Review of research on Supplemental Instruction

Validation by U.S. Department of Education of SI's Effectiveness, Research Methodology for Study of SI Claims of Effectiveness, Higher Grades and Lowered Rates of Course Withdrawals, Increased Rates of Persistence and Graduation Rates, Effectiveness with Students of Differing Academic Preparation, Effectiveness with Students of Differing Ethnicities, and Long Range Significance of College Graduatio

Foundation and theoretical framework for Supplemental Instruction

It has been nearly two decades since Supplemental Instruction first appeared in higher education. After starting at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1973, it has been implemented at a variety of institutions across the U.S. and around the world. Borrowing ideas from developmental psychology, SI has attempted to encourage students to become actively involved in their own learning. By integrating appropriate study skill with the review of the course content, students begin to understand how to use the learning strategies they have heard about from teachers and advisors. As new educational theories and practices have surfaced, the SI model has been adapted to incorporate the best in educational research. With the increasing diversity of today's college students and the advent of alternative admission programs, the student body is continuing its evolution into a heterogeneous group reflective of American society. The popular and professional literature often carries articles decrying the poor academic preparation level of students and/or poor quality of teaching by classroom professors. Few solutions have been offered that work. From our point of view, the matter is moot. Many professors have tenure and colleges need all the students that they can recruit. Rather than blaming either of the two parties, strategies must be developed that allow for students to succeed while ensuring that academic standards are maintained, if not strengthened. SI, as one component, can help contribute to an overall institutional plan for student success

Supplemental Instruction in the first college year

SI as a Continuation of First Year Experience Programs, Focus on High-Risk First Year Classes, SI is Helpful for a Variety of Student Subpopulations, Theoretical Framework for First Year Student Programming, SI Facilitates Development of Community, SI Facilitates Student Involvement with the Institution, SI Facilitates Academic and Social Integration, Research on Affective and Cognitive Development, and Supports Collaborative Learnin

Mainstreaming of Developmental Education: Supplemental Instruction and Video-based Supplemental Instruction

The foregoing should not be interpreted to suggest that SI is a one-size-fits-all solution to academic problems. Data suggest that the SI experience can move a student’s performance from below average to average, from average to above average, from above average to excellent. In the lower ranges of performance, it appears that participation in SI can elevate a student’s grade from sub-marginal to below average. At UMKC as at other Universities, however, practitioners have found that there are students for whom SI offers insufficient support. Typically, these students fall at or near the bottom of the fourth quartile in terms of entry-level scores and/or high school rank. SI is not scheduled often enough, nor does it have sufficient structure, breadth, or depth to meet the needs of this population. On other campuses, these students would typically be tracked into developmental courses which, for UMKC, has never been an option

Use of Supplemental Instruction at an urban high school

In review, the SI program provided the central academic support focus for ninth and tenth-grade students at Westport High School. While not the sole factor, the SI program contributed to increased student performance. After completing the three-year pilot test, the initial results appear favorable. While there has been some difficulty in implementing this comprehensive learning assistance program during the regular school day, the results in improved academic performance and improved student discipline warrant further use of the program. There are a variety of others ways that the program could be implemented in other high schools. Upperclassmen, adult volunteers, parent volunteers, or other persons could serve as SI leaders and supervisors. Strong support from the high school administration and creativity open many opportunities for the adoption of Supplemental Instruction at the high school level

Prevalence and family-related factors associated with suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and self-injury in children aged 9 to 10 years

Importance: Although suicide is a leading cause of death for children in the United States, and the rate of suicide in childhood has steadily increased, little is known about suicidal ideation and behaviors in children. Objective: To assess the overall prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and nonsuicidal self-injury, as well as family-related factors associated with suicidality and self-injury among preadolescent children. Design, Setting, and Participants: Cross-sectional study using retrospective analysis of the baseline sample from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. This multicenter investigation used an epidemiologically informed school-based recruitment strategy, with consideration of the demographic composition of the 21 ABCD sites and the United States as a whole. The sample included children aged 9 to 10 years and their caregivers. Main Outcomes and Measures: Lifetime suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and nonsuicidal self-injury as reported by children and their caregivers in a computerized version of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Results: A total of 11 814 children aged 9 to 10 years (47.8% girls; 52.0% white) and their caregivers were included. After poststratification sociodemographic weighting, the approximate prevalence rates were 6.4% (95% CI, 5.7%-7.3%) for lifetime history of passive suicidal ideation; 4.4% (95% CI, 3.9%-5.0%) for nonspecific active suicidal ideation; 2.4% (95% CI, 2.1%-2.7%) for active ideation with method, intent, or plan; 1.3% (95% CI, 1.0%-1.6%) for suicide attempts; and 9.1% (95% CI, 8.1-10.3) for nonsuicidal self-injury. After covarying by sex, family history, internalizing and externalizing problems, and relevant psychosocial variables, high family conflict was significantly associated with suicidal ideation (odds ratio [OR], 1.12; 95% CI, 1.07-1.16) and nonsuicidal self-injury (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.05-1.14), and low parental monitoring was significantly associated with ideation (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.95-0.98), attempts (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.86-0.97), and nonsuicidal self-injury (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93-0.98); these findings were consistent after internal replication. Most of children\u27s reports of suicidality and self-injury were either unknown or not reported by their caregivers. Conclusions and Relevance: This study demonstrates the association of family factors, including high family conflict and low parental monitoring, with suicidality and self-injury in children. Future research and ongoing prevention and intervention efforts may benefit from the examination of family factors

Magnetic resonance imaging quantification of fasted state colonic liquid pockets in healthy humans

The rate and extent of drug dissolution and absorption from solid oral dosage forms is highly dependent on the volume of liquid in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). However, little is known about the time course of GIT liquid volumes after drinking a glass of water (8 oz), particularly in the colon, which is a targeted site for both locally and systemically acting drug products. Previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies offered novel insights on GIT liquid distribution in fasted humans in the stomach and small intestine, and showed that freely mobile liquid in the intestine collects in fairly distinct regions or “pockets”. Based on this previous pilot data, we hypothesized that (1) it is possible to quantify the time course of the volume and number of liquid pockets in the undisturbed colon of fasted healthy humans following ingestion of 240 mL, using noninvasive MRI methods; (2) the amount of freely mobile water in the fasted human colon is of the order of only a few milliliters. Twelve healthy volunteers fasted overnight and underwent fasted abdominal MRI scans before drinking 240 mL (∼8 fluid ounces) of water. After ingesting the water they were scanned at frequent intervals for 2 h. The images were processed to quantify freely mobile water in the total and regional colon: ascending, transverse, and descending. The fasted colon contained (mean ± SEM) 11 ± 5 pockets of resting liquid with a total volume of 2 ± 1 mL (average). The colonic fluid peaked at 7 ± 4 mL 30 min after the water drink. This peak fluid was distributed in 17 ± 7 separate liquid pockets in the colon. The regional analysis showed that pockets of free fluid were found primarily in the ascending colon. The interindividual variability was very high; the subjects showed a range of number of colonic fluid pockets from 0 to 89 and total colonic freely mobile fluid volume from 0 to 49 mL. This is the first study measuring the time course of the number, regional location, and volume of pockets of freely mobile liquid in the undisturbed colon of fasted humans after ingestion of a glass of water. Novel insights into the colonic fluid environment will be particularly relevant to improve our understanding and design of the in vivo performance of controlled release formulations targeted to the colon. The in vivo quantitative information presented here can be input into physiologically based mechanistic models of dissolution and absorption, and can be used in the design and set up of novel in vitro performance tools predictive of the in vivo environment

A Spectacular Bow Shock in the 11 keV Galaxy Cluster Around 3C 438

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced pdf of an article accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal following peer review. The version of record, Deanna L. Emery; Ákos Bogdán; Ralph P. Kraft; Felipe Andrade-Santos; William R. Forman; Martin Hardcastle; and Christine Jones, ‘A spectacular bow shock in the 11 keV galaxy cluster around 3C 438’, The Astrophysical Journal (2017) 834(2):159 (7pp), published 10 January 2017, is available at doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/834/2/159 © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.We present results of deep 153 ks Chandra observations of the hot, 11 keV, galaxy cluster associated with the radio galaxy 3C 438. By mapping the morphology of the hot gas and analyzing its surface brightness and temperature distributions, we demonstrate the presence of a merger bow shock. We identify the presence of two jumps in surface brightness and in density located at $\sim$400 kpc and $\sim$800 kpc from the cluster's core. At the position of the inner jump, we detect a factor of $2.3\pm 0.2$ density jump, while at the location of the outer jump, we detect a density drop of a factor of $3.5 \pm 0.7$. Combining this with the temperature distribution within the cluster, we establish that the pressure of the hot gas is continuous at the 400 kpc jump, while there is a factor of $6.2 \pm 2.8$ pressure discontinuity at 800 kpc jump. From the magnitude of the outer pressure discontinuity, using the Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions, we determine that the sub-cluster is moving at $M = 2.3\pm 0.5$, or approximately $2600\pm 565$ km/s through the surrounding intracluster medium, creating the conditions for a bow shock. Based on these findings, we conclude that the pressure discontinuity is likely the result of an ongoing major merger between two massive clusters. Since few observations of bow shocks in clusters have been made, this detection can contribute to the study of the dynamics of cluster mergers, which offers insight on how the most massive clusters may have formed.Peer reviewe

Characterization of LINE-1 Ribonucleoprotein Particles

The average human genome contains a small cohort of active L1 retrotransposons that encode two proteins (ORF1p and ORF2p) required for their mobility (i.e., retrotransposition). Prior studies demonstrated that human ORF1p, L1 RNA, and an ORF2p-encoded reverse transcriptase activity are present in ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes. However, the inability to physically detect ORF2p from engineered human L1 constructs has remained a technical challenge in the field. Here, we have employed an epitope/RNA tagging strategy with engineered human L1 retrotransposons to identify ORF1p, ORF2p, and L1 RNA in a RNP complex. We next used this system to assess how mutations in ORF1p and/or ORF2p impact RNP formation. Importantly, we demonstrate that mutations in the coiled-coil domain and RNA recognition motif of ORF1p, as well as the cysteine-rich domain of ORF2p, reduce the levels of ORF1p and/or ORF2p in L1 RNPs. Finally, we used this tagging strategy to localize the L1–encoded proteins and L1 RNA to cytoplasmic foci that often were associated with stress granules. Thus, we conclude that a precise interplay among ORF1p, ORF2p, and L1 RNA is critical for L1 RNP assembly, function, and L1 retrotransposition