Creating Space for Personal Meaning in Schooling

This paper suggests possible ways for teachers to develop students’ personal meaning in public school classrooms. We discuss why schools should move beyond a focus on narrow performance standards and help students address the mysteries of life in our universe. We show how a personally meaningful curriculum is an integral one that emphasizes multiple dimensions of knowledge, enduring understandings, and the development of a moral imagination. We conclude that by using four educational keystones (gratitude, justice, imagination, and transcendence) we can educate for personal meaning without imposing our own worldview and belief system on our students

The Association of Religious Affiliation and Pyschosocial/Family Dynamics with Selected Risky Behaviors Among At-risk Youth Living in the Slums of Kampala, Uganda: Findings from the Kampala Youth Survey, 2014

Introduction: Youth living in the slums of Kampala, Uganda are at an increased risk for engaging in alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors. Little is known about the association between religious affiliation and risky behaviors in this population. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between religious affiliation, risk factors, and protective factors for engaging in risky behaviors among vulnerable youth living in the slums of Kampala, Uganda. Methods: Analyses are based on a cross-sectional study of youth (n=1,143) between the ages of 12 and 18 years of age, living in the slums of Kampala, conducted in 2014. Risky behaviors were defined as binge drinking, inconsistent condom use, and engaging in sexual intercourse with high numbers of sexual partners. Crude and adjusted multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine factors associated with binge drinking, inconsistent condom use, and high numbers of sexual partners. Results: Engaging in binge drinking was associated with ever being homeless (AOR 9.5; 95% CI: 5.74, 15.75) and parental alcohol abuse (AOR 5.55; 95% CI: 3.39, 9.07). Youth identifying as Muslim were less likely to engage in binge drinking (AOR 0.49; 95% CI: 0.24, 0.97). Sexual intercourse with more than five sexual partners was associated with ever being homeless (AOR 6.39; 95% CI: 3.61, 11.31), parental domestic violence (AOR 1.83; 95% CI: 1.03, 3.25), and parental alcohol abuse (AOR 3.16; 95% CI: 1.81, 5.51). Inconsistent condom use was associated with ever being homeless (AOR 2.87; 95% CI 1.88, 4.38) and parental alcohol abuse (AOR 2.66; 95% CI 1.84, 3.82). Discussion: The reported prevalence of engaging in risky behaviors among at-risk youth within the slums of Kampala is associated with ever being homeless and parental alcohol abuse. Engaging in binge drinking was less likely among youth identifying as Muslim

Re-examining the Socialization of Black Doctoral Students through the Lens of Information Theory

The socialization of Black doctoral students has been studied from many theoretical and conceptual standpoints, with the exception of information theory. In this paper, the conceptual and theoretical frameworks of small worlds and the Theory of Normative Behavior developed by information behavior scholar Elfreda Chatman are used to illuminate the information behaviors that are implicit in the socialization of Black doctoral students. Doctoral student socialization is enacted through faculty and peer relationships that communicate the norms, values, and expectations for performance that facilitate academic and social integration in graduate school in preparation for faculty roles in the academy. Despite the importance of socialization for student success, research indicates that Black doctoral students experience racism, isolation, and hostile climates in predominantly white institutions, which jeopardizes their chances for a successful outcome. Through a review of literature about the socialization of Black doctoral students in the United States, viewed through the lens of Elfreda Chatman’s theoretical frameworks, this paper examines doctoral education as a small world characterized by social and cultural norms that facilitate or hinder the socialization of Black doctoral students. Given the absence of an explicit focus on race in Chatman’s research, the salience of race as a context for the experiences and information behaviors of Black doctoral students is discussed. Areas for future research about the socialization of Black doctoral students in library and information studies are also identified. Pre-print first published online 10/11/202

Engaging Students through Communication and Contact: Outreach Can Positively Impact Your Students and You!

Student retention is a critical component to the success of any university, whether instruction is provided in a traditional or online setting. Creating an effective student retention program can positively impact student success and, ultimately, the reputation and the image of the institution. The implementation of a student retention program can be especially challenging in the online environment for both the instructors and the institution. Unlike a traditional university setting where students and instructors interact face-to-face, online programs need to rely on alternative methods to engage students. When online instructors take the time to create a consistent proactive outreach program students feel connected to the instructor and strive harder to be successful in the classroom. Online outreach programs can include tasks as simple as consistently emailing students, enlisting the help of student advisors, and taking time to phone students. Each approach has the potential to keep engaged students participating and can reengage non-participating students by ensuring a high level of faculty and student interaction

Effective Outreach Strategy and Programs in Higher Education

Outreach programs have been implemented in higher learning institutions to increase student retention and satisfaction. The challenges of outreach can increase when students are in an online environment. Online students do not have physical contact with their instructor and classmates and this can cause students to feel isolated and discouraged. Online higher learning institutions can approach outreach at various levels: no formalized outreach program for instructors, a formalized outreach program for instructors incorporating required outreach periodically throughout the course for at risk students, or a formalized outreach program for instructors incorporating weekly outreach throughout the course for at risk students. The following research provides insight into each of these approaches and how each program can impact student retention and success

Chican@ and Latin@ Studies Curriculum Map 2013-2014

This map displays degree requirements, courses, faculty information, clubs & organizations, and Library resources associated with Latin@ and Chican@ Studies across the seven Claremont Colleges (7Cs) for the 2013-14 academic year. It was compiled using public information drawn from Colleges websites, course schedules and catalogs, and the Claremont Colleges Library website. This project was completed as part of an IMLS Sparks! Ignition grant in 2013-14

Cultural Studies Curriculum Map 2013-2014

This map displays degree requirements, courses, faculty information, clubs & organizations, and Library resources associated with cultural studies across the seven Claremont Colleges (7Cs) for the 2013-14 academic year. It was compiled using public information drawn from Colleges websites, course schedules and catalogs, and the Claremont Colleges Library website. This project was completed as part of an IMLS Sparks! Ignition grant in 2013-14

Africana Studies Curriculum Map 2013-2014

This map displays degree requirements, courses, faculty information, clubs & organizations, and Library resources associated with Africana Studies across the seven Claremont Colleges (7Cs) for the 2013-14 academic year. It was compiled using public information drawn from Colleges websites, course schedules and catalogs, and the Claremont Colleges Library website. This project was completed as part of an IMLS Sparks! Ignition grant in 2013-14

Nickel Exposure Reduces Enterobactin Production in Escherichia Coli

Escherichia coli is a well- studied bacterium that can be found in many niches, such as industrial wastewater, where the concentration of nickel can rise to low- millimolar levels. Recent studies show that nickel exposure can repress pyochelin or induce pyo-verdine siderophore production in Pseudomonas aueroginosa. Understanding the mo-lecular cross- talk between siderophore production, metal homeostasis, and metal toxicity in microorganisms is critical for designing bioremediation strategies for metal- contaminated sites. Here, we show that high- nickel exposure prolongs lag phase duration as a result of low- intracellular iron levels in E. coli. Although E. coli cells respond to low- intracellular iron during nickel stress by maintaining high expres-sion of iron uptake systems such as fepA, the demand for iron is not met due to a lack of siderophores in the extracellular medium during nickel stress. Taken together, these results indicate that nickel inhibits iron accumulation in E. coli by reducing the presence of enterobactin in the extracellular medium

Mandated data archiving greatly improves access to research data

The data underlying scientific papers should be accessible to researchers both now and in the future, but how best can we ensure that these data are available? Here we examine the effectiveness of four approaches to data archiving: no stated archiving policy, recommending (but not requiring) archiving, and two versions of mandating data deposition at acceptance. We control for differences between data types by trying to obtain data from papers that use a single, widespread population genetic analysis, STRUCTURE. At one extreme, we found that mandated data archiving policies that require the inclusion of a data availability statement in the manuscript improve the odds of finding the data online almost a thousand-fold compared to having no policy. However, archiving rates at journals with less stringent policies were only very slightly higher than those with no policy at all. At one extreme, we found that mandated data archiving policies that require the inclusion of a data availability statement in the manuscript improve the odds of finding the data online almost a thousand fold compared to having no policy. However, archiving rates at journals with less stringent policies were only very slightly higher than those with no policy at all. We also assessed the effectiveness of asking for data directly from authors and obtained over half of the requested datasets, albeit with about 8 days delay and some disagreement with authors. Given the long term benefits of data accessibility to the academic community, we believe that journal based mandatory data archiving policies and mandatory data availability statements should be more widely adopted