The construction and evaluation of five patterned series of lessons for teaching five specific writing skills

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Shakespeare's sound government : Sound defects, polyglot sounds, and sounding out

Shakespearean sound effects (or sound defects) depend not only on hearing with the eye (as in Sonnet 23) but also on seeing with the ear, including through the vivid reports of the nuntius or messenger who produces not "ocular proof" but what might be called a (potentially unsound) "evidence effect," turning the ear into a substitute oculus or eye (Erasmus 1978:577).Issue title: Sound Effects

The Grass Grows Green in Virginia: A grassroots effort leading to comprehensive change in removing mathematics barriers for students.

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) embarked on a comprehensive mathematics pathways project in October 2015 with a move from design to implementation in spring 2017. The VCCS Mathematics Pathways Project (VMPP) aimed not only to develop strategies to improve retention and completion, but also to address foundational barriers to students’ success. This grassroots effort involved collaboration among all 23 community colleges, over 200 mathematics faculty, and staff from career and technical support departments. Collaboration extended to the K–12 and university sectors, professional organizations, publishers, and foundations. VMPP goals focused on creating structured mathematics pathway courses for all program levels, implementing co-requisite opportunities for students, collaborating with K–12 and four-year institutions regarding mathematics readiness, developing multiple measures of placement, and improving Virginia’s placement instruments. While the decisions made throughout this project were informed by research, how Virginia’s organization, processes, stakeholder collaboration, and communication laid the foundation to successfully implement this comprehensive project at scale is the focus of this discussion

Signals the interplay between literacy, gender, and semiotics

The purpose of this study is to examine adult literacy beyond its constraints as a social problem and instead consider the implications of illiteracy as a particular form of lived experience, analogous to women\u27s oppression at large. Through a complex system of meaning making, the knowledge accrued by illiterate adults is qualitatively different, and examining these differences in terms of their correlation to coping mechanisms developed in the face of social alienation and diminished professional prospects yields a greater understanding of class privilege and how nontraditional learners fit into a larger social structure. From the perspective of academic feminism, adult illiteracy presents several problems regarding the scope of an inclusive feminist community that acknowledges privilege and difference. The primary method through which information regarding feminism is conferred is printed materials, which utilize highly specific, specialized jargon, and unwittingly create an exclusive community marred by internalized racism and class stratifications. This study explores other methods through which feminist ideation might theoretically be possible, i.e. cultural reading communities and vocational and continuing education programs focused on cultural competencies, as women come out of their imposed silences and become aware of their circumstances in a way that resembles feminist thought, if perhaps without sophisticated language with which to communicate those ideals. In this way, feminist ideation and semiotics tie in together, as attitudinal change may occur without the semantic realization of what this entails. This goal of this paper is also, in part, to justify why acknowledging gendered learning differences and a particular female subjectivity for adult literacy clients will yield better results for their self-valuation, as gender is a component of diversity all but ignored within the scheme of adult literacy pedagogical theory

Mental Health Treatment Adherence and Minority Clients\u27 Perception of Clinician Cultural Awareness

Psychological counseling is known to be an effective option for people in need of emotional support. Previous research has shown counseling to be valuable among various age, sex, religious, socioeconomic, and racial groups. Despite its successes, members of certain demographic groups reportedly end supportive psychological therapies early. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of 10 self-identified African American and Hispanic clients who prematurely terminated therapy. A particular focus of this investigation was the clients\u27 perceptions of clinician cultural awareness. This phenomenological study yielded descriptive data in a context sufficient for analysis with the use of broad or axial coding systems. Participants indicated that the experience of benign and malign forms of cultural insensitivity precipitated their decision to terminate treatment early. Findings supported that therapists need to have greater cultural sensitivity toward the specific needs of African Americans and Hispanics in the therapy room. Additionally, some of the data was lacking in richness, which may indicate the possibilities that clients from these groups lack (a) full awareness of their roles within the power system of therapy, (b) may need encouragement to articulate a more critical point of view, or (c) the luxury to introspect about the nature of their experiences, which inhibits their responses. Based on these possibilities, future recommendations are presented for gathering richer data from minority clients who terminate therapy early. Improving cultural sensitivity, which may be a matter of respect and transparency more than culturally specific knowledge, has implications for social change by leading to higher retention and, therefore, better treatment outcomes in therapy

Aerobic Physical Exercise Increases the Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults

Abstract Problem Description: Globally, the older adult population is expected to substantially increase in number throughout the next few decades. The aging process causes the body and mind to undergo many detrimental changes. Typically, older adults succumb to a more sedentary lifestyle due to factors such as decreased musculature and skeletal changes, chronic pain, socioeconomic and psychological stressors, and memory changes. Inevitably, health-related quality of life and overall independence dwindles in this population negating their perception of happiness and life satisfaction. There is significant research on preventing and/or managing cognitive disabilities in the older adult; however, Western medicine approaches, such as prescription medications are unsuccessful in reducing cognitive decline. Research suggests that engaging in routine physical exercise is an alternative, cost-effective method to reduce the effects of aging, cognitively and physically. Interventions: An aerobic walking program was instituted in an Assisted Living Facility, where most of the older adults had begun to lead sedentary lifestyles. Older adults (\u3e60 years) with mild cognitive impairments and decreased quality of life factors were invited to join the walking program. The residents were asked to walk a minimum of three times per week for 30 minutes over a five-month period. A walking log and the National Institutes of Health endorsed Cognitive and Positive Affect/Well-Being short form surveys were completed by the residents at specific time intervals throughout the project assessing whether improvement in cognitive abilities and quality of life factors occurred with increased physical activity. Results: Initially, 28 residents volunteered to participate in the walking program. Illness and personal reasons caused six residents to drop out, resulting in 22 active participants. A paired t-test, using a confidence interval of 95%, was used on the Cognitive short form survey results at project start and end. The mean values of all eight variables significantly increased over the course of the project (p Interpretation: In this project, aerobic walking significantly improved cognitive domains, such as concentration, reading comprehension, thinking speed, managing time, planning activities, and learning new instructions and/or tasks. Although this project was of short duration, the results substantiated that maintaining active lifestyles is necessary for older adults to preserve independence, combat cognitive deterioration, while sustaining happiness and life satisfaction in both physical and cognitive realms. Conclusions: Older adults, who keep physically and mentally fit as they age, enjoy longer, healthier, happier lives. Health care systems will benefit from decreased health care costs. Providers will benefit by not enduring patient-load strain. Families/caregivers will experience less financial and emotional burden caring for ill, older adults in the future. Engaging in routine, physical exercise throughout aging is a simple, cost-effective measure in preserving numerous cognitive and quality of life factors. Keywords: older adults, mild cognitive impairment, aerobic exercise, quality of lif

Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Drugs on the Drosophila Glioma Model Involving the Pi3K; EGFR Pathway

Glioma are glia-derived brain tumors that have poor prognosis. This thesis project tests Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor drugs that have shown promise during an ongoing chemical drug screen on an alternate oncogenic pathway. In the ongoing chemical screen, tumors were induced in Drosophila melanogaster by expressing PtenRNAi to eliminate the tumor suppressor gene, Pten, which negatively regulates the Pi3K pathway. For this thesis project, tumors will be induced through constitutively activating the EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) through the Pi3K pathway. Therefore, these two projects individually look at two different types of glioma and aim to determine if certain drugs show promise on more than one type of glioma. A series of crosses over the course of three generations is performed to balance chromosomes of the flies and result in the genotype with the EGFR mutation. Data collection includes exposing these flies to the specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor drugs when added to their food. Larvae is collected, dissected to obtain the brains, washed and mounted on microscope slides after 2 and 3 days of exposure to the drugs. Images are taken of the mounted brains for further data analysis. In order to conclude if these drugs showed similar promise as in the existing chemical screen, images will be examined for enhancement, suppression or no effect in comparison to Pi3k; Repo control brains of flies left untreated

Observations on the Paleoecology and Formation of the “Upper Shell” Unit, Lee Creek Mine

The Upper Shell unit at the Lee Creek Mine (Pliocene age, maximum thickness 3 m) is remarkable for its concentration of well-preserved mollusk shells in a sparse quartz sand matrix, and it is dominated by several species of bivalves, with many shells articulated. The unit can be subdivided into three bivalve assemblage zones characterized by associations of dominant species. Zone 1 is dominated by Mercenaria mercenaria, an infaunal, shallow- to medium-burrowing, siphonate clam. Zone 2 is characterized by an epifaunal bivalve assemblage that includes Glycymeris americana, Argopecten eboreus, Anomia simplex, and Ostrea meridionalis. Thin but highly concentrated accumulations of Argopecten and Anomia form distinct layers within zone 2. Zone 3 is marked by a return of Mercenaria mercenaria accompanied by specimens of Geukensia sp. and an increase in oyster shells. The characteristics of the zones of the Upper Shell unit strongly suggest that these shell beds were formed by a series of localized catastrophic events that produced mass mortality of the molluscan assemblages, rather than by processes of gradual shell accumulation. The disappearance of Mercenaria mercenaria from the sequence may have been due largely to the inability of juveniles of this species to penetrate a shell pavement formed immediately after a mass mortality event. Return of Mercenaria mercenaria in zone 3 marks a change in bottom environmental conditions in the area. The overlying Shell Hash unit contains the bivalve Corbicula densata, representative of lower salinity conditions. This unit consists primarily of shell material reworked from the underlying Upper Shell unit and probably represents an accumulation formed in an estuarine tidal channel

A Formula For Job Creation: Tax Law Changes For Small Businesses

The Bush tax cuts in 2001 (Economic Growth and Taxpayer Relief Reconciliation Act, (EGTRRA) and in 2003 (Job Growth and Taxpayer Relief Reconciliation Act, JGTRRA) are touted as providing an aid to the economy's recovery and job creation. The data shows that George Bush's first administration had the most anemic job expansion in decades and actually saw negative net jobs created. We advocate four tax changes for small businesses that would postpone the timing of taxes and make it easier for small businesses to survive. As small businesses provide more than two-thirds of the net new jobs created each year, insuring their sustainability will go a long way to foster small business expansion and more job growth among suppliers. Currently a third of new small businesses fail within their first two years and the failure rate exceeds 60 percent by the end of the sixth year. These tax proposals for small businesses resemble “laser surgery” for the economy instead of the “chemotherapy” of tax cuts for the whole economy. These proposals focus where two-thirds or more of new jobs are created each year and will help small businesses manage their cash flow more effectively and encourage their long term sustainability. It is time for Congress to enact measures that help provide small businesses with a source of capital rather than draining them of the vital cash that they need. Such measures would not require government handouts or loans but, rather, would for the most part, merely entail postponing the taxation of business profits so long as those profits remained in the business to help insure its survival and growth

Testing and Templates: Building Effective Research Guides

The Savannah College of Art and Design has nearly 12,000 students at 5 separate campus locations, and offers more than 40 areas of concentration within art and design. The students are incredibly career-minded, and class assignments are built to mimic the professional experience. Through the SCAD Libraries, students have access to nearly 90 databases, many of which are professional level resources, and hundreds of trade and scholarly print journals. Using Spring Share\u27s LibGuides, the small research and instruction team has created a series of course and subject specific research guides to highlight the professional databases and teach valuable information literacy skills, for both occasions when we are able to visit classes and for those times when we cannot. However, through Spring Share\u27s click-tracking, we noticed the students were only exploring the homepage tabs of each guide, and therefore not grasping the full scope of resources available. With the migration to LibGuides 2.0, we saw we had an opportunity to re-assess our many guides and implement change. After a series of usability testing, we created two separate templates, one for subject guides and one for course guides, that were more efficient and effective research tools. The new guides better highlight professional level resources, while still providing relevant tips and research assistance