Building Stronger Student-Teacher Relationships Through a Mentorship Program to Increase Student Reading Achievement

Research has shown that students learn best when their teachers know and understand them. When there are strong student-teacher relationships in place, reading achievement improves. In the following project, teachers will be part of a yearlong mentorship program at their school to improve student-teacher relationships in their classrooms. Teachers that are struggling to build positive student-teacher relationships will be the mentees and they will be paired with staff members who have already established strong, positive relationships with their students and will act as their mentors. The program will have three main components: cultural competence training, community connection and classroom library development. Through a series of meetings and events, teachers will meet with families, experience the community, learn to teach to a more diverse classroom and create a classroom library that reflects the students in their classroom. Through this program, student-teacher relationships will be improved and students will have more success in their literacy achievement

The Effect of Stress on Undergraduate College Students in Relation to Eating Out Behaviors and Weight Status

Abstract Objective: The aims of the current descriptive study were to determine if greater levels of perceived stress in college students relates to the frequency in which this population participates in eating out or ordering food for delivery and how this potential association influences weight status. Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted using an existing data set obtained from the Young Adults Eating and Active for Health study. Demographic questions, The Cohen 14-item Perceived Stress Scale, anthropometrics, the NCI Fruit and Vegetable Screener, and the Food Delivery Questionnaire were used to measure the main variables under examination. Non-parametric statistics, Chi-square T-tests, and ANOVA were used to analyze data. Data was analyzed using SPSS software and tested for a P value \u3c 0.05 as statistically significant. Participants: The participants consisted of 973 students from 13 college campuses across the U.S. who had participated in the 15-month YEAH study. Of the sample population, 287 participants were male and 685 were female. Results: Female college students were shown to exhibit greater levels of perceived stress than males (23.96±7.75 versus 21.74±7.54; t (932) = -4.02, p =0.00). Male participants demonstrated more frequent ordering of food delivery behavior than females (U = 76213.0, p = 0.005) but no association was found between levels of stress compared to eating out frequency, the rate of food delivered to a participant’s residence, or to BMI status. Females showed an association for using websites such as campusfood.com more frequently when very high levels of stress were experienced (χ2 (12) = 22.2, p = 0.035). Conclusion: The study did not present conclusive results but trends suggest at high levels of stress certain health related consumption behaviors may be influenced in a negative manner. The study provides a foundation for future research on stress and its potential influence on unhealthy eating out behaviors within the collegiate population

Effects of temperature, illumination and node position on stem propagation of Miscanthus × giganteus

The sterile triploid Miscanthus × giganteus is capable of yielding more biomass per unit land area than most other temperate crops. Although the yield potential of M. × giganteus is high, sterility requires all propagation of the plant to be done vegetatively. The traditional rhizome propagation system achieves relatively low multiplication rates, i.e. the number of new plants generated from a single-parent plant, and requires tillage that leaves soil vulnerable to CO2 and erosion losses. A stem-based propagation system is used in related crops like sugarcane, and may prove a viable alternative, but the environmental conditions required for shoot initiation from stems of M. × giganteus are unknown. A study was conducted to investigate the effect of temperature, illumination and node position on emergence of M. × giganteus shoots. Stems of M. × giganteus were cut into segments with a single node each, placed in controlled environments under varied soil temperature or light regimes and the number of emerged shoots were evaluated daily for 21 days. At temperatures of 20 and 25 °C, rhizomes produced significantly more shoots than did stem segments (P = 0.0105 and 0.0594, respectively), but the difference was not significant at 30 °C, where 63% of stems produced shoots compared to 80% of rhizomes (P = 0.2037). There was a strong positive effect (P = 0.0086) of soil temperature on emergence in the range of temperatures studied here (15–30 °C). Node positions higher on the stem were less likely to emerge (P \u3c 0.0001) with a significant interaction between illumination and node position. Planting the lowest five nodes from stems of M. × giganteus in 30 °C soil in the light resulted in 75% emergence, which represents a potential multiplication rate 10–12 times greater than that of the current rhizome-based system

Miscanthus Establishment and Survival

Rising costs of petroleum fuels and increased awareness of the adverse effects of greenhouse gases have spurred interest in renewable fuels and other ‘green’ products. Recent legislation has set goals of approximately 20 billion gallons of renewable fuel produced from non-corn starch sources by the year 2022. These driving forces have increased interest in dedicated bioenergy crops. Among perennial grasses, which have received an exceptional amount of attention as dedicated energy crops, one stands out: Miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus)

Sexual Harassment, Rape Myths and Paraphilias in the General Population: A Mediation Analysis Study

Purpose: Sexual harassment is a worldwide and prevalent problem that can have severe consequences. The #MeToo movement has highlighted that sexual harassment is not an isolated event and is linked to misogynistic cognitions and other forms of sexual violence. However, there is a lack of research regarding the relationship between sexual harassment and its nomological network, particularly in the general population.Design: The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between perception of harassment and Rape Myths, with paraphilia (fantasy &amp; behaviour) as mediators. Additionally, the prevalence of paraphilia in the general population was explored and gender difference was analysed. Frequencies, Pearson's r correlations, independent sample t-tests and mediation analyses were conducted on a sample of N = 254 participants from the general population.Findings: Analyses revealed that half of the sample have engaged in at least one paraphilia behaviour. Furthermore, correlations between a more lenient perception of harassment, rape myth acceptance and paraphilia were found, as well as significant gender differences. Finally, mediation models revealed a strong relationship between rape myth acceptance and a more lenient perception of harassment, with paraphilia mediating this relationship.Originality: Current research is mostly conducted on male samples in these areas; thus, this study aimed to collect data from a diverse sample that may provide a better overview of sexual harassment, and its nomological network.Implications: This study has several implications, highlighting the role of misogynistic cognitions in predicting a lenient perception of sexual harassment, and thus, proposing a key focus for prevention and intervention models.<br/