New VISTAs in Science Education

In the summer of 2012, a colleague and I attended the four-week Virginia Initiative for Science Teaching and Achievement (VISTA) Elementary Summer Science Institute where we were trained to conduct inquiry-based science teaching in a problem-based learning setting. We then implemented our training in our own academic classrooms by developing a Problem-Based Learning unit meeting the objectives of our Virginia standards-based science curriculum and selecting a topic with tics to our local community. Toward demonstrating that students, teachers, and educational systems stand to benefit from the implementation of this methodology, this article clarifies the following aspects: 1) outlines the problem, scenario, and process of developing a Problem-Based Leaming unit; 2) explains the delivery in the classroom; 3) analyzes ongoing formative and summative assessments; 4) and, discusses the influence on students, teachers, and instruction as a whole

Aspects of management options for pasture-based dairy production stocked at two cows per hectare

End of project reportWhite clover in association with Rhizobium bacteria have the capacity to fix or convent atmospheric N into plant available N. This can make a considerable contribution to sward productivity. One of the objectives of this experiment was to determine the upper carrying capacity of grass-white clover swards receiving 90 kg fertilizer N/ha. A second objective was to examine the impact of grass-clover swards on mineral-N in the soil and losses of nitrate-N from soil to drainage water during the winter. This experiment was conducted at Solohead Research Farm. There were three treatments: (i) A grass-only treatment (FN) stocked at 2.0 cows per ha in 2003 and 2.2 cows per ha during 2004, 2005 and 2006. This treatment received an average of 226 kg per ha of fertilizer N per year during these years. (ii) A grass-clover treatment (WC) stocked at the same rates as FN and received an average of 90 kg per ha of fertilizer N per year during the experiment. (iii) A grass-only treatment (CC) that was gradually converted over to grass-clover during the experiment and stocked at 2.0 cows per ha throughout the experiment. Fertilizer N input was gradually lowered from 150 kg per ha in 2003 to a target of 90 kg per ha in 2005 and 2006

A Look at Tuberculosis and Multi-Drug Resistant TB in the United States & China

There are many things plaguing the world today, one of them is Mycobacterium tuberculosis otherwise known as Tuberculosis (TB). Since it’s origin TB has become more virulent against antibiotics and became multi-drug resistant (MDR-TB). Two countries come to mind for comparison, China and the United States. China is having severe problems with the disease while the United States is managing it a bit better. Each country has unique circumstances and the statistics show that both may be doing better with just TB but MDR-TB is sticking around and gradually becoming more and more of an issue.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1067/thumbnail.jp

2007-08 FINAL REPORT (QAUJIGIARTIIT/ARCTIC HEALTH RESEARCH NETWORK - NUNAVUT)

This is the final report of the The Arctic Health Research Network for 2007-2008. The Network is the first Canadian tri-territorial health research network linking northern regions. The network includes health research centers based in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. To work towards its mandate to improve health outcomes through research, this network is and must be a community driven, northern lead, health and wellness research network that facilitates the identification of health research priorities in the three territories

Reconceptualising the information system as a service

Information Technology (IT) now plays a central role in almost all aspects of business. However to best realise the potential of IT, it is vital that educators adopt strategies that challenge rather than reinforce existing disciplinary divides in IT education and business. This paper supports the application of active learning, via the use of a serial teaching case, towards bridging disciplinary divides in IT education. Specifically, the case calls for the design, development and implementation of an Integrated Management Information System. Students are therefore required to demonstrate analytical as well as technical skill-sets in the areas of IT, accounting and business. The paper describes the business context facing AHN Ltd. and illustrates the pedagogic use of the case as a means of integrating IT with aspects of accounting and business knowledge, towards helping educators contribute to answering the calls from academia (Panko, 2008) and industry (Chan and Reich, 2007) for graduates with a hybrid of business and IT skill-sets

Squeezing out the last 1 nanometer of water: A detailed nanomechanical study

In this study, we present a detailed analysis of the squeeze-out dynamics of nanoconfined water confined between two hydrophilic surfaces measured by small-amplitude dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM). Explicitly considering the instantaneous tip-surface separation during squeezeout, we confirm the existence of an adsorbed molecular water layer on mica and at least two hydration layers. We also confirm the previous observation of a sharp transition in the viscoelastic response of the nanoconfined water as the compression rate is increased beyond a critical value (previously determined to be about 0.8 nm/s). We find that below the critical value, the tip passes smoothly through the molecular layers of the film, while above the critical speed, the tip encounters "pinning" at separations where the film is able to temporarily order. Pre-ordering of the film is accompanied by increased force fluctuations, which lead to increased damping preceding a peak in the film stiffness once ordering is completed. We analyze the data using both Kelvin-Voigt and Maxwell viscoelastic models. This provides a complementary picture of the viscoelastic response of the confined water film

Surviving well together: post development, maternity care and the politics of ontological pluralism

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