Sweetening a bitter pill: educational strategies supporting the foundation sciences in first year nursing

The biological and physical sciences are an important component of the University of Southern Queensland’s (USQ) Bachelor of Nursing (Pre-Registration) program. However, science courses within this curriculum have been traditionally problematic due to the fact that many nursing students perceive the course to be difficult due to lack of background science. The use of various educational strategies such as online quizzes, multimedia, and recorded lectures using Tablet PC have been utilised in the develop-ment of a foundation biophysical sciences course in nursing. This nuts and bolts session details these strategies and highlights the impact they have had on student learning. The session will provide the opportunity for participants to share similar experiences; particularly looking at ways in which improvements in first year courses have led to potential benefits in student retention and progression as well as enhanced knowledge and reduced anxiety in relation to application of knowledge in subsequent courses within a program of study

Ready, set, go...- flexible package supporting the biophysical sciences in first year nursing

The learning and teaching of science subjects in undergraduate nursing programs can be difficult and a number of issues which contribute to this have been documented (McVicar & Clancy, 2001). The biological and physical sciences are an important component of USQ’s Bachelor of Nursing (Pre-Registration) program, the delivery of which has proven challenging. In 2007 this program under went a major revision of its curriculum. One consequence of this change, among many, involved the development of a new course NSC1500 Biophysical Sciences in Nursing which comprises four distinct disciplines, namely physics, chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology and immunology. In a survey given to students prior to their commencement in this course, 40% of respondents felt they were not confident in studying science while 20% felt they were not prepared for the course (n=56). Students generally felt that all science disciplines in NSC1500 were important to their nursing profession; however, high workload was the major concern in the student 'evaluation of course' questionnaire

Using a tablet PC in bioscience instruction amongst diverse student cohorts

Tablet PC technology has been adopted in many fields of scientific instruction, including chemistry, biochemistry, physics, engineering and maths and provides a number of benefits over traditional electronic teaching. Over the last 3 years I have used Tablet PC technology in the teaching of bioscience courses to both nursing and biomedical science students. The learning and teaching of science courses to these two student groups is inherently different and can be particularly difficult in under-graduate nursing programs. There are unique problems of pedagogy associated with applied chemistry and biochemistry for nursing students as educators are faced with the fact that these students can have a wide range of different educational science backgrounds and life experiences. The teaching of many chemistry and biochemistry concepts is a dynamic process and traditional lecture methods can present many obstacles to effective teaching due to the reliance on static PowerPoint slides. This presentation will outline various strategies using Tablet PCs that I have implemented to assist learning for both nursing and biomedical science students. The first case study centres on the how I have used the technology as a means of levelling the learning experience for nursing students who have no prior science background. The second case study focuses on how I have used Tablet PC technology to increase student engagement and participation in microbiology lectures and practicals through the use of concept mapping and flow chart exercises. The impact of these teaching and learning approaches on student experience will also be discussed

Labour efficiency on-farm

End of project reportImprovements in milking efficiency have a greater influence than any other aspect of the dairy farmers work on overall farm labour inputs (Whipp, 1992). In order to facilitate the examination of milking process labour inputs, the milking process may be divided into the following three components: herding pre and post milking (transfer of cows to and from the milking parlour); milking (milking tasks / work routines within the parlour); and washing (washing of milking machine and yard). Meanwhile, within milking specifically, the number of cows milked per operator per hour is the best measure of both the performance of the operator and the milking installation (Clough, 1978). This is affected by the following three factors: the milking times of the cows, the number and arrangement of the milking units, and the operator’s work routine (Whipp, 1992). The addition of extra milking units will only increase milking performance if the operator has idle time during milking (Hansen, 1999)

Bovine bile as a bio-surfactant pre-treatment option for anaerobic digestion of high-fat cattle slaughterhouse waste

Bovine bile was assessed as a novel bio-surfactant pre-treatment to enhance anaerobic digestion of lipid-rich dissolved air flotation (DAF) sludge using biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests. Bile was dosed at arbitrary concentrations from 0.2–6 g/L. At 0.6 g bile/L, methane yield increased by 7.08%. Doses above 2 g bile/L produced negative impacts on SMP, kinetics and digestion profile. At 6 g/L bile produced a 6% decrease in specific methane production and up to 79% additional inhibitory duration, delayed time of peak methane production by up to 74%, and slowed total digestion time by up to 65%. Reaction kinetics declined linearly with respect to bile addition, reaching half the control value at 6 g/L bile concentration. Subsequent anaerobic toxicity assays between 1 and 6 g bile/L revealed that bile has an inhibitory effect under BMP testing at these higher doses. The economic viability of using bile as a bio-surfactant was assessed. In comparison to the current use of bile as a sale product to pharmaceutical companies, the addition of 0.2 g bile/L to existing slaughterhouse waste streams could increase the value of bile to 220% of its current sale value. The promising results of bile dosed at 0.6 g/L under BMP testing warrant further investigation into long-term impact of bile pre-treatments of high-fat slaughterhouse wastewater in semi-continuous digestion experiments

Proficiency-based High School Diploma Systems in Maine: Local Implementation of State Standards-based Policy Phase IV Policy Report

In this current year, Phase IV, researchers collected new data from qualitative interviews and document analysis in six case study school districts in Maine, representing a range of demographics, geographic regions and implementation stages. Three of these districts had been involved in at least one year of Phase I-III of this study, allowing for exploration of ongoing implementation practices and comparing perceived challenges and benefits from initial implementation to later stages. Findings suggested that Maine\u27s proficiency-based high school diploma mandate had mobilized PK-12 collaborative professional work, but there was an evident need for even greater professional time for full systemic implementation. School districts were utilizing proficiency benchmarks and language to describe content standards that were varied across the state yet increasingly common within a district

GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROSCOPY STUDIES ON ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF DRIED LEAVES OF CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS

Objective: Phytochemical screening of the ethanolic extract of Catharanthus roseus disclosed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, phenols, tannins, saponins, quinines, flavonoids, and proteins. In the present research work, we have identified and confirmed the structures of the constituents present by means of a hyphenated technique of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) from the extract.Method: Shade-dried leaves of C. roseus were powdered and extracted by means of Soxhlet extraction using ethanol as a solvent. Crude extract obtained was utilized for GC-MS.Results: A total of 15 components were identified, some of which were n-hexadecanoic acid, ethyl ester, Vitamin E, 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid,2- [(trimethylsilyl)oxy]-1-[{(trimethylsilyl)oxy}methyl]ethyl ester, phytol, 3-epivindolinine, and oleic acid.Conclusion: GC-MS studies helped us to assess the phytochemical constituents based on retention time, molecular formula, molecular weight and the corroboration of MS libraries. In future, C. roseus leaves may be subjected to diverse types of extraction methodologies, and a number of various elucidated phytoconstituents can be studied for their ethnopharmacological significance and applicability citing literature

Graduation Policies in a Public High School (A Case Study)

This report shares research conducted in a case study of one higher performing high school to examine the practices, challenges and facilitators of implementing a standards-based curriculum and proficiency-based diploma systems