An examination of the employment of the pair programming methodology as a collaborative instructional scaffold on college student procedural learning and programming self-beliefs

Using a concurrent mixed methods case study approach, this study investigated the impact of employing the pair programming methodology as a collaborative instructional scaffold on student programming procedural knowledge and programming-related self-beliefs in an introductory computer programming course offered at a large university located in the Midwestern United States. Employing a design research theoretical perspective in a natural educational setting, the study used course performance data, survey data, and researcher observations to educe that employment of the pair programming methodology as a collaborative instructional scaffold facilitated a more efficient learning process as well as a learning process less reliant on instructors. However, employment of the scaffold did not facilitate any significant difference in amount of procedural knowledge ultimately learned by students. In essence: students learned faster and with less instructor assistance, but not more. Data was collected during a single semester of the course which had a final enrollment of 76 undergraduate students from science and technology disciplines. Analysis was primarily quantitative in nature, with qualitative data being quantified where possible. Findings were based on a cooperative learning theoretical framework, and results were analyzed to identify differential impact of the instructional scaffold by factors of interest to classroom practitioners

The Introduction of Informal Cooperative Learning into our Programming Laboratories

Presented at the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN) Change Leader Forum: Creating a Mindset for Action in Westminster, CO, US

The Introduction of Informal Cooperative Learning into our Programming Laboratories

Presentation given at the Midwest SoTL Conference. Discusses the effects of implementing informal cooperative learning techniques in an introductory programming course

Double-Positive CD21+CD27+ B Cells Are Highly Proliferating Memory Cells and Their Distribution Differs in Mucosal and Peripheral Tissues

Several B-cell defects arise in HIV infected patients, particularly in patients with chronic infection and high viral load. Loss of memory B cells (CD27(+) B cells) in peripheral blood and lymphoid tissues is one of the major B cell dysfunctions in HIV and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection. Despite several studies, definitive identification of memory B cells based on CD27 surface expression has not been described. Similarly, the rates of cell turnover in different B cell subpopulation from lymphoid and mucosal tissues have not been well documented. In this study, we demonstrate the presence of memory B cell populations and define their distribution, frequency and immunophenotype with regards to activation, proliferation, maturation, and antibody production in normal rhesus macaques from different lymphoid tissues.Thirteen healthy, uninfected rhesus macaques were selected for this study. CD20(+) B cells were isolated from peripheral blood and sorted based on CD27 and CD21 surface markers to define memory B cell population. All the B cell subpopulation was further characterized phenotypically and their cell turnover rates were evaluated in vivo following bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) inoculation. Double positive (DP) CD21(+)CD27(+) B cells in both peripheral and lymphoid tissues are memory B cells, able to produce antibody by polyclonal activation, and without T cell help. Peripheral and lymphoid DP CD21(+)CD27(+) B cells were also able to become activated and proliferate at higher rates than other B cell subpopulations. Increased turnover of tonsillar memory B cells were identified compared to other tissues examined.We suggest that this DP memory B cells play a major role in the immune system and their function and proliferation might have an important role in HIV/SIV mediated B cell dysregulation and pathogenesis

Exploring Our Options: Modern Publishing Alternatives for our Computer Programming Textbook

Abstract The authors of this paper are also the authors of an introductory computer programming textbook used in several college courses. Due to the rapidly changing content, the textbook requires frequent revisions causing the shelf-life of each specific version of the textbook to be relatively short, sometimes being no longer than a single semester. In addition, the time required to actually print a new version of the textbook and make it available to students was too long considering the time-sensitivity of the content and frequency of revisions. For these reasons, traditional publishing of this textbook was an unsatisfactory option. In this paper, we describe our exploration of alternatives to traditional textbook publication in hopes of finding an easy, uncomplicated, and rapid means of textbook publication. Our findings on ease of content creation/revision, time-to-market, monetization, and digital rights management are presented in this paper. Finally, we present our criteria for a publishing option we think is needed for authors who publish textbooks on similar rapidly changing domain topics

Maintenance of Hypertensive Hemodynamics Does Not Depend on ROS in Established Experimental Chronic Kidney Disease

While the presence of oxidative stress in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is well established, its relation to hypertensive renal hemodynamics remains unclear. We hypothesized that once CKD is established blood pressure and renal vascular resistance (RVR) no longer depend on reactive oxygen species. CKD was induced by bilateral ablation of 2/3 of each kidney. Compared to age-matched, sham-operated controls all ablated rats showed proteinuria, decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR), more renal damage, higher mean arterial pressure (MAP), RVR and excretion of oxidative stress markers and hydrogen peroxide, while excretion of stable nitric oxide (NO) metabolites tended to decrease. We compared MAP, RVR, GFR and fractional excretion of sodium under baseline and during acute Tempol, PEG-catalase or vehicle infusion in rats with established CKD vs. controls. Tempol caused marked reduction in MAP in controls (96±5 vs.79±4 mmHg, P<0.05) but not in CKD (130±5 vs. 127±6 mmHg). PEG-catalase reduced MAP in both groups (controls: 102±2 vs. 94±4 mmHg, P<0.05; CKD: 118±4 vs. 110±4 mmHg, P<0.05), but did not normalize MAP in CKD rats. Tempol and PEG-catalase slightly decreased RVR in both groups. Fractional excretion of sodium was increased by both Tempol and PEG-catalase in both groups. PEG-catalase decreased TBARS excretion in both groups. In sum, although oxidative stress markers were increased, MAP and RVR did not depend more on oxidative stress in CKD than in controls. Therefore reactive oxygen species appear not to be important direct determinants of hypertensive renal hemodynamics in this model of established CKD