Instructional Designs for Expository Writing Using ACUE Practices

There are few opportunities (or requirements, even) for faculty to be certified in teaching methods. During my time as a lecturer at CSU San Bernardino, I have been asked to teach small and large lecture courses, but with only limited guidance as to how to accomplish this. The major concerns I had, and my reasoning for joining the ACUE course, were related to the core design of courses, engaging students, and providing an equitable learning environment that includes student guided learning. Contained within this submission are a selection of my reflections and/or instructional designs from the ACUE course. I have included: (1) Establishing powerful learning outcomes, (2) Aligning activities and assignments with course outcomes, (3) Developing and using checklists and rubrics, and (4) Engaging underprepared students. Ultimately, I believe that these represent a wide example of the types of work undertaken during the ACUE course from course planning stages to post-implementation

Factors Influencing Political Self-Efficacy And Political Astuteness in Undergraduate Nurse Educators

The profession of nursing, 3.9 million strong, continues to lag in taking an active role in the development of health policy. Reasons for that include lack of time, a lack of knowledge, and perceived competence of political action. The factors of knowledge and the related perceived competence, or in the case of this study, self-efficacy, could be improved through education. To that end, it was important to identify if nurse educators had the political astuteness, or knowledge, and self-efficacy. If not, how would nurses learn the necessary skills and gain confidence to be more active politically? The purpose of this study was to describe the political astuteness and political self-efficacy in undergraduate nurse educators and explore the possible correlation between political astuteness and political self-efficacy in the nurse educator. Additionally, the possible correlation between demographic factors and political self-efficacy was explored. The political self-efficacy is an indirect measure of the nurse educator’s ability to teach health policy to undergraduate nursing students. This descriptive study measured the political self-efficacy and political astuteness of nurse educators using two instruments. The Teacher Political Self-Efficacy-Modified scale (TPSE-M) and the Political Astuteness Inventory (PAI). Demographic data were also collected. Bandura’s (1997) self-efficacy theory framed the study. A random sample of 149 nurse educators from across the United States participated in this study. Data were reviewed visually for errors and missing data. The data were then exported to SPSS, with 132 participants included in the full analysis. The results of both the TPSE and the PAI showed low to mid-levels of astuteness and political self-efficacy. Having completed a health policy course in graduate school increased the educators’ knowledge as measured by the PAI. The results also supported Bandura’s theory (1997) with nurse educators belonging to professional organizations scoring higher in self-efficacy, likely through a degree of vicarious learning and encouragement from peers within those organizations. Additionally, there was a strong correlation of .739 between the results of the PAI and the TPSE in this population. The main implication of this study was that many nurse educators do not have the knowledge or self-efficacy to be politically active and therefore are unlikely to be able to pass this knowledge and skill to new nurses. Nurse educators who teach this content have a responsibility to increase both their knowledge and self-efficacy. College leadership, including directors and deans, must evaluate their current faculty for the knowledge and skills of health policy and advocacy just as they would for the knowledge and skills of any other specialty. Steps toward increasing those health policy skills and self-efficacy could include providing time and compensation for classes in health policy in addition to encouraging political advocacy by their faculty as service, compensated through the faculty evaluation process. Improving the knowledge and skills of the faculty might also improve the PAI and self-efficacy related to health policy of new nursing graduates

Geographic variation and behavorial plasticity: Vigilance in desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) populations

Antipredator behaviors such as vigilance are often costly because they must be traded off with other activities, such as feeDing To assess geographic patterns of vigilance behavior in bighorn sheep, I tested the large-scale hypothesis that vigilance in bighorn sheep would differ between populations as a result of spatial heterogeneity in predation regimes. Mean vigilance as well as the covariation of vigilance with environmental factors such as group size and distance from escape terrain were predicted to differ among regions with and without predators. Populations under high predation risk were three populations that had originally been translocated from a mountain range uninhabited by mountain lions to habitat with lions. Populations in habitat without resident mountain lions were three native populations in the Mojave Desert. Results indicated no difference in overall mean vigilance between populations of sheep in habitat with mountain lions verses those without lions. Instead, there were differences in vigilance between terrain types expressed at different group size. Although behavioral response to terrain type of large group size was consistent with adaptive vigilance behavior, I rejected the hypothesis of large-scale adaptation and concluded that lack of population-level differences in overall vigilance was not consistent with predicted patterns of adaptive behavior; To determine conditions that have prevented large-scale adaptation, norms of reaction for vigilance of native populations were examined to determine whether vigilance in these populations reflects predicted patterns of adaptive behavioral plasticity due to the costs of maintaining vigilance in the absence of predators. Vigilance in translocated populations was examined to determine whether populations under relaxed predation pressure retained sufficient adaptive plasticity to adjust vigilance behavior in response to increased predation risk. Results indicated that the observed variability in adaptive responses among populations of native desert bighorn sheep with relaxed selection, combined with a nonadaptive response of sheep in one of the translocated populations, contributed to the overall pattern of non-adaptive variation in vigilance. Given that some populations exhibited adaptive norms of reaction for vigilance, it appears that there are a variety of processes and contingencies that combine to generate the observed variability in behavior of bighorn sheep

The rhetoric of state assessment: Educational politics in the public school system

In this thesis I explore the rhetoric behind the assessment push nation-wide and, particularly, in California. I take a close look at what politicians, educators, and citizens say about public education and their views of the current educational reform: whether they are speaking in support of or opposition to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. I look specifically at the finances of public education in California, the impact and current outcome of NCLB, and propose new reforms as suggested by those intimately involved in education

Cougar Dispersal and Natal Homing in a Desert Environment

We present a review of cougar dispersal literature and the first evidence of natural (i.e., unmanipulated) homing behavior by a dispersing male cougar (Puma concolor) that sustained severe injuries crossing the northern Mojave Desert. Based on Global Positioning System and ground tracking data, the male traveled a total distance of 981.1 km at 5.03 km/d, including 170.31 km from the Desert National Wildlife Refuge to the northwestern Grand Canyon, where he sustained severe injuries. The interkill interval increased from 7.1 ± 2.7 d while he was in his natal range to 17.5 ± 4.9 d during dispersal. While homing, the male appeared to consume only reptiles until he died, 33.7 km from his capture site. In desert environments where prey availability is low, homing behavior may be an important strategy for dispersing cougars, providing a mechanism for persistence when the best quality habitats they encounter are already occupied by adult residents. Therefore, managing for habitat connectivity can ensure successful homing as well as dispersal on a greater scale than has been previously suggested. Elucidating the mechanisms that trigger homing during dispersal may provide critical insight into animal movements often overlooked as mundane behavior

Research opportunities for future commercial transports

Research applicable to commercial aircraft is briefly discussed. Display devices, fly by wire control systems, and systems compatibility are among the topics discussed

New Student Orientation at the Two-Year College – An Appreciative Approach

Over the years, New Student Orientation (NSO) at Midlands Technical College (MTC) has become more intentionally student-focused. The NSO team at MTC is striving to develop intentional positive relationships with students by implementing the six phases of the appreciative education model into on-campus orientation. After a brief overview of the six phases of appreciative education, as they are outlined in the 2013 article by Bloom, et. al., there will be detailed examples of how MTC has implemented all six phases of appreciative education – disarm, discover, dream, design, deliver, don’t settle – into NSO. The next section will be used to share some of our orientation survey data, as it correlates with the overall goal of the AE model and its phases. Finally, the concluding remarks will summarize why using an appreciative model for NSO at a two-year college increases the potential for developing positive relationships with students.

Combined effects of global warming and a shutdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation on West African and European climate

textThe Atlantic meridional overturning circulation has a vast potential for abrupt climate change due to its large heat transport through the ocean and its nonlinear dynamics. Because of these unique properties, this paper investigates how the climate of West Africa and Europe will respond to a shutdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation at the end of the 21st century. Here we use a regional climate model with 90-km grid spacing is forced by an idealized sea-surface temperature anomaly, based upon coupled atmosphere/ocean global model water hosing experiments, with a business-as-usual global warming scenario to discover how West African and European climate will change. In both the boreal spring and summer, cooling in the eastern Atlantic is associated with a strong intensification and eastward extension of the North Atlantic subtropical high over Europe throughout the depth of the atmosphere, a strengthening of the heat low over West Africa at low levels, and a weakening of the Saharan High in the upper atmosphere. Rainfall rates also decrease markedly throughout most of West Africa and Europe: in spring, rainfall rates decrease by 50-80% over Sahelian Africa, in summer rainfall over Europe decreases by up to 90%, while precipitation over West Africa is reduced by 40%.Geological Science

Student Conduct Codes at Religious Affiliated Institutions: Fostering Growth

The following study focuses on student conduct codes at two religiously affiliated universities in the southeastern portion of the United States (El Shaddai University and Cornerstone University) and the extent to which these codes foster whole student development. In order to develop a well-formed understanding of this topic, the background information contains a brief summary of the historical beginnings of the colonial college in America and an explanation of the role codes of conduct have played in higher education over the years, including relevant disciplinary theories and findings from previous studies. Finally, my own findings gleaned from school histories, mission statements, handbook overviews, and interview data are expressed and analyzed. These findings inform the concluding remarks regarding the hegemonic questions: Do the student codes of conduct at the two religiously affiliated institutions in the southeastern portion of the United States foster the growth and development of the whole student? Why or why not