Art Integration in Urban Elementary Schools: Can it Improve Student Learning Outcomes in Other Subject Areas?

Teachers and students nationwide are struggling to address the disparity in academic achievement between students in urban, socioeconomically underprivileged and racially segregated school districts, and their more affluent, white, suburban counterparts. Poorer urban schools are also less likely to have adequate funding and support for arts programs. Educators must thus look outside of traditional learning models and explore all opportunities to engage their students and create learning opportunities. Arts integration has been shown to improve student attitudes and engagement, along with a potential to “transfer” skills and knowledge to other subject areas. This study sought to examine whether the integration of art in project-based learning could improve student learning outcomes for fifth graders in an urban elementary school. The study examined three separate classes of fifth grade students who attend a Title 1 school in Hartford, CT. All of the students participated in the same curriculum study of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in their English Language Arts Expeditionary Learning unit. The three classes each received a different level of integrated arts learning in their visual arts classes, ranging from none (control), to moderate, to intense. Student learning outcomes were measured by comparing students’ scores on the English Language Arts Expeditionary Learning Unit Assessment test at the end of each module. As students’ level of arts integration increased, their unit assessment scores also increased, confirming the hypothesis of the study

Continuing the Dialogue

To celebrate the 5-year anniversary of the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP), we decided to go back to where it all began. The NSRLP was established following recommendations made at Opening the Dialogue: The SRL Phenomenon, an event following the release of Dr. Julie Macfarlane’s National Self-Represented Litigants (SRLs) Research Study. The 2013 event was a small, invitation-only stakeholder dialogue including self-represented litigants (SRLs), lawyers, policymakers, judges and academics, representing many different experiences within the legal system. “Continuing the Dialogue” – held October 11 – 13 2018 at Windsor Law – adopted the same format, 5 years on. Attendees were invited from almost every Canadian province. Over the course of the event, 15 SRLs and 45 justice system representatives took part in facilitated plenary discussions, small working group discussions focused on specific issues related to SRLs and the justice system, listened to panels presented by both SRLs and justice system insiders, and attended small networking events. For the complete attendees list see Appendix A; for the event agenda see Appendix B. An opening evening reception brought the attendees together for an initial meet-and-greet and a few hours of relaxation before getting down to work the following morning

Problem-seeking in teacher education: Empowering students to grapple with the complexities of the profession

Preparing teachers for the realities of the profession is an ongoing concern for teacher education providers. In a climate where the future of teaching is largely unknown and the issues to be faced by teachers throughout their career largely imagined, the ability to identify and solve problems becomes increasingly important. This paper documents an evaluation of a pilot approach to preparing pre-service teachers for the realities of their profession. This approach, which centred on students utilising mobile technologies to problem-seek, was evaluated in terms of students’ perceived preparedness for the profession and their development of problem-solving skills and strategies. Results suggest that participating and engaging in the project may have in part contributed to reducing students’ anxiety around solving real-world problems, and improved their familiarity and preparedness for going into classroom settings

Black Carbon Contribution to the Aerosol Phase and its Scavenged Fraction in Mixed Phase Clouds at the High Alpine Site Jungfraujoch (3580m asl)

The mass fraction of black carbon (BC) in the atmospheric aerosol and its mixing state are important for the direct aerosol climate effect. These properties also determine if BC is incorporated into cloud hydrometeors (i.e. droplets and ice crystals) and are important because the microphysical and optical properties of the cloud are altered (indirect aerosol effect). Measurements were performed during several Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiments, in winter 2004 (CLACE3), summer 2004 (CLACE3.5), winter 2005 (CLACE4) and summer 2005 (CLACE4.5) at the high Alpine research station Jungfraujoch (3580 m asl)

Regions of Hierarchy and Security: US Troop Deployments, Spatial Relations, and Defense Burdens

Recent work has begun exploring the effects of foreign military deployments on hoststate foreign policies. However, research mostly focuses on dyadic relationships between major powers and host-states, ignoring the broader regional security environment of host-states. We develop a theory of spatial hierarchies to understand how security relationships throughout the region surrounding the host-state affect hoststate foreign policy. Using data on US military deployments from 1950–2005, we show that regional security considerations condition how host-states respond to the deployment of military forces to their territory. Consequently, regional analyses are fundamental in understanding monadic and dyadic decisions about security, alliance behavior, and conflict

Contributions of CSU Libraries to Student Success: Assessment Report

This report is the result of a comprehensive assessment of library services at Columbus State University and focuses on student perception of the library and its impact on learning outcomes. It also presents a current view of library services that are currently offered to the Columbus State community

Contributions of CSU Libraries to Student Success: 2015-2016 Library Assessment: Appendices

This document contains the appendices to the 2016 Assessment conducted by CSU Libraries. These appendices include: Literature Review Additional data not included in the report Survey Questionnaire Focus Group Protocols A list of questions used for the focus group discussion

A comparison of adolescent and adult health state values for the Child Health Utility-9D using profile case best worst scaling

The main objective of this study was to compare and contrast adolescent and adult values for the Child Health Utility-9D (CHU9D), a new generic preference based measure of health related quality of life designed for application in the economic evaluation of treatment and preventive programmes for children and adolescents. Previous studies have indicated that there may be systematic differences in adolescent and adult values for identical health states but have failed to use a common valuation technique. An on-line survey including a series of best worst scaling discrete choice experiment questions for health states defined by the CHU9D, was administered to two general population samples comprising adults and adolescents respectively. The results highlight potentially important age related differences in the values attached to CHU9D dimensions. Adults, in general, placed less weight upon impairments in mental health (worried, sad, annoyed) and more weight upon moderate to severe levels of pain relative to adolescents. The source of values (adults or adolescents) has important implications for economic evaluation and may impact significantly upon health care policy. Profile case best worst scaling offers a promising approach for the elicitation and comparison of health state values across population groups.Financial support from a Flinders University seeding grant and an Australian NHMRC Project Grant 1021899 entitled 'Adolescent values for the economic evaluation of adolescent health care treatment and preventive programs' is gratefully acknowledged

Dynactin-dependent cortical dynein and spherical spindle shape correlate temporally with meiotic spindle rotation in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Oocyte meiotic spindles orient with one pole juxtaposed to the cortex to facilitate extrusion of chromosomes into polar bodies. In Caenorhabditis elegans, these acentriolar spindles initially orient parallel to the cortex and then rotate to the perpendicular orientation. To understand the mechanism of spindle rotation, we characterized events that correlated temporally with rotation, including shortening of the spindle in the pole-to pole axis, which resulted in a nearly spherical spindle at rotation. By analyzing large spindles of polyploid C. elegans and a related nematode species, we found that spindle rotation initiated at a defined spherical shape rather than at a defined spindle length. In addition, dynein accumulated on the cortex just before rotation, and microtubules grew from the spindle with plus ends outward during rotation. Dynactin depletion prevented accumulation of dynein on the cortex and prevented spindle rotation independently of effects on spindle shape. These results support a cortical pulling model in which spindle shape might facilitate rotation because a sphere can rotate without deforming the adjacent elastic cytoplasm. We also present evidence that activation of spindle rotation is promoted by dephosphorylation of the basic domain of p150 dynactin