Undergraduate Research Fellowships: A Strategic Investment to Reduce Women Underrepresentation in the Mathematical Sciences

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1062/thumbnail.jp

Professor-Student Rapport Scale: Psychometric properties of the brief version

The original Professor-Student Rapport Scale contained 34 items and predicted several single-item student outcomes. A high level of internal consistency encouraged the development of a shorter measure in order to address apparent redundancy. Our goals in the current study were to provide psychometric data for the brief version of the scale and to evaluate its ability to predict student outcomes based on more rigorous student-outcome assessments. We found the brief version of the scale demonstrated reliability and validity and significantly predicted rigorous assessments of student outcomes. We suggest that the brief version of the Professor-Student Rapport Scale, with only 6 items, can be used for formative assessment. Instructors can address issues concerning rapport and potentially enhance student outcomes

Professor Age and Gender Affect Student Perceptions and Grades

Student evaluations provide rich information about teaching performance, but a number of factors beyond teacher effectiveness influence student evaluations. In this study we examined the effects of professor gender and perceived age on ratings of effectiveness and rapport as well as academic performance. Participants (N = 308) saw a picture of either a young or old male or female professor while listening to an audio lecture. Students reported greater perceived rapport with the female relative to the male professors and for younger versus older professors. However, students reported the male professors as more competent than the female professors. An interaction revealed that among female professors only, younger women were rated higher on rapport than comparison conditions. Thus, age and gender bias likely impact student evaluations of teaching. Our study also revealed higher quiz grades in the older-female condition, perhaps best explained by the older woman activating a schema for “mom.” Taken together, our results indicate that professor competence and kindness may foster learning best in the context of high expectations

Using Item Response Theory to Improve Locally-Constructed Multiple Choice Tests: Measuring Knowledge Gains and Curricular Effectiveness

Current science education reform efforts emphasize teaching K-12 science using hands-on, inquiry activities. For maximum learning and probability of implementation among inservice teachers, these strategies must be modeled in college science courses for preservice teachers. About a decade ago, Morehead State University revised their science content courses to follow an inquiry approach. As part of the courses’ assessment, a locally-made, diagnostic pre- and post-test was prepared. The main purpose of this “ex post facto” study was to demonstrate how concepts from Item Response Theory can be used to detect and remove psychometrically faulty items, and how the remaining items can be used by teachers to determine science learning gains in an inquiry-based physical science course that implemented two different curricula, “Physics and Everyday Thinking” and “Interactions in Physical Science”

Individual and environmental factors that influence longevity of newcomers to nursing and midwifery: a scoping review protocol

Objective: The objective of this review is to identify and map the literature that describes the individual and environmental factors that influence nurses and midwives to stay in or leave their discipline within the first three years of practice. Introduction: The turnover rate of newcomers within their first three years of nursing and midwifery is higher than in later years and is contributing to a worldwide shortage. Both individual and environmental factors, often in combination, contribute to this attrition. Many studies demonstrate the associations of factors with turnover or intention to stay; however, the scope of factors has not been documented. Inclusion criteria: Newcomers are defined as registered nurses and registered midwives within the first three years of entering their discipline. Quantitative and qualitative studies and systematic reviews that explore individual or environmental factors that influence the decision to leave or to remain in nursing and midwifery in any context will be considered. Factors may include coping, anxiety, mindfulness, practice environment, or combinations such as resilience, satisfaction, and burnout. Articles must have been peer reviewed. Literature published since 1974 in English will be considered. Newcomers who have completed skills-based training will be excluded. Methods: The JBI method for scoping reviews will be followed. An extensive search of multiple databases and gray literature will be undertaken. Retrieval of full-text studies and data extraction will be performed independently by two reviewers. Data extracted will be synthesized and results reported using a mind map, tables, and narrative form

AXTAR: Mission Design Concept

The Advanced X-ray Timing Array (AXTAR) is a mission concept for X-ray timing of compact objects that combines very large collecting area, broadband spectral coverage, high time resolution, highly flexible scheduling, and an ability to respond promptly to time-critical targets of opportunity. It is optimized for submillisecond timing of bright Galactic X-ray sources in order to study phenomena at the natural time scales of neutron star surfaces and black hole event horizons, thus probing the physics of ultradense matter, strongly curved spacetimes, and intense magnetic fields. AXTAR's main instrument, the Large Area Timing Array (LATA) is a collimated instrument with 2-50 keV coverage and over 3 square meters effective area. The LATA is made up of an array of supermodules that house 2-mm thick silicon pixel detectors. AXTAR will provide a significant improvement in effective area (a factor of 7 at 4 keV and a factor of 36 at 30 keV) over the RXTE PCA. AXTAR will also carry a sensitive Sky Monitor (SM) that acts as a trigger for pointed observations of X-ray transients in addition to providing high duty cycle monitoring of the X-ray sky. We review the science goals and technical concept for AXTAR and present results from a preliminary mission design study.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, Proceedings of SPIE Volume 773

DNA methylation-based estimator of telomere length

Telomere length (TL) is associated with several aging-related diseases. Here, we present a DNA methylation estimator of TL (DNAmTL) based on 140 CpGs. Leukocyte DNAmTL is applicable across the entire age spectrum and is more strongly associated with age than measured leukocyte TL (LTL) (r ~-0.75 for DNAmTL versus r ~ -0.35 for LTL). Leukocyte DNAmTL outperforms LTL in predicting: i) time-to-death (p=2.5E-20), ii) time-to-coronary heart disease (p=6.6E-5), iii) time-to-congestive heart failure (p=3.5E-6), and iv) association with smoking history (p=1.21E-17). These associations are further validated in large scale methylation data (n=10k samples) from the Framingham Heart Study, Women's Health Initiative, Jackson Heart Study, InChianti, Lothian Birth Cohorts, Twins UK, and Bogalusa Heart Study. Leukocyte DNAmTL is also associated with measures of physical fitness/functioning (p=0.029), age-at-menopause (p=0.039), dietary variables (omega 3, fish, vegetable intake), educational attainment (p=3.3E-8) and income (p=3.1E-5). Experiments in cultured somatic cells show that DNAmTL dynamics reflect in part cell replication rather than TL per se. DNAmTL is not only an epigenetic biomarker of replicative history of cells, but a useful marker of age-related pathologies that are associated with it