An inquiry based instructional planning model that accommodates student diversity

The students in today’s public school classrooms represent great diversity and the struggle of teachers to teach all their students well. This paper describes an inquiry based instructional planning model that reflects lessons from the literature on effective teaching for diverse classrooms. An example of a high school lesson exemplifies the model. The model includes a framework for planning supports for students with extraordinary learning challenges

Symmetry reduction in group 4mm photonic crystals

The size of absolute band gaps in two-dimensional photonic crystals is often limited by band degeneracies at the lattice symmetry points. By reducing the lattice symmetry, these degeneracies can be lifted to increase the size of existing photonic band gaps, or to create new gaps where none existed for the more symmetric structure. Specifically, symmetry reduction by the addition of different diameter rods into the unit cell of two-dimensional square lattices (Laue group 4mm) is explored. This approach is especially useful in opening absolute band gaps in structures of dielectric rods in air, which are more easily microfabricated than a crystal of air columns in a dielectric background. Symmetry reduction offers a rational approach for exploring and designing new photonic crystal structures

An Examination of Student Performance in Pre-Requisite Coursework and Upper Division Nursing Coursework

Admission and retention of qualified nursing students are essential in meeting the demands of a rapidly changing health care environment and nursing shortage. The purpose of this exploratory correlational study was to determine the relationship between student performance in quantitative pre-requisite coursework and student performance in upper division nursing coursework in order to identify students at-risk for attrition. A series of descriptive and correlational analyses were conducted using pre-existing institutional data. A moderate relationship existed among the chemistry II and first-year upper division nursing courses (r = .21 to r = .40). These results suggest that prerequisite chemistry course performance could be a reliable predictor of academic success

Larger Two-Dimensional Photonic Band Gaps

Absolute photonic band gaps in two-dimensional square and honeycomb lattices of circular cross-section rods can be increased by reducing the structure symmetry. The addition of a smaller diameter rod into the center of each lattice unit cell lifts band degeneracies to create significantly larger band gaps. Symmetry breaking is most effective at filling fractions near those which produce absolute band gaps for the original lattice. Rod diameter ratios in the range 0.1–0.2 yield the greatest improvement in absolute gap size. Crystal symmetry reduction opens up new ways for engineering photonic gaps

PROFITS AND RISK: FITTING AN OLD FRAMEWORK TO A NEW AGRICULTURE

Textbooks in agricultural economics characterize resources used in production agriculture into four categories: land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurial ability. Profit is presented as earned by management. This traditional list of resources is respecified. Management is redefined as a specialized type of labor and two additional resources, information and risk bearing capacity, are added. Profits accrue not to management but to those able to bear the risk inherent in production agriculture. Equity diversification is a means for farmers to provide and manage this resource and, thus, earn economic profits. Producer education and the repeal or amendment of legislation restricting the ability of farmers to diversify their equity investment are needed.agriculture, equity diversification, farm management, information, resources, risk, Agricultural Finance,

Are male orangutans a threat to infants? Evidence of mother-offspring counter strategies to infanticide in Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii)

Sexually selected infanticide by males is widespread in primates. Female primates employ a variety of strategies to reduce infanticide risk. While infanticide has never been directly observed in wild orangutans (Pongo spp.), their slow life history makes infants vulnerable to infanticide. The mating strategies of female orangutans include polyandrous and postconceptive mating that may serve to increase paternity confusion, an infanticide avoidance strategy. Here, we investigate whether female orangutans alter their social interactions with males as another infanticide avoidance strategy. We hypothesize that females with younger offspring avoid males and that the distance between mother and offspring decreases in the presence of males. We use long-term behavioral data collected between 1994 and 2016 from Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) in Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia, to test whether the sexual selection hypothesis for infanticide helps explain aspects of orangutan social behavior. We found that mothers with offspring 6 yr. old and females without offspring. In addition, the distance between a mother–offspring dyad showed a statistically significant decrease in the presence of males, but not females. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that female orangutans employ strategies to reduce infanticide risk in their social interactions. Because orangutans have a high fission–fusion dynamic, they have flexibility in manipulating social interactions as a counter-infanticide strategy. Our results suggest that infanticide by males is a selective pressure shaping female orangutan social behavior.Accepted manuscrip

Reading on Grade Level in Third Grade: How Is It Related to High School Performance and College Enrollment?

Illustrates how third-grade reading level correlates with eighth-grade reading level, which, along with ninth-grade school traits, correlates with ninth-grade performance, which in turn correlates with high school graduation and college attendance rates