A Study of Instructional Scheduling, Teaming, and Common Planning in New York State Middle Schools

This descriptive study examined to what extent, if any, three school supports (instructional scheduling, teaming, and common planning) are in existence in New York State middle schools. For the purposes of this study, middle schools were defined as schools that contained the grade configurations of 5-8, 6-8, and 7-8. The sample surveyed was comprised of 232 New York State middle school principals in school districts with an average need/resource capacity. Instrumentation for the data collection was through a five-part self-administered online web survey. Demographic data of the participating principals and their school along with the data collected from the research questions were analyzed using descriptive, inferential, and nonparametric statistics. In addition, demographic characteristics and principals’ beliefs regarding these three school supports were also analyzed. The results indicated that the majority of principals utilize a traditional departmentalized schedule with interdisciplinary and/or single-graded teaming with varying duration and frequencies of team, grade level, and departmental common planning. Statistically significant differences existed between specific principals’ beliefs and grade configuration, school location, and years of principal experience at current school. Implications for practice along with recommendations for future research, policy and practice were also discussed. It was the intent of this researcher that the data collected provides administrators and policymakers with an additional layer of information regarding the use of these three school supports among New York State middle schools and serve as a reference to further understand the extent to which they are being implemented

Tegrity: Successes and Failures of a Pilot Program Introducing Lecture Capture to Campus

This presentation will detail the implementation and evaluation of Tegrity Campus 2.0 on the campus of Wichita State University. Presenters will discuss what did and did not work, including considerations for adoption, deploying hardware, training, and how lessons learned can be applied to other campuses evaluating new products or software

Low Risk Monitoring in Neurocritical Care

Background/Rationale: Patients are admitted to Intensive care units (ICUs) either because they need close monitoring despite a low risk of hospital mortality (LRM group) or to receive ICU specific active treatments (AT group). The characteristics and differential outcomes of LRM patients vs. AT patients in Neurocritical Care Units are poorly understood. Methods: We classified 1,702 patients admitted to our tertiary and quaternary care center Neuroscience-ICU in 2016 and 2017 into LRM vs. AT groups. We compared demographics, admission diagnosis, goal of care status, readmission rates and managing attending specialty extracted from the medical record between groups. Acute Physiology, Age and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) IVa risk predictive modeling was used to assess comparative risks for ICU and hospital mortality and length of stay between groups. Results: 56.9% of patients admitted to our Neuroscience-ICU in 2016 and 2017 were classified as LRM, whereas 43.1% of patients were classified as AT. While demographically similar, the groups differed significantly in all risk predictive outcome measures [APACHE IVa scores, actual and predicted ICU and hospital mortality (p \u3c 0.0001 for all metrics)]. The most common admitting diagnosis overall, cerebrovascular accident/stroke, was represented in the LRM and AT groups with similar frequency [24.3 vs. 21.3%, respectively (p = 0.15)], illustrating that further differentiating factors like symptom duration, neurologic status and its dynamic changes and neuro-imaging characteristics determine the indication for active treatment vs. observation. Patients with intracranial hemorrhage/hematoma were significantly more likely to receive active treatments as opposed to having a primary focus on monitoring [13.6 vs. 9.8%, respectively (p = 0.017)]. Conclusion: The majority of patients admitted to our Neuroscience ICU (56.9%) had \u3c10% hospital mortality risk and a focus on monitoring, whereas the remaining 43.1% of patients received active treatments in their first ICU day. LRM Patients exhibited significantly lower APACHE IVa scores, ICU and hospital mortality rates compared to AT patients. Observed-over-expected ICU and hospital mortality ratios were better than predicted by APACHE IVa for low risk monitored patients and close to prediction for actively treated patients, suggesting that at least a subset of LRM patients may safely and more cost effectively be cared for in intermediate level care settings

Fluency Assistance Device (FAD): Masker Upgrades

Around seventy million people internationally have a stutter, a form of a fluency disorder. Some fluency assistance devices are available to the public, but most are highly expensive or unreliable. The Fluency Assistive Device (FAD) team seeks to assist a niche community of these individuals who currently rely on a device known originally as the Edinburgh Masker by partnering with Dave Germeyer. Utilizing his expertise in repairing the Edinburgh Masker, FAD is developing two new versions of the masker to increase its portability, functionality, and cost-effectiveness. The first is an update of the original called the Analog Masker (Version 1.1). A prototype of the Analog Masker v1.1 has been developed, tested and is currently being revised based on the results. Revisions include updating the layout of the board and finalizing the power supply circuitry. The second version, known as the Digital Masker (Version 1.0), will use a Bluetooth-enabled microcontroller to achieve masker functionality. Bluetooth audio output for the Digital Masker has been tested, and two algorithms have been created for the masking output. The supporting software for the Digital Masker is nearing completion. The schematic and the layout design have been started for future implementation of the hardware.https://mosaic.messiah.edu/engr2021/1005/thumbnail.jp

Localized Deformation in Ni-Mn-Ga Single Crystals

The magnetomechanical behavior of ferromagnetic shape memory alloys such as Ni-Mn-Ga, and hence the relationship between structure and nanoscale magnetomechanical properties, is of interest for their potential applications in actuators. Furthermore, due to its crystal structure, the behavior of Ni-Mn-Ga is anisotropic. Accordingly, nanoindentation and magnetic force microscopy were used to probe the nanoscale mechanical and magnetic properties of electropolished single crystalline 10M martensitic Ni-Mn-Ga as a function of the crystallographic c-axis (easy magnetization) direction relative to the indentation surface (i.e., c-axis in-plane versus out-of-plane). Load-displacement curves from 5–10 mN indentations on in-plane regions exhibited pop-in during loading, whereas this phenomenon was absent in out-of-plane regions. Additionally, the reduced elastic modulus measured for the c-axis out-of-plane orientation was ∼50% greater than for in-plane. Although heating above the transition temperature to the austenitic phase followed by cooling to the room temperature martensitic phase led to partial recovery of the indentation deformation, the magnitude and direction of recovery depended on the original relative orientation of the crystallographic c-axis: positive recovery for the in-plane orientation versus negative recovery (i.e., increased indent depth) for out-of-plane. Moreover, the c-axis orientation for out-of-plane regions switched to in-plane upon thermal cycling, whereas the number of twins in the in-plane regions increased. We hypothesize that dislocation plasticity contributes to the permanent deformation, while pseudoelastic twinning causes pop-in during loading and large recovery during unloading in the c-axis in-plane case. Minimization of indent strain energy accounts for the observed changes in twin orientation and number following thermal cycling

Defense Against Drought

This fact sheet outlines six tools that can be used to help alleviate some of the negative impacts of drought and help improve returns to crop production

Banner News

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/banner_news/1405/thumbnail.jp

A novel tool for evaluating non-cognitive traits of doctor of physical therapy learners in the United States

Purpose The primary aim of this study was to develop a survey addressing an individual’s non-cognitive traits, such as emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, social intelligence, psychological flexibility, and grit. Such a tool would provide beneficial information for the continued development of admissions standards and would help better capture the full breadth of experience and capabilities of applicants applying to doctor of physical therapy (DPT) programs. Methods This was a cross-sectional survey study involving learners in DPT programs at 3 academic institutions in the United States. A survey was developed based on established non-proprietary, non-cognitive measures affiliated with success and resilience. The survey was assessed for face validity, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to identify subgroups of factors based on responses to the items. Results A total of 298 participants (90.3%) completed all elements of the survey. EFA yielded 39 items for dimensional assessment with regression coefficients < 0.4. Within the 39 items, 3 latent constructs were identified: adaptability (16 items), intuitiveness (12 items), and engagement (11 items). Conclusion This preliminary non-cognitive assessment survey will be able to play a valuable role in DPT admissions decisions following further examination and refinement