A physiological measure of shifting connections in the Rana pipiens retinotectal system

The retinotectal connections of developing Rana tadpoles and froglets have been studied using light-pipe techniques to directly assay the pattern of the projection from the retina to the tectum. The projection site of the retina surrounding the optic nerve head was determined at two different stages of development (late larval and metamorphic frog) on the same animal. Small electrolytic marker lesions were used to mark the tectal sites to which the optic nerve head projected at these two times. Comparison of the positions of the two lesions gives a direct measure of the shift in the projection during the interlesion time interval of one week. The results indicate a shift in the projection of 275 µm week–1 in late larval life. Previous work in Xenopus using the light-pipe techniques indicated a qualitatively similar shift during equivalent stages of development, but significantly smaller in magnitude. In the present study, topographic postsynaptic units could be recorded at all stages investigated, indicating functional synapses between the optic nerve fibres and the tectum. Thus, these studies offer evidence of a significant shift in the functional connection pattern of the amphibian retinotectal map during development, in agreement with the recent anatomical data from other laboratories on the Rana and goldfish visual system

Rethinking Evaluation Strategies for Student Participation

Basic communication course instructors encourage student participation in the classroom by employing a variety of strategies, including graded participation. The present study examined the methods that basic course instructors use to facilitate and assess student participation in the classroom through focus groups interviews exploring how students perceive graded participation in the basic course. The findings suggest that while there are conditions in which the focus group students enjoy participation, there are also conditions in which they perceive such strategies as a power issue for instructors and reject the notion that participation accurately measures their level of involvement and learning in the classroom. Moreover, results indicate that students perceive instructor immediacy to be a significant factor in their willingness to participate. Finally, the focus group members offered several suggestions for instructors to better facilitate student participation in the classroom

From a Troubled Past to an Uncertain Future: Vietnam Veterans, A Community at Risk: Five-Year Follow-Up Report on the Status of Vietnam Veterans in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

This report on the concerns of Vietnam and Vietnam-Era veterans in Massachusetts comes at a critical moment. When the inquiry was initiated in 1988, few people anticipated the precipitous decline in the state and national economy, fewer could have foreseen the rapid sequence of events leading to American entry into another war. As the state fiscal crisis has eroded gains made by veterans over the last 20 years and military service in the Gulf has changed the lives of a new generation of Americans, it becomes all the more urgent to recognize the long-term, multi-generational consequences of war and to affirm the need for a comprehensive program on behalf of veterans. In 1992 Vietnam-Era veterans will become the majority veteran population in this country, a major constituency supporting the need for such a comprehensive program. The William Joiner Center\u27s follow-up investigation into the status of Vietnam and Vietnam-Era Veterans indicates that, far from diminishing, the physical, psychological, economic, and educational problems faced by Vietnam and Vietnam-Era veterans are becoming more acute and that in many cases these problems extend to the lives of their children

The Bottom Line: Employment and Barriers to Work among Former SSI DA&A Beneficiaries

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for drug addicts and alcoholists (DA&A beneficiaries) ended in January 1997 without any special effort to create employment for those who lost benefits. Relying on data from a nine-site, two-year panel study of 1,764 former DA&A recipients and detailed semistructured interviews with subsamples in four sites, this paper examines employment outcomes and barriers to employment among 611 respondents who lost SSI and did not replace it with another form of publicly funded income assistance. Despite the tight labor market of the late 1990s, this group was plagued by widespread unemployment and sub-employment. At the two-year follow-up, only 25% earned $500 per month or more, and only 12% typically earned this much throughout the study. Given their age, health problems and limited human capital, it is likely that many former DA&A beneficiaries will remain indigent, returning to the SSI rolls when they requalify upon turning 65

Gradual Change In Human Tooth Size In The Late Pleistocene And Post‐Pleistocene

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137561/1/evo05847.pd

Synthesizing the First 15 Years of the Basic Communication Course Annual: What Research Tells Us about Effective Pedagogy

Despite the popularity of the both the basic course in communication and the Basic Communication Course Annual, questions still remain about the empirical support for the ways in which we teach the basic course. This essay categorizes and synthesizes 61 empirical studies published from 1989 to 2004 in the Basic Communication Course Annual. The studies are classified into five categories: teaching strategies, teacher and student characteristics, status of the basic course, analyses of texts for the basic course, and assessment of the basic course. Several salient themes are developed and suggestions for future research are advanced

The SDSS-2MASS-WISE Ten Dimensional Stellar Color Locus

We present the fiducial main sequence stellar locus traced by 10 photometric colors observed by SDSS, 2MASS, and WISE. Median colors are determined using 1,052,793 stars with r-band extinction less than 0.125. We use this locus to measure the dust extinction curve relative to the r-band, which is consistent with previous measurements in the SDSS and 2MASS bands. The WISE band extinction coefficients are larger than predicted by standard extinction models. Using 13 lines of sight, we find variations in the extinction curve in H, Ks, and WISE bandpasses. Relative extinction decreases towards Galactic anti-center, in agreement with prior studies. Relative extinction increases with Galactic latitude, in contrast to previous observations. This indicates a universal mid-IR extinction law does not exist due to variations in dust grain size and chemistry with Galactocentric position. A preliminary search for outliers due to warm circumstellar dust is also presented, using stars with high signal-to-noise in the W3-band. We find 199 such outliers, identified by excess emission in Ks-W3. Inspection of SDSS images for these outliers reveals a large number of contaminants due to nearby galaxies. Six sources appear to be genuine dust candidates, yielding a fraction of systems with infrared excess of 0.12$\pm$0.05%.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS Accepted. Tables 1 and 2 available online: https://github.com/jradavenport/wise_locu

Speech Evaluation Assessment: An Analysis of Written Speech Feedback on Instructor Evaluation Forms in the Basic Communication Course

As a critical component of many general education programs, the basic communication course is at the forefront of many assessment efforts. Five years after conducting extensive program assessment using student portfolios, and after implementing revisions to the instructor training program, course directors at Illinois State University conducted another round of portfolio assessment. The present study reveals progress in the specific areas originally targeted for improvement. Additional areas for future revisions to the instructor training program are suggested. Implications for assessment efforts at other institutions are discussed

Assessing Preemptive Argumentation in Students’ Persuasive Speech Outlines

The purpose of the present study was to determine if critical thinking skills, a key component of basic communication course pedagogy, can be assessed through students’ use of preemptive argumentation. Persuasive speech outlines were coded to determine if preemptive argumentation was present in students’ speeches and to determine the quality of preemptive argumentation. The results indicated that the majority of outlines contained preemptive argumentation. However, of those speeches containing preemptive argumentation, the majority of outlines employed low-quality preemptive argumentation. Finally, the findings revealed that the quality of preemptive argumentation employed in the persuasive speech outlines did not predict the students’ persuasive speech grades. Implications for instructor training programs and pedagogy in the basic course are discussed

Assessing Classroom Management Training for Basic Course Instructors

Extant research demonstrates that graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) experience student misbehaviors in the classroom and that basic course administrators should be proactive in preparing GTAs for classroom management issues (Meyer et al., 2007). Following the recommendation for the development of classroom management training (CMT) by Meyer et al. (2007), the present study sought to assess the implementation of CMT. Specifically, a group of GTAs completed the same survey instrument twice following the completion of CMT, once early in the semester and again at the end of the semester. Results of the present study indicate that GTA reports of student misbehavior were reduced, and GTA confidence in the ability to manage misbehaviors increased following CMT. Additionally, the results indicate that the frequency and severity of student misbehaviors were reduced for GTAs who received CMT compared to GTAs who did not receive CMT