Jefferson Middle School: A School of Achievers

The purpose of this field experience was to develop a detailed five-year strategic plan for Jefferson Middle School. The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) Middle School Future Planning Consortium had twenty-four middle schools across the nation that worked collaboratively to share and build their plans. Jefferson Middle School was part of this consortium. The researcher utilized the ASCD format and the expertise of those schools involved to develop the Jefferson Middle School plan. The format has four major areas of focus: (1) Organization, (2) Core Curriculum, (3) Improved Teaching and (4) Educational Technology. This field study report is divided into five chapters. Chapter one explains why Jefferson Middle School wanted to be involved, relates the specific statement of the problem being researched, and gives the limitations of the study. Chapter two is a study of the related literature and research concerning the middle school movement. Chapter three explains the format of the study, the method of data collection, and the data analysis. Chapter four lists the results, recommendations and conclusions of the data that was collected from the twenty-four middle schools. Chapter five summarizes the recommendations of the researcher based on the results of the surveys

Jefferson Middle School: A School of Achievers

The purpose of this field experience was to develop a detailed five-year strategic plan for Jefferson Middle School. The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) Middle School Future Planning Consortium had twenty-four middle schools across the nation that worked collaboratively to share and build their plans. Jefferson Middle School was part of this consortium. The researcher utilized the ASCD format and the expertise of those schools involved to develop the Jefferson Middle School plan. The format has four major areas of focus: (1) Organization, (2) Core Curriculum, (3) Improved Teaching and (4) Educational Technology. This field study report is divided into five chapters. Chapter one explains why Jefferson Middle School wanted to be involved, relates the specific statement of the problem being researched, and gives the limitations of the study. Chapter two is a study of the related literature and research concerning the middle school movement. Chapter three explains the format of the study, the method of data collection, and the data analysis. Chapter four lists the results, recommendations and conclusions of the data that was collected from the twenty-four middle schools. Chapter five summarizes the recommendations of the researcher based on the results of the surveys

What did the students expect from TPU and what they have got: comparative study

Backlight units are the most relevant element in display with respect to the energy consumption. In addition, the quality of backlight units in terms of brightness, homogenous light distribution, and the angle of light radiation, dramatically influence the overall quality of a display. Within this paper a new approach for the production of complex micro optics on large surfaces is presented. The technology is being optimised within the FlexPAET project for the production of next generation backlight units which allow for more efficient display illumination

Phenylketonuria in South Africa - A report on the status quo

During the 1980s a pilot newborn screening programme for the early detection (and treatment) of amino acidopathies, especially phenylketonuria (PKU), was conducted by the Department of National Health and Population Development. The motivation for this pilot programme was the high priority accorded PKU screening in Europe and North America and the presumed similarly high incidence of this condition among South Africans of European origin. From a cohort of 59 600 newborns screened in the Pretoria area over a period of 8 consecutive years (1979 - 1986), only 1 case of PKU (and 1 of tyrosinaemia) was found. Statistically this result is compatible (Poisson distribution, 95% confidence interval) with a 'true' incidence of not more than 3/59 600 (or about 1/20000) newborns. It is concluded from this result and other relevant information that newborn screening for PKU and other amino acidopathies is not cost-effective and justifiable, especially against the background of prevailing demographic conditions and more pressing health priorities in South Africa. This particular screening programme was discontinued in 1986. The results and conclusions are presented here. for the record

Time-dependent versus static quantum transport simulations beyond linear response

To explore whether the density-functional theory non-equilibrium Green's function formalism (DFT-NEGF) provides a rigorous framework for quantum transport, we carried out time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations of the transient current through two realistic molecular devices, a carbon chain and a benzenediol molecule inbetween two aluminum electrodes. The TDDFT simulations for the steady state current exactly reproduce the results of fully self-consistent DFT-NEGF calculations even beyond linear response. In contrast, sizable differences are found with respect to an equilibrium, non-self-consistent treatment which are related here to differences in the Kohn-Sham and fully interacting susceptibility of the device region. Moreover, earlier analytical conjectures on the equivalence of static and time-dependent approaches in the low bias regime are confirmed with high numerical precision.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) for TMT: the atmospheric dispersion corrector

We present a conceptual design for the atmospheric dispersion corrector (ADC) for TMT's Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). The severe requirements of this ADC are reviewed, as are limitations to observing caused by uncorrectable atmospheric effects. The requirement of residual dispersion less than 1 milliarcsecond can be met with certain glass combinations. The design decisions are discussed and the performance of the design ADC is described. Alternative options and their performance tradeoffs are also presented.Comment: SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation 201

Creating Stories of Science

Researchers, academics, and students in the STEM fields can share their experiences through more than academic papers and reports. In fact, modes of writing like fiction can bring science to new audiences and may generate empathy in both reader and writer. Here, I describe the value of creative writing and offer prompts that will enable scientists of all career stages to investigate their environments, motivations, and fears on the page—as I did in the writing of my first novel, The Breeding Season, which was based on my own research

Improved Enzymatic Method for Determining Mannitol and its Application to Dog Serum after Mannitol Infusion

Peer Reviewe

Student Learning Objectives: What Instructors Emphasize in Short-Term Study Abroad

Given that higher education institutions are increasingly utilizing short-term study abroad courses as a means to develop students’ intercultural competency, it is important to determine if and how the instructors leading these programs are incorporating intercultural learning into their courses. By examining learning objectives embedded within syllabi from short-term study abroad courses, the purpose of this study was to identify the relative extent to which instructors emphasize disciplinary and intercultural learning in teaching short-term study abroad courses, and to examine the types of intercultural learning that instructors are explicitly including in their courses. Findings point to a wide diversity of emphasis on disciplinary content and intercultural learning, with slightly more courses emphasizing disciplinary content than intercultural learning. Of those learning objectives that focus on intercultural learning, the vast majority focused on intercultural knowledge rather than skills or attitudes

Further study of the Over-Barrier Model to compute charge exchange processes

In this paper we study theoretically the process of electron capture between one-optical-electron atoms (e.g. hydrogenlike or alkali atoms) and ions at low-to-medium impact velocities ($v/v_e \approx 1$) working on a modification of an already developed classical In this work we present an improvement over the Over Barrier Model (OBM) described in a recent paper [F. Sattin, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 62}, 042711 (2000)]. We show that: i) one of the two free parameters there introduced actually comes out consistently from the starting assumptions underlying the model; ii) the modified model thus obtained is as much accurate as the former one. Furthermore, we show that OBMs are able to accurately predict some recent results of state selective electron capture, at odds with what previously supposed.Comment: RevTeX, 7 pages, 4 eps figures. To appear in Physical Review A (2001-september issue