Student characteristics and PISA science performance: Portugal in cross-national comparison

Concurso aberto por um ano para projectos sobre o sucesso escolar.Problem Statement: PISA 2006 indicates that Portuguese students’ performance in science, although improving, is still lower than in most OCDE countries. What is the role of student characteristics, interests, gender and economic, social, cultural, status (ESCS) on scientific literacy scores? How does Portugal compare with some other selected countries? Purpose of Study: The study compares Portuguese students’ performance in PISA 2006 scientific literacy with that of students from the OECD, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Greece, and the USA. The study also examines students’ science interests, self-efficacy and beliefs about their own competences. Furthermore, the study identifies which student variables may help to explain performance in science. Research Methods: Our data are selected from the PISA 2006 student: (a) science performance and (b) interests and beliefs measured by the student questionnaire. In order to answer our research questions, we performed secondary analyses using hierarchical linear modeling. The 2006 PISA sample in Portugal consisted of 5109 students in 173 schools, all between the ages of 15;3 and 16;2. Findings: Change-in-score coefficients in the fitted model indicate that the ESCS effect is strongest in the USA, Finland and UK. The school-wide ESCS effect is superior to that of student ESCS and is a performance factor for all countries with the exception of Finland. Mean differences in performance tend to favor boys but, in several countries, gender does not contribute a significant change in score in the fitted models. For all countries, the general value of science, enjoyment of science and science selfefficacy are positively associated with performance. A negative association between personal value of science and performance was observed. The association of “participation in non-school science activities” with performance is either negative or non-significant. Conclusions: The constellation of associated factors differs from country to country but a few of these factors stand out as cross-nationally valid. Knowledge of both kinds of factors can be useful for the improvement of teaching/learning systems. Cross-national factors can simplify general models while the country-specific factors can help identify and target local concerns.FCT/ME

Distribution and habitat associations of breeding secretive marsh birds in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley of northeast Louisiana

Populations of many North American secretive marsh birds (SMBs) have declined over the past 30 years, primarily as a function of wetland loss. Ranges for many of these species encompass Louisiana and researchers have investigated various characteristics associated with breeding populations in coastal wetlands, yet similar knowledge is lacking for other parts of the state. I investigated distributions and habitat characteristics associated with breeding SMBs in wetlands and rice fields of the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) of northeast Louisiana. In the 2007 and 2008 breeding seasons we conducted repeated bird surveys in 118 wetlands and 76 rice fields. Common Moorhens (Gallinula chloropus), Least Bitterns (Ixobrychus exilis) and Purple Gallinules (Porphyrula martinica), were the most commonly detected species in wetlands while breeding King Rails (Rallus elegans) and American Coots (Fulica americana) were rare. I built predictive wetland habitat models for Common Moorhens, Least Bitterns and Purple Gallinules in each year based on vegetation characteristics recorded within 100 m (local) and 1 km (landscape) of wetland sampling points. In general, local areas with greater coverage of water and robust emergent vegetation seem to attract breeding SMBs. No other local upland habitat characteristics or landscape cover variables were consistently, significantly associated with occupancy for any species across years. Wetlands dominated by robust emergent vegetation are rare in this region and birds may have to utilize them wherever they are available, disregarding other local and landscape habitat features. In 2007 no breeding individuals from any of these species were encountered in rice fields and only 7 rice sites were occupied by any species in 2008. Rice in the MAV does not reach a height adequate to support breeding SMBs (~ 65-70 cm) until late May at the earliest, 1-2 months after the breeding season commences. However, King Rails, Least Bitterns, Common Moorhens and American Coots were all observed in rice fields between June and August of both years. Thus, it is possible that rice fields in the MAV are used by late season breeders or birds rearing a second brood

Anxiety as a Tool for Critical Disability Studies Fieldwork

In this article, I consider the role of emotional response and anxiety in fieldwork by drawing on an incident where I was called a “fake deafie” by informants and a follow up interview transcript about this episode. I use emotions and particularly the tracking of anxiety as a tool to productively explore the subjective and intersubjective dynamics that give shape to encounters in fieldwork. This focus on affect in fieldwork allows me to productively attend to the ethical and methodological dilemmas that materialized as a bicultural, or an in-betweener, ethnographer (Valente, 2011, 2014a, in review). Importantly, attending to affect in fieldwork also allows me to draw attention to an integral component of conducting critical disability studies fieldwork, that is, the affective dimensions. I conclude by arguing for the need for researchers in critical disability studies to have a theory of anxiety. This theory of anxiety needs to be a part of the critical disability studies researcher’s reflexivity toolkit

[Dis]Ableing Educational Inequities: A Disability Studies in Education Perspective

Disability Studies is often viewed as only relevant to those with disabilities. What is forgotten or overlooked is that, at its core, schooling is about defining, locating, measuring, and remediating ability. This essay offers [dis]ableing as a lens for exploring and questioning the ubiquitous ways ability has increasingly become defined and constructed by notions of individualism, competition, and economic productivity. We begin with a description of the key principles borrowed from disability studies in education and apply a [dis]ableing lens to inaugural discussions of Race to the Top federal educational reforms in the United States in order to examine the hidden consequences for all students. This article concludes with new understandings about how educational inequities are perpetuated by the policies and practices that purport to dismantle them

A vaccine for Ebola virus – approaches and results of accelerated process development and characterization studies

In 2014, West Africa experienced the worst outbreak of Ebola virus in history with 10 times more cases than in all previous outbreaks combined. In response to this public health emergency, MSD and a global network of partners collaborated to speed the research, development, and deployment of a candidate vaccine that ultimately provided the first evidence of efficacy in human subjects for any Ebola vaccine. While work continues to ultimately license the candidate vaccine, a risk-based approach to process development and characterization was used to accelerate and prioritize the study of parameters. Risk was evaluated by experts familiar with unit operations and parameters in similar licensed live viral vaccines and resulted in an overall plan of study encompassing five major areas – cell expansion, viral infection, purification, formulation, and general robustness. In parallel to batch size scale-up to support commercial production, a scale-down model comparable to commercial scale production was developed and enabled high-throughput experimentation. This approach reduced experiment cycle time from eight weeks to three weeks, reduced process volumes enabling design of experiments, and resulted in high-throughput execution of lab-scale studies. Typically, potency is extremely sensitive to multiplicity of infection (MOI); this vaccine is capable of producing acceptable potencies during viral infection with a 1000x range of MOIs. The most critical parameter during purification is digestion, which results in a ~10-fold increase in product potency. The final tangential flow filtration unit operation is extremely robust with no critical process parameters while still being capable of effectively clearing residual enzyme. Additionally, the implementation of a fully disposable single-use drug substance manufacturing process also helped accelerate process development and characterization activities. Component user requirements and schematic drawings were used to design prototypes which were evaluated using innovative shake-down studies. This approach resulted in a rugged system of end-to-end, single-use disposable components with 42 modular, “plug-and-play” designs available to support \u3e500 single-use assemblies needed in production. Components were delivered to the commercial manufacturing site within 15 months with no required design changes following water-run testing. Taken together these approaches helped accelerate process development and characterization studies that will expedite the licensure of an Ebola virus vaccine

Mission-Based Serious Games for Cross-Cultural Communication Training

Appropriate cross-cultural communication requires a critical skill set that is increasingly being integrated into regular military training regimens. By enabling a higher order of communication skills, military personnel are able to interact more effectively in situations that involve local populations, host nation forces, and multinational partners. The Virtual Cultural Awareness Trainer (VCAT) is specifically designed to help address these needs. VCAT is deployed by Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) on Joint Knowledge Online (JKO) as a means to provide online, mission-based culture and language training to deploying and deployed troops. VCAT uses a mix of game-based learning, storytelling, tutoring, and remediation to assist in developing the component skills required for successful intercultural communication in mission-based settings

Nutrition intervention for migraine: a randomized crossover trial

Background Limited evidence suggests that dietary interventions may offer a promising approach for migraine. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a low-fat plant-based diet intervention on migraine severity and frequency. Methods Forty-two adult migraine sufferers were recruited from the general community in Washington, DC, and divided randomly into two groups. This 36-week crossover study included two treatments: dietary instruction and placebo supplement. Each treatment period was 16 weeks, with a 4-week washout between. During the diet period, a low-fat vegan diet was prescribed for 4 weeks, after which an elimination diet was used. Participants were assessed at the beginning, midpoint, and end of each period. Significance was determined using student’s t-tests. Results Worst headache pain in last 2 weeks, as measured by visual analog scale, was initially 6.4/10 cm (SD 2.1 cm), and declined 2.1 cm during the diet period and 0.7 cm during the supplement period (p=0.03). Average headache intensity (0–10 scale) was initially 4.2 (SD 1.4) per week, and this declined by 1.0 during the diet period and by 0.5 during the supplement period (p=0.20). Average headache frequency was initially 2.3 (SD 1.8) per week, and this declined by 0.3 during the diet period and by 0.4 during the supplement period (p=0.61). The Patient’s Global Impression of Change showed greater improvement in pain during the diet period (p\u3c0.001). Conclusions These results suggest that a nutritional approach may be a useful part of migraine treatment, but that methodologic issues necessitate further research

Changing Teachers’ Feedback Practices: A Workshop Challenge

Feedback can promote teacher-student relations and student academic involvement, performance and self-regulation. However, some research indicates that teachers do not always employ feedback effectively. There is a need to promote teachers’ appropriate use of feedback in the classroom. We describe a long-term workshop designed to enhance teachers’ knowledge and skills in the use of feedback strategies, and appreciation of the importance of feedback. Twelve teachers participated in the workshop. Observations as well as teacher reports indicate that participation in the sessions and the follow-up classroom application enhanced teacher involvement, knowledge, competencies and positive feelings in the use of feedback strategies. A workshop for teachers that has specific objectives on feedback strategies, is presented along a school year, and involves reflective sessions intertwined with classroom application work, can effectively promote participants’ involvement, knowledge and competencies in the use of feedback, as well as their outlook toward the importance of these strategies