Recruiting, Training, and Engaging Virtual Faculty via an Award-Winning Online Pedagogy Institute -- #NSWM30

Columbia University School of Social Work’s (CSSW) five-week Institute on Pedagogy and Technology for Online Courses prepares social work professionals to become excellent educators with our Online Campus, which offers a fully online MSW degree. 152 participants from 31 US states have passed in the first four cohorts, and they have led about 100 online courses so far. The award-winning Online Pedagogy Institute includes weekly live virtual class sessions and homework each week in our learning management system, and now offers CEUs. This session will share the details of this innovative training institute and the impact on talent management. The Online Pedagogy Institute is for social workers who want to explore pedagogy and technology for online courses and trains social work professionals to become excellent educators with CSSW’s Online Campus. The institute is designed to be highly engaging, with homework that includes relevant readings, realistic scenarios, quizzes and flashcards to reinforce learning, and weekly live virtual class sessions and discussion forums that build community and enable participants to share their thoughts and expertise. Participants learn how to establish a virtual classroom environment that is welcoming and reflective of social work values, and plan interactive and engaging lessons for an Adobe Connect virtual classroom using web conferencing tools. Participants see the Instructor and Teaching Associate roles modeled, and think about ways they can develop their online teaching skills and personas at a high level of quality. The institute was recognized with an 2018 International E-Learning Award from the International E-Learning Association and a 2019 International Distance Learning Award from the United States Distance Learning Association. The institute attracts a variety of social workers from across the country, creating a diverse and supportive community of professionals who care about providing the next generation of social workers with a high quality education. When the institute concludes, the top participants are recruited for positions as instructors and TAs. As a case study, the institute has high ratings on feedback surveys from graduates. When asked “On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate the overall quality of this Institute?” the average score from our last two cohorts was 9.72. Comments from graduates have included, “The Institute set a golden standard for online education. The live sessions, along with the assignments, modeled holistic learning opportunities and effective teaching strategies. It was incredibly well-rounded and of high quality!” Further, social justice, diversity, and inclusion themes are interwoven throughout the institute’s curriculum in line with social work values. Discussions are held on Universal Design for Learning to support accessibility for all learners and how to address current events, including those impacting social justice. The institute focuses on teaching and modeling pedagogy that is inclusive and accounts for diverse experiences, including have a range of diverse guest faculty discuss their innovative approaches to teaching online

Increasing Faculty Satisfaction and Student Access to Online Education via Dedicated Technical Support Specialists

It is critical to have high-quality technical support and knowledge in synchronous social work classes (Marquart, Fleming, Rosenthal, & Hibbert, 2016; Marquart & Fleming, 2014). As many seasoned or novice online social work instructors have discovered, technology is not always predictable and technological disruptions or challenges are inevitable (Pardasani, Goldkind, Heyman, & Cross-Denny, 2012). To support the technological preparedness of both students and instructors, a closer look at technology support is needed for online social work courses (Levin, Fulginiti, & Moore, 2018). This poster overviews our School’s practice of having a dedicated technical support specialist for each course, called a Live Support Specialist (LSS)

Recruiting, Training, and Engaging Virtual Faculty via an Award-Winning Online Pedagogy Institute -- #SWDE2019

Columbia University School of Social Work's five-week Institute on Pedagogy and Technology for Online Courses prepares future instructors and teaching assistants (TAs) to become excellent educators with our Online Campus, which offers a fully online MSW degree. 151 participants from 31 US states have passed in the first four cohorts, and they have led about 100 online courses so far. The award-winning Institute includes weekly two-hour live virtual class sessions and about three hours of homework each week in our learning management system, and now offers CEUs. This session will share the details of this institute, and its social justice approach to online education

Recruiting, Training, and Engaging Online Faculty via an Award-Winning Virtual Institute -- #USDLA

These are the slides from a webinar for the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA). Webinar description: At Columbia University's School of Social Work, instructors who teach with the online campus pass a 5-week Institute on Pedagogy and Technology for Online Courses. Launched in 2017, this is a fully virtual professional development training that includes five live class sessions and about 15 hours of homework. Over 400 educators have passed in the first nine cohorts, earning a digital badge. This presentation will share the details of this institute, and how CSSW's online campus uses it to recruit, train, and engage online faculty. This institute was recognized by USDLA with an International Award for Excellence in Training in 2019. It has also been recognized with four other awards: International E-Learning Award (IELA, 2018), Faculty and Staff Development Award (UPCEA Mid-Atlantic, 2019), Learning in Practice Award for Business Impact (Chief Learning Officer Magazine, 2020), and Outstanding Program Award: Noncredit (UPCEA, 2023). To learn more about this institute: *** An article in the Journal of Teaching in Social Work (October 2019): Developing and Supporting Faculty Training for Online Social Work Education: The Columbia University School of Social Work Online Pedagogy Institute. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2019.1653419 *** A United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) blog post about the Institute, by Valary Oleinik (August 2019): The best teachers are also amazing learners. https://usdla.org/blog/2019/08/21/the-best-teachers-are-also-amazing-learners/ *** A blog post by a past participant in the Institute, Laurel Hitchcock (November 2019): Reflections from the Summer 2019 Institute on Pedagogy and Technology for Online Courses. https://www.laureliversonhitchcock.org/2019/11/19/reflections-from-the-summer-2019-institute-on-pedagogy-and-technology-for-online-courses

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Alignment of the CMS muon system with cosmic-ray and beam-halo muons

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version of the Paper can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 IOPThe CMS muon system has been aligned using cosmic-ray muons collected in 2008 and beam-halo muons from the 2008 LHC circulating beam tests. After alignment, the resolution of the most sensitive coordinate is 80 microns for the relative positions of superlayers in the same barrel chamber and 270 microns for the relative positions of endcap chambers in the same ring structure. The resolution on the position of the central barrel chambers relative to the tracker is comprised between two extreme estimates, 200 and 700 microns, provided by two complementary studies. With minor modifications, the alignment procedures can be applied using muons from LHC collisions, leading to additional significant improvements.This work is supported by FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR(Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTDS (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA)

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Alignment of the CMS muon system with cosmic-ray and beam-halo muons

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version of the Paper can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 IOPThe CMS muon system has been aligned using cosmic-ray muons collected in 2008 and beam-halo muons from the 2008 LHC circulating beam tests. After alignment, the resolution of the most sensitive coordinate is 80 microns for the relative positions of superlayers in the same barrel chamber and 270 microns for the relative positions of endcap chambers in the same ring structure. The resolution on the position of the central barrel chambers relative to the tracker is comprised between two extreme estimates, 200 and 700 microns, provided by two complementary studies. With minor modifications, the alignment procedures can be applied using muons from LHC collisions, leading to additional significant improvements.This work is supported by FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR(Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTDS (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA)