The effects of an assignment that incorporated reading, writing, discourse, and reflection for Honors Advanced Algebra students: A quasi‐experimental study

This quasi-experimental design, with a mixed methods approach, examined the effects of an assignment that incorporated reading, writing, discourse, and reflection for Honors Advanced Algebra students. A sample of 150 Honors Advanced Algebra students and two teachers were the participants of the study. The purpose of the quantitative part of the design was to determine if there was a significant increase in scores on a posttest after Honors Advanced Algebra students solved homework assignments, in Brightspace, algebraically (control group) or by using strategies of reading and writing, discourse, and reflection (treatment group). It was determined that students in the treatment group performed higher on the post-test. Additional quantitative elements of this study were measured by surveys (pre and post), given to student and teacher participants, to determine student and teacher attitudes towards learning and teaching with the assignment. There were statistically significant changes in student attitudes. Specifically, students felt that the assignment helped them to better understand the lessons in the unit. Qualitative elements of this study were measured by open-ended questions on the surveys (pre and post) for students and teachers and teacher interviews. The qualitative elements determined student and teacher suggestions for improving learning and teaching with the assignment. The conclusions from this study contribute to an increasing body of research on how to implement reading, writing, discourse, and reflection in mathematical assignments.Chapter I INTRODUCTION 1 | Statement of the Problem 3 | Theoretical Framework 4 | Research Questions 7 | Methodology 8 | Significance of the Study 9 | Definitions of Key Terms 10 | Limitations 12 | Organization of the Study 13 | Chapter II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 15 | Critical Thinking in Mathematics 18 | Mathematical Communities 18 | Constructivism 21 | Persuasive Pedagogy 23 | Communication in Mathematics 24 | Reading and Writing 24 | Discourse 29 | Reflection 35 | Implications for Mathematics Instruction 38 | GSE 38 | Traditional Mathemetics Instruction 40 | Applying Teaching Practices in Mathematical Communication 43 | Improving Mathematics Instruction 44 | Summary 47 | Chapter III METHODOLOGY 48 | Research Questions 48 | Methodology 49 | Population and Sample 51 | Instrumentation 53 | Validity 57 | Reliability 58 | Data Collection 59 | Data Analysis 61 | Protection of Human Subjects 66 | Summary 67 | Chapter IV RESULTS 69 | Participants 70 | Presentation and Analysis of Data 71 | Phase 1: Pre/Post-test (Quantitative)72 | Research Question 173 | Phase II: Pre/Post Student and Teacher Surveys (Quantitative and | Qualitative) 74 | Research Question 274 | Research Question 391 | Phase III: Teacher Interviews (Qualitative)93 | Research Question 493 | Summary 94 | Chapter V DISCUSSION 99 | Purpose of the Study 99 | Related Literature 100 | Methods 104 | Limitations 109 | Summary of the Findings 110 | Discussion 119 | Implications of the Results 121 | Recommendations for Future Research 124 | Summary 125 | REFERENCES 128 | APPENDIX A: Treatment Group/Brightspace Homework Assignments 139 | APPENDIX B: Control Group/Brightspace Homework Assignments 142 | APPENDIX C: Honors Advanced Algebra Unit 1 Test (PRE/POSTTEST) 144 | APPENDIX D: Attitudes of Students (Pre) Survey 147 | APPENDIX E: Attitudes of Students (Post) Survey 149 | APPENDIX F: Attitudes of Teachers (Pre) Survey 151 | APPENDIX G: Attitudes of Teachers (Post) Survey 142 | APPENDIX H: Teacher Interview Guide 155 | APPENDIX I: IRB Consent To Participate Approval 157 | APPENDIX J: IRB Parent Consent Approval 161 | APPENDIX K: Treatment group – comments left by students on the post-survey 165 | APPENDIX L: Control group – comments left by students on the post-survey 170 | APPENDIX M: Comments left by teachers on the post-survey 175 | APPENDIX N: Comments left by teachers on the teacher interview guide 177 |N/AEd.DEducatio

Literature review of the traditional use of tobacco as a cultural practice and harm reduction effort for Indigenous communities

This literature review aims to highlight cultural strengths and protective health factors associated with traditional/ceremonial tobacco (versus commercial tobacco) use among Indigenous communities. While commercial cigarette smoking rates have decreased over the past 50+ years in the US, Indigenous communities continue to smoke commercial tobacco at higher rates compared to other racial/ethnic groups, and thus, experience significantly higher tobacco-related health inequities. Traditional use of the tobacco plant, most often Nicotiana rustica or Nicotiana tabacum, may include smoking (but not inhaling), burning for offering, smudging in ceremonies, or sprinkling on the bed of an ill person for healing among Indigenous communities. Unlike traditional tobacco, commercial tobacco refers to a product (i.e., cigarettes, chewing tobacco) containing thousands of added chemical compounds associated with cancer-related disparities. Furthermore, the negative health outcomes associated with commercial tobacco use, such as premature death, remain a significant cause for concern in public health efforts. Contemporarily, an issue arises from the use of commercial tobacco use in traditional practices, out of convenience or lack of knowledge about the cultural significance, which can result in earlier initiation of tobacco use, and reduce cultural respect for the plant. Interventions developed with predominantly non-Hispanic White (NHW) populations are typically less effective for Indigenous populations due to a lack of cultural considerations. Recent research suggests that Indigenous populations benefit from culturally inclusive adaptations for tobacco control and tobacco dependence interventions. This literature review will identify effective ways to address the need for culturally inclusive efforts to reduce tobacco-related health disparities while also acknowledging the unique difference between using traditional tobacco and commercial tobacco use. In addition, it will discuss results from previous studies that suggest protective factors associated with engaging in these cultural practices. These findings will inform future studies that investigate whether traditional tobacco use could be promoted for Indigenous communities as a way that supports traditional tobacco use in tandem with reducing the harm of commercial cigarette smoking and chewing tobacco for Indigenous communities.Psycholog

Prevalence, risk factors and clinical correlates of COPD in a rural setting in Tanzania

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) causes substantial burden of disease in developed countries, but there are limited data from Africa. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of COPD in Tanzania and identify the risk factors associated with it. This was a cross-sectional descriptive survey involving adults aged 35 years. We collected data on symptoms and risk factors using the Burden of Obstructive Lung Diseases questionnaire. Spirometry was performed and COPD diagnosed based on post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity <70%. We also measured indoor and outdoor carbon monoxide (CO) levels. A total of 869 participants (49.1% females) completed the questionnaires. Of these, 57.1% completed post-bronchodilator spirometry. Of the 25.2% ever-smokers, only 5.4% were current smokers. COPD prevalence was estimated at 17.5% (21.7% in males and 12.9% in females). COPD was associated with a history of cough, phlegm production and wheezing. 51.7% of COPD patients reported cough and 85% had mild to moderate airway limitation. Females had a higher rate of exacerbation. Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) was reported in 10% of patients. Only 1.7% of patients who were diagnosed as COPD had ever received any medication, with only one female COPD patient having received an inhaler. 99.5% of the population used biomass fuels for cooking. The majority of households had CO levels up to 20 ppm. The prevalence of COPD in Tanzania is high, with a peak at a relatively young age and a preponderance in males. A history of TB, cigarette smoking and male sex are important risk factors. Indoor air pollution coupled with use of biomass fuel for cooking and heating may be an important risk factor for developing COPD in rural Tanzania. However, these factors need to be studied further

The feeling of anger: From brain networks to linguistic expressions.

This review of the neuroscience of anger is part of The Human Affectome Project, where we attempt to map anger and its components (i.e., physiological, cognitive, experiential) to the neuroscience literature (i.e., genetic markers, functional imaging of human brain networks) and to linguistic expressions used to describe anger feelings. Given the ubiquity of anger in both its normative and chronic states, specific language is used in humans to express states of anger. Following a review of the neuroscience literature, we explore the language that is used to convey angry feelings, as well as metaphors reflecting inner states of anger experience. We then discuss whether these linguistic expressions can be mapped on to the neural circuits during anger experience and to distinct components of anger. We also identify relationships between anger components, brain networks, and other affective research relevant to motivational states of dominance and basic needs for safety

Acute mountain sickness.

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a clinical syndrome occurring in otherwise healthy normal individuals who ascend rapidly to high altitude. Symptoms develop over a period ofa few hours or days. The usual symptoms include headache, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, lethargy, unsteadiness of gait, undue dyspnoea on moderate exertion and interrupted sleep. AMS is unrelated to physical fitness, sex or age except that young children over two years of age are unduly susceptible. One of the striking features ofAMS is the wide variation in individual susceptibility which is to some extent consistent. Some subjects never experience symptoms at any altitude while others have repeated attacks on ascending to quite modest altitudes. Rapid ascent to altitudes of 2500 to 3000m will produce symptoms in some subjects while after ascent over 23 days to 5000m most subjects will be affected, some to a marked degree. In general, the more rapid the ascent, the higher the altitude reached and the greater the physical exertion involved, the more severe AMS will be. Ifthe subjects stay at the altitude reached there is a tendency for acclimatization to occur and symptoms to remit over 1-7 days

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Meta-analysis of shared genetic architecture across ten pediatric autoimmune diseases

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified hundreds of susceptibility genes, including shared associations across clinically distinct autoimmune diseases. We performed an inverse χ(2) meta-analysis across ten pediatric-age-of-onset autoimmune diseases (pAIDs) in a case-control study including more than 6,035 cases and 10,718 shared population-based controls. We identified 27 genome-wide significant loci associated with one or more pAIDs, mapping to in silico-replicated autoimmune-associated genes (including IL2RA) and new candidate loci with established immunoregulatory functions such as ADGRL2, TENM3, ANKRD30A, ADCY7 and CD40LG. The pAID-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were functionally enriched for deoxyribonuclease (DNase)-hypersensitivity sites, expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs), microRNA (miRNA)-binding sites and coding variants. We also identified biologically correlated, pAID-associated candidate gene sets on the basis of immune cell expression profiling and found evidence of genetic sharing. Network and protein-interaction analyses demonstrated converging roles for the signaling pathways of type 1, 2 and 17 helper T cells (TH1, TH2 and TH17), JAK-STAT, interferon and interleukin in multiple autoimmune diseases

Variation in Intensive Care Unit Intubation Practices in Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine Fellowship.

BackgroundEndotracheal intubation in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a high-risk procedure. Competence in endotracheal intubation is a requirement for Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) training programs, but fellow experience as the primary operator in intubating ICU patients has not been described on a large scale.ObjectiveWe hypothesized that significant variation surrounding endotracheal intubation practices in medical ICUs exists in United States (US) PCCM training programs.MethodsWe administered a survey to a convenience sample of US PCCM fellows to elicit typical intubation practices in the medical ICU.Results89 discrete US PCCM and Internal Medicine CCM training programs (77% response rate) were represented. At 43% of programs, the PCCM fellow was "always or almost always" designated the primary operator for intubation of a medical ICU patient, whereas at 21% of programs, the PCCM fellow was "rarely or never" the primary operator responsible for intubating in the ICU. Factors influencing this variation included time of day, hospital policies, attending skill or preference, ICU census and acuity, and patient factors. There was an association between location of the training program, but not program size, and whether the PCCM fellow was the primary operator.ConclusionThere is significant variation in whether PCCM fellows are the primary operators to intubate medical ICU patients during training. Further work should explore how this variation affects fellow career development and competence in intubation