A Case Study of a Professional Development School in Rural West Virginia

The focus of this qualitative research study is the Professional Development School (PDS) partnership between a university and an elementary school in Central Appalachia. Data were collected through participant observation, individual and focus group interviews, and document analysis. The research focused on the participants’ experiences and perceptions of the Professional Development School and any enabling and/or constraining factors related to its effectiveness. Participants included school-based individuals ─ students, teachers, and administrators of Dolen Elementary (pseudonym) ─ as well as university-based participants. The most significant finding was a genuine willingness to learn that was exhibited by participants, both school-based and those based at the university. Additional findings were represented by three themes: enthusiasm, collaboration, and leadership. Enthusiasm was demonstrated by the students’ excitement in trying the Harless Center initiatives, the teachers’ eagerness and grassroots efforts to search out strategies to individualize instruction, and the Harless Center’s eagerness to make sure the project fit the needs of the school by conducting a needs assessment at the start of the partnership. Collaboration involved the blending of inside and outside (beyond the community) resources to enhance the PDS partnership. Leadership was exhibited by the school-based teachers as well as the encouraging, playful principal who was identified as the most important factor enabling the success of this partnership

Best practices for modeling structural boundary conditions due to a localized fire

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154450/1/fam2774.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154450/2/fam2774_am.pd

A geometrically exact isogeometric Kirchhoff plate: Feature‐preserving automatic meshing and C1 rational triangular Bézier spline discretizations

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144603/1/nme5809.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144603/2/nme5809_am.pd

Stochastic finite element methods for the reliability-based fire-resistant design of structures

A reliability-based design methodology is needed to reconcile the uncertainty and ensure a consistent level of safety is provided in engineered structural fire designs. This paper presents the application of two stochastic finite element methods, namely the First- and Second-Order Reliability Methods and Monte Carlo Simulation, to the design of structures subjected to fire. An example of a protected steel column subjected to natural fire is presented. A numerical investigation of the evolution of the failure probability with time demonstrates that analytical reliability methods improve the efficiency of the simulation, although significant errors arise when treating the fuel load as a random parameter. Further analysis reveals a “kink” in the response surface due to the lack of sensitivity to the fuel load during the heating phase of fire development. Utilization of an alternative fire model overcomes this limitation

MACRO-ELEMENT MODEL OF A STEEL MOMENT FRAME SUBJECTED TO FIRE-INDUCED COLUMN LOSS

A progressive collapse mitigation strategy is to ensure load redistribution when a column fails due to fire. The study seeks to understand whether welded unreinforced flange-bolted web (WUF-B) moment connections can effectively redistribute loads in a structural system subjected to fire when a critical column is lost. A component (or macro-element) model was derived to simulate the WUF-B connection and validated against experimental tests and high-resolution finite element (FE) models of subassemblies at room temperature and at elevated temperature. The component model was then utilized in a 2D macro FE model of a ten-story steel-framed building subjected to the loss of a column during long fire exposure. This paper presents the collapse mechanisms and quantifies structural performance based on acceptance criteria. A parametric study on location of column loss and fire occurrence is also included

Development and Validation of an Empathy Questionnaire measuring Cognitive and Affective Traits

The current study seeks to develop and validate a quantitative measure of empathy. Definitions of empathy vary (Stern, 2021, Brett, 2023), but for the purpose of this study, we defined empathy as the ability to perceive and sympathize with the thoughts, emotions, and feelings of another person. Higher levels of empathy are linked with supportive social behavior, and lower levels of stress in college students (Stern, 2021). Previous empathy scales, such as the Perth Empathy Scale (Brett et al., 2023), have divided empathy into cognitive and affective abilities. Our scale will use this structure, while further specifying the cognitive and affective abilities that pertain to empathy. In this study, we are developing 5 subscales that pertain to empathy, which include acceptance, communication, perspective-taking, compassion, and sensitivity. We hypothesize that each subscale of our scale will demonstrate strong psychometric properties, including internal consistency and inter-item correlation. We also hypothesize that our scale will be significantly associated with high levels of perspective-taking and sensitivity, specifically scored using the Perspective Taking Scale (Cohen, 1988) and the Sensitivity Scale (You, et. al. 2021). Lastly, we hypothesize that our empathy scale will significantly predict stress in emerging adults. Results and implications are forthcoming

Effect of travelling fire on structural response of a generic steel fire protected moment resisting frame

To simulate a fire inside large compartments, there is a pioneering method called ‘traveling fire’. As steel structures are vulnerable to high temperatures, they are normally fireproofed by insulation materials appropriate for a specific duration of time. An investigation is performed here to examine the robustness of a generic fourstory moment-resisting steel structure, fireproofed to comply with the one-hour standard curve, when it is subjected to traveling fire. The results show that while no collapse occurs during the 12.5%, 50% and 100%, the structure collapses under the 25% fire size at 75 min. This seems to be in contradiction with traditional belief, where it is assumed that taking into consideration a larger-scale fire in a compartment would increase the safety margin. The investigation performed also underlines that the fireproofing of structures does not necessarily provide adequate resistance under traveling fires

Cross–cultural care program for aged care staff : workbook for staff

This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license .Cultural and linguistic diversity between residents and staff is significant in residential aged care homes in Australia. Residents are from over 170 countries with 31% born overseas and 20% born in a non-English speaking country (AIHW, 2016). Staff who care for residents are also from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It is estimated that 32% of staff were born overseas and 26% were born in a non-English speaking country (Mavromaras et al., 2017). The majority of overseas-born residents come from Europe while the majority of overseas-born staff come from Asian and African regions (Mavromaras et al., 2017, AIHW, 2016). This diversity generates many opportunities for aged care organisations to address equitable and culturally appropriate care for residents. However, the diversity can also be a challenge to achieving high-quality care for residents and to staff cohesion. The program is developed from a 2-year action research project entitled ‘Developing the multicultural workforce to improve the quality of care for residents’. The project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health under the ‘Service Improvement and Healthy Ageing Grants’ in 2015. During the project life, the project team worked with residents and staff in four participating residential aged care homes to implement and evaluate the program. The details of the research project are presented in the project final report (Xiao et al., 2017). The program has been adapted into an online self-learning program using the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and is free to access. Instruction for accessing the online program is attached as Appendix 1: Instructions for accessing the online Cross-cultural Care Program for Aged Care Staff

The implementation of intentional rounding using participatory action research

Author version made available according to Publisher copyright policy.‘Intentional’/’hourly rounding’ is defined as regular checks of individual patients carried out by health professionals at set intervals, rather than a response to a summons via a call bell. Intentional rounding places patients at the heart of the ward routine including the acknowledgement of patient preferences and in anticipation of their needs. The aim of this study was to implement intentional rounding using Participatory Action Research to increase patient care, increase staff productivity and the satisfaction of care provision from both patients and staff. Outcomes of the study revealed a drop in call bell use, no observable threats to patient safety, nursing staff and patient satisfaction with care provision. However, any future studies should consider staff skill mix issues, including the needs of newly graduated nursing staff as well as the cognitive status of patients when implementing intentional rounding on acute care wards

Multicultural workforce development model and resources in aged care

This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Full-text embargoed for 24 months until 31 Dec 2019