Blended Learning : A Program Evaluation in a Central Virginia K-12 School District

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a general education course offered in a blended learning environment in a Central Virginia public school district. Three research questions were addressed in this study: How satisfied are students with a blended learning environment in a general education Economics and Personal Finance course? Is a student’s course grade affected by the following: Technology, self-efficacy, course organization, quality of instruction, and student satisfaction in a blended learning course? Is a student’s grade on a credential test affected by the following: Technology, self-efficacy, course organization, quality of instruction, and student satisfaction in a blended learning course

A Step of Two or The Pas de Deux

The second part of a two-part MFA Thesis presentation, this paper distills the content from the preceding exhibition A Step of Two or The Pas de Deux: an installation of paintings, drawings and projected video. It touches on various themes that surround [well researched] ideas about perception, dissociation, the gaze, and relationships. Most of all, this paper and the body of work it describes is about the visual representation of a sensual understanding of the world

Literature Review Utilizing Handheld Devices in the Education of Students with Special Needs

In recent years, technology has had a greater influence in the treatments and interventions of students with ASD. The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature with regards to the use of a personal digital assistant (PDA) or other handheld devices with student diagnosed with ASD. A PDA is “a handheld computer that mainly serves as a personal information organizer,” it allows the user to input data through “an on-screen keyboard or handwriting recognition program using a stylus” (Ferguson, Myles, & Hagiwara, 2005, p. 60). PDAs and other handheld devices In recent years, technology has had a greater influence in the treatments and interventions of students with ASD. The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature with regards to the use of a personal digital assistant (PDA) or other handheld devices with student diagnosed with ASD. A PDA is “a handheld computer that mainly serves as a personal information organizer,” it allows the user to input data through “an on-screen keyboard or handwriting recognition program using a stylus” (Ferguson, Myles, & Hagiwara, 2005, p. 60). PDAs and other handheld device

Propane Dehydrogenation Using Transition Metal Cluster Catalysts

Our research seeks to determine the propane dehydrogenation (PDH) reaction pathways using various transition-metal cluster catalysts. We are studying the first step of the reaction, in which a C-H bond is broken. This has been previously shown to be the rate-limiting step of the PDH reaction. We are calculating the PDH activation energy (Ea) using the Vienna Ab-Initio Simulation Package (VASP) in conjunction with the nudged elastic band algorithm. Thus far, we have studied Pt, Ta, and Ni clusters ranging in size from 2-10 atoms. Our goal is to better understand the dependence of Ea on metal type and cluster size

The Center of Excellence in Genomics (CEG) for enhancing the utilization of molecular tools in breeding and research

ICRISAT has partnered with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, to establish the Center of Excellence in Genomics (CEG) at ICRISAT with financial support from the DBT. The CEG was launched through an exchange of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed by Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT and Dr MK Bhan, Secretary of DBT on 13 December 2006 at a function organized at ICRISAT headquarters at Patancheru, India (see photo)

Research and field monitoring on transgenic crops by the Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT)

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement centre (CIMMYT) aims to genetically enhance both crops and generate public sector-provided products for the resource poor, e.g., drought tolerant wheat and insect resistant maize, and through international-national partnerships facilitate the acquisition of improved germplasm for non-mandate crops in the cropping systems where maize and wheat thrives; e.g., GM-papaya through a national food security undertaking in Bangladesh. The centre also engages in public awareness campaigns in projects such as Insect Resistance Maize for Africa (IRMA), which includes food, feed and environmental safety, monitoring of resistance and establishment of refugia, non-target effects and gene flow. Monitoring of genetic resources is a wide concern among the centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), with an emphasis on the quality of gene banks. Decisions, policies and procedures about monitoring should be science-based, and this requires education, an area where CIMMYT and other CGIAR centres can play an important role. There will be a need to continue to evaluate the need for, and type of monitoring, as new (and unique) products are developed and released in the emergent economies of the world

Peanut improvement: production of fertile hybrids and backcross progeny between Arachis hypogaea and A. kretschmeri

There are only a few reports of successful crosses between cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L., section Arachis) and wild species from sections other than section Arachis. Many of the wild Arachis species harbor important traits necessary for the improvement of peanut. For example, Arachis kretschmeri Krapov., W.C. Gregory & C.E. Simpson (section Procumbentes) can grow under water-logged conditions and has been identified as one of the few wild species of Arachis with resistance to late leaf spot (LLS) and peanut rosette disease. Peanut rosette, caused by a combination of viruses, is an economically important disease only in Africa, while LLS, caused by Cercosporidium personatum, is an important fungal disease in Asia and the Americas as well as Africa. Interspecific hybrids between A. hypogaea and A. kretschmeri were produced by applying growth regulators to pollinated pistils and hybrid plants were obtained by germinating embryos in vitro. A total of seven hybrids were produced and confirmed by Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) analysis. All hybrids were fertile, although initially slow growing. F1 hybrids were backcrossed to A. hypogaea and all plants in the F1BC1 generation were single-seeded with a prominent beak, characteristic of A. kretschmeri, but many of the F1BC2 pods were double-seeded resembling A. hypogaea. F1BC2 plants were moderately resistant to LLS. When a large number of seeds are obtained, the progeny will be screened for resistance to both LLS and rosette disease. Thus crosses with species outside the section Arachis may not only confer disease resistance but will also broaden the genetic base of cultivated peanut

Molecular markers for plant breeding: comparisons of RFLP and RAPD genotyping costs

Three molecular marker protocols, chemiluminescent restriction fragment length polymorphisms (c-RFLPs), radioactivity-based restriction fragment length polymorphisms (r-RFLPs), and randomly amplified DNA polymorphisms (RAPDs) were compared in terms of cost and time efficiency. Estimates of cost of supplies and time requirements were obtained from simulations of maize (Zea mays L.) genotyping experiments utilizing protocols currently in use. The increase in total cost with increasing numbers of individuals genotyped and markers analyzed is higher for RAPDs than for RFLPs. RAPDs were generally found to be more cost and time efficient for studies involving small sample sizes, while RFLPs have the advantage for larger sample sizes. Because of the shorter exposure times involved, c-RFLPs require less time than r-RFLPs to obtain a given amount of information. Variations in the protocols, such as number of re-uses of Southern blots or cost of Taq DNA polymerase per reaction of amplification, also affect the relative merits of RAPDs and RFLPs. Two examples were analyzed where molecular markers are used: a germ plasm survey and quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping in a segregating population. No protocol was found to be the most cost and time efficient over the entire range of sample sizes and number of marker loci studied

Propane Dehydrogenation Using Transition Metal Cluster Catalysts

Our research seeks to determine the propane dehydrogenation (PDH) reaction pathways using various transition-metal cluster catalysts. We are studying the first step of the reaction, in which a C-H bond is broken. This has been previously shown to be the rate-limiting step of the PDH reaction. We are calculating the PDH activation energy (Ea) using the Vienna Ab-Initio Simulation Package (VASP) in conjunction with the nudged elastic band algorithm. Thus far, we have studied Pt, Ta, and Ni clusters ranging in size from 2-10 atoms. Our goal is to better understand the dependence of Ea on metal type and cluster size

Association between coffee, caffeine and gut biodiversity: A United States - Veteran Microbiome Project Sub - Study

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