Merits of Traditional and Alternative High School Schedules in Southern and Central Illinois as Perceived by High School Principals

This study was conducted to determine the merits of traditional and alternative high school schedules (Block 8, Block 4, etc.) as perceived by principals of central and southern Illinois high schools (schools south of Interstate 80). The study took place during November and December, 1997, utilizing a survey of 200 randomly selected Illinois high school principals south of Interstate 80. Of the 200 surveys sent out, 168 were returned for a response rate of 84%. A survey was constructed to gather data on six research questions. The High School Schedule Survey and cover letter were developed and field tested by the author with 15 high school principals. Initially, this instrument was sent to only 15 of these principals as a sample to gather feedback on the instrument before final mailings were completed. No content was changed in the survey or cover letter as a result of this field test. The only change was altering the font of the survey instrument. The results submitted by the 15 field tested high school principals were not included in the results. This survey was sent to 200 randomly selected Illinois high school principals south of Interstate 80 as gathered from the Illinois High School Association Member Directory. Selection of these 200 random principals was achieved by first identifying all 392 high schools located south of Interstate 80 that are listed in the Illinois High School Association Member Directory. All 392 schools were then identified by a number, placed into a box, and then selected one at a time until 200 schools had been chosen. All 200 high school principals surveyed were sent a personalized cover letter in addition to the survey instrument. The principals reported that 79% of the high schools were implementing a traditional schedule. Of the principals reporting that traditional schedules were in place, 55% reported that their schools were investigating alternative methods of scheduling. Forty-five percent of the schools that had traditional schedules were investigating block 8 methods, while 38% of the schools were investigating block 4 methods of scheduling. Eighty-two percent of the principals perceived that current schedules provided for excellent student learning possibilities. In addition, 57% of the principals felt that current schedules provided for maximum teaching strategies and methods. Fifty-three percent of the principals believed that the current schedules maximized student academic performance, while 73% believed that the schedule in place met the needs of most of the students. The results of this study led to the conclusion that although high school principals seemed to be satisfied with schedules currently in place, many were investigating the possibility of using alternative schedules. It was concluded that additional information should be obtained on the benefits of alternative scheduling as perceived by students, faculty members, and parents. Other recommendations included the need for more study in the areas of alternative scheduling methods as opposed to traditional scheduling methods by focusing on curriculum, discipline, communications, problem solving, and other educational items as a structure for improving student learning and teaching performance

Merits of Traditional and Alternative High School Schedules in Southern and Central Illinois as Perceived by High School Principals

This study was conducted to determine the merits of traditional and alternative high school schedules (Block 8, Block 4, etc.) as perceived by principals of central and southern Illinois high schools (schools south of Interstate 80). The study took place during November and December, 1997, utilizing a survey of 200 randomly selected Illinois high school principals south of Interstate 80. Of the 200 surveys sent out, 168 were returned for a response rate of 84%. A survey was constructed to gather data on six research questions. The High School Schedule Survey and cover letter were developed and field tested by the author with 15 high school principals. Initially, this instrument was sent to only 15 of these principals as a sample to gather feedback on the instrument before final mailings were completed. No content was changed in the survey or cover letter as a result of this field test. The only change was altering the font of the survey instrument. The results submitted by the 15 field tested high school principals were not included in the results. This survey was sent to 200 randomly selected Illinois high school principals south of Interstate 80 as gathered from the Illinois High School Association Member Directory. Selection of these 200 random principals was achieved by first identifying all 392 high schools located south of Interstate 80 that are listed in the Illinois High School Association Member Directory. All 392 schools were then identified by a number, placed into a box, and then selected one at a time until 200 schools had been chosen. All 200 high school principals surveyed were sent a personalized cover letter in addition to the survey instrument. The principals reported that 79% of the high schools were implementing a traditional schedule. Of the principals reporting that traditional schedules were in place, 55% reported that their schools were investigating alternative methods of scheduling. Forty-five percent of the schools that had traditional schedules were investigating block 8 methods, while 38% of the schools were investigating block 4 methods of scheduling. Eighty-two percent of the principals perceived that current schedules provided for excellent student learning possibilities. In addition, 57% of the principals felt that current schedules provided for maximum teaching strategies and methods. Fifty-three percent of the principals believed that the current schedules maximized student academic performance, while 73% believed that the schedule in place met the needs of most of the students. The results of this study led to the conclusion that although high school principals seemed to be satisfied with schedules currently in place, many were investigating the possibility of using alternative schedules. It was concluded that additional information should be obtained on the benefits of alternative scheduling as perceived by students, faculty members, and parents. Other recommendations included the need for more study in the areas of alternative scheduling methods as opposed to traditional scheduling methods by focusing on curriculum, discipline, communications, problem solving, and other educational items as a structure for improving student learning and teaching performance

Nickel Content of Some Hawaiian Soils and Plants and the Relation of Nickel to Plant Growth

An investigation of the nickel content of some representative soils from the Great Soil Groups of the Hawaiian Islands and the plants growing on them was made to obtain more information on the distribution of nickel in local soils and plants. Furthermore, since various studies reported in the literature showed contrasting observations of either a stimulating or a toxic effect of nickel on plant growth, this investigation was extended to various water culture and soil pot experiments to determine the actual effect of varying concentrations of nickel on the growth of plants. There is a higher nickel content in Hawaiian soils and plants than in the normal soils and plants reported in the literature from other parts of the world. Symptoms of toxicity (chlorosis, necrosis, stunted growth, and sparse, brown, slimy roots) were exhibited by tomato plants grown in nutrient solutions containing 1.0 ppm Ni and more. The chlorosis, necrosis, and stunted growth exhibited by the injured plants in the water culture experiments were also manifested by the plants in the soil pot experiments

Channel allocation for smooth video delivery over cognitive radio networks

This is the published version

BitTorrent under a microscope : towards static QoS provision in dynamic peer-to-peer networks

For peer-to-peer (P2P) networks continually to flourish, QoS provision is critical. However, the P2P networks are notoriously dynamic and heterogeneous. As a result, QoS provision in P2P networks is a challenging task with nodes of the varying and intermittent throughput. This raises a fundamental problem: is stable and delicate QoS provision achievable in the highly dynamic and heterogeneous P2P networks? In this work, we investigate BitTorrent (BT) with the particular interest in its QoS performance in the highly dynamic and heterogeneous network. Our contributions are two-fold. First, we develop an analytical model to examine a randomly selected BT node under a microscope. Based on the model, we study the mean and variance of nodal download rate in the dynamic network and the performance of BT in QoS provision under different levels of peer churns. Our analysis unveils that although BT strives to provide nodes with guaranteed throughput, due to the network dynamics, the download rates of the peers oscillate extraordinarily and can hardly converge to the target QoS as proposed in previous literature. Second, to improve the QoS provision, we propose an enhanced protocol incorporating with BT. The proposed protocol enables nodes to quickly and elaborately search their uploaders, and as a result, achieve guaranteed and stable QoS in the dynamic networks. Using both analysis and simulations, we validate the effectiveness of the proposed protocol in comparisons with the original BT

Application Of Refrigeration Technologies For Energy Efficient Production Of Fish Protein Hydrolysates

Fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) is one of the most efficient and sustainable way to recover the valuable nutrients from fish remaining materials and has a widespread application. However, the production of FPH demands intensive heating and cooling loads in the temperature range between 0 and 90 ⁰C. In addition, the stabilization of FPH using conventional moisture removal techniques like spray drying and evaporators is energy intensive due to low solid content. This study investigates application of refrigeration technologies and heat pumps to determine sustainable and energy efficient methods for processing and stabilization of FPH. The freeze concentration, vacuum-concentration and freeze-drying processes were investigated in combination with energy recovery at high temperatures (heating and sterilization). The overall comparison of production lines with respect to the energy savings of different techniques was presented.acceptedVersio