Faculty OER Toolkit

The Faculty OER Toolkit is intended as an introductory guide for faculty interested in incorporating Open Educational Resources (OER) into their teaching practice. Beginning with a definition of OER, reasons to use OER, and online collections of OER to use, the Toolkit also covers basic information about adapting, adopting, and evaluating OER. Additionally, there is information about licensing and copyright, including an explanation of Creative Commons licenses and attribution statements. Throughout the Toolkit, links are provided to more in-depth resources on topics including adopting open textbooks, adapting open textbooks, and ensuring OER are truly accessible for all users

Giuliana Sorce (Ed.). Global perspectives on NGO communication for social change

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) face an increasingly challenging and complicated context in which to achieve social change. Current trends toward illiberal populism and rising authoritarianism combine with the challenges of fake news and the protracted difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In these circumstances, the critical role played by NGOs in civil society has only been heightened. Global Perspectives on NGO Communication for Social Change provides us with a timely and comprehensive examination of the key role that communication plays in enabling NGOs for social change to engage with their stakeholders and to impact society. This edited volume examines how NGOs strive to achieve this. Structured in two parts, the book first focuses on thematic perspectives before then devoting the second half to case studies, which provide the reader with a rich array of initiatives used to communicate and engage audiences. It presents clear global perspectives, as well as giving us nuanced national and local viewpoints from a broad range of countries, including cases from Brazil, Bangladesh, Nigeria, South Africa and China

Palestinian Christians and Their Identity and Resistance in the 20th Century

About the author Brandon Moist is a senior at Shippesnburg University majoring in History and International Studies. His research interests include Middle Eastern Studies, Israel-Palestine conflict and Global Politics. He lived in Amman, Jordan this past summer studying Arabic and traveling through the region in order to better understand Arabic and Arabic culture

A Community-Based Accommodation Program for Adults with Autism and Mental Retardation

There is a paucity of treatment literature for significant and intractable behavior problems in adults with autism and mental retardation. Four adults with autism, severe to profound mental retardation, and serious, long-term behavior problems participated in an accommodation training program as an adjunct to more traditional behavioral and medical treatments. The accommodation program consisted of designing highly structured and predictable daily routines to reduce the impact of environmental factors that had previously resulted in behavior problems. Following three to six years of participation in the accommodation program, a significant treatment effect size was obtained for all participants. The benefits of this approach for improving the treatment-resistant problem behaviors and quality of life for adults with autism and mental retardation in a community-based setting are discussed as well as directions for future research

Collecting, Collage, and Alchemy: The Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music as Art and Cultural Intervention

In 1952 Folkways Records released a series of compilations of early 20th century music titled The Anthology of American Folk Music, assembled by artist and record collector Harry Smith. A major influence on the folk revival of the 1950s, the Anthology was also an artwork in itself, one that challenged a range of conventional assumptions about not only music but also broader social and cultural processes. Smith’s strategy in constructing the Anthology combined the practice of collecting, collage aesthetics, and the philosophy of alchemy, transmuting seemingly simple materials (recordings of folk music of the 1920s and 1930s) into new and different forms that suggested fresh cultural possibilities grounded in these seemingly “lost” traditions. This article discusses the Anthology in terms of its cultural and aesthetic approaches, with a particular focus on their relevance for and continuing influence on contemporary postmodern culture

Building a Culture of Academic Integrity: Meeting Students Where They Are

How can we meet students where they are to provide academic integrity instruction? By moving to the centre of campus and engaging students in walk-up learning opportunities outside the classroom. In this presentation, faculty members from the Library and Learning Centre will share their collaborative experiences in creating new academic integrity supports for students in an institution where Academic Integrity does not fall under the umbrella of an institution's Teaching & Learning Centre or a dedicated Academic Integrity Office. Participants will learn about a new collaborative initiative to engage students in learning about academic integrity that includes a series of interactive activities in a central space on campus. This collaborative tabling between the Library, Learning Centre, and Student Life allows students to explore ideas they have, ask questions, and engage in learning activities outside the “normal” learning environment of classroom, library and tutoring spaces and connect the students to the services offered for deeper learning through knowledge of the available resources. Time will be reserved for others to share similar programming and ideas.

Minimizing Hemodialysis Catheter Dysfunction: An Ounce of Prevention

The maintenance of tunneled catheter (TC) patency is critical for the provision of adequate hemodialysis in patients who are TC-dependent. TC dysfunction results in the need for costly and inconvenient interventions, and reduced quality of life. Since the introduction of TCs in the late 1980s, heparin catheter lock has been the standard prophylactic regimen for the prevention of TC dysfunction. More recently, alternative catheter locking agents have emerged, and in some cases have shown to be superior to heparin lock with respect to improving TC patency and reducing TC-associated infections. These include citrate, tissue plasminogen activator, and a novel agent containing sodium citrate, methylene blue, methylparaben, and propylparaben. In addition, prophylaxis using oral anticoagulants/antiplatelet agents, including warfarin, aspirin, ticlodipine, as well as the use of modified heparin-coated catheters have also been studied for the prevention of TC dysfunction with variable results. The use of oral anticoagulants and/or antiplatelet agents as primary or secondary prevention of TC dysfunction must be weighed against their potential adverse effects, and should be individualized for each patient

The best dialysis therapy? Results from an international survey among nephrology professionals

Background. There is little evidence for superior outcome of one dialysis therapy versus another. Still, nephrologists have to prescribe dialysis every day. It is therefore of interest to ascertain the opinion among nephrology professionals regarding which therapy they consider to be the best and to compare this to reality