Picking Pedagogical Practices Students Prefer: An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Teaching Tools in Face-to-Face Versus Online Delivery

This study explores graduate student perceptions of fourteen commonly used teaching methods. Convenience samples were drawn from a university exclusively delivering its MBA program via the Internet and a university providing traditional face-to-face classroom instruction. Overall, no significant preference differences were found for nine of the fourteen pedagogical methods. Students enrolled in online classes perceive textbooks, tutorials, and Internet activities as significantly more effective in helping them achieve their educational goals than students enrolled in face-to-face classes. Students enrolled in face-to-face classes rated guest speakers and team presentations as more effective learning tools than their online counterparts. The perceived comparative effectiveness rankings of the alternative teaching tools in assisting higher learning is discussed

San Antonio Mission Trails Statewide Transportation Enhancement Project Volume II Construction Packages 2 and 3: Archaeological Testing and Monitoring Construction of the Mission Trails Hike and Bike Trails, City of San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Beginning in October 1998, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) provided archival research and archaeological services to the City of San Antonio and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) as part of the Mission Trails Statewide Transportation Enhancement Project. The project was intended to create a hike and bike trail system connecting the five Spanish missions in San Antonio. The trail should provide easier access to the missions for visitors, allow easier access to pleasant places to walk and cycle, and greatly improve the condition of some of the city streets. This is the second and final volume issued by the CAR in the series of reports on the Mission Trails project. It describes the findings from archaeological work associated with Packages 2 and 3 of the five part Construction Package, including archival research, intensive survey, and monitoring of the portion of the Mission Trails project from Mitchell Street near Mission Concepción to Padre Drive at SE Military Drive. Both a “Direct” route, consisting of designated lanes along existing roads, and a “Scenic” route, consisting of new hike and bike trails near the San Antonio River, were included. In addition, new utility lines were placed under some streets, in particular Roosevelt Avenue, and Mission and Mitchell Roads. This report provides a historic background based on archival research for the project area and a detailed description of the intensive survey and monitoring done as part of these two Packages. After preliminary examination of the archives and previous archaeological work (Cox 2000), areas where there was reason to believe that significant cultural resources would be impacted by the project were designated “Areas of Concern”. As part of archaeological investigations associated with Package 3, an intensive survey was undertaken in these areas, including shovel testing and backhoe trenching when appropriate, to assess the potential of an adverse impact to significant cultural resources. Shovel testing was conducted at the following locations: (1) Outside the south and west walls of Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo (41BX3), where 50 shovel tests were completed to inspect the proposed route of a new section of hike and bike trail; (2) At the Pyron Homestead (41BX279), where 40 shovel tests were completed to examine the proposed route of an extension of Padre Road; (3) At the Brown Site (41BX241), where eight shovel test were excavated to confirm that no remnant of the previously recorded site was extant; (4) Along the southern edge of Padre Park, where 39 shovel tests were completed to investigate the proposed route of a new section of hike and bike trail. In addition to the shovel testing, three backhoe trenches were dug along the route of a proposed utility line near Mission Road north of the San Antonio River. Undisturbed sediments were located in two trenches, at 140 cmbs and 360 cmbs respectively, but no evidence of cultural deposits was seen. Ten backhoe trenches also were dug along the north bank of the river south of Concepción Park, where they revealed only modern fill. CAR concluded that the project would result in no adverse impact to significant cultural resources in these areas. Finally, in consultation with TxDOT-ENV and the Texas Historical Commission, and in accord with the original Scope of Work and project protocol, archaeological monitoring was conducted in selected parts of the project area. Specifically, monitoring of construction took place in the following locations: (1) Along the footprint of the hike and bike trail on the grounds of Mission San José; (2) On Mission Road where buried utility lines were being replaced; (3) On Roosevelt Avenue where new utility lines were being installed and old utility lines were being replaced. None of the sub-surface investigations located undisturbed cultural deposits. All artifacts collected from the shovel tests were in mixed context. Based on the results of these investigations, CAR recommended that continuation of the construction project would not result in adverse impacts to cultural resources in these areas. This recommendation was accepted by TxDOT-ENV and the Texas Historical Commission (TxDOT-ENV letter dated to THC dated 02-26-2007 with THC concurrence signature dated 03-01-2007). All artifacts and project-associated records are permanently curated at the curation facility of the Center for Archaeological Research

Factors Affecting Fish Consumption among New Mothers Living in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin

Click on the PDF for an Executive Summary and the full report. Visit the HDRU website for a complete listing of HDRU publications at: http://hdru.dnr.cornell.edu

Archaeological Survey for the Proposed Salado Creek Hike and Bike Trail, City of San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

In November of 2002 and March of 2003, a crew from the Center for Archaeological Research at The University of Texas at San Antonio conducted archeological and geoarcheological investigations along Salado Creek in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. The purpose of this fieldwork was to investigate, using shovel testing and backhoe trenching, the impact of the proposed construction of an approximately three-mile-long hike and bike trail along the creek. The work included testing for the presence of the historic Alsbury Family Cemetery and Homestead that may be in close proximity to the trail’s right-of-way. Work was performed under contract with HNTB Corporation of San Antonio. This work was conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 2917, with Steve A. Tomka serving as Principal Investigator. Shovel testing and backhoe trenching yielded no significant archeological deposits. No cultural material was collected during the survey. A backhoe trench and shovel tests placed along the trail’s path in the vicinity of the cemetery encountered no signs of graves and archival research suggests the cemetery is well outside the trail right-of-way. It is believed that locating the Alsbury Family Cemetery may require pedestrian survey and subsurface investigations that are outside the scope of this project. Finally, it is recommended that the construction of the proposed hike and bike trail proceed as planned since it will not impact intact cultural deposits of significant research potential

vbyCaHbeta CCD Photometry of Clusters. VIII. The Super-Metal Rich, Old Open Cluster NGC 6791

CCD photometry on the intermediate-band vbyCaHbeta system is presented for the metal-rich, old open cluster, NGC 6791. Preliminary analysis led to [Fe/H] above +0.4 with an anomalously high reddening and an age below 5 Gyr. A revised calibration between (b-y)_0 and [Fe/H] at a given temperature shows that the traditional color-metallicity relations underestimate the color of the turnoff stars at high metallicity. With the revised relation, the metallicity from hk and the reddening for NGC 6791 become [Fe/H] = +0.45 +/- 0.04 and E(b-y) = 0.113 +/- 0.012 or E(B-V) = 0.155 +/- 0.016. Using the same technique, reanalysis of the photometry for NGC 6253 produces [Fe/H] = +0.58 +/-0.04 and E(b-y) = 0.120 +/- 0.018 or E(B-V) = 0.160 +/- 0.025. The errors quoted include both the internal and external errors. For NGC 6791, the metallicity from m_1 is a factor of two below that from hk, a result that may be coupled to the consistently low metal abundance from DDO photometry of the cluster and the C-deficiency found from high dispersion spectroscopy. E(B-V) is the same value predicted from Galactic reddening maps. With E(B-V) = 0.15 and [Fe/H] = +0.45, the available isochrones predict an age of 7.0 +/- 1.0 Gyr and an apparent modulus of (m-M) = 13.60 +/- 0.15, with the dominant source of the uncertainty arising from inconsistencies among the isochrones. The reanalysis of NGC 6253 with the revised lower reddening confirms that on both the hk and m_1 metallicity scales, NGC 6253, while less than half the age of NGC 6791, remains at least as metal-rich as NGC 6791, if not richer.Comment: Accepted for Astronomical Journal. 42 p. latex file includes 11 figures and 3 tables, one of which is a short version of a data table to appear in online AJ in its entiret

Archeological Testing and Data Recovery at 41ZV202, Zavala County, Texas

At the request of the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division (TxDOT-ENV), the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) conducted archeological significance testing at 41ZV202, a prehistoric site located in northwestern Zavala County, in March of 2003. The work, conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3071 issued to Dr. Steven A. Tomka, was done in anticipation of the potential widening by TxDOT of FM 481. While materials dating to the Archaic were also present, the testing demonstrated the presence of significant Late Prehistoric (Austin Interval) deposits with good integrity within a portion of the TxDOT right-of-way (ROW). As TxDOT construction could not avoid these deposits, and as both the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and TxDOT concurred with CAR’s recommendations that the deposits were eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under criterion d of 36CFR 60.4, data recovery investigations were initiated. CAR began that work in July and August of 2003. The testing permit was amended to include the data recovery efforts. Dr. Russell Greaves served as project archeologist for both the testing and data recovery effort at 41ZV202. The testing and data recovery work consisted of the excavation of a 53-m-long Gradall trench, exposing and profiling a 75-m-long road cut, and the hand excavation of 52 1 x 1 meter units that removed approximately 34.6 m3 of soil. Testing identified two large, dark stained areas designated Features 4 and 5, an associated hearth (Feature 7), and a small cluster of FCR (Feature 6). Just over 1,000 chipped stone items were recovered, including several Scallorn points, one reworked dart point, several bifaces, and two flake tools. Eleven AMS radiocarbon dates were submitted from deposits, with eight clustering around 1000 BP. Data recovery efforts defined FCR features 8 through 13. In addition, 24 arrow points, several dart points, a variety of unifacial and bifacial tools, a small number of cores, roughly 6,000 pieces of debitage, and a variety of burned sandstone, were recovered. We also collected small quantities of bone and mussel shell along with about 14,350 gastropod shells, and a variety of soil samples. Finally, all calcium carbonate nodules were retained from the screens. Following the completion of data recovery efforts, the CAR was directed by TxDOT to develop a research design for the analysis of the material from 41ZV202. TxDOT and THC accepted that research design in November of 2004, at which time the CAR began analysis and report production. Unfortunately, by 2005 project archeologist Russell Greaves had left the CAR. At that point, CAR assistant director Dr. Raymond Mauldin took over the project. The analysis of the 41ZV202 Late Prehistoric data outlined in this report is conducted in the context of a large-scale, theoretically driven model of adaptation for hunters and gatherers loosely based on aspects of Optimal Foraging Theory. In addition to 41ZV202, the approach relies on comparative data sets from Late Archaic and other Late Prehistoric sites from South and South-Central Texas to investigate shifts in subsistence, technology, and mobility across this broad region. At this time, discard decisions have not been made. However, all artifacts and associated samples collected and retained during this project, along with all project-associated documentation, are to be permanently curated at the CAR according to Texas Historical Commission guidelines

The Lantern Vol. 46, No. 1, December 1979

• Visions in Chains • The Bean • Who Can We Watch Tonite? • Night Glider • The Hurricane • Crisp New Paper • Compassion • Loneliness • 301 • Ode to Man • Unsteady Hands • The Beachcomber • The Pounce • Graveyard Shift • Houston Refineries • Haiku • The End of the Game • A Rose • Ode to a Ziffle • To Carson McCullers • In the May Month • Ghostly Chanting • Travel Excerpts • Face in the Crowd • Waiting in an Airport • A Taste of Winter\u27s Embracehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1115/thumbnail.jp

Lessening the hazards of Florida red tides: a common sense approach

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hoagland, P., Kirkpatrick, B., Jin, D., Kirkpatrick, G., Fleming, L. E., Ullmann, S. G., Beet, A., Hitchcock, G., Harrison, K. K., Li, Z. C., Garrison, B., Diaz, R. E., & Lovko, V. Lessening the hazards of Florida red tides: a common sense approach. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, (2020): 538, doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00538.In the Gulf of Mexico, especially along the southwest Florida coast, blooms of the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis are a coastal natural hazard. The organism produces a potent class of toxins, known as brevetoxins, which are released following cell lysis into ocean or estuarine waters or, upon aerosolization, into the atmosphere. When exposed to sufficient levels of brevetoxins, humans may suffer from respiratory, gastrointestinal, or neurological illnesses. The hazard has been exacerbated by the geometric growth of human populations, including both residents and tourists, along Florida’s southwest coast. Impacts to marine organisms or ecosystems also may occur, such as fish kills or deaths of protected mammals, turtles, or birds. Since the occurrence of a severe Karenia brevis bloom off the southwest Florida coast three-quarters of a century ago, there has been an ongoing debate about the best way for humans to mitigate the impacts of this hazard. Because of the importance of tourism to coastal Florida, there are incentives for businesses and governments alike to obfuscate descriptions of these blooms, leading to the social amplification of risk. We argue that policies to improve the public’s ability to understand the physical attributes of blooms, specifically risk communication policies, are to be preferred over physical, chemical, or biological controls. In particular, we argue that responses to this type of hazard must emphasize maintaining the continuity of programs of scientific research, environmental monitoring, public education, and notification. We propose a common-sense approach to risk communication, comprising a simplification of the public provision of existing sources of information to be made available on a mobile website.The research leading to these results was supported by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) under NSF Grant No. CNH 1009106. PH and DJ acknowledge the complementary support under NSF Grant No. PFI/BIC 1534054