Using Implementation Science to Initiate Survivorship Care Plan Practice Change

Survivorship Care Plans (SCPs) are a communication tool that empowers cancer patients to self-advocate and strengthens the relationship between oncology and primary care providers (PCPs). SCPs benefit both patients and PCPs by improving overall quality of care. Studies show that patients report high levels of survivor satisfaction with SCPs (Palmer et al., 2015), while PCPs who receive an SCP are more likely to engage in survivorship discussion with their patients (Blanch-Hartigan et al., 2014)

Killing for Fun: A Study of the Effect Violent Videogames have on the Player

Many studies have been done to see if there are aggressive effects on people that play violent videogames. Even in the early 80s, there was concern that games like Pac Man were too violent for youth. Most studies have concluded that violent games have a negative effect on young people. Yet, I believe that many of these studies had flaws in the research methods. Therefore, I based my study on a previous study done by Bushman and Anderson (2002). My study consisted of a sample of 10 male Minnesota State University (MSU) students who listened to a scenario that would gage aggressive responses, then they were to write how they would react in that specific situation. Next, I had the participants play a violent videogame for 20 minutes. They completed a different scenario by writing how they would react to that specific situation. I compared the number of aggressive responses recorded in the two scenarios before and after playing the videogame. I wanted to see if there was a correlation between violent videogame playing and aggressive behavior/responses. Results from this study concluded that there is, in fact, an increase in aggressive behavior/responses after playing violent videogames

Goal-directed Leg Movements and Kicks in Infants with Spina Bifida

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Infants with SB present with a known central nervous system lesion that often results in neurologic, orthopedic, and/or cognitive impairments. They usually learn to walk significantly later than typically developing (TD) infants. The delays they experience in learning to walk appear to be related to the fact that they move their legs and kick less often than infants who are TD. Only a small number of studies have reported strategies that therapists and parents may use to increase how often infants with SB move their legs and kick. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact conjugate reinforcement has on the frequency of leg movements (LMs) and kicks generated by infants with SB. METHODS: The LMs of 7 infants with lumbar or sacral SB were videotaped while they were supine in 3 conditions: Baseline; Acquisition (tethered to a mobile); and Extinction. The infants’ LMs were video-taped for two minutes in each condition which enabled us to capture their spontaneous and goal-directed LMs and kicks. The video-tape of each infant’s LMs were then behavior coded via a frame by frame analysis to identify how often each baby moved his or her legs and kicked in each condition as well as how often they generated 9 types of kicks. RESULTS: A significant correlation was observed between LMs and kicks (r= .976, p=0.00). These infants moved their tethered leg significantly more than their untethered leg (p=0.036). These infants generated more goal-directed LMs and kicks in the acquisition and extinction conditions; however, these differences only approached significance (p \u3c .05). Single kicks and parallel kicks were the most common types of kicks generated in each condition. CONCLUSION: The present results are consistent with the literature and suggest that increased kicks lead to stronger neural connections and increased strength, which ultimately leads to earlier onset of ambulation. Due to the significant correlation between LMs and kicks, increasing the frequency of LMs in infants may increase the amount of kicks. However, further research is needed. This study was limited by the small sample size and large standard deviations within group means

Advanced Low-Cost O2/H2 Engines for the SSTO Application

The recent NASA Access to Space study examined future Earth to orbit (ETO) transportation needs and fleets out to 2030. The baseline in the option 3 assessment was a single stage to orbit (SSTO) vehicle. A study was conducted to assess the use of new advanced low cost O2/H2 engines for this SSTO application. The study defined baseline configurations and ground rules and defined six engine cycles to explore engine performance. The cycles included an open cycle, and a series of closed cycles with varying abilities to extract energy from the propellants to power he turbomachinery. The cycles thus varied in the maximum chamber pressure they could reach and in their weights at any given chamber pressure. The weight of each cycle was calculated for two technology levels versus chamber pressure up to the power limit of the cycle. The performance in the SSTO mission was then modeled using the resulting engine weights and specific impulse performance using the Access to Space option 3 vehicle. The results showed that new O2/H2 engines are viable and competitive candidates for the SSTO application using chamber pressures of 4,000 psi

The Role of Manipulatives in the Eighth Grade Mathematics Classroom

In this action research study of my classroom of eighth grade mathematics, I investigated the use of manipulatives and its impact on student attitude and understanding. I discovered that overall, students enjoy using manipulatives, not necessarily for the benefit of learning, but because it actively engages them in each lesson. I also found that students did perform better on exams when students were asked to solve problems using manipulatives in place of formal written representations of situations. In the course of this investigation, I also uncovered that student attitude toward mathematics improved when greater manipulative use was infused into the lessons. Students felt more confident that they understood the material, which translated into a better attitude regarding math class. As a result of this research, I plan to find ways to implement manipulatives in my teaching on a more regular basis. I intend to create lessons with manipulatives that will engage both hands and minds for the learners

Killing for Fun: A Study of The Effect Violent Videogames Have on the Player

Many studies have been done to see if there are aggressive effects on people that play violent videogames. Even in the early 80s, there was concern that games like Pac Man were too violent for the youth. Most of these studies have concluded that violent games have a negative effect. Yet, I believe that many of these studies have had flaws in the methodological planning. I based my study off a previous study done by Bushman and Anderson. My study had 10 male MSU students listen to a scenario that would gage aggressive responses, then had to write how they would react in that specific situation. I then had the participants play a violent videogame for 20 minutes. They then completed a different scenario by writing how they would react to that specific situation. I compared the number of aggressive responses recorded in the two scenarios before and after playing the videogame. I could then see if there was a correlation between violent videogame playing and aggressive behavior/responses. Results from this study concluded that there is, in fact, an increase in aggressive behavior/responses after playing violent videogames

How can the explicit teaching of fluency strategies strengthen first grade readers?

This capstone begins by detailing the history of reading fluency, which includes the problem that exports are still unable to decide on a common definition. Then it moves into the importance of teaching first graders how to read fluently and its components. Next this capstone addresses strategies for teaching first graders how to read fluently including Read Aloud, Repeated Reading, Paired Reading, Shared Reading, Choral Reading, Echo Reading, and Readers\u27 Theater. Finally, this capstone specifically details how using Read Aloud, Choral Reading, and Readers\u27 Theater benefited my own first grade classroom. Included is resource list of Read Alouds and Choral Reading poems along with multiple Reader\u27s Theater scripts