858 research outputs found
EDUCATOR PERCEPTIONS OF THE OPITIMAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE
The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the educator’s perception of the optimal
professional development experience. Research studies have concluded that the biggest indicator
to predict student achievement is teacher effectiveness (Aaronson, Barrow, & Sander, 2007;
Marzano, 2003; Sanders & Horn, 1998; Wong 2001). Guskey (2000) stated, “Never before in
the history of education has greater importance been attached to the professional development of
educators” (p. 3). School districts continue to face reduced budgets and continue to expend
resources on professional development. In addition, states such as Indiana have recently
changed their evaluation system to encourage more professional development at the school and
district level. A survey was created to analyze educator perceptions of professional development
in five Midwest states: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky. The survey collected
basic teacher demographic data: gender (male/female), licensure (elementary K–5, secondary 6–
12), years of experience (0–5, 6–10, 11–15, 16–20, and 20 or more), and position type
(teacher/principal). The survey consisted of 35 questions that focused on educator perceptions of
professional development. In all, 396 educators from 18 school districts across five Midwest
states responded to the survey instrument. A statistical analysis of the responses provided
composite mean scores and standard deviations. A factorial ANOVA was used to test the first
hypothesis. An independent samples t-test was used to test the second, fourth, and fifth
hypotheses. A one-way ANOVA was used to test the third hypothesis. There was a significant6–12) on their perceptions of professional development. Principals responded with a higher
perception of professional development than teachers. Elementary licensure, K–5th grade
teachers, also responded with a higher perception of professional development. There was no
significant difference between gender (male/female) and years of experience (0–5, 6–10, 11–15,
16–20, and 20 or more). Educators responded that their perception of the most effective forms of
professional development were having more time to work with colleagues (86.6%), using a
professional learning community model (85.7%), and attending conferences and workshops
(84.9%). In addition, educators had a higher perception of the effectiveness of professional
development at the school level versus the district level.
difference between position type (teacher/principal) and licensure (elementary K–5, secondar
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Development of outbred CD1 mouse colonies with distinct standardized gut microbiota profiles for use in complex microbiota targeted studies.
Studies indicate that the gut microbiota (GM) can significantly influence both local and systemic host physiologic processes. With rising concern for optimization of experimental reproducibility and translatability, it is essential to consider the GM in study design. However, GM profiles can vary between rodent producers making consistency between models challenging. To circumvent this, we developed outbred CD1 mouse colonies with stable, complex GM profiles that can be used as donors for a variety of GM transfer techniques including rederivation, co-housing, cross-foster, and fecal microbiota transfer (FMT). CD1 embryos were surgically transferred into CD1 or C57BL/6 surrogate dams that varied by GM composition and complexity to establish four separate mouse colonies harboring GM profiles representative of contemporary mouse producers. Using targeted 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, subsequent female offspring were found to have similar GM profiles to surrogate dams. Furthermore, breeding colonies of CD1 mice with distinct GM profiles were maintained for nine generations, demonstrating GM stability within these colonies. To confirm GM stability, we shipped cohorts of these four colonies to collaborating institutions and found no significant variation in GM composition. These mice are an invaluable experimental resource that can be used to investigate GM effects on mouse model phenotype
Transcriptome Analysis of Targeted Mouse Mutations Reveals the Topography of Local Changes in Gene Expression.
The unintended consequences of gene targeting in mouse models have not been thoroughly studied and a more systematic analysis is needed to understand the frequency and characteristics of off-target effects. Using RNA-seq, we evaluated targeted and neighboring gene expression in tissues from 44 homozygous mutants compared with C57BL/6N control mice. Two allele types were evaluated: 15 targeted trap mutations (TRAP); and 29 deletion alleles (DEL), usually a deletion between the translational start and the 3' UTR. Both targeting strategies insert a bacterial beta-galactosidase reporter (LacZ) and a neomycin resistance selection cassette. Evaluating transcription of genes in +/- 500 kb of flanking DNA around the targeted gene, we found up-regulated genes more frequently around DEL compared with TRAP alleles, however the frequency of alleles with local down-regulated genes flanking DEL and TRAP targets was similar. Down-regulated genes around both DEL and TRAP targets were found at a higher frequency than expected from a genome-wide survey. However, only around DEL targets were up-regulated genes found with a significantly higher frequency compared with genome-wide sampling. Transcriptome analysis confirms targeting in 97% of DEL alleles, but in only 47% of TRAP alleles probably due to non-functional splice variants, and some splicing around the gene trap. Local effects on gene expression are likely due to a number of factors including compensatory regulation, loss or disruption of intragenic regulatory elements, the exogenous promoter in the neo selection cassette, removal of insulating DNA in the DEL mutants, and local silencing due to disruption of normal chromatin organization or presence of exogenous DNA. An understanding of local position effects is important for understanding and interpreting any phenotype attributed to targeted gene mutations, or to spontaneous indels
Science camera calibration for extreme adaptive optics
The nascent field of planet detection has yielded a host of extra-solar planet detections. To date, these detections have been the result of indirect techniques: the planet is inferred by precisely measuring its effect on the host star. Direct observation of extra-solar planets remains a challenging yet compelling goal. In this vein, the Center for Adaptive Optics has proposed a ground-based, high-actuator density extreme AO system (XAOPI), for a large (~10 m) telescope whose ultimate goal is to directly evidence a specific class of these objects: young and massive planets. Detailed system wave-front error budgets suggest that this system is a feasible, if not an ambitious, proposition. One key element in this error budget is the calibration and maintenance of the science camera wave front with respect to the wave-front sensor which currently has an allowable contribution of ~ 5 nanometers rms. This talk first summarizes the current status of calibration on existing ground-based AO systems, the magnitude of this effect in the system error budget and current techniques for mitigation. Subsequently, we will explore the nature of this calibration error term, it’s source in the non-commonality between the science camera and wave front sensor, and the effect of the temporal evolution of non-commonality. Finally, we will describe preliminary plans for sensing and controlling this error term. The sensing techniques include phase retrieval, phase contrast and external metrology. To conclude, a calibration scenario that meets the stringent requirement for XAOPI will be discussed
Validation of simple sequence length polymorphism regions of commonly used mouse strains for marker assisted speed congenics screening.
Marker assisted speed congenics technique is commonly used to facilitate backcrossing of mouse strains in nearly half the time it normally takes otherwise. Traditionally, the technique is performed by analyzing PCR amplified regions of simple sequence length polymorphism (SSLP) markers between the recipient and donor strains: offspring with the highest number of markers showing the recipient genome across all chromosomes is chosen for the next generation. Although there are well-defined panels of SSLP makers established between certain pairs of mice strains, they are incomplete for most strains. The availability of well-established marker sets for speed congenic screens would enable the scientific community to transfer mutations across strain backgrounds. In this study, we tested the suitability of over 400 SSLP marker sets among 10 mouse strains commonly used for generating genetically engineered models. The panel of markers presented here can readily identify the specified strains and will be quite useful in marker assisted speed congenic screens. Moreover, unlike newer single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array methods which require sophisticated equipment, the SSLP markers panel described here only uses PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis of amplified products; therefore it can be performed in most research laboratories
ISOGAL Survey of Baade's Windows in the Mid-infrared
The ISOGAL mid-infrared survey of areas close to the Galactic Plane aims to
determine their stellar content and its possible bearing on the history of the
Galaxy. The NGC6522 and Sgr I Baade's Windows of low obscuration towards the
inner parts of the Bulge represent ideal places in which to calibrate and
understand the ISOGAL colour-magnitude diagrams.
The survey observations were made with the ISOCAM instrument of the ISO
satellite. The filter bands chosen were LW2(~7 microns) and LW3(~15 microns).
The results presented here show that most of the detected objects are late
M-type giants on the AGB, with a cut-off for those earlier than M3-M4. The most
luminous members of these two Bulge fields at 7 microns are the Mira variables.
However, it is evident that they represent the end of a sequence of increasing
15 micron dust emission which commences with M giants of earlier sub-type.
In observations of late-type giants the ISOCAM 15 micron band is mainly
sensitive to the cool silicate or aluminate dust shells which overwhelm the
photospheric emission. However, in ordinary M-giant stars, the 7 micron band is
not strongly affected by dust emission and may be influenced instead by
absorption. The nu2 band of water at 6.25 microns and the SiO fundamental at
7.9 microns are likely contribitors to this effect.
A group of late M stars has been found which vary little or not at all but
have infrared colours typical of well-developed dust shells. Their luminosities
are similar to those of 200-300 day Miras but they have slightly redder
[7]-[15] colours which form an extension of the ordinary M giant sequence.
The Mira dust shells show a mid-infrared [7]-[15] colour-period relation. ca
700 days.Comment: 13 pages 15 figure
Distillability and partial transposition in bipartite systems
We study the distillability of a certain class of bipartite density operators
which can be obtained via depolarization starting from an arbitrary one. Our
results suggest that non-positivity of the partial transpose of a density
operator is not a sufficient condition for distillability, when the dimension
of both subsystems is higher than two.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur
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