Supportive Structures For Successful Science Teachers’ Professional Development

The Omaha Public Schools (OPS) Science Office collaborates closely with community partners to facilitate a private foundation grant that seeks to improve science education by focusing on in-service, science teachers’ professional learning in the context of professional development (PD) experiences and targeted graduate coursework. The three goals of the K-12 Comprehensive Science Teaching and Learning Grant are to 1) increase student achievement in science, 2) increase teacher effectiveness, and to 3) align and enhance science curriculum. At the end of year one, 83 teacher participants have taken graduate courses, attended professional conferences, completed action research projects, and/or have participated in content immersion workshops based on personalized professional learning plans. All of the participating teachers complete an action research portfolio and are assisted by one of 11 science instructional coaches—master teachers who ensure that the teachers’ professional learning is translated into improved classroom practice. The science instructional coaches’ preparation included training from the Institute for Inquiry affiliated with San Francisco’s Exploratorium, Discipline-Based Educational Research and other graduate courses through the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), The Art of Instructional Coaching Training and consulting from Elena Aguilar, and a series of Science Research Immersion Workshops by Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, as well as the University of Wisconsin-Extension affiliated with Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center. The OPS K-12 Science Supervisor is the principal investigator and the UNO STEM Community Chair and the UNO Science Community Chair are the co-PIs for the collaborative grant effort. The shared-leadership model in OPS also includes two Elementary Supervisors and the Science Lead Teacher to ensure full alignment among district goals, participants’ plans for growth, and partners’ agendas. Additionally, a grant advisory team including district-level leadership and grant officers participates in quarterly meetings to oversee the progress. Education Northwest conducts the external grant evaluation. Included in this report is the structural context of the project and implementation data from year one. These preliminary data are collected from surveys, interviews, observations, field reports, and standardized tests. Briefly, the data from assessments of youth in science from standardized test results showed slight district-wide gains at elementary school (+2% of students meeting standards) and middle school (+3% of students meeting standards) while high school standardized scores remained unchanged. Although the initial student data are encouraging, at this point in the project timeline the focus of this paper is on three of the four main structures of PD opportunities within the grant (i.e. graduate course work, conference attendance, and content immersions). The authors will discuss the details of these structures and identify potential and valuable next steps for research. The Omaha Public Schools (OPS) Science Office collaborates closely with community partners tofacilitate a private foundation grant that seeks to improve science education by focusing on in-service,science teachers’ professional learning in the context of professional development (PD) experiencesand targeted graduate coursework. The three goals of the K-12 Comprehensive Science Teachingand Learning Grant are to 1) increase student achievement in science, 2) increase teachereffectiveness, and to 3) align and enhance science curriculum. At the end of year one, 83 teacherparticipants have taken graduate courses, attended professional conferences, completed actionresearch projects, and/or have participated in content immersion workshops based on personalizedprofessional learning plans. All of the participating teachers complete an action research portfolio andare assisted by one of 11 science instructional coaches—master teachers who ensure that theteachers’ professional learning is translated into improved classroom practice.The science instructional coaches’ preparation included training from the Institute for Inquiry affiliatedwith San Francisco’s Exploratorium, Discipline-Based Educational Research and other graduatecourses through the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), The Art of Instructional CoachingTraining and consulting from Elena Aguilar, and a series of Science Research Immersion Workshopsby Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, as well as the University of Wisconsin-Extensionaffiliated with Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center. The OPS K-12 Science Supervisor is theprincipal investigator and the UNO STEM Community Chair and the UNO Science Community Chairare the co-PIs for the collaborative grant effort. The shared-leadership model in OPS also includestwo Elementary Supervisors and the Science Lead Teacher to ensure full alignment among districtgoals, participants’ plans for growth, and partners’ agendas. Additionally, a grant advisory teamincluding district-level leadership and grant officers participates in quarterly meetings to oversee theprogress. Education Northwest conducts the external grant evaluation.Included in this report is the structural context of the project and implementation data from year one.These preliminary data are collected from surveys, interviews, observations, field reports, andstandardized tests. Briefly, the data from assessments of youth in science from standardized testresults showed slight district-wide gains at elementary school (+2% of students meeting standards)and middle school (+3% of students meeting standards) while high school standardized scoresremained unchanged. Although the initial student data are encouraging, at this point in the projecttimeline the focus of this paper is on three of the four main structures of PD opportunities within thegrant (i.e. graduate course work, conference attendance, and content immersions). The authors willdiscuss the details of these structures and identify potential and valuable next steps for research

Gait Mechanics And Proprioceptive Adaptations From Minimalistic “Five-Finger” Shoe Use

Barefoot running is a growing phenomenon in the running community and has spurred the popularity of minimalistic shoe use. Little is known about how minimalistic shoed running effects gait mechanics and relatively no research has been performed to analyze how the habitual use of these shoes effects proprioception

The Nebraska Mathematics Readiness Project: Year 1 Evaluation Report

The Nebraska Math Readiness Project (NMRP) is a targeted curriculum designed for seniors who have plans of attending college, yet lack the foundational math skills needed for college-level courses. They are given a fourth-year mathematics class to help them improve their mathematical skills and prepare for required college math courses. The project is a collaboration between community colleges across the state and high schools within the Nebraska school districts

Enhancing the STEM Ecosystem through Teacher-Researcher Partnerships

STEM faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) have partnered with teachers and administrators in the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) to implement a Teacher-Researcher Partnership Program. This program establishes resources and infrastructure that engage K-12 science teachers in scientific research experiences. In the first implementation of this program, eleven UNO faculty mentors, drawn from several STEM disciplines, were matched with eleven OPS teachers to conduct genuine research projects in support of their teaching

Genuine Faculty-Mentored Research Experiences for In-Service Science Teachers: Increases in Science Knowledge, Perception, and Confidence Levels

The overall purpose of this multifocused study was to explore how participation in genuine mentored scientific research experiences impacts in-service science teachers and the knowledge and skills needed for their own science teaching. The research experiences resulted from a partnership between the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Omaha Public School District. This Teacher- Researcher Partnership Program facilitated opportunities in inquiry, science content, interaction with laboratory instrumentation and technologies, critical discussion of literature, and dissemination of findings for participating in-service science teacher professional development utilizing an inquiry-based theoretical framework wherein we examined science teacher preparation via inquiry-based methods in the research laboratory. A mixed-methods approach with a convergent typology (i.e., qualitative and quantitative analyses conducted separately and integrated) was used to investigate the impact of the program on teachers. Our research question was as follows: How do teachers define and approach scientific research before and after a genuine research experience? We observed 3 emergent nodes or themes by which teachers indicated significant gains: science content knowledge, confidence, and perception. Moreover, we determined that participation by science teachers in a mentored research experience using current scientific technologies and tools improved teacher confidence in science and inquiry as well as an ongoing commitment to provide similar types of experiences to their students. These data support the need for the participation of in-service science teachers in genuine research experiences to boost technological and pedagogical content knowledge, confidence in process and content, and the perception of translatability to the classroom

Cryo-EM structure of the Rous sarcoma virus octameric cleaved synaptic complex intasome

Despite conserved catalytic integration mechanisms, retroviral intasomes composed of integrase (IN) and viral DNA possess diverse structures with variable numbers of IN subunits. To investigate intasome assembly mechanisms, we employed the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) IN dimer that assembles a precursor tetrameric structure in transit to the mature octameric intasome. We determined the structure of RSV octameric intasome stabilized by a HIV-1 IN strand transfer inhibitor using single particle cryo-electron microscopy. The structure revealed significant flexibility of the two non-catalytic distal IN dimers along with previously unrecognized movement of the conserved intasome core, suggesting ordered conformational transitions between intermediates that may be important to capture the target DNA. Single amino acid substitutions within the IN C-terminal domain affected intasome assembly and function in vitro and infectivity of pseudotyped RSV virions. Unexpectedly, 17 C-terminal amino acids of IN were dispensable for virus infection despite regulating the transition of the tetrameric intasome to the octameric form in vitro. We speculate that this region may regulate the binding of highly flexible distal IN dimers to the intasome core to form the octameric complex. Our studies reveal key steps in the assembly of RSV intasomes

Comparison of metal-dependent catalysis by HIV-1 and ASV integrase proteins using a new and rapid, moderate throughput assay for joining activity in solution

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV-1 integrase (IN) is an attractive target for the development of drugs to treat AIDS, and inhibitors of this viral enzyme are already in the clinic. Nevertheless, there is a continuing need to devise new approaches to block the activity of this viral protein because of the emergence of resistant strains. To facilitate the biochemical analysis of wild-type IN and its derivatives, and to measure the potency of prospective inhibitory compounds, a rapid, moderate throughput solution assay was developed for IN-catalyzed joining of viral and target DNAs, based on the detection of a fluorescent tag.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A detailed, step-by-step description of the new joining assay is provided. The reactions are run in solution, the products captured on streptavidin beads, and activity is measured by release of a fluorescent tag. The procedure can be scaled up for the analysis of numerous samples, and is substantially more rapid and sensitive than the standard radioactive gel methods. The new assay is validated and its utility demonstrated via a detailed comparison of the Mg⁺⁺- and Mn⁺⁺-dependent activities of the IN proteins from human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and the avian sarcoma virus (ASV). The results confirm that ASV IN is considerably more active than HIV-1 IN, but with both enzymes the initial rates of joining, and the product yields, are higher in the presence of Mn⁺⁺than Mg⁺⁺. Although the pH optima for these two enzymes are similar with Mn⁺⁺, they differ significantly in the presence of Mg⁺⁺, which is likely due to differences in the molecular environment of the binding region of this physiologically relevant divalent cation. This interpretation is strengthened by the observation that a compound that can inhibit HIV-1 IN in the presence of either metal cofactors is only effective against ASV in the presence of Mn⁺⁺.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A simplified, assay for measuring the joining activity of retroviral IN in solution is described, which offers several advantages over previous methods and the standard radioactive gel analyses. Based on comparisons of signal to background ratios, the assay is 10–30 times more sensitive than gel analysis, allows more rapid and accurate biochemical analyses of IN catalytic activity, and moderate throughput screening of inhibitory compounds. The assay is validated, and its utility demonstrated in a comparison of the metal-dependent activities of HIV-1 and ASV IN proteins.</p

Stability of domain structures in multi-domain proteins

Multi-domain proteins have many advantages with respect to stability and folding inside cells. Here we attempt to understand the intricate relationship between the domain-domain interactions and the stability of domains in isolation. We provide quantitative treatment and proof for prevailing intuitive ideas on the strategies employed by nature to stabilize otherwise unstable domains. We find that domains incapable of independent stability are stabilized by favourable interactions with tethered domains in the multi-domain context. Stability of such folds to exist independently is optimized by evolution. Specific residue mutations in the sites equivalent to inter-domain interface enhance the overall solvation, thereby stabilizing these domain folds independently. A few naturally occurring variants at these sites alter communication between domains and affect stability leading to disease manifestation. Our analysis provides safe guidelines for mutagenesis which have attractive applications in obtaining stable fragments and domain constructs essential for structural studies by crystallography and NMR

The Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-PLC in Trypanosoma brucei Forms a Linear Array on the Exterior of the Flagellar Membrane Before and After Activation

Bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei contain a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (GPI-PLC) that cleaves the GPI-anchor of the variable surface glycoprotein (VSG). Its location in trypanosomes has been controversial. Here, using confocal microscopy and surface labelling techniques, we show that the GPI-PLC is located exclusively in a linear array on the outside of the flagellar membrane, close to the flagellar attachment zone, but does not co-localize with the flagellar attachment zone protein, FAZ1. Consequently, the GPI-PLC and the VSG occupy the same plasma membrane leaflet, which resolves the topological problem associated with the cleavage reaction if the VSG and the GPI-PLC were on opposite sides of the membrane. The exterior location requires the enzyme to be tightly regulated to prevent VSG release under basal conditions. During stimulated VSG release in intact cells, the GPI-PLC did not change location, suggesting that the release mechanism involves lateral diffusion of the VSG in the plane of the membrane to the fixed position of the GPI-PLC

Barriers to integration of bioinformatics into undergraduate life sciences education: A national study of US life sciences faculty uncover significant barriers to integrating bioinformatics into undergraduate instruction

Bioinformatics, a discipline that combines aspects of biology, statistics, mathematics, and computer science, is becoming increasingly important for biological research. However, bioinformatics instruction is not yet generally integrated into undergraduate life sciences curricula. To understand why we studied how bioinformatics is being included in biology education in the US by conducting a nationwide survey of faculty at two- and four-year institutions. The survey asked several open-ended questions that probed barriers to integration, the answers to which were analyzed using a mixed-methods approach. The barrier most frequently reported by the 1,260 respondents was lack of faculty expertise/training, but other deterrents-lack of student interest, overly-full curricula, and lack of student preparation-were also common. Interestingly, the barriers faculty face depended strongly on whether they are members of an underrepresented group and on the Carnegie Classification of their home institution. We were surprised to discover that the cohort of faculty who were awarded their terminal degree most recently reported the most preparation in bioinformatics but teach it at the lowest rate