323 research outputs found
Studentsā interpersonal connections with peers and staff at the start of higher education
Establishing positive social relationships is important for studentsā success and
retention in higher education (HE). This can be especially challenging during the transition into
HE since students often move to a larger educational setting and need to build relationships
with new peers and staff. Research is needed to better understand social connections during
this critical time, including the role of demographics, curricular and extracurricular
participation, and how peer and staff connections predict academic achievement. Surveys of
290 first-year students at a large US public university assessed with whom students were
interacting, how often, for what reasons, and with what modes of communication. Results
include a detailed description of studentsā interpersonal connections at the transition into HE,
differences by demographics, curricular, and extracurricular participation, and the
associations between studentsā patterns of relationships and their academic achievement
Does higher education foster critical and creative learners? An exploration of two universities in South Korea and the USA
This paper describes two studies that explore students' beliefs about critical and creative learning at two universities, and considers the implications of those beliefs in comparison to the universities' stated education goals. One is a mixed method study of students at a top university in Korea, and the second is a comparative study between the Korean university and a United States (US) university. The first study found that both high-achievers and the general population at a top Korean university perceived their critical and creative abilities as lower than their receptive learning abilities, and that higher achievers were neither more critical nor creative than lower achievers. The second study finds that the Korean university students, compared to US students, were more likely to rate their receptive learning ability as higher than their critical and creative learning abilities. Comparisons across year of higher education (HE) suggest that Korean students' perceptions did not significantly change with respect to year in school, while US students' perceptions of critical learning abilities significantly increased across school years. Results are discussed with respect to the impact of culture, epistemological beliefs, and HE instruction on critical and creative learning
Standardized test outcomes for students engaged in inquiry-based science curricula in the context of urban reform
Considerable effort has been made over the past decade to address the needs of learners in large urban districts through scaleable reform initiatives. We examine the effects of a multifaceted scaling reform that focuses on supporting standards based science teaching in urban middle schools. The effort was one component of a systemic reform effort in the Detroit Public Schools, and was centered on highly specified and developed project-based inquiry science units supported by aligned professional development and learning technologies. Two cohorts of 7th and 8th graders that participated in the project units are compared with the remainder of the district population, using results from the high-stakes state standardized test in science. Both the initial and scaled up cohorts show increases in science content understanding and process skills over their peers, and significantly higher pass rates on the statewide test. The relative gains occur up to a year and a half after participation in the curriculum, and show little attenuation with in the second cohort when scaling occurred and the number of teachers involved increased. The effect of participation in units at different grade levels is independent and cumulative, with higher levels of participation associated with similarly higher achievement scores. Examination of results by gender reveals that the curriculum effort succeeds in reducing the gender gap in achievement experienced by urban African-American boys. These findings demonstrate that standards-based, inquiry science curriculum can lead to standardized achievement test gains in historically underserved urban students, when the curriculum is highly specified, developed, and aligned with professional development and administrative support. Ā© 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 922ā939, 2008Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61206/1/20248_ftp.pd
Organizing Research and Development at the Intersection of Learning, Implementation, and Design
This paper describes elements of an approach to research and development called design-based implementation research. The approach represents a significant expansion of design research, which typically focuses on classrooms, to develop and test innovations that foster alignment and coordination of supports for improving teaching and learning in classrooms. As in policy research, policy and program implementation are key foci of theoretical development and analysis. What distinguishes the approach from both traditional design research and policy research is the presence of four key elements within a project: (1) a focus on persistent problems of practice from multiple stakeholdersā perspectives, (2) a commitment to iterative, collaborative design, (3) a concern with developing theory related to both classroom learning and implementation through systematic inquiry, and (4) a concern with developing capacity for sustaining change in systems.NOTE: A Full-Text Open Access version of the final version of this article is available atĀ http://journals.sagepub.com/stoken/rbtfl/1TAxpRHapnMPs/fullĀ Penuel, William R., Barry J. Fishman, Britte Haugan Cheng, and Nora Sabelli. āOrganizing Research and Development at the Intersection of Learning, Implementation, and Design.ā Educational Researcher, October 1, 2011. doi:10.3102/0013189X11421826
Monte Carlo Modeling of Spin FETs Controlled by Spin-Orbit Interaction
A method for Monte Carlo simulation of 2D spin-polarized electron transport
in III-V semiconductor heterojunction FETs is presented. In the simulation, the
dynamics of the electrons in coordinate and momentum space is treated
semiclassically. The density matrix description of the spin is incorporated in
the Monte Carlo method to account for the spin polarization dynamics. The
spin-orbit interaction in the spin FET leads to both coherent evolution and
dephasing of the electron spin polarization. Spin-independent scattering
mechanisms, including optical phonons, acoustic phonons and ionized impurities,
are implemented in the simulation. The electric field is determined
self-consistently from the charge distribution resulting from the electron
motion. Description of the Monte Carlo scheme is given and simulation results
are reported for temperatures in the range 77-300 K.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
Consensus mutagenesis reveals that non-helical regions influence thermal stability of horseradish peroxidase
The enzyme horseradish peroxidase has many uses in biotechnology but a stabilized derivative would have even wider applicability. To enhance thermal stability, we applied consensus mutagenesis (used successfully with other proteins) to recombinant horseradish peroxidase and generated five single-site mutants. Unexpectedly, these mutations had greater effects on steady-state kinetics than on thermal stability. Only two mutants (T102A, T110V) marginally exceeded the wild type's thermal stability (4% and 10% gain in half-life at 50 Ā°C respectively); the others (Q106R, Q107D, I180F) were less stable than wild type. Stability of a five-fold combination mutant matched that of Q106R, the least-stable single mutant. These results were perplexing: the Class III plant peroxidases display wide differences in thermal stability, yet the consensus mutations failed to reflect these natural variations. We examined the sequence content of Class III peroxidases to determine if there are identifiable molecular reasons for the stability differences observed. Bioinformatic analysis validated our choice of sites and mutations and generated an archetypal peroxidase sequence for comparison with extant sequences. It seems that both genetic variation and differences in protein stability are confined to non-helical regions due to the presence of a highly conserved alpha-helical structural scaffold in these enzymes
Anxiety is associated with diminished exercise performance and quality of life in severe emphysema: a cross-sectional study
Background: Anxiety in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with selfreported
disability. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is an association between anxiety and
functional measures, quality of life and dyspnea.
Methods: Data from 1828 patients with moderate to severe emphysema enrolled in the National Emphysema
Treatment Trial (NETT), collected prior to rehabilitation and randomization, were used in linear regression models to
test the association between anxiety symptoms, measured by the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)
and: (a) six-minute walk distance test (6 MWD), (b) cycle ergometry peak workload, (c) St. Georges Respiratory
Questionnaire (SRGQ), and (d) UCSD Shortness of Breath Questionnaire (SOBQ), after controlling for potential
confounders including age, gender, FEV1 (% predicted), DLCO (% predicted), and the Beck Depression Inventory
(BDI).
Results: Anxiety was significantly associated with worse functional capacity [6 MWD (B = -0.944, p < .001),
ergometry peak workload (B = -.087, p = .04)], quality of life (B = .172, p < .001) and shortness of breath (B = .180,
p < .001). Regression coefficients show that a 10 point increase in anxiety score is associated with a mean decrease
in 6 MWD of 9 meters, a 1 Watt decrease in peak exercise workload, and an increase of almost 2 points on both
the SGRQ and SOBQ.
Conclusion: In clinically stable patients with moderate to severe emphysema, anxiety is associated with worse
exercise performance, quality of life and shortness of breath, after accounting for the influence of demographic
and physiologic factors known to affect these outcomes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91944/1/2010 RR Anxiety is associated with diminished exercise performance and quality of life in severe emphysema.pd
Longitudinal change in the BODE index predicts mortality in severe emphysema
Rationale: The predictive value of longitudinal change in BODE (Body
mass index, airflow Obstruction, Dyspnea, and Exercise capacity)
index has received limited attention. We hypothesized that decrease
in a modified BODE (mBODE) would predict survival in National
Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT) patients.
Objectives: To determine how the mBODE score changes in patients
with lung volume reduction surgery versus medical therapy and correlations
with survival.
Methods: Clinical data were recorded using standardized instruments.
The mBODE was calculated and patient-specific mBODE trajectories
during 6, 12, and 24 months of follow-up were estimated using
separate regressions for each patient. Patients were classified as
having decreasing, stable, increasing, or missing mBODE based on
their absolute change from baseline. The predictive ability of mBODE
change on survival was assessed using multivariate Cox regression
models. The index of concordance was used to directly compare the
predictive ability of mBODE and its separate components.
Measurements and Main Results: The entire cohort (610 treated medically
and 608 treated surgically) was characterized by severe airflow
obstruction, moderate breathlessness, and increased mBODE at baseline.
A wide distribution of change in mBODE was seen at follow-up. An
increase in mBODE of more than 1 point was associated with increased
mortality in surgically and medically treated patients. Surgically
treated patients were less likely to experience death or an increase
greater than 1 in mBODE. Indices of concordance showed that mBODE
change predicted survival better than its separate components.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91943/1/2008 AJRCCM Longitudinal change in the BODE index predicts mortality in severe emphysema.pd
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