Investigating Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of the Virginia Computer Science Standards of Learning: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study

Computer science education is being recognized globally as necessary to better prepare students in all grade levels, K-12, for future success. As a result of this focus on computer science education in the United States and around the world, there is an increased demand for highly qualified teachers with content and pedagogical knowledge to successfully support student learning. As a result, there is a call to include and improve the computer science training offered to pre-service teachers in their educator preparation programs from methods courses to practicum and student teaching experiences. Thus, it is important to understand how pre-service teachers view content, classroom practices, and teaching and learning methodologies and theories to inform teacher educators about best practices for integrating computer science. This multi-case study investigated pre-service teachers’ perceived abilities and intent to integrate the Virginia Computer Science Standards of Learning into future content area instruction, as well as any shifts that occurred in these pre-service teachers’ perceptions as a result of their student teaching experience. Five elementary pre-service teachers enrolled in a teacher preparation program at a large, public research university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States comprised the cases in this research study. Data were collected during the participants’ student teaching experience and final semester in their respective programs and was comprised of the following: pre-, mid-, and post-questionnaires, meeting transcriptions (2), semi-structured individual phone interview transcriptions (2), and written/posted exchanges on an online discussion board. Data representing each case were analyzed using a qualitative general inductive approach as outlined by Thomas. A within-case analysis was performed to develop main categories and identify central themes for each case, and a cross-case analysis was then conducted using the NVivo Qualitative Data Analysis Software. The findings revealed similarities and differences across the cases, as well as perceived challenges and benefits to incorporating computer science and the Virginia Computer Science Standards of Learning into future content area lessons as determined by elementary pre-service teachers. Findings from this study can be used to inform and improve pre-service teacher education as well as provide insight to school administrators

Persephone Bites: Consumption in the Underworld

If you know one thing about Persephone, it is that she was abducted by Hades, held captive, and ate pomegranate seeds in the Underworld. Although Demeter rescued her daughter, she had to return for several months each year as a consequence of consuming the “Fruit of the Underworld.” But tasting those succulent ruby red seeds was not the first time she succumbed to desire—according to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter II, the first thing Persephone “bites” is a lure. Hades sets a trap: a flower with “one hundred stems of fragrant blossoms.” When Persephone grasps a stalk of this flower, a hellmouth opens and “the wide-pathed earth yawned . . . and the lord, Host of Many, with his immortal horses sprang out upon her.” Persephone’s story is just one example of how hellmouths and consumption feature prominently in fantastic Ur-texts such as the Aeneid and Dante\u27s Inferno. This presentation will trace the evolution of the Underworld and hellmouths as well as the consequences of consumption therein from the story of the future Queen of Hades through iconic texts including Alice in Wonderland and Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” and then focus on Miyazaki\u27s Spirited Away, Erin Morgenstern\u27s The Starless Sea, Del Toro\u27s Pan\u27s Labyrinth, Naomi Novik\u27s A Deadly Education, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia\u27s Mexican Gothic

Development and test of advanced composite components. Center Directors discretionary fund program

This report describes the design, analysis, fabrication, and test of a complex bathtub fitting. Graphite fibers in an epoxy matrix were utilized in manufacturing of 11 components representing four different design and layup concepts. Design allowables were developed for use in the final stress analysis. Strain gage measurements were taken throughout the static load test and correlation of test and analysis data were performed, yielding good understanding of the material behavior and instrumentation requirements for future applications

Pioneering Access for Those with Environmental Sensitivities: An Interview with Susan Molloy

Chemical and electrical sensitivities are often invisible disabilities. Those with electrical hypersensitivity experience symptoms that result from exposure to a variety of sources of electromagnetic fields and radiation, including electrical appliances, florescent lights, computers, and cell phones and their towers. Most research has been conducted in the area of chemical sensitivity; persons with chemical sensitivities experience a wide range of negative disabling reactions to common chemicals such as fragrances, pesticides, paints, cleaners, and exhaust fumes. Recent findings indicate that chemical sensitivity is found world-wide and crosses lines of gender, race, and age. Susan Molloy has been advocating for persons with environmental sensitivities since 1983. In this interview, Lauren Sledd put questions to Molloy to illuminate the history of her pioneering advocacy

Corn Producers’ Perceptions of Trust toward Seed Corporations

The purpose of this study was to serve as a pilot study for future researchers to examine the perceptions of corn grain producer’s trust toward seed corporations and how the corn grain producers value the information they receive from seed corporations. The data allowed seed producing corporations to understand the levels of trust corn grain producers have for seed producing corporations as their customers and how these customers value the information they receive. The goal was to highlight this information so seed producing corporations can continue to bridge the relationship between the corporation and the producers. This was a descriptive study using an online questionnaire that was conducted in cooperation with the Nebraska Corn Growers Association. The online survey was delivered to the participants who were Nebraska corn growers for the 2014 growing season through the Nebraska Corn Growers Association weekly online newsletter. A response rate of 6.47% was achieved (N=649, n=42). The respondents of the study completed an online survey using Qualtrics™ online system. The survey included demographic questions, items to address the objectives, and 62 Likert scale items using the Organizational Trust Inventory- Long Form (OTI-LF). The results of this study indicated factors that influence the trust of corn producers toward seed corporations. The data revealed that sales representatives (m=8.02) influence the trust levels of producers the most of any outside source. The item that indicated the highest influence for purchasing decisions of corn seed for corn producers was the ability to yield (m=9.43). Lastly, this study examined the demographic data through frequencies and percentages. One of the items included age of corn producers. The majority of the respondents were in the age group of 30-45 years (n=22, 52.4%). The item with the highest mean from the OTI-LF was from the interaction of Dimension One and Behavioral Intentions, “We intend to monitor seed corporations’ compliance with our agreement” (m=5.03). The reported mean from the participants indicated that the participants “Agree” with the statement. The item with the lowest mean from the OTI-LF was from the interaction of Dimension Two and Behavioral Intentions, “We intend to misrepresent our capabilities in negations with seed corporations” (m= 2.91). The reported mean from the participants indicated that the participants “Disagree” with the statement

Window Observational Research Facility (WORF)

This viewgraph document concerns the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF) Rack, a unique facility designed for use with the US Lab Destiny Module window. WORF will provide valuable resources for Earth Science payloads along with serving the purpose of protecting the lab window. The facility can be used for remote sensing instrumentation test and validation in a shirt sleeve environment. WORF will also provide a training platform for crewmembers to do orbital observations of other planetary bodies. WORF payloads will be able to conduct terrestrial studies utilizing the data collected from utilizing WORF and the lab window

Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiments on Space Shuttle Flights STS-53 and STS-57

The Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE) program, managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center Space Propulsion Branch with Martin Marietta Civil Space and Communications as the contractor, consisted of two flights designated FARE I and FARE II. FARE I flew in December 1992 on STS-53 with a screen channel liquid acquisition device (LAD) and FARE II flew in June 1993 on STS-57 with a vane-type LAD. Thus, the FARE I and II flights represent the two basic LAD categories usually considered for in-space fluid management. Although both LAD types have been used extensively, the usefulness of the on-orbit data has been constrained by the lack of experimentation beyond predicted performance limits, including both propellant fill and expulsion. Therefore, the FARE tests were designed to obtain data that would satisfy two primary objectives: (1) Demonstrate the performance of the two types of LADs, screen channel and vane, and (2) support the anchoring of analytical models. Both flights were considered highly successful in meeting these two primary objectives

Nudging allows direct evaluation of coupled climate models with in situ observations: a case study from the MOSAiC expedition

Comparing the output of general circulation models to observations is essential for assessing and improving the quality of models. While numerical weather prediction models are routinely assessed against a large array of observations, comparing climate models and observations usually requires long time series to build robust statistics. Here, we show that by nudging the large-scale atmospheric circulation in coupled climate models, model output can be compared to local observations for individual days. We illustrate this for three climate models during a period in April 2020 when a warm air intrusion reached the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition in the central Arctic. Radiosondes, cloud remote sensing and surface flux observations from the MOSAiC expedition serve as reference observations. The climate models AWI-CM1/ECHAM and AWI-CM3/IFS miss the diurnal cycle of surface temperature in spring, likely because both models assume the snowpack on ice to have a uniform temperature. CAM6, a model that uses three layers to represent snow temperature, represents the diurnal cycle more realistically. During a cold and dry period with pervasive thin mixed-phase clouds, AWI-CM1/ECHAM only produces partial cloud cover and overestimates downwelling shortwave radiation at the surface. AWI-CM3/IFS produces a closed cloud cover but misses cloud liquid water. Our results show that nudging the large-scale circulation to the observed state allows a meaningful comparison of climate model output even to short-term observational campaigns. We suggest that nudging can simplify and accelerate the pathway from observations to climate model improvements and substantially extends the range of observations suitable for model evaluation

The Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace

The Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF) is a five zone tubular furnace designed for Bridgman-Stockbarger, other techniques of crystal growth involving multiple temperature zones such as vapor transport experiments and other materials science experiments. The five zones are primarily designed to produce uniform hot and cold temperature regions separated by an adiabatic region constructed of a heat extraction plate and an insert to reduce radiation from the hot to the cold zone. The hot and cold zone temperatures are designed to reach 1600 C and 1100 C, respectively. AADSF operates on a Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure (MPESS) within the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle on the United States Microgravity Payload (USMP) missions. Two successful flights, both employing the directional solidification or Bridgman Stockbarger technique for crystal growth have been made, and crystals of HgCdTe and PbSnTe grown in microgravity have been produced on USMP-2 and USMP-3, respectively. The addition of a Sample Exchange Mechanism (SEM) will enable three different samples to be processed on future flights including the USMP-4 mission