Student, instructor, and observer agreement regarding frequencies of scientific teaching practices using the Measurement Instrument for Scientific Teaching-Observable (MISTO)

Background: The Scientific Teaching (ST) pedagogical framework encompasses many of the best practices recommended in the literature and highlighted in national reports. Understanding the growth and impact of ST requires instruments to accurately measure the extent to which practitioners implement ST in their courses. Researchers have typically relied on students, instructors, or observers to document course teaching practices, but it remains unclear whether and how these perspectives differ from each other. To address this issue, we modified our previously published instrument to generate the Measurement Instrument for Scientific Teaching-Observable (MISTO), which can be completed by students, instructors, and observers, and we investigated the degree of similarity between these three perspectives across 70 undergraduate science courses at seven different institutions in the USA. Results: We found that the full MISTO and Active Learning subcategory scores showed the highest correlations among the three perspectives, but the degree of correlation between perspectives varied for the other subcategories. Match scores between students and instructors were significantly higher than observer matches for the full MISTO and for the Active Learning, Inclusivity, and Responsiveness subcategories. Conclusions: We find that the level and type of agreement between perspectives varies across MISTO subcategories and that this variation likely stems from intrinsic differences in the course access and scoring decisions of the three perspectives. Building on this data, we recommend MISTO users consider their research goals, available resources, and potential artifacts that may arise when deciding which perspective best fits their needs in measuring classroom teaching practices

Detection and quantitation of HPV in genital and oral tissues and fluids by real time PCR

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) remain a serious world health problem due to their association with anogenital/oral cancers and warts. While over 100 HPV types have been identified, a subset is associated with malignancy. HPV16 and 18 are the most prevalent oncogenic types, while HPV6 and 11 are most commonly responsible for anogenital warts. While other quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays detect oncogenic HPV, there is no single tube assay distinguishing the most frequent oncogenic types and the most common types found in warts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A Sybr Green-based qPCR assay was developed utilizing degenerate primers to the highly conserved HPV E1 theoretically detecting any HPV type. A single tube multiplex qPCR assay was also developed using type-specific primer pairs and TaqMan probes that allowed for detection and quantitation of HPV6,11,16,18. Each HPV type was detected over a range from 2 × 10¹to 2 × 10⁶copies/reaction providing a reliable method of quantitating type-specific HPV in 140 anogenital/cutaneous/oral benign and malignant specimens. 35 oncogenic and low risk alpha genus HPV types were detected. Concordance was detected in previously typed specimens. Comparisons to the gold standard detected an overall sensitivity of 89% (95% CI: 77% - 96%) and specificity of 90% (95%CI: 52% - 98%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was good agreement between the ability of the qPCR assays described here to identify HPV types in malignancies previously typed using standard methods. These novel qPCR assays will allow rapid detection and quantitation of HPVs to assess their role in viral pathogenesis.</p

Detection and quantitation of HPV in anogenital and oral tissues and fluids of HIV-positive individuals by real-time PCR

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) remain a serious world health problem due to their association with anogenital and oral cancers and warts. While over 100 HPV types have been identified, only a subset is associated with malignancy. HPV16 and 18 are the most common oncogenic types, while HPV6 and 11 are the most common types responsible for anogenital warts. These four types cause up to 90% of HPV-associated disease. While other quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays can be used to detect oncogenic HPV, there is no single tube assay that distinguishes the most frequent oncogenic types and the most common types found in warts. A qPCR assay was developed that allowed for detection and quantitation of these 4 HPV types

EcoEvo-MAPS: An Ecology and Evolution Assessment for Introductory through Advanced Undergraduates

A new assessment tool, Ecology and Evolution–Measuring Achievement and Progression in Science or EcoEvo-MAPS, measures student thinking in ecology and evolution during an undergraduate course of study. EcoEvo-MAPS targets foundational concepts in ecology and evolution and uses a novel approach that asks students to evaluate a series of predictions, conclusions, or interpretations as likely or unlikely to be true given a specific scenario. We collected evidence of validity and reliability for EcoEvo-MAPS through an iterative process of faculty review, student interviews, and analyses of assessment data from more than 3000 students at 34 associate’s-, bachelor’s-, master’s-, and doctoral-granting institutions. The 63 likely/unlikely statements range in difficulty and target student understanding of key concepts aligned with the Vision and Change report. This assessment provides departments with a tool to measure student thinking at different time points in the curriculum and provides data that can be used to inform curricular and instructional modifications

Innovative teaching knowledge stays with users

Programs seeking to transform undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses often strive for participating faculty to share their knowledge of innovative teaching practices with other faculty in their home departments. Here, we provide interview, survey, and social network analyses revealing that faculty who use innovative teaching practices preferentially talk to each other, suggesting that greater steps are needed for information about innovative practices to reach faculty more broadly

Context and content of teaching conversations: exploring how to promote sharing of innovative teaching knowledge between science faculty

Background: Change strategies may leverage interpersonal relationships and conversations to spread teaching innovations among science faculty. Knowledge sharing refers to the process by which individuals transfer information and thereby spread innovative ideas within an organization. We use knowledge sharing as a lens for identifying factors that encourage productive teaching-related conversations between individuals, characterizing the context and content of these discussions, and understanding how peer interactions may shape instructional practices. In this study, we interview 19 science faculty using innovative teaching practices about the teaching-focused conversations they have with different discussion partners. Results: This qualitative study describes characteristics of the relationship between discussion partners, what they discuss with respect to teaching, the amount of help-seeking that occurs, and the perceived impacts of these conversations on their teaching. We highlight the role of office location and course overlap in bringing faculty together and characterize the range of topics they discuss, such as course delivery and teaching strategies. We note the tendency of faculty to seek out partners with relevant expertise and describe how faculty perceive their discussion partners to influence their instructional practices and personal affect. Finally, we elaborate on how these themes vary depending on the relationship between discussion partners. Conclusions: The knowledge sharing framework provides a useful lens for investigating how various factors affect faculty conversations around teaching. Building on this framework, our results lead us to propose two hypotheses for how to promote sharing teaching knowledge among faculty, thereby identifying productive directions for further systematic inquiry. In particular, we propose that productive teaching conversations might be cultivated by fostering collaborative teaching partnerships and developing departmental structures to facilitate sharing of teaching expertise. We further suggest that social network theories and other examinations of faculty behavior can be useful approaches for researching the mechanisms that drive teaching reform

Distant Cluster Hunting I: A Comparison Between the Optical and X-ray Luminosity Functions from an Optical/X-ray Survey

We present a comparison of X-ray and optical luminosities and luminosity functions of cluster candidates from a joint optical/X-ray survey, the ROSAT Optical X-Ray Survey. Completely independent X-ray and optical catalogs of 23 ROSAT fields (4.8 deg2) were created by a matched-filter optical algorithm and by a wavelet technique in the X-ray. We directly compare the results of the optical and X-ray selection techniques. The matched-filter technique detected 74% (26 out of 35) of the most reliable cluster candidates in the X-ray-selected sample; the remainder could be either constellations of X-ray point sources or z>1 clusters. The matched-filter technique identified approximately 3 times the number of candidates (152 candidates) found in the X-ray survey of nearly the same sky (57 candidates). While the estimated optical and X-ray luminosities of clusters of galaxies are correlated, the intrinsic scatter in this relationship is very large. We can reproduce the number and distribution of optical clusters with a model defined by the X-ray luminosity function and by an LX Lambda cl relation if H0=75 km s-1 Mpc-1 and if the LX Lambda cl relation is steeper than the expected LX Lambda 2cl. On statistical grounds, a bimodal distribution of X-ray luminous and X-ray faint clusters is unnecessary to explain our observations. Follow-up work is required to confirm whether the clusters without bright X-ray counterparts are simply X-ray faint for their optical luminosity because of their low mass or youth or are a distinct population of clusters that do not, for some reason, have dense intracluster media. We suspect that these optical clusters are low-mass systems, with correspondingly low X-ray temperatures and luminosities, or that they are not yet completely virialized systems.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. ApJ Letters publishe

Determination of cancer risk associated with germ line BRCA1 missense variants by functional analysis

©2007 American Association for Cancer Research. Published version of the paper reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the publisher.Germ line inactivating mutations in BRCA1 confer susceptibility for breast and ovarian cancer. However, the relevance of the many missense changes in the gene for which the effect on protein function is unknown remains unclear. Determination of which variants are causally associated with cancer is important for assessment of individual risk. We used a functional assay that measures the transactivation activity of BRCA1 in combination with analysis of protein modeling based on the structure of BRCA1 BRCT domains. In addition, the information generated was interpreted in light of genetic data. We determined the predicted cancer association of 22 BRCA1 variants and verified that the common polymorphism S1613G has no effect on BRCA1 function, even when combined with other rare variants. We estimated the specificity and sensitivity of the assay, and by meta-analysis of 47 variants, we show that variants with 50% can be classified as neutral. In conclusion, we did functional and structure-based analyses on a large series of BRCA1 missense variants and defined a tentative threshold activity for the classification missense variants. By interpreting the validated functional data in light of additional clinical and structural evidence, we conclude that it is possible to classify all missense variants in the BRCA1 COOH-terminal region. These results bring functional assays for BRCA1 closer to clinical applicability. [Cancer Res 2007;67(4):1494–501