A Program for the Training of Elementary Art-Music Teachers

The writer has had experience as a supervisor of music at the elementary and secondary levels. This experience combined with the development of courses to suit the program for an elementary teacher training institution provided the background for the development of this project. The problem, as it appeared to the writer, was that in spite of valiant efforts on the part of music supervisors and art teachers’ elementary students did not comprehend music or art as an aesthetic whole. The methods in use, in most Maine schools, presented the arts as a technical skill to be mastered by the student rather than as a fine art to be first understood and then, in later grades, mastered. Investigation showed that some institutions of higher learning were combining the arts in college programs. Further search indicated an attempt on the part of some secondary and junior high teachers to combine the arts in their teaching. No evidence could be found however, that there was any effort to prepare teachers to deal with this concept at the elementary level. It seemed that this combining of the arts in the elementary grades was the most desirable approach. With this premise as a base the program of preparing an allied arts teacher for elementary grades was developed. Methods and Procedures A survey of the offerings in the area of fine arts was made by studying programs in seventy colleges and universities engaged in teacher preparation. The Music Educators National Conference publications were reviewed to determine what research had been done in the area of that combined arts. Letters were written to members of the National Association for the Humanities in Education to determine what work was being done in the field. Correspondence, review of research, and personal interviews with educators and administrators provided the direction for the study. A survey of the fifty state departments of education which resulted in forty replies pointed up the need for such a teacher preparation program. When the need for the program had been established writer proceeded to collect a bibliography that included music education, art education and general education as well as philosophical observations on the fine arts. The organization and collection of this material was accomplished in the period of two years. Summary The program was presented to the administration, Academic Affairs Committee, Faculty Council and the Dean of Academic Affairs of the University of Maine, Fort Kent, in November of 1970. With full campus approval and on the basis of the surveys the program was presented to the University Chancellor early in 1971. In March 1971 the Chancellor approved the program and the University of Maine board of trustees, at their April meeting, endorsed the course of studies for the Fort Kent campus. The program was put into operation in the fall semester of 1971 and has some eleven students involved in all or part of the allied arts concentration

Sn 2010ay Is a Luminous and Broad-Lined Type Ic Supernova Within a Low-Metallicity Host Galaxy

We report on our serendipitous pre-discovery detection and detailed follow-up of the broad-lined Type Ic supernova (SN) 2010ay at z = 0.067 imaged by the Pan-STARRS1 3π survey just ∼ 4 days after explosion. The SN had a peak luminosity, MR ≈ −20.2 mag, significantly more luminous than known GRB-SNe and one of the most luminous SNe Ib/c ever discovered. The absorption velocity of SN 2010ay is vSi ≈ 19 × 103 km s−1 at ∼ 40 days after explosion, 2 − 5 times higher than other broad-lined SNe and similar to the GRB-SN 2010bh at comparable epochs. Moreover, the velocity declines ∼ 2 times slower than other SNe Ic-BL and GRB-SNe. Assuming that the optical emission is powered by radioactive decay, the peak magnitude implies the synthesis of an unusually large mass of 56Ni, MNi = 0.9 M⊙. Modeling of the light-curve points to a total ejecta mass, Mej ≈ 4.7M⊙, and total kinetic energy, EK ≈ 11 × 1051 ergs. The ratio of MNi to Mej is ∼ 2 times as large for SN 2010ay as typical GRB-SNe and may suggest an additional energy reservoir. The metallicity (log(O/H)PP04 + 12 = 8.19) of the explosion site within the host galaxy places SN 2010ay in the low-metallicity regime populated by GRB-SNe, and ∼ 0.5(0.2) dex lower than that typically measured for the host environments of normal (broad-lined) Ic supernovae. We constrain any gammaray emission with Eγ . 6 × 1048 erg (25-150 keV) and our deep radio follow-up observations with the Expanded Very Large Array rule out relativistic ejecta with energy, E & 1048 erg. We therefore rule out the association of a relativistic outflow like those which accompanied SN 1998bw and traditional long-duration GRBs, but place less-stringent constraints on a weak afterglow like that seen from XRF 060218. These observations challenge the importance of progenitor metallicity for the production of a GRB, and suggest that other parameters also play a key role.Astronom

A Self-management SMS Text Messaging Intervention for People With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Feasibility and Acceptability Study

BackgroundMobile health technologies can be useful for providing disease self-management information and support to people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to test a self-management SMS text messaging intervention for people with IBD. Our goal was to examine intervention feasibility, acceptability, and engagement and to preliminarily evaluate improvements in certain self-reported health outcomes among participants. MethodsWe developed an SMS text messaging program called Text4IBD. The program sent daily support messages and resources about disease self-management over the course of a 2-week, single-group, pretest-posttest intervention to participants (N=114) diagnosed with IBD. We examined intervention feasibility, acceptability, and engagement through Text4IBD message topic recall and use of resources (ie, visiting supplemental websites recommended by the Text4IBD program). We also assessed pretest-posttest measures of IBD-related distress, self-efficacy, perceived support, use of coping strategies, and medication adherence. Analyses examined participants’ evaluations of the intervention and compared pretest-posttest changes in secondary outcomes using paired-samples statistics. ResultsApproximately all participants who completed the intervention (n=105) were receptive to Text4IBD and viewed the program as feasible and acceptable. In addition, most participants (103/105, 98.1%) recalled at least one of the message topics sent by the program, and 79% (83/105) of them self-reported engaging with at least one of the external self-management resources recommended by the Text4IBD program. Pretest-posttest results showed reduced IBD-related distress (mean 3.33, SD 0.68 vs mean 2.86, SD 0.73; P<.001) and improvements in most other secondary outcomes. ConclusionsFindings from this study highlight the value of SMS text messaging as a useful digital medium for providing support to people with IBD, particularly to those who may struggle with disease-related distress. Text4IBD was highly feasible and acceptable and may help people self-manage their IBD. Future studies should aim to evaluate this program in a randomized controlled trial in clinical settings