A Student Teacher’s Journey through Learning to Plan and Teach Writing: An Autoethnography

Research has shown that the increased use of social media and texting has started to take a toll on the way students are writing. This trend of using “text-speak” in formal writing was taking place in my classroom, too. While looking for ways to help students improve their writing, I came across research that used rubrics as an instructional tool. I decided to try using rubrics during instruction to improve the writing skills of my students. Instead of studying the students, however, I decided to study myself. Autoethnography is a form of qualitative research that relies on the author reflecting on their practices and writing about their experiences. In this study, I reflected on how I planned and taught writing. The reflections that came from my research journal were used as the main data source for this study. The data from my research journal fell into four major themes: scaffolding information, adapting to situations, writing for fun versus writing for work, and using structured writing assignments. Based on these themes, I found that not only did I prefer to teach with writing assignments that have more structure, but my students also preferred them to have structure. Not only does it make completing the assignment easier for the students, but it makes it easier to grade and get feedback to students in a timely manner

Experiential learning at California Polytechnic State University\u27s Swanton Pacific Ranch

Swanton Pacific Ranch (SPR) is a 3,200-acre fully operational ranch, including forested lands, located 12 miles north of Santa Cruz, California, and 200 miles north of the California Polytechnic State university, San Luis Obispo main campus. Even though the property is 200 miles from the main campus, it is used extensively for experiential learning activities. SPR was first established as a Mexican land grant in 1843. Since that time, it has had several owners and has been a dairy, and had several agricultural operations including growing crops, such as artichokes, brussels sprouts, and also cattle operations. The area was logged from 1905-1923 to rebuild San Francisco after the earthquake and fire in 1906. In the 1930\u27s it was a boy scout camp. Albert Smith began buying what is now Swanton Pacific Ranch in 1943. In 1986 he entered a cooperative lease agreement with Cal Poly for use by College of Agriculture students for learn by doing activities. In 1993, when Al Smith passed away, he left the Ranch to Cal Poly. His goal was to see this place kept intact and natural, a lab and a classroom for the college of Agriculture of \u27learn by doing.\u27 For more information on the history of Swanton Pacific Ranch, please refer to their Web page (www.spranch.org) SPR is made up of approximately 125 acres of irrigated land, 1,900 acres of rangeland, and 500 acres of redwood and Douglas-fir forests

Novelists and women in WW1: Challenging traditional binarisms – A critical essay and half painted war: an original novel

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel UniversityAcademic study of women and WW1 literature has taken place since the 1970s, with a focus on female novelists published pre-1939. Despite the variety of studies, questions remain as to whether the breadth of women’s roles in WW1 is accurately represented in fiction. The purpose of this study was to examine female characters in WW1 novels (published in Britain) who challenge traditional war binarisms i.e. war (male)/peace (female), by taking on war work. It specifically compared novels published pre-1939 and historical (post-1939) novels written by both female and male novelists. The methods employed were the critical reading of forty novels, as well as data collection related to the roles of female characters and the language used to describe them. he study found that there is little representation of women’s war work in the forty novels. A key factor is that they are by middle class authors and written from a middle class point of view. Although historical novels are often used to re-imagine the role of women, WW1 is an exception. Key factors here include the perpetuation of stereotype and nervousness around detracting from the horrific experiences of the male soldier. Challenges to binarisms in subsequent wars (e.g. women in the armed services) have not stimulated a re-visioning of women’s roles in WW1. Society will continue to accept and endorse traditional binarisms, if they are not challenged by cultural representations of war. There is no novel based on the female military experience of WW1. In response, I was inspired to write a historical novel: The Half-Painted War. The protagonist is a female artist who enrols in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). It is intended as an act of remembrance but also allows the reader to consider the role of women in the military, both in WW1 and today

PDAS as workplace tools for science teachers

This paper reports on work in progress on a project investigating the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) to help students make use of knowledge gained during the study of a Masters course in science education in their professional practice. We report on a review of the literature on mobile technologies as learning tools in workplace settings. We analyse this literature to suggest possible hypotheses for our study. We also describe the selection and design of activities for use on the PDAs, the evaluation strategy based on an activity theory augmented approach for the project and the issues arising during the project

Site selective reading of epigenetic markers by a dual-mode synthetic receptor array.

Variably functionalized self-folding deep cavitands form an arrayed, fluorescent indicator displacement assay system for the detection of post-translationally modified (PTM) histone peptides. The hosts bind trimethyllysine (KMe3) groups, and use secondary upper rim interactions to provide more sensitive discrimination between targets with identical KMe3 binding handles. The sensor array uses multiple different recognition modes to distinguish between miniscule differences in target, such as identical lysine modifications at different sites of histone peptides. In addition, the sensor is affected by global changes in structure, so it is capable of discriminating between identical PTMs, at identical positions on amino acid fragments that vary only in peptide backbone length, and can be applied to detect non-methylation modifications such as acetylation and phosphorylations located multiple residues away from the targeted binding site. The synergistic application of multiple variables allows dual-mode deep cavitands to approach levels of recognition selectivity usually only seen with antibodies

Understanding the impact of visual arts interventions for people living with dementia: a realist review protocol

Background: Arts-based activities are being increasingly suggested as a valuable activity for people living with dementia in terms of countering the negative aspects of their condition. The potential for such programmes to improve a broad range of psychosocial outcomes is suggested in some studies. However, there is largely an absence of rigorous methodology to demonstrate the benefits, and research results are mixed. Practice variability in terms of the content, contexts and implementation of such interventions raises challenges in terms of identifying an optimal arts programme model that could be adopted by other service providers. Understanding how interventions may have the best chance at broad implementation success and uptake is limited. Methods/Design: A realist review will be undertaken. This aims to understand how visual arts interventions influence outcomes in people living with dementia. The review will explore how the context, that is the circumstances which enable or constrain, affect outcomes through the activation of mechanisms. An early scoping search and a stakeholder survey formulated the preliminary programme theory. A systematic literature search across a broad range of disciplines (arts, humanities, social sciences, health) will be undertaken to identify journal articles and grey literature. Data will be extracted in relation to the programme theory, contextual factors, mechanisms and outcomes and their configurations, background information about the study design and participant characteristics, detail about the quantity (‘dose’) of an intervention, theoretical perspectives proposed by the authors of the paper and further theorising by the reviewer. Thematic connections/patterns will be sought across the extracted data, identifying patterns amongst contextual factors, the mechanisms they trigger and the associated outcomes. Discussion: Along with stakeholder engagement and validation, this review will help inform the development of an optimal, replicable arts intervention for people with dementia as part of our broader research programme, titled ‘Dementia and Imagination’ (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council). Forthcoming work under this programme of research will test this theoretically informed intervention in three different geographical areas of the UK. The production of freely available practice guidance is a key aspect of dissemination

Adolescent undernutrition in South Asia : a scoping review protocol

Introduction: The aim of the protocol is to present the methodology of a scoping review that aims to synthesise up-to-date evidence on adolescent undernutrition in South Asia. Methods and analysis: The proposed scoping review will be guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s framework and the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers’ Manual. The scoping review question, eligibility criteria and search strategy will be based on the Population, Concept and Context strategy. We will conduct the search in electronic bibliographic databases (Medline (OVID), Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Scopus) as well as various grey literature sources in order to synthesise and present the findings with descriptive statistics and a narrative description of both quantitative and qualitative evidence. Ethics and dissemination: This study protocol does not require ethical approval. This protocol will accurately describe the proposed scoping review that will map the evidence on adolescent undernutrition in South Asia. The proposed review aims to gather published and unpublished literature to inform policy and healthcare organisations as well as identify future research priorities in South Asia