Service Learning and Community-Based Research: Implementation, Benefits, Challenges, and Future Directions

Rationale: Service learning and community engagement are a natural fit for many disciplines. Service learning projects provide students with an opportunity to apply course content to real world situations (Harder, 2010), developing projects that will benefit clients, agencies, and communities. Service learning is used across a variety of disciplines including social work (Hostetter, Sullenberger, & Wood, 2013) nursing (Murray, 2013) and business (Payne, Campbell, Bal, & Piercy, 2011). Working in a group within a service learning context provides a multitude of benefits including greater interest, motivation, and engagement; improved communication skills; real-life application of course content; and skills acquisition (Murray, 2013; Payne et al., 2011; Postlethwait, 2012). Panel Purpose: The purpose of this panel is to describe how four faculty members incorporated service learning into their social work courses. This panel is unique in that three of the four faculty began conducting service learning projects while at the same institution and are now integrating service learning into their respective university settings in a variety of ways. Goals: Five goals exist for this panel. By the end of the Panel participants will understand (1) how to implement student-led community-based research projects, (2) how to build partnerships with diverse stakeholders/agency settings, (3) benefits and challenges of student-led research within a community-based agency, (4) how to use projects to support agency change, and (5) future directions in service learning. Specifically, the panel will provide the audience with information on how to incorporate student-led community-based research projects into their courses. First, the discussion will focus on how to prepare for a community-based research project. The panelists will describe how to: (a) develop an assignment that is consistent with learning outcomes and meets the need of the partner agency, (b) create a project that is feasible to complete in one semester and results in a high quality project, (c) manage and plan for difficult group dynamics, and (d) incorporate measures of student learning and engagement into a service learning course. Second, the panelists will describe the art of building relationships and engaging diverse stakeholders/agencies in the community-based research project, highlighting key strategies. Next, the panelists will discuss the benefits, challenges, and lessons learned from implementing service learning into their courses. For example, one panelist will describe the challenges of partnering with a rural agency, while another panelist will highlight how agency politics influence students’ abilities to conduct agency-based research. Lastly, the panelists will discuss how to use service learning to support community change and explore future directions for service learning. Participant Engagement will occur through questions designed to elicit discussion related to the five Panel goals. Participants will also be asked to share their experiences with the various topics covered during the panel

Fluctuating magnetic moments in liquid metals

We re-analyze literature data on neutron scattering by liquid metals to show that non-magnetic liquid metals possess a magnetic moment that fluctuates on a picosecond time scale. This time scale follows the motion of the cage-diffusion process in which an ion rattles around in the cage formed by its neighbors. We find that these fluctuating magnetic moments are present in liquid Hg, Al, Ga and Pb, and possibly also in the alkali metals.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR

Characterizing Episodic Memory Retrieval: Electrophysiological Evidence for Diminished Familiarity following Unitization

Episodic memory relies on both recollection and familiarity; why these processes are differentially engaged during retrieval remains unclear. Traditionally, recollection has been considered necessary for tasks requiring associative retrieval, whereas familiarity supports recognition of items. Recently, however, familiarity has been shown to contribute to associative recognition if stimuli are "unitized" at encoding (a single representation is created from multiple elements)-the "benefit" of unitization. Here, we ask if there is also a "cost" of unitization; are the elements of unitized representations less accessible via familiarity? We manipulated unitization during encoding and used ERPs to index familiarity and recollection at retrieval. The data revealed a selective reduction in the neural correlate of familiarity for individual words originally encoded in unitized compared with nonunitized word pairs. This finding reveals a measurable cost of unitization, suggesting that the nature of to-be-remembered stimuli is critical in determining whether familiarity contributes to episodic memory

Probing the Sensitivity of Electron Wave Interference to Disorder-Induced Scattering in Solid-State Devices

The study of electron motion in semiconductor billiards has elucidated our understanding of quantum interference and quantum chaos. The central assumption is that ionized donors generate only minor perturbations to the electron trajectories, which are determined by scattering from billiard walls. We use magnetoconductance fluctuations as a probe of the quantum interference and show that these fluctuations change radically when the scattering landscape is modified by thermally-induced charge displacement between donor sites. Our results challenge the accepted understanding of quantum interference effects in nanostructures.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to Physical Review

Subretinal pigment epithelial deposition of Drusen components including hydroxyapatite in a primary cell culture model

Purpose: Extracellular deposits containing hydroxyapatite, lipids, proteins, and trace metals that form between the basal lamina of the RPE and the inner collagenous layer of Bruch's membrane are hallmarks of early AMD. We examined whether cultured RPE cells could produce extracellular deposits containing all of these molecular components. Methods: Retinal pigment epithelium cells isolated from freshly enucleated porcine eyes were cultured on Transwell membranes for up to 6 months. Deposit composition and structure were characterized using light, fluorescence, and electron microscopy; synchrotron x-ray diffraction and x-ray fluorescence; secondary ion mass spectroscopy; and immunohistochemistry. Results: Apparently functional primary RPE cells, when cultured on 10-μm-thick inserts with 0.4-μm-diameter pores, can produce sub-RPE deposits that contain hydroxyapatite, lipids, proteins, and trace elements, without outer segment supplementation, by 12 weeks. Conclusions: The data suggest that sub-RPE deposit formation is initiated, and probably regulated, by the RPE, as well as the loss of permeability of the Bruch's membrane and choriocapillaris complex associated with age and early AMD. This cell culture model of early AMD lesions provides a novel system for testing new therapeutic interventions against sub-RPE deposit formation, an event occurring well in advance of the onset of vision loss

Parrot ownership and capture in coastal ecuador: Developing a trapping pressure index

We located rural communities with pet parrots and used these locations to predict the probability of illegal parrot ownership across coastal Ecuador, using variables related to demand for pets, parrot availability, and trapping accessibility. In 12 pet keeping communities, we carried out in-depth interviews with 106 people, to quantify ownership, trapping, and interviewees’ attitudes towards these behaviours. We combined these data to calculate a trapping pressure index for four key roosting, feeding and nesting sites for the Critically Endangered Lilacine or Ecuadorian Amazon Parrot Amazona lilacina. We found that 66% of all communities had pet parrots and 31% had pet Lilacines. Our predictive models showed that pet parrot ownership occurs throughout coastal Ecuador, but ownership of Lilacines by rural communities, is more likely to occur within the natural distribution of the species. The number of people per community who had owned Lilacines in the last three years varied from 0–50%, as did the number of people who had trapped them—from 0–26%. We interviewed 10 people who had captured the species in the last three years who reported motives of either to sell or keep birds as pets. Attitudes towards pet keeping and trapping differed among the 12 communities: 20–52% believed it was acceptable to keep pet parrots, and for 32–74%, it was acceptable to catch parrots to sell. This being said, most people believed that wild parrots were important for nature and that local people had a responsibility to protect them. We conclude that trapping pressure is greatest in the southern part of the Lilacine’s range, and urgent conservation measures such as nest and roost protection, and local community engagement are needed

Predicted Infrared and Raman Spectra for Neutral Ti_8C_12 Isomers

Using a density-functional based algorithm, the full IR and Raman spectra are calculated for the neutral Ti_8C_12 cluster assuming geometries of Th, Td, D2d and C3v symmetry. The Th pentagonal dodecahedron is found to be dynamically unstable. The calculated properties of the relaxed structure having C3v symmetry are found to be in excellent agreement with experimental gas phase infrared results, ionization potential and electron affinity measurements. Consequently, the results presented may be used as a reference for further experimental characterization using vibrational spectroscopy.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Physical Review A, 2002 (in press

Density fluctuations and single-particle dynamics in liquid lithium

The single-particle and collective dynamical properties of liquid lithium have been evaluated at several thermodynamic states near the triple point. This is performed within the framework of mode-coupling theory, using a self-consistent scheme which, starting from the known static structure of the liquid, allows the theoretical calculation of several dynamical properties. Special attention is devoted to several aspects of the single-particle dynamics, which are discussed as a function of the thermodynamic state. The results are compared with those of Molecular Dynamics simulations and other theoretical approaches.Comment: 31 pages (in preprint format), 14 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

The value of local community knowledge in species distribution modelling for a threatened Neotropical parrot

Species distribution models are widely used in conservation planning, but obtaining the necessary occurrence data can be challenging, particularly for rare species. In these cases, citizen science may provide insight into species distributions. To understand the distribution of the newly described and Critically Endangered Amazona lilacina, we collated species observations and reliable eBird records from 2010–2020. We combined these with environmental predictors and either randomly generated background points or absence points generated from eBird checklists, to build distribution models using MaxEnt. We also conducted interviews with people local to the species’ range to gather community-sourced occurrence data. We grouped these data according to perceived expertise of the observer, based on the ability to identify A. lilacina and its distinguishing features, knowledge of its ecology, overall awareness of parrot biodiversity, and the observation type. We evaluated all models using AUC and Tjur R . Field data models built using background points performed better than those using eBird absence points (AUC = 0.80 ± 0.02, Tjur R = 0.46 ± 0.01 compared to AUC = 0.78 ± 0.03, Tjur R = 0.43 ± 0.21). The best performing community data model used presence records from people who were able recognise a photograph of A. lilacina and correctly describe its distinguishing physical or behavioural characteristics (AUC = 0.84 ± 0.05, Tjur R = 0.51± 0.01). There was up to 92% overlap between the field data and community data models, which when combined, predicted 17,772 km of suitable habitat. Use of community knowledge offers a cost-efficient method to obtain data for species distribution modelling; we offer recommendations on how to assess its performance and present a final map of potential distribution for A. lilacina. 2 2 2 2