E-asTTle as a catalyst for change : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Education - Teaching and Learning at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This thesis studies the introduction and use of the formative assessment tool e-asTTle (Assessment for Teaching and Learning) in a low decile, high Māori school and the impact it has on teacher practice and student achievement. The project’s aim was to identify if teachers, through using the data from the tool, moved to an evidence based teaching model which supported increased student achievement in reading and mathematics. Identifying a major shift in teaching practice and corresponding rise in student success would support the assertion unpinning the study, that e-asTTle is a catalyst for change. The data for this study was gathered during the first quarter of the school year. Teachers of Year 7, 8 and 9 students volunteered to complete a confidential online survey. The focus of the survey was to identify previous and current assessment practices, changes to practice and prompted teachers to reflect on the usefulness of data in supporting their teaching practice. Beginning of the year and mid-year student assessment score data in reading and mathematics was gathered and compared to identify shifts in achievement of each year group. These shifts were then compared to e-asTTle nationally expected shifts to identify the level of progress. The results suggest that the introduction of the e-asTTle tool into the school supported teachers to change to formative assessment, evidence-based teaching practice. This change had a positive effect on student achievement with accelerated progress occurring in reading and mathematics. However, the results also identified a much lower level of progress for Year 7 students, which is consistent with trends identified in national research data on the transitioning of students between primary and secondary schools. Based on this data a recommendation was made to study the transitioning of students between the local primary schools and the study school, and the impact it may be having on learning and achievement, particularly in mathematics. Should the results of the study support it, a programme could be put into place that met identified student needs and supported their successful integration into the school. Although evidence of accelerated progress met the study’s brief, the continued low level of achievement of the students in reading compared not just to all schools but to other decile one, high Māori roll schools, is a concern that needs to be addressed

convicted by the holy spirit: the rhetoric of fundamental Baptist conversion

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136400/1/ae.1987.14.1.02a00100.pd

Evaluating the Impact of a SNAP Challenge on University Participant Attitudes Toward Poverty

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a week-long SNAP Challenge completed by university participants influenced perceptions about poverty. Design: Pretest and posttest questionnaires measured changes in attitudes toward poverty after the SNAP Challenge using the Attitude Toward Poverty Short Form scale comprised of three factors: Personal Deficiency, Stigma, and Structural Perspective. Dispositional empathy was measured with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and analyzed as a potential mediating variable of attitude change. Subjects: Student and non-student subjects were recruited from Winthrop University. Four hundred forty-six pretest questionnaires were initiated, 363 were completed, and 363 were eligible for inclusion. One hundred forty-three posttest questionnaires were initiated, 121 were completed, and 117 were eligible for inclusion. Eighty matched pairs met study inclusion criteria. Results: Attitudes toward poverty related to Stigma, but not Personal Deficiency or Structural Perspective improved significantly (t(79) = -3.421, p = .001, d = 0.38). There was no correlation between days participants completed the SNAP Challenge and changes in attitudes toward poverty. Human Nutrition participants did not differ from other participants in the magnitude of attitude change observed. Empathy did not mediate the relationship between the SNAP Challenge experience and attitude change. Conclusion: The SNAP Challenge improved attitudes related to Stigma. It offers a unique experiential learning method for broadening perspectives about poverty. The Challenge should be integrated with classroom teaching about poverty and re-evaluated

Depression And Perceived Stress as Mediators Between Racial Microaggressions and Somatic Symptoms in College Students of Color

The current study examined the ability of mental health indicators, namely depression and perceived stress, to mediate the relationship between racial microaggressions and health among a racially/ethnically diverse sample of 467 college students of color. Consistent with what was hypothesized, the main findings revealed that depression and perceived stress mediated the relationships between types of racial microaggressions, specifically low-achieving, invisibility, and criminality, and somatic symptoms. The study results suggest that there may be multiple pathways by which specific racial microaggressions might be associated with psychological and somatic health indicators

Rehacer Ibieca : la vida rural en Aragón en tiempos de Franco

Bibliografía

High-Rate Data-Capture for an Airborne Lidar System

A high-rate data system was required to capture the data for an airborne lidar system. A data system was developed that achieved up to 22 million (64-bit) events per second sustained data rate (1408 million bits per second), as well as short bursts (less than 4 s) at higher rates. All hardware used for the system was off the shelf, but carefully selected to achieve these rates. The system was used to capture laser fire, single-photon detection, and GPS data for the Slope Imaging Multi-polarization Photo-counting Lidar (SIMPL). However, the system has applications for other laser altimeter systems (waveform-recording), mass spectroscopy, xray radiometry imaging, high-background- rate ranging lidar, and other similar areas where very high-speed data capture is needed. The data capture software was used for the SIMPL instrument that employs a micropulse, single-photon ranging measurement approach and has 16 data channels. The detected single photons are from two sources those reflected from the target and solar background photons. The instrument is non-gated, so background photons are acquired for a range window of 13 km and can comprise many times the number of target photons. The highest background rate occurs when the atmosphere is clear, the Sun is high, and the target is a highly reflective surface such as snow. Under these conditions, the total data rate for the 16 channels combined is expected to be approximately 22 million events per second. For each photon detection event, the data capture software reads the relative time of receipt, with respect to a one-per-second absolute time pulse from a GPS receiver, from an event timer card with 0.1-ns precision, and records that information to a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) storage device. The relative time of laser pulse firings must also be read and recorded with the same precision. Each of the four event timer cards handles the throughput from four of the channels. For each detection event, a flag is recorded that indicates the source channel. To accommodate the expected maximum count rate and also handle the other extreme of very low rates occurring during nighttime operations, the software requests a set amount of data from each of the event timer cards and buffers the data. The software notes if any of the cards did not return all the data requested and then accommodates that lower rate. The data is buffered to minimize the I/O overhead of writing the data to storage. Care was taken to optimize the reads from the cards, the speed of the I/O bus, and RAID configuration

Disability in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Idiopathic Chronic Fatigue

The current investigation classified 31 people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and 44 people with idiopathic chronic fatigue (ICF) into mild, moderate, and severe/very severe categories of self reported functional impairment. Differences in sociodemographic characteristics, symptom frequency, symptom severity, and functional impairment were examined between individuals with CFS and ICF, and were examined among the three categories of functional impairment. Results indicated that there were no differences between the CFS and ICF groups in their functional impairment classification. People who were classified into the more disabled categories reported more severe symptoms, and were more likely to have scores indicating higher disability on other measures of functional status. Implications of these findings are discussed

Workshop - Feminist Engineering Education: Building a Community of Practice

As a result of a series of papers and special sessions held at FIE between 2004 and 2008, a community of CSET educators interested in exploring feminist pedagogies has formed at FIE. Past participants in these sessions have expressed a desire to learn more about what makes a set of pedagogies feminist. At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of research papers at FIE that draw on feminist research methods or topics. This workshop is designed to meet the needs of members of the FIE community who have some experience with feminist pedagogies or research methods, and who are looking to develop intellectual relationships with others also working in engineering educational research. We will discuss the history of feminist education and feminist research methods in the US, including a connection to science and engineering education; participants will then work in small groups focusing on a sub-topic (feminist pedagogies, feminist research methods, and feminist research topics/content). We invite participants to bring part of a project (such as a syllabus or course plan, assignment, class or research project, research question or protocol) to this workshop; some time will be dedicated to the guided design/redesign of this project

In Vitro Bacterial Contamination of Amniotic Fluid: Effects on Fluorescence Polarization Lung Maturity Testing

Objective: We sought to determine the effect of bacteria on fluorescence polarization (FPOL) testing of amniotic fluid