Age is Not Just a Number: Perceptions of Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Transformational Teaching, Student-Professor Engagement in Learning, and Deep Learning in the Graduate Classroom

Graduate students in higher education need pedagogical strategies that prepare them with knowledge and critical thinking for their careers. Research conducted in this area concluded that teaching students how to integrate knowledge into the real-world continues to be a challenge for educators across various disciplines in higher education. While scholars have studied effective teaching practices for decades, a broad definition has not been determined. Graduate students’ perceptions of professor pedagogical content knowledge, transformational teaching, student deep learning, and age were compared to determine the behaviors that influence deep learning in business and education programs in the United States and internationally. A survey was administered to 137 students. Findings show that non-traditional learners did not feel as strongly about individualized consideration as traditional learners. The findings suggest that graduate students perceive humor, learning struggles, and relatable content differently

Which Matters Most? Perceptions of Family Income or Parental Education on Academic Achievement

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of college students’ perception of family income, parental education levels, and race on academic achievement. Ninety-four second-year college students from a small, liberal arts, college in New York City responded to the survey during the Fall of 2009. Of the respondents, 52 were female and 42 were male. The survey collected demographic data on student perception of family income, parental education levels, and race. Academic achievement was measured by gathering students’ grade point averages. Findings in the research demonstrated that the education-level of the students’ fathers had the greatest impact on academic achievement

Which Matters Most? Perceptions of Family Income or Parental Education on Academic Achievement

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of college students’ perception of family income, parental education levels, and race on academic achievement. Ninety-four second-year college students from a small, liberal arts, college in New York City responded to the survey during the Fall of 2009. Of the respondents, 52 were female and 42 were male. The survey collected demographic data on student perception of family income, parental education levels, and race. Academic achievement was measured by gathering students’ grade point averages. Findings in the research demonstrated that the education-level of the students’ fathers had the greatest impact on academic achievement

Which Matters Most? Perceptions of Family Income or Parental Education on Academic Achievement

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of college students’ perception of family income, parental education levels, and race on academic achievement. Ninety-four second-year college students from a small, liberal arts, college in New York City responded to the survey during the Fall of 2009. Of the respondents, 52 were female and 42 were male. The survey collected demographic data on student perception of family income, parental education levels, and race. Academic achievement was measured by gathering students’ grade point averages. Findings in the research demonstrated that the education-level of the students’ fathers had the greatest impact on academic achievement

Occupational Risks and Pregnancy and Infant Health Outcomes in Florida Farmworkers

The agricultural industry has some of the highest incidence rates and numbers of occupational injuries and illnesses in the United States. Injuries and illnesses in agriculture result from accidents, falls, excessive heat, repetitive motion and adverse pesticide exposure. Women working in agriculture are exposed to the same hazards and risks as their male counterparts, but can face additional adverse impacts on their reproductive health. Yet, few occupational risk assessment studies have considered the reproductive health of female farmworkers. The objective of this community-based participatory research study was to conduct a retrospective, cross-sectional survey to collect information on workplace conditions and behaviors and maternal, pregnancy and infant health outcomes among a sample of female nursery and fernery farmworkers in Central Florida. Survey results showed that nursery workers were more likely to report health symptoms during their pregnancy than fernery workers. We also observed a self-reported increased risk of respiratory illness in the first year of life for infants whose mothers worked in ferneries. Our findings confirm that agricultural work presents potential reproductive hazards for women of childbearing age

Social network analysis of stakeholder networks from two community-based obesity prevention interventions

IntroductionStudies of community-based obesity prevention interventions have hypothesized that stakeholder networks are a critical element of effective implementation. This paper presents a quantitative analysis of the interpersonal network structures within a sub-sample of stakeholders from two past successful childhood obesity prevention interventions.MethodsParticipants were recruited from the stakeholder groups (steering committees) of two completed community-based intervention studies, Romp &amp; Chomp (R&amp;C), Australia (2004-2008) and Shape Up Somerville (SUS), USA (2003-2005). Both studies demonstrated significant reductions of overweight and obesity among children. Members of the steering committees were asked to complete a retrospective social network questionnaire using a roster of other committee members and free recall. Each participant was asked to recall the people with whom they discussed issues related to childhood obesity throughout the intervention period, along with providing the closeness and level of influence of each relationship.ResultsNetworks were reported by 13 participants from the SUS steering committee and 8 participants from the R&amp;C steering committee. On average, participants nominated 16 contacts with whom they discussed issues related to childhood obesity through the intervention, with approximately half of the relationships described as &lsquo;close&rsquo; and 30% as &lsquo;influential&rsquo;. The &lsquo;discussion&rsquo; and &lsquo;close&rsquo; networks had high clustering and reciprocity, with ties directed to other steering committee members, and to individuals external to the committee. In contrast, influential ties were more prominently directed internal to the steering committee, with higher network centralization, lower reciprocity and lower clustering.Discussion and conclusionSocial network analysis provides a method to evaluate the ties within steering committees of community-based obesity prevention interventions. In this study, the network characteristics between a sub-set of stakeholders appeared to be supportive of diffused communication. Future work should prospectively examine stakeholder network structures in a heterogeneous sample of community-based interventions to identify elements most strongly associated with intervention effectiveness.<br /

Testing models of Laramide orogenic initiation by investigation of Late Cretaceous magmatic-tectonic evolution of the central Mojave sector of the California arc

The Mojave Desert region is in a critical position for assessing models of Laramide orogenesis, which is hypothesized to have initiated as one or more seamounts subducted beneath the Cretaceous continental margin. Geochronological and geochemical characteristics of Late Cretaceous magmatic products provide the opportunity to test the validity of Laramide orogenic models. Laramide-aged plutons are exposed along a transect across the Cordilleran Mesozoic magmatic system from Joshua Tree National Park in the Eastern Transverse Ranges eastward into the central Mojave Desert. A transect at latitude ∼33.5°N to 34.5°N includes: (1) the large upper-crustal Late Cretaceous Cadiz Valley batholith, (2) a thick section of Proterozoic to Jurassic host rocks, (3) Late Cretaceous stock to pluton-sized bodies at mesozonal depths, and (4) a Jurassic to Late Cretaceous midcrustal sheeted complex emplaced at ∼20 km depth that transitions into a migmatite complex truncated along the San Andreas fault. This magmatic section is structurally correlative with the Big Bear Lake intrusive suite in the San Bernardino Mountains and similar sheeted rocks recovered in the Cajon Pass Deep Scientific Drillhole. Zircon U-Pb geochronology of 12 samples via secondary ionization mass spectrometry (SIMS) (six from the Cadiz Valley batholith and six from the Cajon Pass Deep Scientific Drillhole) indicates that all Cretaceous igneous units investigated were intruded between 83 and 74 Ma, and Cajon Pass samples include a Jurassic age component. A compilation of new and published SIMS geochronological data demonstrates that voluminous magmatism in the Eastern Transverse Ranges and central Mojave Desert was continuous throughout the period suggested for the intersection and flat-slab subduction of the Shatsky Rise conjugate deep into the interior of western North America. Whole-rock major-element, trace-element, and isotope geochemistry data from samples from a suite of 106 igneous rocks represent the breadth of Late Cretaceous units in the transect. Geochemistry indicates an origin in a subduction environment and intrusion into a crust thick enough to generate residual garnet. The lack of significant deflections of compositional characteristics and isotopic ratios in igneous products through space and time argues against a delamination event prior to 74 Ma. We argue that Late Cretaceous plutonism from the Eastern Transverse Ranges to the central Mojave Desert represents subduction zone arc magmatism that persisted until ca. 74 Ma. This interpretation is inconsistent with the proposed timing of the docking of the Shatsky Rise conjugate with the margin of western North America, particularly models in which the leading edge of the Shatsky Rise was beneath Wyoming at 74 Ma. Alternatively, the timing of cessation of plutonism precedes the timing of the passage of the Hess Rise conjugate beneath western North America at ca. 70–65 Ma. The presence, geochemical composition, and age of arc products in the Eastern Transverse Ranges and central Mojave Desert region must be accounted for in any tectonic model of the transition from Sevier to Laramide orogenesis.Published versio

Development and testing of the BONES physical activity survey for young children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Weight-bearing and high intensity physical activities are particularly beneficial for stimulating bone growth in children given that bone responds favorably to mechanical load. While it is important to assess the contribution and impact of weight-bearing physical activity on health outcomes, measurement tools that quantify and provide information on these activities separately from overall physical activity are limited. This study describes the development and evaluation of a pictorial physical activity survey (PAS) that measures children's participation and knowledge of high-intensity, weight-bearing ("bone smart") physical activity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To test reliability, two identical sets of the PAS were administered on the same day to 41 children (mean age 7.1 ± 0.8 years; 63% female) and compared. To test validity, accelerometry data from 40 children (mean age 7.7 ± 0.8 years; 50% female) were compared to data provided by the PAS. Agreements between categorical and ordinal items were assessed with Kappa statistics; agreements between continuous indices were assessed with Spearman's correlation tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The subjects produced reliable results in all 10 physical activity participation items (κ range: 0.36-0.73, all p < 0.05), but less reliable in answering if the physical activities were "bone smart" (κ range: -0.04-0.66). Physical activity indices, including metabolic equivalent time and weight-bearing factors, were significant in test-retest analyses (Spearman's <it>r </it>range: 0.57-0.74, all p < 0.001). Minutes of very vigorous activity from the accelerometer were associated with the self-reported weight-bearing activity, moderate-high, and high activity scores from the PAS (Spearman's <it>r </it>range: 0.47-0.48, all p < 0.01). However, accelerometer counts, counts per minute, and minutes of moderate-vigorous and vigorous activity were not associated with the PAS scores.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Together, the results of these studies suggest that the PAS has acceptable test-retest reliability, but limited validity for early elementary school children. This survey demonstrates a first step towards developing a questionnaire that measures high intensity, weight-bearing activity in schoolchildren.</p