The Perceived Effectiveness of One-to-One Technology in Smallwood High School

Administrator, teacher, and student perceptions of one-to-one technology were studied in a single case study approach at one rural Midwest high school. Interviews were conducted with six teachers, two administrators, and a survey was given to 185 student participants. The data collected indicated that while participants perceived success with the one-to-one initiative, there were differing opinions on why they perceived the one-to-one initiative to be successful. Teacher and administrator participants discussed implementation strategies, professional development, community and parent involvement, and pedagogical changes in teaching practice. The student participant survey was designed around student perceptions of one-to-one technology and teacher usage of one-to-one technology. Smallwood High School has utilized three different devices in order to find the one that best suits their needs and expectations. Common themes appeared in effective implementation strategies, professional development, and community involvement. Results also revealed that while all participants viewed the one-to-one technology as successful there are areas of improvement that could be made to allow for continued and advanced success

Integration of PlanGrid into Cal Poly\u27s Construction Management Curriculum: Learn by Doing

PlanGrid is a mobile construction management, document control software that gives builders real-time access to blueprints, punch lists, daily reports, submittals, RFIs and more. It is used throughout the industry by many different construction companies. The purpose of this project is to give Cal Poly construction management students early exposure to PlanGrid in an introduction lab in the jobsite construction class, CM 413. Before the lab was taught, a brief survey was sent out to construction companies asking their thoughts on how much exposure CM students should receive in PlanGrid. After receiving the survey results, the PlanGrid introduction lab was taught. Students were first walked through the program and then given assignments on both their laptops and mobile phones. The overall goals and takeaways from this lab are to help students become more well-rounded and better prepared to enter the industry as assets to construction companies, and potentially increasing the school’s use of PlanGrid in the construction curriculum

Understanding Plant Secondary Metabolites; Above and Below Ground

Plants naturally produce primary and secondary metabolites. Primary metabolites are directly involved with plant growth and metabolic function. Plant secondary metabolites (PSM) were once thought of as metabolic waste products, and more recently viewed as toxins to herbivores. However, ongoing research shows that PSM are beneficial to herbivores at low doses, and PSM aid plants by attracting pollinators, recovering from injury, protecting from ultraviolet radiation, increasing drought tolerance, and aid in defense against pathogens, diseases, and herbivores. Plant secondary metabolites also influence soil nutrient cycling, and can increase the sustainability of agroecosystems. Endophyte-infected tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) , which contains ergovaline, and reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), containing gramine, were studied along with the legumes alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) which contains saponins, and tannin-containing sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) and birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.). This dissertation researches (i) how planting configuration (monocultures vs. two-way mixtures) influences PSM and total N in plants, (ii) how cattle grazing forages containing PSM affects soil quality, nutrient cycling, and PSM, and (iii) how cattle manure from different diets, containing different PSM, influences soil nutrient cycling

Professional Development-Key to Retention of Rural Principals?

Building principals wear many hats, not the least of which is instructional leader. Leading curriculum, instruction and school improvement efforts can be overwhelming to leaders who must also tend to the management and operational demands of the job. Rural leaders are often expected to assume even greater responsibilities with considerably less support. Although expected to design and provide professional development for others, insufficient time and funding often prevent the leader from engaging in his/her own learning and growth.This article describes the efforts of one university to provide relevant, low-or-no-costprofessional development opportunities as a service to building leaders and the schools they serve, to provide networking opportunities to reduce isolation and burnout among rural leaders, and to provide a structure for school and district teams to collaborate with one another about best practices for school improvement

At lære sig "de kloge damers" sprog: Studerendes perspektiver på akademisk skrivning

Mange steder i verden har universiteter gradvist forandret sig fra elite- til masse-institutioner. Også i Danmark har et stigende antal ”non-traditional students” (Lil-lis, 2001) affødt en tilsvarende interesse for akademisk skrivning, f. eks. i oprettel-sen af akademiske skrivecentre og udgivelsen af akademiske skrivehåndbøger. Med afsæt i en kvalitativ interviewundersøgelse, belyst i et sociokulturelt perspektiv på akademisk tekstproduktion, undersøger vi 12 studerendes erfaringer med konventioner for akademisk tekstproduktion på Pædagogisk Antropologi – en kandidatuddannelse, som overvejende optager professionsbachelorer. Studerendes erfaringer fra undervisning, opgaveskrivning og studiegrupper analyseres i et academic literacies-perspektiv (Lea & Street, 1998) med særlig vægt på begrebet writer identity (Ivanič, 1998). Undersøgelsen viser, hvordan de studerende generelt orienterer sig mod en autoritativ forståelse af akademisk tekstproduktion, som de selv har ringe indflydelse på. I forlængelse heraf argumenterer vi for en Bakhtinsk inspireret dialogisme (Lillis, 2003) som en mulighed for at åbne et mere demokratisk rum for såvel studerende som undervisere

Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers in the Home: Video Consultations as an Alternative to Outpatient Hospital Care

The aim of this study was to investigate whether video consultations in the home can support a viable alternative to visits to the hospital outpatient clinic for patients with diabetic foot ulcers. And furthermore whether patients, relatives, visiting nurses, and experts at the hospital will experience satisfaction and increased confidence with this new course of treatment. Participatory design methods were applied as well as field observations, semistructured interviews, focus groups, and qualitative analysis of transcriptions of telemedical consultations conducted during a pilot test. This study shows that it is possible for experts at the hospital to conduct clinical examinations and decision making at a distance, in close cooperation with the visiting nurse and the patient. The visiting nurse experienced increased confidence with the treatment of the foot ulcer and characterized the consultations as a learning situation. All patients expressed satisfaction and felt confidence with this new way of working

Nurses' experience of using an application to support new parents after early discharge:an intervention study

Background. A development towards earlier postnatal discharge presents a challenge to find new ways to provide information and support to families. A possibility is the use of telemedicine. Objective. To explore how using an app in nursing practice affects the nurses’ ability to offer support and information to postnatal mothers who are discharged early and their families. Design. Participatory design. An app with a chat, a knowledgebase, and automated messages was tried out between hospital and parents at home. Settings. The intervention took place on a postnatal ward with approximately 1,000 births a year. Participants. At the onset of the intervention, 17 nurses, all women, were working on the ward. At the end of the intervention, 16 nurses were employed, all women. Methods. Participant observation and two focus group interviews. The data analysis was inspired by systematic text condensation. Results. The nurses on the postnatal ward consider that the use of the app gives families easier access to timely information and support. Conclusions. The app gives the nurses the possibility to offer support and information to the parents being early discharged. The app is experienced as a lifeline that connects the homes of the new parents with the hospital

"If only had I known":a qualitative study investigating a treatment of patients with a hip fracture with short time stay in hospital

Hip fractures are amongst the leading causes of admission to an orthopaedic ward. Systematized pathways with reduced admission time have become increasingly common as an essential tool for quality development and to improve efficiency in the hospital setting.  The aim of this study was to clarify if the patients feel empowered and able to perform self-care after short time stay in hospital (STSH) due to a hip fracture. The study used descriptive phenomenology to describe experiences of the pathway. Field studies were conducted in hospitals and in the patients' homes.  Interviews were performed with 10 patients recruited from two wards at a Danish University hospital, 4 family members and 15 health professionals from three hospitals.  The open attitude of reflective lifeworld research guided the analysis. The findings revealed that patients felt unprepared and insecure about their future, but also had a strong desire to be in charge of their own lives.  Of all the patients interviewed, none had any recollection of the information given to them by health professionals during their hospital admission. This study demonstrates that empowerment of patients with hip fractures is not adequately achieved in the pathway with STSH

Do Plant Secondary Metabolite‐Containing Forages Influence Soil Processes in Pasture Systems?

Grazed pastures are susceptible to N loss from urine/manure additions, which increases eutrophication, affecting the global N cycle. Plant secondary metabolites (PSM), such as condensed tannins (CT) and terpenes, influence silviculture soil dynamics by generally decreasing N mineralization. We investigated whether cattle‐grazed pastures of non‐traditional grass and legume forage monoculture strips including CT‐containing sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) and tall fescue (TF) [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.] influenced soil dynamics compared with traditional grass and legume forage monoculture strips of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), without tannins, and TF. Throughout the study, CT in sainfoin averaged 58.9 g kg−1 whereas alfalfa saponins averaged 5.7 g kg−1. We observed greater soil microbial respiration (p = .01) in TF strips than legume strips, indicating greater microbial activity, and between legumes we found greater soil NO3 (p = .01) in alfalfa than in sainfoin, although aboveground biomass and N differences were negligible. We also conducted a laboratory soil‐feces incubation study to determine if feces from cattle foraging diets of legumes with or without CT influenced soil dynamics. Both feces treatments showed lower NO3 (p \u3c .001) than without feces, suggesting microbial inhibition. Dehydrogenase activity (DHEA) was lower (p = .03) in sainfoin than alfalfa feces, suggesting CT from sainfoin inhibit DHEA. To our knowledge this study is the first considering whether CT‐containing sainfoin and saponin‐containing alfalfa influence soil dynamics by assessing general differences in soil parameters. More research is needed to determine whether specific PSM mitigate N loss in pasture systems by slowing N mineralization