The Effects of Targeted Intervention on Low-Income Urban Students\u27 Reading Achievement

Today’s students are tasked with taking and passing standardized tests each year. Recent tests show that only 36% of the nation’s fourth-grade students are reading at or above proficiency level (Nations Report Card, 2017). Self-regulation strategies, strategies that help students monitor, plan, and make adjustments to their learning during a learning cycle, have been shown to increase student learning outcomes. This quasi-experimental study examines whether the implementation of an intervention in self-regulation has an impact on student reading achievement. In this study, an experiential group of students participated in a 13-week intervention that taught strategies for monitoring learning and progress toward goals. Student test scores from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) were used for the pre- and post-tests to measure reading achievement growth. Findings from this study revealed no statistically significant relationship between participation in the intervention and student achievement. However, students who participated in the intervention did show more growth than their peers and showed more self-monitoring behaviors at the conclusion of the intervention. Further research should be conducted to determine the long-term effects of this type of intervention on low-income students

"Blue skies, green grass”: Is The Redemption of Althalus a reliable biological record?

This paper investigates whether high fantasy worlds can be naturalistic. After a brief introductory analysis of the Lonely Mountain in The Hobbit, discussion turns to The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings. References were collected to flora and fauna from the secondary world of the novel. These references were tested as a collection in terms of: (i) whether they have internal coherence (i.e. verisimilitude) and (ii) whether the observations are likely to be based on primary world experience. The study found that, in general, the species actually observed by characters in the text passed both these tests. Species used only for figurative reference (i.e. not actually observed by any character) failed these tests. The biology of Althalus’ secondary world is predominantly based on the primary world western forested mountain ecoregion of the United States, where Eddings & Eddings lived

The Effects of Targeted Intervention on Low-Income Urban Students\u27 Reading Achievement

Today’s students are tasked with taking and passing standardized tests each year. Recent tests show that only 36% of the nation’s fourth-grade students are reading at or above proficiency level (Nations Report Card, 2017). Self-regulation strategies, strategies that help students monitor, plan, and make adjustments to their learning during a learning cycle, have been shown to increase student learning outcomes. This quasi-experimental study examines whether the implementation of an intervention in self-regulation has an impact on student reading achievement. In this study, an experiential group of students participated in a 13-week intervention that taught strategies for monitoring learning and progress toward goals. Student test scores from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) were used for the pre- and post-tests to measure reading achievement growth. Findings from this study revealed no statistically significant relationship between participation in the intervention and student achievement. However, students who participated in the intervention did show more growth than their peers and showed more self-monitoring behaviors at the conclusion of the intervention. Further research should be conducted to determine the long-term effects of this type of intervention on low-income students

Soft Toys as Instructional Technology in Higher Education: the case of Llewelyn the Lynx

Scholarship on instructive technologies in higher education has emphasized the use of high-tech facilitative technologies for long-term use, and low-tech props to illustrate single topics. This paper, on the contrary, discusses the use of a long-term, low-tech instructional technology: Llewelyn the Lynx was a soft animal used to assist with discussions in first year seminars. In-class questionnaires and anonymous online reviews on RateYour-Lecturer show Llewelyn was popular, facilitated equal contribution to discussion, and made seminars less intimidating and more enjoyable. Llewelyn may have functioned as a tactual or kinaesthetic stimulus, and an assistive technology for students with learning difficulties. His use does not seem to have infantilized most of the students although there was some disagreement here

The wild plants of Scotia Illustrata (1684)

Scotia Illustrata was published in 1684 and contains a section (II:1) describing 662 ‘naturally occurring plants of Scotland’. This paper sets out to identify and discuss the species in the text. It was possible to identify 652 species from the text and 396 could be securely identified. Most of these are species which are widespread today, but there are some important exceptions. Three arable weeds are mentioned which now seem to be extinct in Scotland: Lolium temulentum, Scandix pecten-veneris and Euphorbia exigua. There are also references to one possibly-extinct river species (Sium latifolium), and one coastal species (Centaurea calcitrapa). Two species, now rare in Scotland, are described in the text as species widespread on roads: Cynoglossum officinale and Hyoscyamus niger

Economic Analysis and Justification for Automated Welding Systems

This report looks at designing a new welding process for a company in the Oil & Gas industry, ensuring method consistency and performance quality of their steel drill bit while increasing overall production. The current product is welded manually with a flux core wire, resulting in high cycle times and numerous cases of required rework. The use of automation systems will be analyzed for their increased consistency, quality, safety, and production estimates. Specifically robotic cell design will be considered, since it can work on more parts with fewer operators, adding efficiency and flexibility to the production floor. Other areas of researched covered in this report include welding parameters and methods, fixture use in relation to automation, preheating and material properties of steel, and investment justification of automated systems. The design will be modeled and simulated in a 3D environment, and analyzed with economic considerations in the form of payback period and return on investment. All calculations, given values and assumed values will be stated and explained. Results include an estimated payback period of 2.14 years, a 34% ROI, and savings of $ 13,140.00 per year from the robot alone, with capacity for additional savings analysis based on use of the design. Recommendations to go forward with prototype testing on actual weld quality and efficiency improvements as well as cell design finalization

Redemption or Condemnation? A Long-Term Follow-up of the Desistance Patterns of Sex Offenders

Desistance is one of most important topics in criminology. Why some offenders stop offending and why others continue has been long been a question with far-reaching theoretical and empirical implications. Despite the extensive literature on desistance, most of the research examines offenders as a single group, an approach which might overlook differences between individuals by offense type. One offender group that has not been investigated in depth is sex offenders. Sex offenders are an important group to study because they present concerns to public safety and are the subject of much legislation and criminal justice policy. A substantial amount of research has been devoted to understanding why sex offenders commit the crimes they do and recidivism. However, fewer studies have examined about how and why they might desist from offending. There are reasons to expect that the desistance process may operate differently for sex offenders as compared to other types of offenders. The public considers sex offenders to be among the most dangerous offenders, who reoffend at very high rates, which has resulted in legislation that increases surveillance and restrictions intended to prevent future offending. Despite a widespread belief that sex offenders are not amenable to rehabilitation, most states require sex offenders to participate in treatment that addresses sexual deviance using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The differences between sex offenders and other types of offenders suggests that the path to desistance for sex offenders might also occur differently than for other types of offenders who are not subject to the same public scrutiny, legal restrictions, and therapeutic interventions. To examine the nature of the desistance process for sex offenders, this dissertation uses a longitudinal qualitative analysis of current and former sex offenders at two points in time: release from prison (Phase 1) and a three-year follow-up (Phase 2). Findings show that patterns of desistance are more complex than the desister-persister dichotomy suggests. This study explores the relationship of cognitive scripts to these categories, discusses the influence of treatment on desistance, and presents additional cognitive scripts specific to the reentry experience of sex offenders. Implications of this research are also discussed

Sublimation Rate of Vertically Oriented Naphthalene Cylinders in a Natural Convection Environment

The naphthalene sublimation technique was used to determine the rate of mass transfer from three solid naphthalene cylinders in a natural convection environment. The cylinders’ diameters measured 1, 1.5, and 2 inches nominally, and sublimation rates were found to be 1.42 x 10 -8, 1.89 x 10-8, and 2.28 x 10 -8 kg/s, respectively. The mass transfer coefficients were determined to be 1.64 x 10-3, 1.45 x 10-3, and 1.31 x 10 -3 respectively. Correlations were developed for the Sherwood vs. Rayleigh numbers, Sherwood vs. Grashof numbers, and mass transfer coefficient vs. diameter