Lessons Learned: Using Faculty Learning Communities to Foster Pedagogical Skills and Cultivate Community

Academic expertise has traditionally served as the measure of faculty’s effectiveness in the classroom. Twenty-first century changes in the landscape of higher education have brought the need for sound pedagogy as a foundational tool in the college classroom. Faculty learning communities (FLCs) are an effective method to facilitate the development of pedagogy, which, in turn, has shown to have a direct effect on student success and graduation rates. This article examines the experiences of two faculty members at a Midwestern university who developed a 10-week inter-disciplinary FLC that was offered over 5 semesters, as well as participant feedback

Your Eyes Say “No,” But Your Heart Says “Yes”: Behavioral and Psychophysiological Indices in Infant Quantitative Processing

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Brez, C. C. and Colombo, J. (2012), Your Eyes Say “No,” But Your Heart Says “Yes”: Behavioral and Psychophysiological Indices in Infant Quantitative Processing. Infancy, 17: 445–454. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7078.2011.00094.x, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7078.2011.00094.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Behavioral indices (e.g., infant looking) are predominantly used in studies of infant cognition, but psychophysiological measures have been increasingly integrated into common infant paradigms. The current study reports a result in which behavioral measures and physiological measures were both incorporated in a task designed to study infant number discrimination. Seven-month-old infants were habituated to several sets of stimuli varying in object type, but of a constant numerical value (either 2 or 3 items). Although looking time to each of the test trials revealed no differences, differences in heart-rate defined measures of attention revealed infants’ ability to discriminate number. These findings imply that the inclusion of indices other than behavioral measures should become commonplace in studies of infant cognition

Fast 2-D soft X-ray imaging device based on micro pattern gas detector

Abstract An innovative fast system for X-ray imaging has been developed at ENEA Frascati (Italy) to be used as diagnostic of magnetic plasmas for thermonuclear fusion. It is based on a pinhole camera coupled to a Micro Pattern Gas Detector (MPGD) having a Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) as amplifying stage. This detector (2.5 cm × 2.5 cm active area) is equipped with a 2-D read-out printed circuit board with 144 pixels (12 × 12), with an electronic channel for each pixel (charge conversion, shaping, discrimination and counting). Working in photon counting mode, in proportional regime, it is able to get X-ray images of the plasma in a selectable X-ray energy range, at very high photon fluxes (106 ph s - 1mm−2 all over the detector) and high framing rate (up to 100 kHz). It has very high dynamic range, high signal to noise ratio (statistical) and large flexibility in the optical configurations (magnification and views on the plasma). The system has been tested successfully on the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade (FTU), having central electron temperature of a few keV and density of 1020 m−3, during the summer 2001, with a one-dimensional perpendicular view of the plasma. In collaboration with ENEA, the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Princeton Plasma Physics (PPPL), this system has been set up and calibrated in the X-ray energy range 2–8 keV and it has been installed, with a two-dimensional tangential view, on the spherical tokamak NSTX at Princeton. Time resolved X-ray images of the NSTX plasma core have been obtained. Fast acquisitions, performed up to 50 kHz of framing rate, allow the study of the plasma evolution and its magneto-hydrodynamic instabilities, while with a slower sampling (a few kHz) the curvature of the magnetic surfaces can be measured. All these results reveal the good imaging properties of this device at high time resolution, despite of the low number of pixels, and the effectiveness of the fine controlled energy discrimination

Selection, work plan and program in first two years of training in male sports gymnastics

Sportska gimnastika je iznimno zahtjevan sport, te se na treninzima i natjecanjima od sportaša zahtijeva izuzetno visoka razina tehničke i fizičke pripreme. Muška sportska gimnastika se sastoji od šest sprava koje tvore gimnastički višeboj. U ovom radu opisana je razrada elemenata tehnike na svih šest sprava kroz prve dvije godine selekcije. Plan rada prati i odgovarajuća metodika obučavanja, najčešće greške i moguća nadogradnja elemenata tehnike. Opisana je i kondicijska priprema gimnastičara kroz primjere opće i specifične kondicijske pripreme. Cilj ovog rada je da se zbog nedostatka literature pridonese edukaciji trenera te se na taj način podigne kvaliteta rada sa mlađim dobnim kategorijama.Artistic gymnastics is a highly demanding sport that requires a high level of gymnast's physical efficiency. Male artistic gymnastics comprises six events which constitute gymnastics all-rounder. This thesis focuses on technique elements elaboration for all six events in first two years of training of selection. Elements plan is supported by appropriate training methodology, the most common mistakes and possible upgrade for each tehnique element. Also, gymnast physical conditioning has been described throu examples of basic and specific physical conditioning. The purpose of the thesis is to address the lack of professional literature by contributing to education of coaches and thus raise the training quality

Selection, work plan and program in first two years of training in male sports gymnastics

Sportska gimnastika je iznimno zahtjevan sport, te se na treninzima i natjecanjima od sportaša zahtijeva izuzetno visoka razina tehničke i fizičke pripreme. Muška sportska gimnastika se sastoji od šest sprava koje tvore gimnastički višeboj. U ovom radu opisana je razrada elemenata tehnike na svih šest sprava kroz prve dvije godine selekcije. Plan rada prati i odgovarajuća metodika obučavanja, najčešće greške i moguća nadogradnja elemenata tehnike. Opisana je i kondicijska priprema gimnastičara kroz primjere opće i specifične kondicijske pripreme. Cilj ovog rada je da se zbog nedostatka literature pridonese edukaciji trenera te se na taj način podigne kvaliteta rada sa mlađim dobnim kategorijama.Artistic gymnastics is a highly demanding sport that requires a high level of gymnast's physical efficiency. Male artistic gymnastics comprises six events which constitute gymnastics all-rounder. This thesis focuses on technique elements elaboration for all six events in first two years of training of selection. Elements plan is supported by appropriate training methodology, the most common mistakes and possible upgrade for each tehnique element. Also, gymnast physical conditioning has been described throu examples of basic and specific physical conditioning. The purpose of the thesis is to address the lack of professional literature by contributing to education of coaches and thus raise the training quality

A versatile facility for the calibration of X-ray polarimeters with polarized and unpolarized controlled beams

We devised and built a versatile facility for the calibration of the next generation X-ray polarimeters with unpolarized and polarized radiation. The former is produced at 5.9 keV by means of a Fe55 radioactive source or by X-ray tubes, while the latter is obtained by Bragg diffraction at nearly 45 degrees. Crystals tuned with the emission lines of X-ray tubes with molybdenum, rhodium, calcium and titanium anodes are employed for the efficient production of highly polarized photons at 2.29, 2.69, 3.69 and 4.51 keV respectively. Moreover the continuum emission is exploited for the production of polarized photons at 1.65 keV and 2.04 keV and at energies corresponding to the higher orders of diffraction. The photons are collimated by means of interchangeable capillary plates and diaphragms, allowing a trade-off between collimation and high fluxes. The direction of the beam is accurately arranged by means of high precision motorized stages, controlled via computer so that long and automatic measurements can be done. Selecting the direction of polarization and the incidence point we can map the response of imaging devices to both polarized and unpolarized radiation. Changing the inclination of the beam we can study the systematic effects due to the focusing of grazing incidence optics and the feasibility of instruments with large field of view.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure

Selection, work plan and program in first two years of training in male sports gymnastics

Sportska gimnastika je iznimno zahtjevan sport, te se na treninzima i natjecanjima od sportaša zahtijeva izuzetno visoka razina tehničke i fizičke pripreme. Muška sportska gimnastika se sastoji od šest sprava koje tvore gimnastički višeboj. U ovom radu opisana je razrada elemenata tehnike na svih šest sprava kroz prve dvije godine selekcije. Plan rada prati i odgovarajuća metodika obučavanja, najčešće greške i moguća nadogradnja elemenata tehnike. Opisana je i kondicijska priprema gimnastičara kroz primjere opće i specifične kondicijske pripreme. Cilj ovog rada je da se zbog nedostatka literature pridonese edukaciji trenera te se na taj način podigne kvaliteta rada sa mlađim dobnim kategorijama.Artistic gymnastics is a highly demanding sport that requires a high level of gymnast's physical efficiency. Male artistic gymnastics comprises six events which constitute gymnastics all-rounder. This thesis focuses on technique elements elaboration for all six events in first two years of training of selection. Elements plan is supported by appropriate training methodology, the most common mistakes and possible upgrade for each tehnique element. Also, gymnast physical conditioning has been described throu examples of basic and specific physical conditioning. The purpose of the thesis is to address the lack of professional literature by contributing to education of coaches and thus raise the training quality