The Application of Transformative Learning Theory to Online Teaching

Transformative learning has emerged as a powerful image for understanding how adults learn (Dirkx, 1998). Mezirow (1991) in explaining his theory of transformative learning, maintained that adults seem to realize personal and professional growth when confronted with dilemmas that challenge their existing views of the world. Transformative educators do not necessarily teach content that is significantly different from other educators. However, they teach the content with a different objective in mind. Transformative educators teach with the aim of consciousness-raising (Freire, 1970), critical reflection (Mezirow, 1995), development (Daloz,1986), or individuation (Boyd & Myers,1988). Many adult educators teaching in the traditional face to face classroom environment have long used one or more of these objectives in their delivery strategies. These strategies include role playing, the sharing of critical incidents or other in class strategies designed to engage students

Confronting the Imposter Syndrome in the Adult Learning Classroom

This paper examines the experiences of two African American male professor in confronting the Imposter Syndrome. The relevant literature on the Imposter Syndrome is used to analyze the experiences of these two educators and strategies are advanced for addressing the phenomenon of both a personal and a professional level

The Career Paths of African Americans in the Corporate and Political Arenas

This paper compares the career development experiences of African Americans in the areas of politics and corporate America. The authors aim to identify congruencies in the career development experiences of African Americans in both fields

Corporate America and Politics: A Comparative Analysis of the Career Aspirations and Experiences of African Americans

This paper compares the career development experiences of African Americans in the areas of politics and corporate America. The authors identified congruencies in the career development experiences of African Americans in both career fields to fill the void in the literature concerning empirical research on the career development of African Americans in various disciplines. The researchers‘ findings inform their proposed culturally relevant career development model. Keywords: Career Development, African Americans, Politics, Human Resources, Leadership Development

Facilitating Cross-Cultural Mentoring

Researchers have recognized several factors that are formidable forces preventing African Americans and other minorities to achieve their fullest potentials in organizations (Thomas, 1989; Hackett & Byers 1996). Studies have revealed that African American women are more disadvantaged than African American men in the career development process (Cox & Blake 1991; Cox, 1993; Palmer, 2001). While racism remains a defiant career barrier for both, African American women must deal with the added layer of sexism. Experts and scholars believe that various barriers (discrimination, prejudice, structural variables, lack of mentoring, etc.) have prevented African Americans from achieving their full potentials in the workplace (Carnevale & Stone, 1995). Studies have concluded that the lack of mentoring can have a negative impact on the career development of African Americans. Much of the mentoring that occurs in organizations tends to be on an informal basis and occurs between diverse groups within organization

Literature Review: Barriers to Participation in the Online Learning Environment: The Role of Race and Gender

As the number of adults participating in online learning continues to grow, it is important that adult educators, curriculum designers and the administrators of those programs understand the nature and characteristics of the adult learners filling those programs. Just as there are concerns about the efficacy of learning within traditional classrooms, there needs to be equal concerns about the effectiveness of learning in the online environment. An important question to be addressed--What is the significance of race, ethnicity and gender in the online learning environment

A Voice of Silence: Reentry Adult Black Male Students in Higher Education

While much has been written about the experiences of Black males, there is a dearth of empirical data that explores their educational experiences as adult reentry students into higher education. The goal of this qualitative study is to identify strategies to help support African American males successfully matriculate through college and graduate

Comparison of embryologist stress, somatization and burnout reported by embryologists working in UK HFEA-licensed ART/IVF clinics and US ART/IVF clinics

STUDY QUESTION What is the prevalence of occupational stress, somatization, and burnout reported by UK and US, embryologists and the impact of work conditions on these well-being outcomes? SUMMARY ANSWER Surveyed UK and US embryologists reported moderate perceived stress, low somatic symptom severity, high levels of burnout, and overall stressful work conditions, but with differences that could be due to country-specific occupational and employment characteristics. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY? Spanish, UK, US, and international surveys have identified high levels of occupational stress, somatization, burnout, and occupational health issues among embryologists. These issues have been attributed to embryologists’ occupational challenges and work conditions. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION A cross-sectional web-based survey was sent to 253 embryologists working in UK ART/IVF clinics and 487 embryologists working in US ART/IVF clinics. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Participants self-reported their stress levels, somatization, burnout, and work conditions. Proportions across the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15), Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), a single-item work unit grade (A–F), and customized occupational and sociodemographic questionnaires were calculated using descriptive statistics. Welch’s t-test was utilized to compare PSS and PHQ-15 scores between groups. Risk ratios were calculated using log-binomial regression for all models except for levels of anxiety related to performing cryostorage tasks, for which Poisson models were used. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE In total, 50.6% (128) of the embryologists in the UK and 50.1% (244) in the US completed the survey. Both groups self-reported moderate PSS and low PHQ-15 scores, although fewer UK embryologists scored high on the MBI cynicism dimension than their US colleagues (43% UK vs 60% US embryologists, P < 0.05). The UK and US embryologists did not differ on the MBI exhaustion dimension with both scoring high for exhaustion (59% UK vs 62% US). Although 81% and 80% of UK and US embryologists, respectively, reported working overtime, more embryologists in the UK reported being adequately compensated. Increasing levels of anxiety-related to cryostorage showed a dose-dependent increased risk of burnout on at least two MBI-GS dimensions only in the UK group, and, a dose-dependent likelihood of higher PSS and PHQ-15 scores in both groups. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Since the two groups were surveyed 9 months apart and were self-reporting, the study is limited by the differences in responsibilities, scheduling, and workload specific to the time of year. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Work-related health issues and occupational challenges shared by UK and US embryologists could be addressed by organizational enhancements and technology. Lower levels of stress and burnout among UK embryologists might be due to the HFEA-provided structure/certainty. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This study was supported without any external funding by TMRW Life Sciences Inc., which is developing and commercializing an automated platform for embryology. M.G.C. and M.S.L. are full-time employees and stockholders/shareholders with TMRW Life Sciences, and A.M. of Novavax, Inc. was an employee of TMRW Life Sciences. G.P. is a consultant for TMRW Life Sciences. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT05326802; NCT05708963

Observation of Two Narrow States Decaying into Ξc+γ\Xi_{c}^{+}\gamma and Ξc0γ\Xi_{c}^{0}\gamma

We report the first observation of two narrow charmed strange baryons decaying to $\Xi_c^+\gamma$ and $\Xi_c^0\gamma$, respectively, using data from the CLEO II detector at CESR. We interpret the observed signals as the $\Xi_c^{+\prime}(c{su})$ and $\Xi_c^{0\prime}(c{sd})$, the symmetric partners of the well-established antisymmetric $\Xi_c^+(c[su])$ and $\Xi_c^0(c[sd])$. The mass differences $M(\Xi_c^{+\prime})-M(\Xi_c^+)$ and $M(\Xi_c^{0\prime})-M(\Xi_c^0)$ are measured to be $107.8\pm 1.7\pm 2.5$ and $107.0\pm 1.4\pm 2.5 MeV/c^2$, respectively.Comment: 11 pages, postscript file also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

A Measurement of the Decay Asymmetry Parameters in \Xi_{c}^{0}\to \X^{-}\pi^{+}

Using the CLEO II detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring we have measured the $\Xi_c^{0}$ decay asymmetry parameter in the decay $\Xi_c^{0} \to \Xi^{-} \pi^+$. We find $\alpha_{\Xi_c^{0}} \alpha_{\Xi} = 0.26 \pm 0.18{(stat)}^{+0.05}_{-0.04}{(syst)}$, using the world average value of $\alpha_{\Xi} = -0.456 \pm 0.014$ we obtain $\alpha_{\Xi_c^{0}} = -0.56 \pm 0.39{(stat)}^{+0.10}_{-0.09}{(syst)}$. The physically allowed range of a decay asymmetry parameter is $-1<\alpha<+1$. Our result prefers a negative value: $\alpha_{\Xi_c^{0}}$ is $<0.1$ at the 90% CL. The central value occupies the middle of the theoretically expected range but is not yet precise enough to choose between models.Comment: 10 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN