Looking big at cooperating teachers in music education: examining narrative authority within a knowledge community

The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to examine how cooperating teachers’ narrative authority was revealed or strengthened within an intentionally formed knowledge community established to create a safe space for cooperating teachers to story and restory their experiences as music teacher educators. The conceptions of knowledge communities and narrative authority, grounded in Dewey’s theory of experience and narrative knowing, followed the research line of Connelly and Clandinin (1990). Concepts of interest emerging from this framework were cooperating teachers’ personal practical knowledge, continuity of experience between their stories, interaction with others in specific contexts, features of the professional knowledge landscape of music teacher education, and tensions arising from cooperating teachers’ positions on the landscape relative to the conduit. Of particular interest was how the strengthening of narrative authority within the knowledge community would allow cooperating teachers to question taken-for-granted notions of teacher education. The knowledge community, which included three participants and myself, met twice during the course of the study, but maintained continuous communication through conversations and emails. Observations were conducted during the student teaching practicum. Field notes were also an important part of the data collected. Data analysis and representation were situated within the three-dimensional inquiry space described by Clandinin and Connelly (2000) and drew on a variety of methods. Issues of researcher subjectivity and ethics were addressed through enacting the principles of resonant work in narrative inquiry in music education (Stauffer & Barrett, 2009). Four story categories emerged from the data: stories of established practice, stories of influential relationships, stories of tension, and stories of possibility. Laying alongside the stories of each participant created a thematic dialogue that gives readers a seat at the table to experience their stories and a jumping off point to add their own. There is potential for this type of knowledge community to strengthen practice by creating a space for sharing previously untold stories of practice. The process of looking back at past practices, reflecting on current practices, and reimagining future practices within the knowledge community strengthened narrative authority in a way that opened the possibility to trouble certainty

The MASSIVE Survey - VIII. Stellar Velocity Dispersion Profiles and Environmental Dependence of Early-Type Galaxies

We measure the radial profiles of the stellar velocity dispersions, $\sigma(R)$, for 90 early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the MASSIVE survey, a volume-limited integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) galaxy survey targeting all northern-sky ETGs with absolute $K$-band magnitude $M_K < -25.3$ mag, or stellar mass $M_* > 4 \times 10^{11} M_\odot$, within 108 Mpc. Our wide-field 107" $\times$ 107" IFS data cover radii as large as 40 kpc, for which we quantify separately the inner (2 kpc) and outer (20 kpc) logarithmic slopes $\gamma_{\rm inner}$ and $\gamma_{\rm outer}$ of $\sigma(R)$. While $\gamma_{\rm inner}$ is mostly negative, of the 56 galaxies with sufficient radial coverage to determine $\gamma_{\rm outer}$ we find 36% to have rising outer dispersion profiles, 30% to be flat within the uncertainties, and 34% to be falling. The fraction of galaxies with rising outer profiles increases with $M_*$ and in denser galaxy environment, with 10 of the 11 most massive galaxies in our sample having flat or rising dispersion profiles. The strongest environmental correlations are with local density and halo mass, but a weaker correlation with large-scale density also exists. The average $\gamma_{\rm outer}$ is similar for brightest group galaxies, satellites, and isolated galaxies in our sample. We find a clear positive correlation between the gradients of the outer dispersion profile and the gradients of the velocity kurtosis $h_4$. Altogether, our kinematic results suggest that the increasing fraction of rising dispersion profiles in the most massive ETGs are caused (at least in part) by variations in the total mass profiles rather than in the velocity anisotropy alone.Comment: Accepted/in press, MNRA

The MASSIVE Survey - VII. The Relationship of Angular Momentum, Stellar Mass and Environment of Early-Type Galaxies

We analyse the environmental properties of 370 local early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the MASSIVE and ATLAS3D surveys, two complementary volume-limited integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) galaxy surveys spanning absolute $K$-band magnitude $-21.5 > M_K > -26.6$, or stellar mass $8 \times 10^{9} < M_* < 2 \times 10^{12} M_\odot$. We find these galaxies to reside in a diverse range of environments measured by four methods: group membership (whether a galaxy is a brightest group/cluster galaxy, satellite, or isolated), halo mass, large-scale mass density (measured over a few Mpc), and local mass density (measured within the $N$th neighbour). The spatially resolved IFS stellar kinematics provide robust measurements of the spin parameter $\lambda_e$ and enable us to examine the relationship among $\lambda_e$, $M_*$, and galaxy environment. We find a strong correlation between $\lambda_e$ and $M_*$, where the average $\lambda_e$ decreases from $\sim 0.4$ to below 0.1 with increasing mass, and the fraction of slow rotators $f_{\rm slow}$ increases from $\sim 10$% to 90%. We show for the first time that at fixed $M_*$, there are almost no trends between galaxy spin and environment; the apparent kinematic morphology-density relation for ETGs is therefore primarily driven by $M_*$ and is accounted for by the joint correlations between $M_*$ and spin, and between $M_*$ and environment. A possible exception is that the increased $f_{\rm slow}$ at high local density is slightly more than expected based only on these joint correlations. Our results suggest that the physical processes responsible for building up the present-day stellar masses of massive galaxies are also very efficient at reducing their spin, in any environment.Comment: Accepted to MNRA

Leadership and Gender: School Counselors’ Experiences of Girls’ Leadership in Secondary Schools

There has been a proliferation of girls’ leadership programs to stymie the leaking pipeline of women’s leadership and resulting gender leadership gap. School counselors are advocates and change agents in the schools and play a key role in student development and leadership programming. School counselors’ training in their counseling programs may impact their support and assessment of girls’ leadership programming. This phenomenological research utilized the open-ended questions of an online survey to understand school counselors’ experiences of girls’ leadership. The themes, (a) Formal Approach to Girls’ Leadership, (b) Informal Approach to Girls’ Leadership, (c) No Girls’ Leadership, and (d) Non-Gender Specific Approach to Girls’ Leadership were discovered. Themes are discussed and suggestions for school counselors and counselor educators are offered

Leadership and Gender: School Counselors’ Experiences of Girls’ Leadership in Secondary Schools

There has been a proliferation of girls’ leadership programs to stymie the leaking pipeline of women’s leadership and resulting gender leadership gap. School counselors are advocates and change agents in the schools and play a key role in student development and leadership programming. School counselors’ training in their counseling programs may impact their support and assessment of girls’ leadership programming. This phenomenological research utilized the open-ended questions of an online survey to understand school counselors’ experiences of girls’ leadership. The themes, (a) Formal Approach to Girls’ Leadership, (b) Informal Approach to Girls’ Leadership, (c) No Girls’ Leadership, and (d) Non-Gender Specific Approach to Girls’ Leadership were discovered. Themes are discussed and suggestions for school counselors and counselor educators are offered

Leveraging Global Gene Expression Patterns to Predict Expression of Unmeasured Genes

BackgroundLarge collections of paraffin-embedded tissue represent a rich resource to test hypotheses based on gene expression patterns; however, measurement of genome-wide expression is cost-prohibitive on a large scale. Using the known expression correlation structure within a given disease type (in this case, high grade serous ovarian cancer; HGSC), we sought to identify reduced sets of directly measured (DM) genes which could accurately predict the expression of a maximized number of unmeasured genes

The MASSIVE Survey - X. Misalignment between Kinematic and Photometric Axes and Intrinsic Shapes of Massive Early-Type Galaxies

We use spatially resolved two-dimensional stellar velocity maps over a $107"\times 107"$ field of view to investigate the kinematic features of 90 early-type galaxies above stellar mass $10^{11.5}M_\odot$ in the MASSIVE survey. We measure the misalignment angle $\Psi$ between the kinematic and photometric axes and identify local features such as velocity twists and kinematically distinct components. We find 46% of the sample to be well aligned ($\Psi < 15^{\circ}$), 33% misaligned, and 21% without detectable rotation (non-rotators). Only 24% of the sample are fast rotators, the majority of which (91%) are aligned, whereas 57% of the slow rotators are misaligned with a nearly flat distribution of $\Psi$ from $15^{\circ}$ to $90^{\circ}$. 11 galaxies have $\Psi \gtrsim 60^{\circ}$ and thus exhibit minor-axis ("prolate") rotation in which the rotation is preferentially around the photometric major axis. Kinematic misalignments occur more frequently for lower galaxy spin or denser galaxy environments. Using the observed misalignment and ellipticity distributions, we infer the intrinsic shape distribution of our sample and find that MASSIVE slow rotators are consistent with being mildly triaxial, with mean axis ratios of $b/a=0.88$ and $c/a=0.65$. In terms of local kinematic features, 51% of the sample exhibit kinematic twists of larger than $20^{\circ}$, and 2 galaxies have kinematically distinct components. The frequency of misalignment and the broad distribution of $\Psi$ reported here suggest that the most massive early-type galaxies are mildly triaxial, and that formation processes resulting in kinematically misaligned slow rotators such as gas-poor mergers occur frequently in this mass range.Comment: Accepted to MNRA

State oversight of polypharmacy and psychotropic medication use among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities: a three state case study

Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are prescribed more medications than the general population, placing them at significantly higher risk for issues due to taking multiple medications (polypharmacy). There are currently no clear national standards for the administration of medications given this risk. The following policy analysis explores state policies related to prescription medication oversight. This analysis pays particular attention to the use of medications that alter one’s mental state (psychotropics) among people with IDD who receive home and community-based services (HCBS) in the United States. The article outlines current efforts implemented to reduce medication-related risks for people with IDD in three states and explores the similarities and differences across strategies. This policy analysis aims to initiate conversation and encourage further consideration and deliberation necessary to move toward clear and concrete guidelines for the oversight of medication regimens

The MASSIVE Survey - XII Connecting Stellar Populations of Early-Type Galaxies to Kinematics and Environment

We measure the stellar populations as a function of radius for 90 early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the MASSIVE survey, a volume-limited integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) galaxy survey targeting all northern-sky ETGs with absolute K-band magnitude M_K < -25.3 mag, or stellar mass M* 4x10^11 M_sun, within 108 Mpc. We are able to measure reliable stellar population parameters for individual galaxies out to 10-20 kpc (1-3 R_e) depending on the galaxy. Focusing on ~R_e (~10 kpc), we find significant correlations between the abundance ratios, sigma, and M* at large radius, but we also find that the abundance ratios saturate in the highest-mass bin. We see a strong correlation between the kurtosis of the line of sight velocity distribution (h4) and the stellar population parameters beyond R_e. Galaxies with higher radial anisotropy appear to be older, with metal-poorer stars and enhanced [alpha/Fe]. We suggest that the higher radial anisotropy may derive from more accretion of small satellites. Finally, we see some evidence for correlations between environmental metrics (measured locally and on >5 Mpc scales) and the stellar populations, as expected if satellites are quenched earlier in denser environments.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, Appendix not included here due to size constraints. Posted after responding to referee's comment

A Survey Study of Resuscitation Skills Retention Amongst Health Providers in Newfoundland and Labrador: Final Report of Study Findings

The purpose of this report is to summarize the findings of a research study conducted between July 2010 and June 2011. The objectives of this study were threefold: 1. To examine the perceptions and attitudes of certified resuscitation providers towards the retention of resuscitation skills and regular skills updating. 2. To examine resuscitation providers’ self-efficacy beliefs towards resuscitation skills. 3. To explore resuscitation provider’s perceptions of methods and modalities for enhancing resuscitation skills retention