Prospectus, January 29, 1997

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1997/1002/thumbnail.jp

Encouraging Student Sense of Belonging Through Instructor Face Support

Research has established important links between student sense of belonging in the classroom and levels of academic engagement, motivation, and persistence (e.g., Jang et al., 2016; Reeve, 2012) yet more work is needed to identify specific teacher communication tactics and strategies that can foster sense of belonging and increased engagement. Using a conceptual framework centered on organizational identification, we surveyed 172 undergraduates and found that instructor interpersonal skills—specifically face support during student feedback—significantly correlated with increased class identification and sense of belonging. These results hold important implications for promoting student engagement, motivation, and persistence, particularly for underrepresented students

'I can actually do it without any help or someone watching over me all the time and giving me constant instruction': Autistic adolescent boys' perspectives on engagement in online video gaming

Research into autistic adolescents' engagement in online gaming has so far focused on time spent gaming, or characterizing problematic gaming behaviour and has relied mostly on caregiver report. In the current study, we interviewed 12 autistic adolescent boys, asking about their perspectives on their engagement in online gaming, and their motivations. We analysed the interview data using thematic analysis and identified three key themes in the data, which focused on agency and a sense of belonging, emotion regulation, and acknowledgement of the differing perceptions that the young people and their caregivers had of gaming. Our findings show the need to include the viewpoints of autistic young people in research about their interests and well-being, and provide insights that can help caregivers and professionals to support autistic young people in flourishing

The development of visuo-spatial perspective taking in autism spectrum disorder

The ability to take another person’s perspective is highly important for social interaction. People with autism have particular difficulty with taking someone else’s point of view. This thesis aimed to examine whether people with autism are impaired at visual perspective taking and the processes which underlie this ability and how this could impact on social interaction. Chapter two examined body representation in children with autism and results showed no significant difference between these and the control groups in regards to performance. Chapter three investigated mental rotation and egocentric spatial transformations in adults with autism compared to typically developing (TD) adults. Results showed that participants with autism were slower but equally accurate in the mental rotation task and slower and less accurate in the egocentric task. Comparisons across tasks suggested that the participants with autism may have general differences in perception compared to typical people. The experiments in Chapter 4 examined level 2 visual perspective taking (VPT2) and the processes which underlie this ability in TD children. The results showed that in typical children VPT2 is driven by the ability to represent bodies from different points of view. Chapter five examined whether children with autism were impaired at VPT2 and whether the same processes predicted this ability in children with and without autism. Results showed that VPT2 in children with autism is predicted by mental rotation ability and not body representation. In the final experiment, level 1 VPT was examined in children with autism. Whilst previous studies have suggested that this ability may be intact in autism, the results of this chapter suggested otherwise. Overall it was found that people with autism have problems in perspective taking which could impact on their social skills

Drone Technology for Monitoring and Mapping in the Grasslands of Eastern Montana

The Nature Conservancy in Montana has been working to protect wildlife habitat and enhance conservation in the Northern Great Plains for several decades.  The foundation of our work has been the Matador Grassbank in south Phillips County. Through the grassbank, ranchers implement conservation practices on their home ranches in exchange for discounted grazing on the Conservancy’s Matador Ranch. One of the conservation practices is the retention of black-tailed prairie dog towns. The southern portion of Phillips County supports among the most acres and largest prairie dog towns in the state. The prairie dog towns in this region of Montana support species of high conservation concern, including two black-footed ferret reintroduction sites, the largest population of mountain plovers, and large numbers of burrowing owls. Discounts for retaining prairie dog towns on grassbank ranches is tiered, based on the size of the town and potential for supporting species of concern. However, precisely mapping towns is challenging when using handheld GPS units and ATV’s to traverse the perimeters. Currently, The Nature Conservancy is using drone technology to create more precise and detailed maps. Drones yield detailed imagery which can be incorporated into a GIS, allowing precise mapping of town boundaries. Using drones will enable ranchers and the Conservancy to better understand the expansion or contraction of towns over time. The Matador ranch successfully implemented drone technology as a tool for more efficient and accurate monitoring, and plans to continue incorporating its use in all aspects of conservation and management

The development of visuo-spatial perspective taking in autism spectrum disorder

The ability to take another person’s perspective is highly important for social interaction. People with autism have particular difficulty with taking someone else’s point of view. This thesis aimed to examine whether people with autism are impaired at visual perspective taking and the processes which underlie this ability and how this could impact on social interaction. Chapter two examined body representation in children with autism and results showed no significant difference between these and the control groups in regards to performance. Chapter three investigated mental rotation and egocentric spatial transformations in adults with autism compared to typically developing (TD) adults. Results showed that participants with autism were slower but equally accurate in the mental rotation task and slower and less accurate in the egocentric task. Comparisons across tasks suggested that the participants with autism may have general differences in perception compared to typical people. The experiments in Chapter 4 examined level 2 visual perspective taking (VPT2) and the processes which underlie this ability in TD children. The results showed that in typical children VPT2 is driven by the ability to represent bodies from different points of view. Chapter five examined whether children with autism were impaired at VPT2 and whether the same processes predicted this ability in children with and without autism. Results showed that VPT2 in children with autism is predicted by mental rotation ability and not body representation. In the final experiment, level 1 VPT was examined in children with autism. Whilst previous studies have suggested that this ability may be intact in autism, the results of this chapter suggested otherwise. Overall it was found that people with autism have problems in perspective taking which could impact on their social skills

Minimally-invasive pain management techniques in palliative care

Pain is a common source of suffering for seriously ill patients. Typical first-line treatments consist of lifestyle modifications and medication therapy, including opioids. However, medical treatments often fail or are associated with limiting systemic toxicities, and more targeted interventional approaches are necessary. Herein, we present options for minimally invasive techniques for the alleviation of pain in palliative patients from a head-to-toe approach, with a focus on emerging therapies and advanced techniques. Head and neck: image-guided interventions targeted to sympathetic ganglia of the head and neck, such as sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) and stellate ganglion, have been shown to be effective for some forms of sympathetically-maintained and visceral pain. Interventions targeting branches of cranial nerves and upper cervical nerves, such as the glossopharyngeal nerve (GPN), are options in treating somatic head and face pain. Abdominal and Pelvic: sympathetic blocks, including celiac plexus, inferior hypogastric, and ganglion impar can relieve visceral abdominal and pelvic pain. Spine and somatic pain: fascial plane blocks of the chest and abdominal wall and myofascial trigger point injections can be used for somatic pain indications. Cementoplasties, such as kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty, are used for pain related to bony metastases and compression fractures. Tumor ablative techniques can also be used for lytic lesions of the bone. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS), intrathecal drug delivery systems (IDDS), and cordotomy have also been used successfully in patients requiring advanced options, such as those with significant spinal, ischemic, or visceral pain

Prospectus, March 5, 1997

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1997/1007/thumbnail.jp

Integrating academic skills in the curriculum: a partnership approach

Supporting our new students to make the transition to higher education, so that they stay with us and succeed beyond their first year, has been a priority focus for the University of Salford over the past 18 months. As an academic skills team, based in the Library, we have carved out an integral role for our service in responding to this challenge. Building on the prior success of a standalone eLearning programme, we have developed an extensive set of eLearning pathways and complementary learning activities designed for academics to easily and flexibly integrate into their course delivery so that every student is connected with the right academic support at the right time. This presentation aimed to share how our active blended learning approach is scalable and allows for local ownership and opportunities for contextualisation by academic colleagues. We explored how we established our role in this strategic project and the value of our partnership working with the academic community and the VLE support team. We hoped to provide helpful examples of how it has worked in practice to support students to learn how to learn at university. Finally, we sought to reflect on the journey so far - acknowledging the bumps and bends in the road - and initiate a discussion about where to go next. The community response to the presentation provided a space for practitioners to reflect on the ways in which e-learning design could facilitate an embedded approach to academic skills at their institutions; it also prompted reflection on the potential for collaboration between learning developers and Faculties. Our final author reflections address some of the questions and challenges raised at the conference, and set out some future aspirations for where this work will go next