry by using iWorx increases students’ comfort levels,knowledge and experience levels, and interest levels of laboratoryrelated skills. We observed these increases, which weredemonstrated in comparisons between scores in students’ labactivities, while using iWorx especially when students wereapplying the scientific method to physiological issues, usingcomputer-based laboratory equipment, and demonstratingknowledge of scientific methodologies. Designing hands-onlearning and new kinesthetic activities improves conceptuallearning in cardiovascular, neurological, muscular, andrespiratory physiology in the lectures. The student relative labpractical scores improved significantly. Pedagogical objectivescan be met in an overwhelmingly positive lab experience forstudents when health sciences faculty use computer-basedtechnologies

Kangaroo Care in the NICU: A Practice Guideline

The aim of this thesis is to discuss the benefits and risks of providing Kangaroo Care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) setting, and to develop a practice guideline for implementation of Kangaroo Care

Oral Health Status and Oral Hygiene Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Jail Inmates

The oral health and hygiene of incarcerated populations, both in the United States and globally, is known to be poorer than that of the general population. This study examined the prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease and the relationships between oral health status and the oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices of jail inmates housed in a large metropolitan jail located in the midwestern United States. This cross-sectional study collected data from 100 inmates using a 21-item closed-ended questionnaire in addition to oral examinations conducted by the jail\u27s dentist to determine the extent of dental caries and periodontal disease (DMFT and CPI scores) in this population. Neither oral health and hygiene studies nor studies of oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices have been examined in U.S. jails. The conceptual frameworks of this study were the health belief model and social cognitive theory. The data were analyzed with the use of bivariate correlation tests, as well as binary logistic analyses. The results of this study revealed that the total number of correct answers on the oral health attitudes (OHA) questionnaire appeared to be the strongest predictor of high DMFT, with significance of 0.05 and an odds ratio of 1.522 (95% CI [1.000, 2.334]). In the analysis that included the total number of correct answers for the OHA questionnaire, years incarcerated was the strongest predictor of high CPI (p = 0.027), with an odds ratio of 0.340 (95% CI [0.131, 0.883]). This study advances social change by aiding in understanding the oral health status and oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices of inmates - an underserved population. Results from this study can be used to assist jail administrators in understanding the types of dental care that is needed in correctional facilities

ImpactScore: A Novel Credit Score for Social Impact

Socially motivated lenders pursue lending that considers both financial return and social good, yet they lack a systematic tool to incorporate such considerations into their decisions. This paper proposes the application of credit scoring mechanisms not only to the likelihood of default but also to the likelihood of happiness. Using the existing data on microcredit loan applicants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we construct a full credit scoring model that involves the construction of outcome variables to accurately capture borrower’s change in subjective well-being, the classification of input variables depending on the ease of information acquisition, and the selection of the model based on different criteria. We also find that the variables on the household’s level of consumption have significant explanatory power in predicting future subjective well-being of loan applicants