Redesigning Instruction for Inter-Professional Education

Purpose: A pilot project created a curriculum model infusing Interprofessional Education (IPE) in Mercy College’s School of Health and Natural Sciences (SHNS), allowing students and faculty to integrate IPE within programmatic courses. Background: As institutions focus on patient safety, quality and cost effective care, the call for interprofessional collaboration among providers continues to rise (Chen, Delnat & Gardner, 2015). This program included innovative teaching strategies and curriculum development in the health care programs within the SHNS. Description of Program: Pilot projects focused on history taking and IPE patient case scenarios, allowing students to experience interactive hands on learning of IPE concepts and competencies. Two workshops were held to educate the faculty in developing IPE cases and debriefing strategies. The first program used real patients with chronic conditions allowing students to gain confidence in interviewing while understanding the commonalities between disciplines. This project included students from communication disorders, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy and physician assistant programs. Participants completed an adapted version of the Attitudes Towards Health Care Teams Scale (ATHCTS) (Kim & Ko, 2014) before and after each pilot program, and a one minute reflection after each program. Findings identified significant changes in five variables on the adapted ATHCTS. The qualitative one minute reflection identified themes of commonalities between disciplines. All students identified a need to provide more IPE education among all of the disciplines. This project demonstrated a new way to use strategies to engage patients as partners in developing new models of IPE and care. This project also addressed approaches to prepare and engage both students and faculty in the IPE process. IPE activities will be broadened in the upcoming years and continue to include patients in the IPE education process. Learning Objectives: By the end of this presentation participants will be able to - Identify new modalities of creating IPE initiatives for implementation across disciplines that incorporate patients into the IPE process. - Identify methods of training faculty in creating IPE strategies and debriefing. Reference: Kim, K & Ko, J. (2014). Attitudes toward interprofessional health care teams scale: a confirmatory factor analysis. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 2014; 28(2): 149–154

The Impact of Singing-Integrated Reading Instruction on the Oral Reading Fluency and Motivation of Elementary Students in an Out-of-School Time Program

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of singing-integrated reading instruction on the oral reading fluency and motivation of elementary students in an after school program. Participants were third graders (n = 29) who attended the singing-integrated oral reading fluency (SI ORF) intervention twice a week for eight weeks. Components of the intervention included teacher-modeling of fluent oral reading, oral support, repeated reading and singing activities from a variety of children’s literature, and individual free-time. The adapted Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS; McKenna & Kear, 1990) measured recreational, academic, and composite reading attitudes. The Qualitative Reading Inventory – 5 (QRI-5; Leslie & Caldwell, 2011) measured the following fluency components: Word Recognition in Isolation (WRI), both Correct Automatic and Total Number Correct, Word Recognition in Context (WRC), and reading rate, calculated as Words per Minute (WPM). Pretests and posttests for components of both assessments were compared using paired-samples t – tests. Data analyses of adapted ERAS mean percentage scores revealed a statistically significant decline in recreational reading attitude, no statistically significant difference in academic reading attitude, and a decline that approached significance in participants’ overall reading attitudes. QRI-5 scores revealed a statistically significant increase from pretest to posttest in WRI Correct Automatic, WRI Total Number Correct, WRC, and reading rate scores. The after-school environment offered a viable option for SI ORF instruction and was free from restraints that can accompany high-stakes testing environments in the traditional school setting. Overall, participants were attentive and enthusiastic, particularly enjoying the singing and repeated lyrics components of the intervention

A Study of Space Station Contamination Effects

A workshop was held with the specific objective of reviewing the state-of-knowledge regarding Space Station contamination, the extent to which the various categories of contamination can be predicted, and the extent to which the predicted levels would interfere with onboard scientific investigations or space station functions. The papers presented at the workshop are compiled and address the following topics: natural environment, plasma electromagnetic environment, optical environment, particulate environment, spacecraft contamination, surface physics processes, laboratory experiments and vented chemicals/contaminants

The Impact of Singing-Integrated Reading Instruction on the Oral Reading Fluency and Motivation of Elementary Students in an Out-of-School Time Program

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of singing-integrated reading instruction on the oral reading fluency and motivation of elementary students in an after school program. Participants were third graders (n = 29) who attended the singing-integrated oral reading fluency (SI ORF) intervention twice a week for eight weeks. Components of the intervention included teacher-modeling of fluent oral reading, oral support, repeated reading and singing activities from a variety of children’s literature, and individual free-time. The adapted Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS; McKenna & Kear, 1990) measured recreational, academic, and composite reading attitudes. The Qualitative Reading Inventory – 5 (QRI-5; Leslie & Caldwell, 2011) measured the following fluency components: Word Recognition in Isolation (WRI), both Correct Automatic and Total Number Correct, Word Recognition in Context (WRC), and reading rate, calculated as Words per Minute (WPM). Pretests and posttests for components of both assessments were compared using paired-samples t – tests. Data analyses of adapted ERAS mean percentage scores revealed a statistically significant decline in recreational reading attitude, no statistically significant difference in academic reading attitude, and a decline that approached significance in participants’ overall reading attitudes. QRI-5 scores revealed a statistically significant increase from pretest to posttest in WRI Correct Automatic, WRI Total Number Correct, WRC, and reading rate scores. The after-school environment offered a viable option for SI ORF instruction and was free from restraints that can accompany high-stakes testing environments in the traditional school setting. Overall, participants were attentive and enthusiastic, particularly enjoying the singing and repeated lyrics components of the intervention

Extracellular Matrix Proteins and Tumor Angiogenesis

Tumor development is a complex process that relies on interaction and communication between a number of cellular compartments. Much of the mass of a solid tumor is comprised of the stroma which is richly invested with extracellular matrix. Within this matrix are a host of matricellular proteins that regulate the expression and function of a myriad of proteins that regulate tumorigenic processes. One of the processes that is vital to tumor growth and progression is angiogenesis, or the formation of new blood vessels from preexisting vasculature. Within the extracellular matrix are structural proteins, a host of proteases, and resident pro- and antiangiogenic factors that control tumor angiogenesis in a tightly regulated fashion. This paper discusses the role that the extracellular matrix and ECM proteins play in the regulation of tumor angiogenesis