Towards a model for evaluating student learning via e-assessment

The need for practical tools to assess student learning at the course level is becoming a more pressing goal for all academic institutions. This is because learning assessment tools which monitor both student performance and conceptual change events that lead to improved learning ultimately provide the basis for the subsequent assessments of programs and institutions. In performing effectively in this capacity, a viable and efficient assessment tool at the course level possesses the following characteristics; 1) the ability to be integrated effectively within the existing course structure, 2) the ability to generate quantitative, measurable results, and 3) the ability to provide timely feedback. This paper proposes a model for assessing student learning at the course level which utilizes, in part, online assessment methods (eAssessments) to achieve these characteristics. More specifically, the model provides a description of how assessment may be embedded into an existing course and illustrates the utilization of online pre/post-tests and knowledge surveys as a source of assessment data. The data analysis, based in part upon Bloom's revised taxonomy, is then discussed together with how the results are used to determine the level of learning achieved. The paper concludes with a proposal for an experiment wherein the model is tested to determine its ability to detect changes in student learning originating from the implementation of a pedagogical strategy such as online tutoring

Addressing the mental health needs of women in rural communities: A women’s wellness group

This paper explores the mental health needs of women in rural communities. Based on Myers and Sweeny’s Wellness Model (2008), as well as other relevant research, I have developed a group curriculum as a unique intervention to reach this specific population. This paper provides an overview of relevant literature and includes both a handbook for group facilitators and a participant workbook that compliments the facilitator handbook. This group curriculum is suggested for Clinical Mental Health Counselors and other mental health professionals to promote wellness among rural women

Genomics and the origin of marine species

The work within this doctoral thesis introduces the Caribbean reef fish genus Hypoplectrus (hamlets) into the field of speciation genomics. The overarching theme within this thesis is the investigation of the underlying evolutionary drivers that are acting at the origin of this marine radiation and facilitate rapid speciation within the ocean. Distributed over four separate manuscripts, this work addresses several aspects impacting the dynamics of the Hypoplectrus radiation. Within the first manuscript, the temporal stability of the hamlet community in a patch of reefs in Puerto Rico is investigated. The findings indicate that the hamlet community composition is dynamic and potentially impacted by ecological factors such as turbidity or the presence of specific coral species. Within the second manuscript the hamlet reference genome is introduced and whole genome resequencing is applied to investigate the signals of speciation within three of the most common hamlet species. The results show that, against a genome wide background of very low differentiation, a small number of color pattern and vision genes are highly differentiated between species and apparently co-selected for. The third manuscript explores the demographic history of a rare endemic hamlet species. It uses a coalescent approach to show the decline in population size of this particular species since the recent evolutionary split from the remaining genus. In the last manuscript, nine different hamlet species are sequenced to provide a cross section through the hamlet radiation. The results of population- and phylogenomics indicate ongoing inter-species gene flow throughout the majority of the genome with only a small set of putative barrier genes. Phylogenetic relationships through most of the genome are diffuse, yet the signal within the few differentiated genomic intervals is discordant, pointing to introgession events or differential lineage sorting at those major effect loci