Student Outcomes in Traditional, Hybrid, and Online Courses in Community College Career and Technical Education Programs

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether differences in student course outcomes as defined by final course grades existed between three content delivery methods in career and technical education courses: Traditional (face to face), hybrid, and online. Final course grades in career and technical education courses at one community college for the Fall 2011 through the Fall 2015 semesters were used in this study to compare the success of students in courses employing the three content delivery methods. The outcomes for male and female students and the outcomes for traditional and nontraditional students in career and technical education programs were compared as well. The method of delivery was found to have an impact. Withdrawal rates for career and technical education courses were also impacted by course delivery method. Seven research questions were included in this study, and the data was analyzed using one-sample chi-square tests for the seven research questions in the study. Results indicated that students had significantly higher student learning outcomes in traditional courses in career and technical education programs than in either hybrid or online courses. Withdrawal rates were higher for hybrid and online courses than traditional courses. Student gender and age were related to student final course outcomes with both male and female students more likely to earn transferable final course grades in traditional courses than in hybrid or online courses. Traditional age and nontraditional age students were also more likely to earn transferable final course grades in traditional courses than in hybrid or online courses. Nontraditional age students were significantly more likely than traditional age students to earn a transferable final course grade regardless of delivery method. Overall findings suggest that delivery method may impact student outcomes in career and technical education courses. The study is significant in that it provides insight into specific differences in student outcomes by the three different delivery methods currently used in higher education and may be used for comparison with other institutions’ student outcomes

Molecular dynamics simulation study of elastic properties of HMX

Journal ArticleAtomistic simulations were used to calculate the isothermal elastic properties for b-, a-, and d-octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX). The room-temperature isotherm for each polymorph was computed in the pressure interval 0≤p≤10.6 GPa and was used to extract the initial isothermal bulk modulus Ko and its pressure derivative using equations of state employed previously in experimental studies of the b-HMX isotherm

Temperature dependent shear viscosity coefficient of octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX ): a molecular dynamics simulation study

Journal ArticleEquilibrium molecular dynamics methods were used in conjunction with linear response theory and a recently published potential-energy surface [J. Phys. Chem. B 103, 3570 (1999)] to compute the liquid shear viscosity and self-diffusion coefficient of the high explosive HMX (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine) over the temperature domain 550-800 K. Predicted values of the shear viscosity range from 0.0055 Pa *s at the highest temperature studied up to 0.45 Pa *s for temperatures near the melting point

Molecular dynamics simulations of HMX crystal polymorphs using a flexible molecule force field

Journal ArticleMolecular dynamics simulations using a recently developed quantum chemistry-based atomistic force field [J. Phys. Chem. B 103 (1999) 3570] were performed in order to obtain unit cell parameters, coefficients of thermal expansion, and heats of sublimation for the three pure crystal polymorphs of octahydro-l,3,5,7-tetranitro-l,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX). The predictions for β-, α-, and δ-HMX showed good agreement with the available experimental data

Efficacy of Fungicides on Coexisting Leptophaeria spp. Causing Phoma Stem Canker on Winter Oilseed Rape

Phoma stem canker is a disease of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) caused by closely related plant pathogens Leptosphaeria maculans and L. biglobosa. It is an economically important disease, causing annual yield losses of approximately £770 million worldwide. When colonising oilseed rape, L. maculans and L. biglobosa exist in close proximity on the leaf, competing for resources as they move through the main leaf vein and into the stem. Fungicides are commonly used to decrease severity of phoma stem canker on oilseed rape. However, the efficacy and longevity of active chemicals is under threat from evolution of resistance in pathogen populations and government legalisation. Moreover, it has been suggested that both L. maculans and L. biglobosa differ in their sensitivity to azoles, and important class of fungicides that are used to control the disease through the inhibition of lanosterol 14-α demethylase (erg11, CYP51). This project aims to further understand the role that fungicides have in controlling phoma stem canker by investigating their efficacy against L. maculans and L. biglobosa in crops, in vitro and in planta. In field experiments, established in Cambridgeshire across four cropping seasons, the fungicide mixture penthiopyrad (SDHI) plus picoxystrobin (QoI) was as effective at controlling phoma leaf spotting and phoma stem canker in winter oilseed rape as prothioconazole (DMI), suggesting that both fungicides could be used to reduce phoma stem canker symptoms. The two pathogens differed in their growth rates in vitro, with L. biglobosa growing faster than L. maculans when untreated or treated with lower fungicide concentrations. Fungicide sensitivity assays suggest that L. maculans and L. biglobosa are both sensitive to DMI, SDHI and QoI fungicides and that differences between the species are minor. Prothioconazole and penthiopyrad + picoxystrobin had a similar efficacy on oilseed rape cotyledons colonised with either L. maculans or L. biglobosa. There was no difference between species on prothioconazole treated plants, although there was a difference between L. maculans and L. biglobosa when treated with 20 μg/ml penthiopyrad + picoxystrobin. Heterologous yeast expression of LmCYP51B and LbCYP51B with fungicide sensitivity testing of the yeast transformants suggests that LmCYP51B and LbCYP51B are similarly sensitive to azole fungicides flusilazole, prothioconazole-desthio and tebuconazole. These findings are supported by homology protein modelling, which predicts that LmCYP51B and LbCYP51B are structurally very similar, specifically at the azole-binding site. In conclusion, fungicides are still an effective control method for reducing phoma stem canker symptoms caused by Leptosphaeria species in the UK, and a useful tool to in the sustainable production of oilseed rape

Janus and the Future of Collective Bargaining: Rhetorically Predicting a First Amendment Right to Negotiation

The importance of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees has been widely recognized for its effect on reducing the power and influence of public unions. A close reading of the majority opinion provides a clue that compulsory collective bargaining itself may be settling into the court’s crosshairs. Collective bargaining is an important tool, by which labor can reduce the often-inherent power imbalance it has with ownership and management. Yet as this Article outlines, the interests of individual workers can often be at odds with those other workers workers, particularly those who do not feel the union represents their interests. This Article will explore the history of unions and collective bargaining, the variety of worker rights that are affected by compulsory collective bargaining, why the Supreme Court might choose to eliminate compulsory collective bargaining via the First Amendment, and what may ultimately replace it. or even the union itself. When the law designates a union as the exclusive bargaining agent for a group of workers, it prohibits individual workers from advocating for their own interests. As the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in Janus, this results in a substantial reduction of the rights o