How Does the Use of a Social Studies Video Game Affect Student Learning?

In normal times, middle school social studies teachers are challenged to provide their students with curriculum that is both relevant and engaging in the 21st century. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced teachers across the United States to utilize remote instruction and an unprecedented integration of technology to engage and communicate with students. Long after the pandemic when teachers adjust to a new normal, technology will continue to play an integral role to help middle school students become active citizens and leaders. Although video games may not be the first choice for teachers, many middle school children already regularly use games to socialize, communicate, and learn. While video games are not a panacea for student engagement and learning, they provide opportunities to reinforce and enhance learning while engaging students with a technological tool that many students prefer. In this study, purposefully selected 7th grade middle school students from a southeastern state in the United States were interviewed prior to and after playing the video game “Do I Have a Right?” during the COVID-19 pandemic. NVivo software was used for coding and data analytics. Findings showed that learning on multiple levels occurred for the participants while highilighting the relevance of a constructivist philosophy in teaching. This research demonstrated the importance of reflection to reinforce learning and to promote higher levels of thinking

Relational Cultural Theory: A Guiding Framework for Study Abroad Experiences

Faculty led-study abroad programs promote cultural competence and professional and personal development for students. However, students from historically marginalized and underrepresented groups do not participate in these experiences at the same rate as students from majority cultures. Counselor educators must seek ways to recruit diverse populations to promote equity in and access to international education experiences. Relational Cultural Theory (RCT) provides a guiding framework for counselor educators to diversify study abroad programs while also attending to cultural and power dynamics. Implications for counselor educators and recommendations for future research are also included

Integrated Application of Active Controls (IAAC) technology to an advanced subsonic transport project: Current and advanced act control system definition study. Volume 2: Appendices

The current status of the Active Controls Technology (ACT) for the advanced subsonic transport project is investigated through analysis of the systems technical data. Control systems technologies under examination include computerized reliability analysis, pitch axis fly by wire actuator, flaperon actuation system design trade study, control law synthesis and analysis, flutter mode control and gust load alleviation analysis, and implementation of alternative ACT systems. Extensive analysis of the computer techniques involved in each system is included

Antipsychotics and Torsadogenic Risk: Signals Emerging from the US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System Database

Background: Drug-induced torsades de pointes (TdP) and related clinical entities represent a current regulatory and clinical burden. Objective: As part of the FP7 ARITMO (Arrhythmogenic Potential of Drugs) project, we explored the publicly available US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database to detect signals of torsadogenicity for antipsychotics (APs). Methods: Four groups of events in decreasing order of drug-attributable risk were identified: (1) TdP, (2) QT-interval abnormalities, (3) ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia, and (4) sudden cardiac death. The reporting odds ratio (ROR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) was calculated through a cumulative analysis from group 1 to 4. For groups 1+2, ROR was adjusted for age, gender, and concomitant drugs (e.g., antiarrhythmics) and stratified for AZCERT drugs, lists I and II (http://www.azcert.org, as of June 2011). A potential signal of torsadogenicity was defined if a drug met all the following criteria: (a) four or more cases in group 1+2; (b) significant ROR in group 1+2 that persists through the cumulative approach; (c) significant adjusted ROR for group 1+2 in the stratum without AZCERT drugs; (d) not included in AZCERT lists (as of June 2011). Results: Over the 7-year period, 37 APs were reported in 4,794 cases of arrhythmia: 140 (group 1), 883 (group 2), 1,651 (group 3), and 2,120 (group 4). Based on our criteria, the following potential signals of torsadogenicity were found: amisulpride (25 cases; adjusted ROR in the stratum without AZCERT drugs = 43.94, 95 % CI 22.82-84.60), cyamemazine (11; 15.48, 6.87-34.91), and olanzapine (189; 7.74, 6.45-9.30). Conclusions: This pharmacovigilance analysis on the FAERS found 3 potential signals of torsadogenicity for drugs previously unknown for this risk

Code-switching 101: Black women counselor educators’ personal and professional identity development

Article describes how the perceptions of personal and professional identity development from four Black women counselor educators were examined through a collaborative autoethnography methodology. Themes identified include (a) intentionality of code-switching, (b) inextricable identities, (c) fight for and with authenticity, and (d) mutual development of personal and professional identities

Integrated Application of Active Controls (IAAC) technology to an advanced subsonic transport project: Current and advanced act control system definition study, volume 1

An active controls technology (ACT) system architecture was selected based on current technology system elements and optimal control theory was evaluated for use in analyzing and synthesizing ACT multiple control laws. The system selected employs three redundant computers to implement all of the ACT functions, four redundant smaller computers to implement the crucial pitch-augmented stability function, and a separate maintenance and display computer. The reliability objective of probability of crucial function failure of less than 1 x 10 to the -9th power per flight of 1 hr can be met with current technology system components, if the software is assumed fault free and coverage approaching 1.0 can be provided. The optimal control theory approach to ACT control law synthesis yielded comparable control law performance much more systematically and directly than the classical s-domain approach. The ACT control law performance, although somewhat degraded by the inclusion of representative nonlinearities, remained quite effective. Certain high-frequency gust-load alleviation functions may require increased surface rate capability

Female senior secondary physics students’ engagement in science: a qualitative study of constructive influences

Background: Prompted by fewer females compared to males enrolling in physics and advanced mathematics at both secondary and university levels, our research investigated the views and experiences of female students currently studying upper secondary school physics. We interviewed 18 female students about influences they considered important to their own science education, interest in science, and future science-related aspirations. Our purpose was to identify the experiences that these students most strongly associated with the generation and maintenance of their engagement in science, particularly represented in this research by their enrolment in upper secondary physics. Results: The research team used a systematic, iterative process to identify the main themes in the transcribed interview data. We identified the influence each girl reported as the strongest (ranked first). We also combined all influences that the participants had nominated, regardless of their ranking, to further examine all factors participants suggested as influential in their sustained engagement in school science (represented by their decision to study upper secondary physics). Systematic analysis of the interview data confirms that the influences on these females’ choices to study physics at upper secondary originate from a combination of their teachers, their school’s science culture, members of their family, the participants themselves and their peers. Conclusions: The interviews highlighted the idiographic complexities in understanding the wide range of important influences on these students studying physics at upper secondary school and their engagement in science. The unique contribution of this work is giving voice to the participants and reflecting on what these high achieving females have to say about the influential factors in their decisions to pursue science. Supportive teachers and the school science culture play essential roles, and other cultural and/or social factors such as family members and peers are identified as important. References to the culture and expectations of the school, family holidays, and conversations with siblings are support factors that seem to interact and overlap. At the same time, the importance of policy-amenable factors such as competent and caring science teachers, and science-supportive school cultures should be emphasised and encouraged